Anybody else just use lard?

[willysjeep134]

I have a confession to make, I am desperately cheap. I bought one tube of bore butter once. I think it came with the revolver I bought. Anyways, I used it and liked it for quite a while, but just recently ran out. Being the cheapie that I am, i decided to find a more economical solution.

I used lard, yep, good old cooking lard, and I can't really tell the diference other than the smell. In my revolver I started using wads after I ran out of bore butter, so I haven't used much lard in it yet. In my .50 CVA Plains Hunter however, I am using lard as a patch lube and preservative with much success.

First thing I did was to give my barrel a good hot soapy water cleaning and let it dry. Then I ran a larded patch down the bore and wiped the outside down with a soft cloth with a little lard on it. Two weeks on the rack in my basement and I see no problems yet.

So, I decided to go to the range with my brick of lard and some cheap cotton flannel cleaning patches. My load is 90 grains of FFg Elephant under a .490 round ball. This load shot 1" groups at 50 yards, which I was extatic about. Before, with some pathetic muslin patches and bore butter I was barely hitting 6" circles at 50 yards! I'm sure the flannel patches are the reason for my accuracy now though, not just the lube.

After a few shots I still get fouling in my gun. I can't shoot more than 3 shots without swabbing, but I never could with Bore Butter either. I swab a patch with some lard and carefully work it down the bore a few times and I am ready to shoot again.

I am pretty happy with lard. I pay $1.00 a pound for it instead of $7 or $8 for bore butter. I have also heard that lard is similar to Bear Grease that was used back in the golden days. Supposedly bear grease seasoned the old soft iron bores back in the day. I'm hoping that, even with modern steel, the lard might "season" my bore a little and I might not have as much of a fouling problem. Even if it doesn't help, I'm still saving money.

[Stoots]

I've used lard before in my Renegade.  Bacon grease too...  I use them on seasoning my cast iron cookware (I'm a big fan of iron cookware) and had great results.

I just steer away from petroleum stuff in my frontstuffers.  I like the lard idea, thought...


Jason

[Keith Lewis]

In case anybody cares;  lard is a major source of oleic acid which is a very effective extreme pressure lubricant. Automotive manufacturers have had rocker arm balls impregnated with oleic acid to reduce wear and eliminate the noise possible if the ball is not properly lubricated. Just one of the reasons it works well as  a muzzleloading lubricant. Problem with use on revolvers is that it tends to become liquid at too low a temperature so it tends to run out of the chambers after shooting a few times.

[clodbuster]

willysjeep  I'm guessing you have/like them.  Mine is a 52 CJ2 with an F head engine.  Everyone beggs to go for rides just to feel the history.  Any way reports are that wonder lube is mutton tallow and beeswax with wintergreen oil for flavor.  I make lube with beeswax, I got for nothing, and mix with olive oil or lard.  They work great.  Add more wax in the summer, less in winter.

[ogemakw]

...does anyone know if the salt in commercial lard and bacon could become a problem?...just wondering :roll:

[IntrepidWizard]

Vegetable base Crisco,no animal base or Bacon----NACL eats barrels.

[Ramrod]

Yep, I vote for lard too. If it contains salt it will be on the label. And for minies in my Enfield I also stiffen it with beeswax. Never a problem, never any rust. I use it in my revolver sometimes too, but I'm trying to use up the 10 tubes of CVA grease patch I bought on clearance for less than $1.50 a tube a few years ago. The CVA stuff doesn't work near as well and I can't cook with it, but I'm too cheap to throw it out.

[filmokentucky]

Beeswax and salt free lard. Works great and the beeswax keeps the lube from running out of revolver chambers on a hot day. Sometimes a little olive oil--it seems to keep it soft on chillier days.

[willysjeep134]

Yep, yep. Mine's a 1947 Willys CJ2A. Right now it's in storage until I get that engine rebuilt for it.

I made some lard stiffened with parrafin one time. I got the ratio wrong and it was far too stiff. The stuff would cake up and fall off the patches. If I try it again I might go with beeswax. Really the only thing I might need a stiff lube for is my revolver so if I ever find some of that wool Frost King weatherstripping and make wads for the revolver. Otherwise, the pure lard seems appropriate for a muzzle loader rifle.


