L Ross
Well-Known Member
Oh boy, black powder lube for muzzle loaders and cartridges, did I ever play that game. Bear fat, deer tallow, elk tallow, buffalo tallow, sheep tallow, horse tallow, lard, bees wax, sperm whale oil, jojoba oil, petrolatum, steam cylinder oil, graphite, Ballistol, and spit. Emmerts, Pope's, Hudson's, buffalo hunters, Creedmoor shooters, Garbe's all of that good clean fun. Then I bought a hunk of NASA Lube from Bullshop. For me that was when I stepped up my BPCR game. First ever true 1 MOA group at 200 yards from a C.Sharps .45 2 1/10" from cross sticks no less. Less fouling, never a speck of lead, easy cleaning. Whaaaaaaa, I can't make it myself!!!! It smells funny. It doesn't smell organic or old timey and the old fellers I revere did not have it. NASA Lube is the easiest pan lubing gunk I have ever seen. Bullets push out of the cake backwards with my thumb with the grooves neatly full of lube. If I can get enough of it on a bullet, such as Dick Dastardly's Big Lube Bullet, and I can fire 30 rounds out of my 73 Replica and 50 out of my SAA replica in .44 w.c.f. and not even have to use Swiss.
Yessir, as patch lube you cannot go wrong with bear oil. I wouldn't want to make biscuits with NASA Lube either. Take pains to re-render the bear oil with water a second time to get all the natural animal salts out if you are going to wipe down your guns with it so's they don't rust. I like and admire folks who use as much stuff from a critter they kill as they can and saving the bear fat is one of those things. Sinew from deer and even better, elk is another. Not sure if I could still brain tan a hide as it is really hand on the hands, but probably if the necessity were there. Some folks can't even seem to bother to get most of the meat off of a carcass based on what I have seen with my own eyes.
Yessir, as patch lube you cannot go wrong with bear oil. I wouldn't want to make biscuits with NASA Lube either. Take pains to re-render the bear oil with water a second time to get all the natural animal salts out if you are going to wipe down your guns with it so's they don't rust. I like and admire folks who use as much stuff from a critter they kill as they can and saving the bear fat is one of those things. Sinew from deer and even better, elk is another. Not sure if I could still brain tan a hide as it is really hand on the hands, but probably if the necessity were there. Some folks can't even seem to bother to get most of the meat off of a carcass based on what I have seen with my own eyes.