Straight olive oil for patches??

[Smokey]

Not EVO. Just olive oil. Is there any reason to NOT use it as a patch lube?

[rollingb]

Not EVO. Just olive oil. Is there any reason to NOT use it as a patch lube?

Not that I'm aware of,... as long as it is "virgin" (pure) olive oil. 

[Uncle Russ]

Back when I first started this hobby, a few of the old-timers referred to Olive Oil as "Sweet Oil", and praised it to the high Heavens (in whispers) ....well, that sounded pretty cool to me so I started using it too. Hey, this is really neat stuff, I thought to myself.
Later on, when I started buying and reading books of the earlier times, and the Computer became more readily available, I found out that "Sweet Oil" was what almost all folks referred to Olive Oil as back in the day....and a lot of folks did use it for lube. In fact, Olive Oil could well have been the first commercial lube for Muzzleloaders. But Mutton was still preferred by the majority.
Have you ever taken someone for their word, as First-Hand Knowledge, on the QT no less, something that surely had to be a deep dark secret, and then suddenly felt hoodwinked when you discovered the real truth? 
I betcha those old boys went to their graves laughing at me!

Long story short, it works!
Its shortcomings are it will freeze in the winter, and it drips in the summer heat.
I'm told a small amount of alcohol solves both problems, but that's just hearsay.

Other than that, it works, when all the odds are on its side, as will spit, and plain water when available.

Russ...

   

[RobD]

If spit works well enuf as a patch lube, then literally *any* oil will be just as good if not better. 

[Smokey]

I know that soldiers polished their guns with a mixture of brick dust and 'sweet oil' (olive oil). So, I guess there is no apparent harm in using it as a patch lube. I have used small amounts to oil the lock. I think it may work nicely as a patch lube in cold weather.

[dmarsh]

Personally I use olive oil for cooking, gun oil for guns and spit/mink/bear oil for patches when shooting.  Spit for targets and mink/bear oil for hunting.  Just my method.  Your mileage may vary.   

[rollingb]

I found this on another site where olive oil was being discussed as a "wad/patch lube" for muzzleloaders,........

"Until very recently there were no controls on the content of olive oil. That's why it wasn’t produced here in the U.S. to any large degree.  When American olive oil producers complained about the imports being not all olive oil, regulations were set, and testing began, at least in California. Some of the imports turned out to have no measurable amount of olive oil at all. olive oil content, and acidity depends on where its grown, and when its harvested and processed. I know there is rigorous testing on any product called “virgin, or extra virgin, olive oil, but regular old olive oil that in Europe is considered lamp oil is primarily made from the skins, and pits, of the olive, and is subjected to a lot of processing. This processing no doubt involve some sort of food safe solvent. So the short answer is, only the producer knows for sure what’s in plain old garden variety olive oil."

Mad Monk had this to say on the topic,.......

"In the old days the olive oil was called sweet oil.  Never saw anything where it was used in any form in guns.  Food and soap as about it.  But in the old sources every time there was any mention of oil being used in guns it was always one of the grades of Sperm Whale oil.  Used in patch lubes. 
In paper patched bullets the paper was lubed with sperm whale oil.  But stored rounds would loose most of the whale oil in the paper.  The whale oil was volatile and would evaporate with time.  Also used to lube triggers and lock parts. 
Used exclusively on clock chains.  The clocks chains would have to be lubed one or twice a year to replace the oil that evaporated.  When they still hunted sperm whales the oil from the head cavity was kept separate from the blubber rendered oil which was used for lamp oil.  The blubber rendered oil would go rancid but not the head cavity oil.  When they cooled the head cavity oil they got the Sperm Whale oil used as a lubricant then the Spermacetti wax used in high priced candles.  You would see the spermacetti candles in churches and homes of the wealthy. 

The closest you can get to Sperm Whale head cavity oil today is Jojoba oil.  Then they had used real Sperm Whale oil is automobile automatic transmission in the 1950's and then switched over to a man made version of the oil which then also showed up as a plasticizing agent in PVC products."

[Winter Hawk]

Then they had used real Sperm Whale oil in automobile automatic transmission in the 1950's and then switched over to a man made version of the oil which then also showed up as a plasticizing agent in PVC products."

From the documentation for Ed's Red:

"Pratts Astral oil was nothing more than acid free, deodorized kerosene. We use K-1 kerosene of the type normally sold for indoor space heaters. An inexpensive, effective substitute for sperm oil is Dexron (II, IIe or III) automatic transmission fluid. Prior to about 1950 most ATF's were sperm oil based, but during WWII a synthetic was developed for use in precision instruments. With the great demand for automatic transmission autos after WWII, sperm oil was no longer practical to produce ATF in the quantity demanded, so the synthetic material became the basis for the Dexron fluids we know today. The additives in ATFs which include organometallic antioxidants and surfactants, make it highly suitable for our intended purpose."

[RobD]

What is the prime purpose of any patch lube?  To keep the resulting black powder residue soft for multiple reloads without fouling control (IF possible), and to prevent said fouling from hardening to the steel.

What is the purpose of the patch?  To hold the patch lube, act as a pseudo residue scraper of sorts, and prevent bbl leading (lubed patches are not "gas seals", there is no such thing).

Given a specific ball diameter used with regards to a gun's bore diameter and groove diameter, and with specific patch material and its compressed thickness and ability to hold something we'll call "lube", some of these "lubes" will work at least somewhat better than others. 

As always, testing required!   

[Ohio Joe]

I've done some testing with the "virgin" (pure) olive oil, and just about any other combination of mix with it... I've found no results that I'd be concerned with when using it...

I will mention that to me,,, a patch lube is nothing more than a "hunting" patch lube... All my other shooting is done with just plain old "spit" patching when target shooting. Nothing (IMHO) beats good ol' spit when firing a string of 5 shots (or more)...   

[rollingb]

Personally I use olive oil for cooking, gun oil for guns and spit/mink/bear oil for patches when shooting.  Spit for targets and mink/bear oil for hunting.  Just my method.  Your mileage may vary.   

Pretty much the same here! 

However,... I may give "extra virgin olive oil" a try when experimenting with SkyChief's loading technique, as it's cheaper than mink oil.   

[Uncle Russ]

A bit off topic, but I'd like to remind everyone of the old adage that, "Extra Virgin Olive Oil must've come from some very, very UGLY Olives".
So there ya go, that should settle that....lol

As was briefly mentioned by Winter Hawk, and I have this thought every time I hear the name..  Ed's Red, is hands-down the very best Lube, Cleaner, Preserver, that I have ever used, period!
I have been using it for better'n 60 years now and it is yet to let me down.

Russ...

[rollingb]

A bit off topic, but I'd like to remind everyone of the old adage that, "Extra Virgin Olive Oil must've come from some very, very UGLY Olives".
So there ya go, that should settle that....lol

As was briefly mentioned by Winter Hawk, and I have this thought every time I hear the name..  Ed's Red, is hands-down the very best Lube, Cleaner, Preserver, that I have ever used, period!
I have been using it for better'n 60 years now and it is yet to let me down.

Russ...

    

[Ohio Joe]

A bit off topic, but I'd like to remind everyone of the old adage that, "Extra Virgin Olive Oil must've come from some very, very UGLY Olives".
So there ya go, that should settle that....lol

Russ...

    

[JB67]

Olive oil is also great for leather. It doesn't go rancid.