The lard I get says it has no salt added. Probably pretty close to old time tallow.

[Gun Runner]

I use the flannel patch and lard on my 50 cal and works fine.
My jeep is a jeepster 72 Commando,304 amc V8 jimmy th400 trannie. It came from the factory like this. My engine has about 15-16 thou on a rebuilt  engine and just had the trannie rebuilt couple monts ago. It aint purdy, and paint faiding, but gets me any place I want to go.

Gun Runner

[fffffg]

fats and waxes change properties as the temperature changes.. better lube for rifle shooting is bear oil or neats foot oil then it goes into many many home remidies..   shotgun, anythnig cheap seems to work well..  for cold and hot weather neatsfootoil will be more consistent in rifle.. in cold weather its hard to manage, hot weather it increases volocities (or loweres pressure)  considerably..  the oil can be varried acoorrding to conditions, less on first shot, more on cold or dry days, less on high humid days,etc  this giving best accuracy all other things equal..  goodluck dave.

[Charles/NM]

Seems like any slimey organic goo works pretty well.  I use T/C lube because I'm lazy and it comes in an easy to use tube.  I have bees wax, MOS and castor oil in the shop that I will eventually mix into a Moose slime concoction.
In the past had a '42 Willys, a '61 and 63 CJ-5.  My current Jeep is a 87 Suzuki Samurai - sorta drives like a flathead Jeep with a good transmission and real brakes.

[Keith Lewis]

Charles/NM: My ride is an 87 Samurai tintop with a spoa four inch lift locker in the front and Maxxis snow tires. Just pulled out my elk in mud and snow. I agree like a jeep but with a transmission and transfer case that will shift and brakes that work. Lard can change from oleic acid to oleic acid salt which is not a very good lube and can be corrosive. It usually happens with a temperature increase. I'm not sure where it would happen in the combustion of a muzzle loader but it concerns me enough to stay away from lard or bacon grease. If it works for you more power to you. The condition usually resulted from the oleic acid being heated too long and since the combustion process is very short this may not be a problem.

[quickdtoo]

Lard can change from oleic acid to oleic acid salt which is not a very good lube and can be corrosive.....

I agree with ya Keith. Ever wonder why our forefathers had their barrels "freshed", new rifling cut to a larger bore? The use of animal grease as patch lube and bore cleaner/lubricant would completely corrode the rifling out the the poor barrel metals of the day. Not something I prefer to do on a regular basis, on purpose!

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

Willysjeep,

I'm one up on ya fer cheapskatedness.  I use the deer tallow from deer I've shot.  Since I chose to hunt in place of golf, all my license fees and ammo replaces what I would be spending on green fees and balls, so the money is a wash.  Therefore the cost of my lube is zip, nada.

I just cut off the pieces of white tallow and throw 'em in a big canning pot of boiling water.  I let it boil for a long time.  Then I turn off the burner and let the whole mess cool.  The fat hardens at the top and I pour out the gunky water.  Then I replace with fresh water and boil again.  Depending on how scummy the water is when I pour it out I may repeat this until I'm satisfied.  Then give it a final filtering through a brand new T-shirt.  Then both the T-shirt and the rendered tallow are ready for use.  If you're married, your wife might insist that you use one of your already seasoned T-shirts instead.

I'd avoid bacon grease or animal fat that hasn't been rendered in this process.  By boiling the grease, you are removing water soluble impurities.  Those are the ones most likely to pit your bore.  

The best way to prevent your gun from rusting too bad is to shoot it at least weekly.

[riddleofsteel]

Back when we first started shooting muzzleloaders in the 1970's we were building .45 CVA Kentucky rifle kits purchased from Davidson's when it was in Greensboro, N.C. In those days we used Crisco for a lube. We used a punch to cut our patches, melted Crisco in a pan and threw in the patches. Then we would fish them out with a fork and sit them on wax paper to dry. Always worked and the Crisco does not stink from going rancid in the patch box like lard can do.

[jgalar]

If it wasn't for muzzleloaders Crisco would be out of business....
I never use the stuff for cooking just shooting.