Patch lube on a budget??

Skinny 1950

Skinny 1950

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I am getting ready to take my .45 cal rifle to the range tomorrow and was wondering what to lube the patches around the .440 ball with. I have vegetable lard that I use with my revolvers, would this work or is there something else in the kitchen that would be better?
When I tested the rifle I used 30 grains of Goex fffG is this a reasonable amount of powder for this caliber rifle.
Thanks for the help.
 
Non-petroleum and you're set. As per usual, spit won't soften the fouling as well as other lubes, but especially if you have a brass range rod you're set regardless of how much the barrel cokes up.

No idea on the powder amounts...
 
My favorite lube is a mixture of beeswax and olive oil. The main key to shooting black powder guns accurately is to keep the fouling soft.

As a rough old-time measure of how much powder to use, one old rule was to hold a ball in the palm of your hand, sorta cupped, and pour on just enough powder to cover the ball.

You'll need lots more info and experience than that as time goes on, but that'll get you shooting for one day. Good luck.
 
I've used Crisco for a long time, that works. As far as a powder charge, 30gr seems a little weak for a .45 rifle. Check the manual or go to the manufacturers website. Anyways, it's good you're playing it safe.
 
I use Crisco too.

As to loads: in his "Black Powder Loading Manual" Sam Fadala tests several .45 cal rifles - he starts with 40 grs FFFg and goes up to 70 grs FFFg. He also recommends 50 to 90 grs FFg (up to 110 grs FFg in the Thompson/Center .45 cal Hawken). All with a .45 cal patched round ball.
 
Just to get you started, try 40 grains of FFFg and either spit or plain water for lube at the range. Keep patches wet but not dripping. Save the Crisco and other greasy stuff for hunting when the ball will remain in the rifle for hours. If time permits, try some 3 shot groups using more or less powder in 5 grain increments up to about 75 grains. My most accurate load is 40 grains and I use it in competition because it reduces recoil, muzzle blast and powder consumption. However, 70 grains also works well and that is my hunting load and for targets at 100 yd or further away. Moose milk, in it's several versions, works great but you don't have time to brew some up tonight. Search this forum for several recipes mentioned in the past few months or PM me for some recipes. Get your sights on the paper at 25 yd then do more shooting at 50 yds until you get some good groups. Have fun...
 
Patch Lube

I use windshield washer fluid (not the winter type), add enough water soluble cutting oil to it until it turns milky green, and then some Murphys oil soap (I add about a tablespoon to a jug of the fluid). So far its the best I've used. The hard part might be getting the water soluble cutting oil. I got mine from a machine shop. A 250 ml. container has lasted 5 years so you wont have to do this too often... A jug of windshield washer fluid will go a long way if you are just using it to lube your patches. This stuff is a pretty good bore cleaner too but I still prefer boiling water and soap for cleaning.

Cheers. Steve.
 
patch lubes

There are umpteen good recipes out there for BP patch lube.

I used 'Bag Balm' in the breech of one of my '63s recently as it has a high lanolin content - success!
That suggests that it ought to make a good patch lubricant as well. Get it at your local pharmacy, Lee Valley or rural Co-Op store
 
Thanks for all the suggestions....I just got back from the range,Mondays are a lot less crowded than Sunday.
I shot the rifle about 40 times today using a bit of vegetable lard on the patch,after each round I ran a nylon brush down the tube and followed that with a dry patch on the cleaning rod. After about 20 rounds I used a concoction of windshield washer fluid,a bit of anti-freeze and dish soap and followed with two dry patches. This seemed to work pretty good and I could have kept on shooting except I only brought 40 balls with me.
Here is a picture of one of the target at 25 Meters.

Range45rifletargets002.jpg
 
I prefer to shoot 60gr of fffg out of my thompson center for targets. I personaly use moose milk for patch lube but one of the old guys I shoot with uses extra virgin olive oil. he calls it sweet oil. and swears by it. never tryed it myself.
 
Thanks...I am pretty happy with my new rifle,it is not much to look at but the next time I take it out I will take some long skinny pictures of it.:D
 
Good start but I am sure you can get better groups with practice and adjusting powder charges, patch and lube to optimum. You did not mention what powder charge you used. You will find that different lubes affect the vertical distribution of your groups due to differing lubricity and therefore back pressure on the expanding gasses that affects muzzle velocity. Under good wind and light conditions at 25 yd a 5-shot group in one ragged hole is not unreasonable. Have fun & good luck.
 
I was using 30 grains of fffg Goex with a .440 ball in the .45cal rifle. A bit of vegetable lard on a .010 inch patch. I upped the charge to 45 grains for a couple of shots but didn't notice much difference. I really need to spend more time experimenting with this thing. Thanks for the replies...good stuff.
 
Anti-freeze?

Why are you using anti-freeze? I'm not sure if it will hurt anything but I would recommend that you use the regular windshield washer fluid just in case ...
Anyway, now what you want to do is try different patch thicknesses, ball diameters, and powder charges. Do you know the twist rate of the rifling in your gun?

Cheers. Steve.
 
Anti freeze has a rust inhibitor in it, I now have some special inhibitor used with water that should work better.
The twist rate on the rifle is about 1 in 60 as the nylon brush rotates slightly more than half a revolution in 33 inches.
 
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