Cold weather lube

[jw johnson]

I have been shooting a newly aquired 62 cal flintlock with a rifled barrel.  The weather out in the PNW has been a little cold.  I noticed while loading today that my patch lube was pretty stiff.  I am using Natural Lube 100 Bore Butter.  I also have some "Blue and Grey" patch lube, which looks and smells like axle grease which I have not used.

What is everyone using for cold weather shooting?  OR< shot I just shoot and not worry about it.

I spent the afternoon dialing in loads, patch thickness and dialing the sights in and having a ball.

Thanks in advance.

JW

[kybackwoodsman]

well while there are many recipes for lube that we use, and im sure your bout to hear a bunch of them, i use plain hog lard ( originally it was some of the store bought stuff but we got some pork from my aunt a couple weeks ago, pressure cooked it and got a decent amont of lard fromn, straight from the hog) and i cut mine with deer talloow ends up good to prelube patches with by melting down and soakng my patches or i just open my grease tin up and rub some pathing over it and cover it real good. the deer tallow stiffens it up for use in the warm summer and milder falls, but plain lard in cold weather outta be stiff enough without the tallow added.  like i said there are many different ways to make patch lubes and some are better than other, id say some are bettr than mine, but it works for me and its made from what i had on hand at the time. have fun.

[William]

I have been shooting a newly aquired 62 cal flintlock with a rifled barrel.  The weather out in the PNW has been a little cold.  I noticed while loading today that my patch lube was pretty stiff.  I am using Natural Lube 100 Bore Butter.  I also have some "Blue and Grey" patch lube, which looks and smells like axle grease which I have not used.

What is everyone using for cold weather shooting?  OR< shot I just shoot and not worry about it. If and when your patches get too stiff to load easily you may want to start lubing them with olive oil and beeswax.  Add the Beeswax to the olive oil keeping in mind that all you want to do is stiffen it up just enough so the mixture won't drip from the coated patch when you hold it between your fingers.  Warm the oil but do not heat it, then add one part of the BW, mix completely and place container in your freezer.  Then try it out; too thin - warm and add more beeswax; too thick - add olive oil.

I spent the afternoon dialing in loads, patch thickness and dialing the sights in and having a ball. Sounds like a good time, you might want to stick to what you are currently using and keep you patches close to you so body heat keeps them warm

Thanks in advance.

JW

[dfoster]

I, too, use the bees wax/olive oil mixture. I start with roughly a 50/50 mix and then adjust one way or the other til I reach the consistency I want. Usually more oil in cold weather, more wax in summer.

Nice thing about this mixture is it's multi-functional. I've used it for not only patching but waterproofer, leather conditioner, lip balm, etc.

[Red Badger]

I use spit all year round but I am in Oklahoma where it never gets cold......

[heatherhistorian]

I use spit all year round but I am in Oklahoma where it never gets cold......

Me too! 

[Hanshi]

As long as you can seat the prb it should be just fine.  When that gun goes "BOOM!", nothing on that patch is going to be cold or stiff.

[old salt]

I use bees wax and what ever vegetable oil Blue Bird has on hand at the time. If you get to much wax in the mix in cold weather you can punch a
hole in the patch. So you will have to do experimenting with the wax.
I usualy start with a 3-1 {oil to wax} and work from there.

[david32cal]

the best cold weather lube i've found is TOW mink oil. last few times i went out hunting i have been using Hoppe's #9 plus,which has worked great but i hav'nt tried it in cold weather yet.

[alsask]

Crisco works great as a patch lube plus you can use it for cooking as well.  It was as low as -20 when I was hunting and Crisco was no problem.  Hoppe's #9 black powder lube says not to store below 32 degrees right on the bottle.

[wattlebuster]

I like two. my first is totw mink oil it works great an the second is bear grease it also works great

[Red Badger]

Crisco works great as a patch lube plus you can use it for cooking as well.  It was as low as -20 when I was hunting and Crisco was no problem... 

i have a tin of crisco in my shooting bag just in case i need it, and I do use it over the ball in my revolver as an extra sealant