Author Topic: Bore butter (Read 4071 times)

Bim · « **on:** May 26, 2003, 02:17:52 PM »

I picked some up recently and I was wondering what this stuff is? It smells awesome and the tube reads that it's food grade stuff. Anyone know what it's made of? :grin:

Triple Se7en · « **Reply #1 on:** May 26, 2003, 02:48:51 PM »

There are individuals on the net who have done research on the chemical make-up of Bore Butter, and have determined the ingredients are simply beeswax and olive oil. So, rather than paying several dollars for a toothpaste sized tube, you can get some beeswax and olive oil, heat them together, and have more for less. The wintergreen in the formula does nothing, other than give it a pleasant smell.
Per Ric Carter
Flathead Muzzleloading

Bim
I threw my bore butter in the garbage about an 1/2 hour ago after cleaning my T/C Omega. If I'm hunting... I only shoot a couple of shots with a dry barrel. Twice a year, I target shoot which calls for 7-15 shots. After every two shots, I remove the fouling with Remington Dri-Lube Spray. There's nothing in it that will harden in my rifling like bore butter does.

Bore butter does not inhibit rust so it's not wise to put it in the barrel as a replacement for gun oil when you store your rifle for a long period. The Rem Dri-Lube spray reduces friction & heat and increases bullet velocity just like bore butter. Yeah.. it costs more and someone here may offer you other alternatives... but that's what I use.

Thomas Krupinski · « **Reply #2 on:** May 26, 2003, 03:47:24 PM »

Bim,

I have used only Bore Butter in all my 9 traditional barrels for the past number of years and have no problems or signs of rusting.

The chemical composition is as Ric stated with I think a little yellow food coloring, and you can make it up relatively easily without the scent and dye. But I kind of like the wintergreen smell. I thought about making it myself and varrying the composition to make it more solid in hot weather, but never got around to it.

Also works wonders on chapped and windburned hide and as a lip balm.

Triple Se7en · « **Reply #3 on:** May 26, 2003, 05:39:25 PM »

Tom

You live in one of the driest regions in our country. Bim lives in Massachuset. Most people who live in a climate-controlled home or use a gun safe with humidity-drawing cannisters or coils should do fine with bore buttered barrels, but most people don't & that's why the recommendation not to store rifles with bore butter has been posted on a number of blackpowder sites that I visit on the net.

bubba · « **Reply #4 on:** May 27, 2003, 12:28:44 AM »

I live in upstate NY and use exclusively bore butter in all my guns with no show of rust or loss in accuracy. In fact my hawken is deadly accurate with a 250 grain lee real bullet and 90 grains of ffg goex. I lube the bullets with bore butter too.

mamaflinter · « **Reply #5 on:** May 27, 2003, 12:32:13 AM »

Tom Since you reside in Arizona you could just about throw your rifle down without cleaning it and not have rust problems. Some Civil War rifles have been found in desert conditions and found to be in fine order. I'm not throwing down on you, just telling you that's the difference in climate.

I live in VA which has humid weather in summer. We had bought the seasoning hype of bore butter and used it for quite a few years without problem. Then all of a sudden we began having problems. Bore butter does build up in gun barrels. We have 3 long rifles. Two of these rifles have never seen conicals (patched balls only) and one of them began having accuracy problems. It took 3 days of scrubbing with carburetor cleaner to get all the stuff out of the bore.

We have over 30 muzzleloaders and we are meticulous about cleaning. Five of them including a custom built muzzleloader showed rust in the bore from the use of bore butter. I do not recommend anyone use this for a rust preventer.

Bim · « **Reply #6 on:** May 27, 2003, 11:35:44 AM »

Thank you all for the info. I've always used blackpowder washed out with hot soapy water and applied a light coat of oil never had any problems. I just got a 209X50 and figgerd I'd try what's new. I guess the old stuff is tried and true huh?
Boy have things changed since I last shot blackpowder. I shot patched ball out of my old renegage. Now we have different powders, ignition systems, sabbot bullets and inlines with all kinds of actions. I think it's great and they are all still just muzzle stuffers. :grin:
Bim

Venator · « **Reply #7 on:** May 27, 2003, 04:30:24 PM »

I gave up Bore Butter after finding that it would not prevent rust in the bore. I switched to Ballistol - this stuff is amazing!

Chris · « **Reply #8 on:** May 27, 2003, 07:29:12 PM »

I'm right there with you Thomas and bubba...Bore Butter works for me too.

I spent several years in New Jersey, Virginia, Alabama, Oklahoma and most recently Arkansas. There can't be a more humid place on this planet than Arkansas...except maybe for Cambodia.

Always used Bore Butter...never had a problem...and it does the job. I still use it in my handguns, shotgun and rifle. I too take great care to clean and put my firearms to bed properly. Always finished the barrels off with a good pasting of Bore Butter. Guess I'm just lucky..huh? :?

It all boils down to works best for you and you tend to stick with it. But, it doesn't hurt to keep an open-mind.

