Bore Butter question?
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Northern Plains
Posts: 138
Bore Butter question?
I am fairly new at muzzleloading so hang in there while I ask some easy questions. After cleaning your muzzleloader, do you leave your barrel squeaky clean or do you run a patch of bore butter down it? And before shooting are you supposed to clean the bore butter from your barrel or not? Thanks
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 1,607
RE: Bore Butter question?
Bore Butter[:'(]
Seriously though, some people love it andthat's great if they do. I have no use for it. I use Rem Oil. BirchwoodCasey has good products as well. When you are ready to shoot it next, you will want to run a wet patch or two down the bore followed by a couple dry patches to get the excess oil out, then pop a couple caps/primers.
cayugad I'm sure will catch this and give you his detailed procedures but my advice would be to leave the BB alone.
Seriously though, some people love it andthat's great if they do. I have no use for it. I use Rem Oil. BirchwoodCasey has good products as well. When you are ready to shoot it next, you will want to run a wet patch or two down the bore followed by a couple dry patches to get the excess oil out, then pop a couple caps/primers.
cayugad I'm sure will catch this and give you his detailed procedures but my advice would be to leave the BB alone.
#3
RE: Bore Butter question?
TNHagies and I agree on this. Bore butter is a great product. It is an excellent conical lube, even a patch lube for shooting patch ball. As something to protect my bore.. no thanks. Now there are many people that use it to protect their rifles. And all I can say is.. their rifles. Birchwood Casey Sheath a.k.a. Barricade is my favorite gun oil.
Thompson Center started this whole idea of bore butter seasoning the bore. While a lot of people claim this a benefit, I did not. I was a bore butter user. And then I gradually saw the accuracy of a rifle decrease until it was not fit for shooting. I talked to the old man who taught me muzzleloaders and he laughed and told me I was a bore butter shooter. Get that stuff out, and the rifle would return. So I boiled water, plugged the nipple, filled the barrel and then, wearing gloves, with a brass brush scrubbed the bore. The chunks that came out of that barrel to this day still shocked me. Bore butter has never went back in that rifle.
Then a couple years ago, this bore butter discussion was again addressed, so I took one of my rifles, bore buttered it the way they told me would work. And almost every day for three weeks, shot the rifle and bore buttered it up. At the end of the three weeks, I noted no advantage in loading or cleaning, and I had to change the powder charge once to keep the accuracy going. So the accuracy was fading. I then removed the bore butter and treated it the way I treat all my rifles now. Also I was getting some off colored patches when I swabbed the bore. That bothered me.
I clean my bore nice and clean like you described. Then I get a patch good and moist with Sheath and swab that bore in short strokes working down and up the barrel a couple times. This works especially good if the bore of the rifle is hot when you do this. For as the metal cools, it sucks that Sheath into the pores of the metal. I have yet to have a barrel rust when protected like this.
Then before I shoot the next time, take a patch and wet it with isopropyl alcohol. Then swab the bore with that patch. Then a couple dry patches after that. Leave the last dry patch in the bore down in the breech. Then you can test your fire channel with what ever ignition system you use. Pop a #11 cap or what ever and pull that patch. If if shows burn marks, then you are ready to load, as the bore is clean and dry, and the fire channel clear. Your rifle will fire.
Thompson Center started this whole idea of bore butter seasoning the bore. While a lot of people claim this a benefit, I did not. I was a bore butter user. And then I gradually saw the accuracy of a rifle decrease until it was not fit for shooting. I talked to the old man who taught me muzzleloaders and he laughed and told me I was a bore butter shooter. Get that stuff out, and the rifle would return. So I boiled water, plugged the nipple, filled the barrel and then, wearing gloves, with a brass brush scrubbed the bore. The chunks that came out of that barrel to this day still shocked me. Bore butter has never went back in that rifle.
Then a couple years ago, this bore butter discussion was again addressed, so I took one of my rifles, bore buttered it the way they told me would work. And almost every day for three weeks, shot the rifle and bore buttered it up. At the end of the three weeks, I noted no advantage in loading or cleaning, and I had to change the powder charge once to keep the accuracy going. So the accuracy was fading. I then removed the bore butter and treated it the way I treat all my rifles now. Also I was getting some off colored patches when I swabbed the bore. That bothered me.
I clean my bore nice and clean like you described. Then I get a patch good and moist with Sheath and swab that bore in short strokes working down and up the barrel a couple times. This works especially good if the bore of the rifle is hot when you do this. For as the metal cools, it sucks that Sheath into the pores of the metal. I have yet to have a barrel rust when protected like this.
Then before I shoot the next time, take a patch and wet it with isopropyl alcohol. Then swab the bore with that patch. Then a couple dry patches after that. Leave the last dry patch in the bore down in the breech. Then you can test your fire channel with what ever ignition system you use. Pop a #11 cap or what ever and pull that patch. If if shows burn marks, then you are ready to load, as the bore is clean and dry, and the fire channel clear. Your rifle will fire.
#4
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: River Ridge, LA (Suburb of New Orleans)
Posts: 10,917
RE: Bore Butter question?
Don't bore buttermyself. I get the barrel squeaky clean and dry, then run a patch with light oil down the bore - Rem Oil, 3 in 1, etc. Before loading, I run both sides of one dry patchand have never had any problem.
#10
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Rivesville, WV
Posts: 3,192
RE: Bore Butter question?
I use Bore Butter to lube my patches for my flintlock if I am shooting roundballs in it. I also use it to lube my conicals that I pour myself. In my flintlock I just lube the bullet with my fingers. In my Knight MK 85 I do not lube the conical at all.
IMO bore Butter is at it's best as a lube for patches. I prefer it over a spit patch. I had a fellow with a bore scope show me the damage a spit patch can do over time to your barrel.
Bore Butter is easy to apply, and you can leave the rifle loaded all week if you like. Just keep the rifle in the environment that it will be used in. I have never had any problem's with misfires, as long as I did not allow a bunch of condensation. Tom.
IMO bore Butter is at it's best as a lube for patches. I prefer it over a spit patch. I had a fellow with a bore scope show me the damage a spit patch can do over time to your barrel.
Bore Butter is easy to apply, and you can leave the rifle loaded all week if you like. Just keep the rifle in the environment that it will be used in. I have never had any problem's with misfires, as long as I did not allow a bunch of condensation. Tom.