Shooting Traditional Firearms and Weapons > General Interest

Ed's Red Bore Cleaner (and other uses)

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Winter Hawk:
This is Ed Harris' formula with its history, plus a couple of posts for  another site on modifying it for use as a bullet lube.

~Kees~

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Uncle Russ:
Kees, I have never used it in a paste form, but I intend to to do that this weekend.
Still yet, I am a long time user of Ed's Red and I have used it 'straight' as a patch lube.

I put a layer of patches in a old beat up can of Griffith's Shoe Polish, the one with the little lever on the side for opening the can, and I add a bit of Ed's Red, then the next day or whenever, I add more patches and more Ed's Red....you can easily get 100 or more patches in the can with no problem.

After these patches are soaked, I squeeze out any excess, to where they almost feel dry, and you're ready to go.
The funny part, or good part you might say, is the fact those patches remain damp forever in that can...not wet, but damp.

Ed's Red has never found the recognition and respect it so rightly deserves amongst us Muzzleloaders.
Most Muzzleloaders will look at the ingredients / composition and think it is "to much for to little" with all the other Bore Cleaners available, why go to the time and trouble?
I fully understand that.

Many of the old-timers from the 1960's and 70's, especially those that had been using it, for years with slight modifications, knew it's value and passed it on.
Back in the 1970's, when Muzzleloading was first becoming popular, after many hunters and shooters had been 'burnt-out' from all the Magnum. Smagnum, shoot through 3 Zip Codes modern rifles & cartridges, they turned to Muzzle Loading.
Plus, the Bicentennial came along, and the craze started.
Unfortunately, at that same time, there was a lot of 'old wives tales' and flat-out misinformation by the self appointed Subject Matter Experts, that was passed along as gospel.
Also, there was no Internet, and any written material on the subject was often tainted by the Author's own view and ideas on the subject, while Ned Roberts book on The Muzzleloading Caplock Rifle was scarce as Hen's Teeth....The local Libraries may or may not have had a copy, and it always seemed to be checked out. (I didn't get my own copy until about 195)

Those same Subject Matter Experts also dictated what you would use to clean the bore of your rifle, and Ed's Red was never a part of this, and still to this day, receives very little press.

Thanks for sharing this with the group.
It is indeed good stuff, albeit a bit expensive on your 1st batch.
That same "batch" will last a shooter a long, long time.

Uncle Russ...   

Winter Hawk:
I'll have to try your method for patch lube; I've not added bees' wax, just used Ed's Red for cleaning.  What I have been using is Junior Lube from Junior Doughty (http://www.castbullet.com/), if for no other reason than to remember a great guy.

Kees

Uncle Russ:
I somehow thought that I'd be the only one to ever remember Junior Doughty.... :pray:

We communicated a lot back in the early 2000, and my favorite stories from Junior all occurred on that 'Crick' that ran near his house.
Seems all the good things in Junior's life happened on or near that 'Crick'....he was a very real person, not a keyboard cowboy. His up's and down's with his H&R 45-70, his casting and lube, along with his Black Powder experiences were all something that made for good memories.
His Blog made for some great reading and added a bit of humor to my life.
We could use a lot more Junior Doughtys in this world.

It's good to hear his name again.

Russ...

Maven:
Russ & Kees, Although I've used Ed's Red (still have  some on hand) for CF bbl.'s, it never occurred to me to try it for my ML's. I can't imagine it doing any harm, especially since I use WD-40 and ATF after cleaning with soapy water or equal parts of Murphy's Oil Soap, 2% hydrogen peroxide, and 90% isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol.  The question is, is it faster than the last mentioned concoction?

As for Junior's Lube, I don't doubt it either, and miss Junior too, but have you tried "Stumpy's Moose Snot" (patch lube)?  It's easily made and doesn't require lard, but only beeswax, Murphy's Oil Soap, and cooking oil* such as canola, olive, or peanut, and it's easily made.  If that isn't convincing enough, you can shoot at least 8 - 12 times without having to wipe your bore even when using 60 - 80gr. charges.

Btw, I realize that lots of things work as bore cleaners, preservatives, and patch lubes, e.g., PAM spray, so the stuff I mentioned isn't by any means the last word on the subject.


*Stumpkiller's original recipe specifies castor oil, but according to him any cooking oil will work, since castor oil isn't so commonly found these days and more costly when you do find it.

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