Be Safe! ...Chris

snuffy · « **Reply #9 on:** June 26, 2003, 04:02:06 PM »

:roll: Well I was told by TC that bore butter was simply crisco, yellow dye and wintergreen oil. But what do the people that make it know? I've been using it for 25 years, no rust yet. It does season the bore, it can build up if not thouroughly cleaned.

I do know that petroleum oil has no place in a black powder barrel. It combines with powder residue to create a black tar that is near impossible to remove with water and soap. It takes heat and strong chemicals to remove.

Triple Se7en · « **Reply #10 on:** June 29, 2003, 05:11:39 AM »

OK all you bore butter lovers!

Want to take a test? Got a couple of old barrels you don't use anymore?

Put a good GUN oil in one.... a thin layer of bore butter in the other.

Place both barrels in your bathroom/shower room corner for the next 30 days. No picking it up... no peeking inside the barrel.

I dare you!

PS Snuffy

Do you really think T/C would tell you the correct ingredients of their bore butter recipe.... my God Man... are you always that easy to persuade? Do you always believe the gun writer reviews in magazines too... or gun manufacturer statements/high praises of their products?

snuffy · « **Reply #11 on:** June 29, 2003, 05:59:42 AM »

I would sooner trust the manufacturer of a product, than somebody who supposedly "tested" the composition of something. So I could be wrong in trusting a company to tell what a product is made of. It just made sense, shooters have been using crisco for years as patch and conical lube with great sucess.

In either case both compostions are "natural" vegetable or insect products. The point I made about keeping petroleum products out of your barrel still stands.

I've never heard of cooking with beeswax, maybe that's a new taste treat!

I have cooked with crisco though,(in reference to food grade on the bore butter tube). No, I don't believe everything written about guns in the rags. I'm too old to be gulible anymore. Hardly a skeptic, just file what I read for future reference, If the same thing come up 2 or 3 times it has some credence.

bfoster · « **Reply #12 on:** June 29, 2003, 05:44:11 PM »

James V. Howe, co-founder of Griffin and Howe, had the following to say about olive oil in his Modern Gunsmithing, Funk & Wagnalls, New York, New York, 1934, Volume I, p 342- (1941 printing)

"This oil is totally unsatisfactory, for it not only has a bad lubricating quality, but will rust and spoil any gun parts to which it is applied."

I don't know what is in Bore ButterÂ®, but a thorough hot water cleaning, with or without soap, failed to remove a hard brown deposit that was clearly visible with a borescope from the barrels of my muzzleloaders. This happened consistently with two out of the last three lots of Bore ButterÂ® that I purchased. If the deposit was not promptly removed, light pitting followed quickly, despite use of sperm oil in the bore. Removal of the pitting necessitated unbreeching the barrel to lead lap the bore.

The hard brown deposits can be removed by use of Iosso bore paste and lots of elbow grease. Once these deposits are removed normal oiling will protect the bore.

regards,

Bob

Thomas Krupinski · « **Reply #13 on:** June 30, 2003, 05:54:23 AM »

I guess if I was planning on storing my guns in the shower or in a lake, I would just coat them with cosmoline. However it would be wiise to remove any petroleum products prior to the interaction with the black powder fouling. It does build up a difficult to remove tar. However I do not find the bore butter build up difficult to remove. I will stick with it for a patch and bullet lube.

As far as the composition of the bore butter, from what I have been able to determine is it is a mixture of beeswax, virgin olive oil, and the wintergreen or pine scent. Now I think the olive oil is to thin out the beeswax and the scent has no useful value.

HWooldridge · « **Reply #14 on:** June 30, 2003, 09:26:38 AM »

I have four firearms that get shot with blackpowder, a Sharps cartridge rifle, a muzzlepoader and two revolvers. After a day's shooting, I clean with vinegar and hot water, then immediately wipe with plain old Hoppe's #9. I know it is only supposed to be for smokeless but seems to work fine as a preservative since the bores still look like mirrors and do not show brown when I pass a dry patch thru. What little film is left doesn't seem to affect accuracy the next time out. Using this method cuts way down on cleaning time but seems to be plenty sufficient for the job. In regard to this thread, I'm saying why use Bore Butter at all?

1860 · « **Reply #15 on:** June 30, 2003, 03:34:10 PM »

I've been using BB since the latter 80's with no rust trouble or build up. If you get your gun clean after shooting, almost any lube will prevent rust but put it up even a little dirty and you can expect some trouble no matter what you use. I only use BP and can't speak to what happens with all the subs.

Take a flat pc of raw/clean steel, coat half of it in your favorite gun oil(whatever) and the other half in BB, or Beeswax mix, then stand it in your garage for half a year(sure). I guarantee you the side with the oil will have much more rust: 2 reasons

1) The lube in this case is used as a barrier for moisture vapor transmission (MVT). Generally speaking, the thicker it is the less MVT you will have.

2) The thick grease will stay put longer than the thinner oil and do it's job longer. Why do they put grease on the propellershafts of boats and not some sort of oil?

1860