Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders WonderLube 1000

Haven�t read all the posts but I�ll throw in my 2 cents anyway because I have some experience with the �TC Natural Lube 1000 Plus Bore Butter� and validation to go with it, not sure if it�s the same stuff as the OP �WonderLube 1000�. I shoot a 50 GPH flint with powerbelts. The only powder I�ve ever used in it is T7 loose and I�ve used 4f black and now null-b for ignition. A few years ago I started using Bore Butter exclusively, absolutely nothing else ever, no solvent, no water, no soap, no spit.

I shoot one time, butter a patch and push it all the way down and up, turn the patch over and swab the barrel in strokes top to bottom, run a dry patch down and up, shoot again. I�ll do this exactly the same indefinitely until I�m done shooting. In the field if I need a second shot I don�t worry about it I just reload. When I�m done shooting in the field or from the bench I do the above twice and in addition I�ll run down a final moderate to heavy coated patch of bore butter without following with a dry patch. That�s it, period! it may be in the safe until next year or until the next hunt. I don�t remove the barrel, I will clean the external area of the breech very well with butch�s solvent because the blackpowder gets that area grimy. I�ll wipe ALL external metal with a visible film of bore butter.

Today I got it out for a texas hunt in a couple weeks and because of this thread I ran the bore scope down. The last time I shot or cleaned this was after a moose hunt in Newfoundland in September. With a 17� borescope and a 32� barrel this is about � the barrel. I see what I believe is some embedded gold color that I suspect is from the gold plating on the powerbelts, there are a couple of very small tan spots that �may or may not� be extremely fine surface rust, just wouldn�t know for sure without running a patch down and have it chemically tested, really minor. Either way it isn�t something I would give a second thought. IMO this barrel is in excellent condition.

Quality of video isn�t great because the depth of field is extremely small and moving the scope in a huge 50 cal bore causes it to go out of focus and picasa degrades the quality when you upload. There is one squiggly aberration about halfway that is a piece of patch fuzz.

https://picasaweb.google.com/tundragriz/BoreVideos#5583400052852085970

Tundragriz,
I've had the same good luck as you indicate here. Well, maybe it's not luck.

I have used Bore Butter almost exclusively since getting my BP rifle some years ago. However, I haven't had it out for some years, but did get it out yesterday. I had put bore butter in the barrel after cleaning it some years ago as I had read in an article back then to do. Well, on getting it out yesterday there was no rust evident.

I used to lube patches also. I am a novice at this so bare with me. I have always understood that a person wants the fowling to remain soft. If it gets hard accuracy will suffer and loading will be difficult. How would a petroleum based product not cause the fowling to harden? It sounds like it does, but then again there are products I have tried. Also, wouldn't a non petroleum pruduct or natural help keep the fowling softer?

Same deal here. One of my sidelocks has been with me since new, 13 years ago. Literally thousands of rounds through it, 50 - 75 deer. I just shoot a lot for fun. Borebutter since new, and it still looks new. Also one of the most accurate muzzleloaders I have, around an inch, 3 shot, 100yards. Very consistant with different projctiles. Always meticulous about cleaning.

BigBlock,
Still waiting on the test results from the "pros" when you get a chance.
Thanks,

I must have asked a tough question.

No tougher than this one:

How would a petroleum based product not cause the fowling to harden?

The objective test results that bigblock posted are interesting, check 'em out.

its not just bore butter. Even montana xtreme let rust form on the outside of barrels in a 2 week rust test i performed.
http://frontiermuzzleloadin.powerguild.net/t1941-rust-prevention-tests

?? Montana Extreme is an ammonia oil copper solvent.

yes montana xtreme gun oil is what i used. The bores were protected just fine but its not really a good oil to use for external rust protection as it turned out.

It is just old school. Good Stuff.

BigBlock,
Thanks for the links. I keep my rifles in a safe with an electric (gold rod) device that stops moisture. Maybe that's why I've never experienced the rust problem found (while using bore butter/wonderlube) in the tests you have provided?

