[Ironwood]

As some of you know, I'm kinda new to muzzleloading. I was really getting discouraged because of the difficulty in loading a second shot without cleaning the bore. I've been using Elephant FFG and Pyrodex RS in my .50 caliber CVA Hawken. Didn't matter what load 60-90 grains of either with a .490 patched ball, patches pre-lubed or lubed with a well know patch lube, the fouling was so bad and so hard it was almost impossible to load a second ball without cleaning the bore first.

All of that changed yesterday! I read an article by Mamaflinter about a Moose Milk patch lube. At this point I was ready to try anything. I followed her recipe to the letter. At the range I poured in some Pyrodex RS, sprayed a little of the Moose Milk on a .015 pillow ticking patch, topped it with a .490 round ball and drove it home. After the first shot I ran a wet patch down the bore as I had been doing. Lo and behold! The cleaning patch went right down the bore with hardly and interference!
After drying the bore I fired 5 more without cleaning the bore at all. The patched ball went down very smoothly.

After the fifth shot, from the un-cleaned bore, I ran a cleaning patch soaked with TC #13 down the bore. There was very little fouling. After drying the bore I fired 10 shots without cleaning. Two of the last 3, of those 10, were almost touching and the third was only about 1-1/2" away at 50 yards. Not to bad for these old eyes and open sights.

Now muzzleloading is as much fun as I first thought it would be! Thanks for posting that recipe Mamaflinter!

 

[johnt]

Mamaflinter's Moose Milk Patch Lube get 2 t

That is good news Ironwood. :lol:
Mammaflinter has a whole website set up with some darn good links.
Sometimes it(aw heck,most times)it's best to follow one school of thought!
That girl will steer ya right,just do what she say's,and watch the old boy's dicker,ya might just pick up a few more bit's n pieces here an thar.
Good luck to ya,makin smokes fun!

 

[Ironwood]

Mamaflinter's Moose Milk Patch Lube get 2 t

I'll sure do that johnt. I was all ready to go back to the range today but it started raining. The patches I was using the last time were precut. I went to Wal-Mart (took my mic with me) bought a yard of .015 pillow ticking. The good kind with the blue and white threads. After washing the pillow ticking I did as, I think it was fredj suggested. I tore the ticking in a long strip, rolled it up, put it in a 35MM film canister, and soaked it with Moose Milk patch lube. Can't wait to try cutting patches at the muzzle.

I was wondering if anyone can tell me how far past the muzzle I can seat the ball before cutting the patch. I know just at the muzzle would be best, but my short starter will probably push the ball a quarter inch into the muzzle if I'm not careful. Will I be able to pull the ball back up flush with the muzzle?

I made a loading block from some cedar I happened to have on hand. The first time I tried cutting a patch there I took a chunk out of the ball. On the second try I took a chunk out of the loading block.

 

[kevin]

mamas moose milk

Well ironwood i can help mabe the short starter should have two things one a short starter end with about.150-155" long that will help seat the round ball with your .015 patch and .490 or .495 ballwith just enough clearance to cut your patch at the muzzle, then turn the short starter to the longer end, and give it a tap with your palm. extract the short strater and contiue with your ram rod or range rod ,to complete the process, it sounds like alot of things to do but after a few balls you'll become fast and efective, i hope this will help.
kevin

 

[johnt]

Mamaflinter's Moose Milk Patch Lube get 2 t

I like usin cut at the muzzle also.
And I remember that same quandry. Nope, cain't pull the ball an patch back,don't work,if ya pull too hard then yer right back where ya started.
Cedar is purtty,but a might soft. Sum fellers just use the hardwood handle of their knife,ya know like a flat slapper type thing ta drive it,and then be carefull bout' cuttin. Don't wanna shave the ball! Not that I have ever done that!!
If ya got onna them store bought starters,that got a round ball for a handle,then just use the side of the wood ball to start.
Or take that brass starter thingy upside a bench grinder and take some off it. Just a little at a time cause ya cain't ungrind it! Leave just a little bit of the brass extruding.
There is grand debate to date, of the excess cloth beyond the seated ball.
From what I seen, a little extra cloth don't matter,as long as a feller does it the same each time.
Keep it Fun,and keep on learnin! Ask Mama,she'll tell ya,honest.

 

[mamaflinter]

Mamaflinter's Moose Milk Patch Lube get 2 t

Thanks everyone for the nice words.

Ironwood glad to hear that the moose milk helped your shooting. Johnt is right, there are lots of great links on my site(s). If you find more you'd like to see added, feel free to send them to me. Although cedar is pretty, if I were going to cut the patch at the muzzle I'd recommend a hardwood just so you don't slice pieces out of your loading block. I use cedar, but I don't cut my patches at the muzzle either. We buy ticking by the yard and precut them ourselves at home. Start the ball just under muzzle flush, 1/4" should be fine. Don't get it too deep as your patch will have a longer tail on one side than the other.

If there's ever anything I can help anyone with, please feel free to let me know.

 

[Ironwood]

Mamaflinter's Moose Milk Patch Lube get 2 t

Thanks to everyone for the great information! I've got to admit I'm really hooked on muzzleloading. Mamaflinter I've got your site in my favorites. Thanks for the Moose Milk receipe. It's a joy to use.

 

[mamaflinter]

Mamaflinter's Moose Milk Patch Lube get 2 t

Thanks to everyone for the great information! I've got to admit I'm really hooked on muzzleloading. Mamaflinter I've got your site in my favorites. Thanks for the Moose Milk receipe. It's a joy to use.

Ironwood glad to hear it makes shooting easier. I like using it too.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Does anyone have a link to Mamaflinter's site, that they could post?

 

[Winter Hawk]

Mamaflinter? Now THERE's a monicker I haven't seen in ages! Googled it and what do you know, her site popped up: www.mamaflinter.tripod.com/

She hasn't been on here since 2004, though she was pretty neighborly before then. Give her our regards!

-WH-

P.s. - Now that's weird! I clicked on the link I just posted and Tripod doesn't find it. When I Googled it it worked just fine. Maybe one of our confuser gurus can do better!

-WH-

 

[quickdtoo]

The google link is a cached copy, here's her recipe...

Tim

Moose Milk


I am often asked for the recipe to make this lube. This is not something I invented, it was brought to my attention by another shooter and I found it works great as a patch lube.

Moose milk is made easily at home. To do so you will need the following ingredients:

Napa water soluble cutting oil (if your local napa store doesn't have it in stock the part number is 765-1526 for 1 pint)
Murphy's oil soap
1 liter water bottle
water
rubbing alcohol (optional)

Fill water bottle half full with WARM water. Add 2 oz. each of the water soluble oil and the murphy's oil soap. Shake well and watch it turn white. This means it is mixed. Once mixed it won't unmix. Fill bottle up with water.

If you live in or hunt in an area that has alot of sub-zero temps. you can replace the water with rubbing alcohol to prevent it from freezing.

This is a fine lube for patches and keeps fouling soft.
********************************************************

This is intended for a PATCH LUBE ONLY! Do not use it as a rust preventer after cleaning as the oil will absorb moisture from the atmosphere and could result in rust.

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGHP_en___US445&q=mamaflinter

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Thank you both very much, very neighborly of you. 8)