Nope, that don't account for it. Mine hangs on pegs on the living room wall and humidity runs 90% here all summer. No rust inside or out after 10 years.

Hey, I'm just trying to allow room for error...being the polite fellow that I am.

Well I guess ill add my 2 cents
I would agree that lubes are one of those things that is just a individual as loads.
Everyone has a different one and what works for one many times wont work for the next .
When it comes to seasoning barrels . The steels used today for gun barrels , do not season like an old iron barrel would . What they do, is wear in or break in . thus all those little sharp edges , micro scratches �.. All begin to smooth out or fill in . these are the areas where the iron of the barrel can begin to rust , pit and such .
These same things are what causes accuracy problems and why many time one sees accuracy improve after a given number of shots .
Its also why many folks seek out request the best barrels they can .

As to wonder lube .
Now I know that some of you like it and have had good results . But frankly I don�t .
IMO it sucks . In fact I don�t believe there is a worse product on the market when it comes to rust prevention or patch lube . In fact I believe this so much that when folks ask me what lube to use in the rifles I build . I tell them anything other then wonder lube / bore butter . A good quality Gun lube or oil will protect your muzzleloader from rust just as well as it will your center fires .
I would agree though that wonder lube does work well as a bullet lube . Just not for much of anything else .
Now there was a product called black duck . I really liked that . But you don�t see it hardly at all anymore . Pyrodex also had a lube . It wasn�t as good as Black duck IMO but it was close and still far better then Wonder lube / bore butter

When my wife started out she insisted on using it in her long rifle . She simply did not care to use a spit patch or other wet patch concoctions .
It took about 2 years of being sick and tiered of having to stop my shooting so as to clean her barrel � Getz� so she could again load . Now that she has switched to a wet patch , I don�t hear a peep out of here even after 30+shots

One thing that I have noticed is that those who often use higher charges have less issues with wonder lube then those using lower charges . So in all fairness maybe there is something to that . Maybe that�s how TC got 1000 shots . I don�t know . But I don�t see folks who use it on the range , getting even 5% of those numbers before they are hammering loads down or swabbing the bore . Me included

As to the rust issue and brown cleaning patch�s .
As the lube dries , it becomes hard and gummy like any grease does . I also don�t believe it coats the bore well regardless of how many times you swipe it down there . So IMO the brown color is not only small amounts of flash rust , but also the color of the dried lube .
I think most of us would never let a gun set long enough to see rust that would completely damage a barrel . that�s normally an accumulative issue .
If one however wants to see how wonder lube works . Just open an old box of conical and see how the lead has oxidized and how hard the lube is in the groves .
But again this is accumulative and takes time to happen .

When it comes to natural lubes compared to petroleum based . With modern barrels I think its more important not to be switching back and forth . Stick with one , quality type and you should not see any real problems .

Anyway . Those are my thoughts . If you like wonder lube/ bore butter ha go for it . But myself I think there are a whole lot of better concoctions that a person could be using that will protect the bore far better and give you a whole lot more shooting without swabbing between shots .
Hell I get up to 50 shot �PRB� between swabs , just using plain old spit .
In the end , the old saying of : take care of your gun and it will take care of you .
Still holds true . Myself I clean and lube all my guns at least every 2 months . No mater if I shoot them or not

LOL, cap, lubes are like opinions, everybody's got one?

Seriously though, good post.

Yes, good post Cap. Your experiences mirror mine. I use spit patch PRBs and can shoot all day at a rifle frolic and not have to swab the bore until cleaning time, given good smooth rifling to begin with. (I do switch to a greased patch if the load will stay in the barrel for a while, as in hunting.) Rust prevention afterwards is handled by BreakFree, but that is just my personal preference, testimony provided by zero rust in about 25 years now.

Like I said in an early post in this thread, the offer stands if someone provides the backing for me to prove/disprove the 1000 shot claims by the makers of WonderLube.

from my exsperiance with shooting PRB and depending on the quality of the barrel work. after around 25 shots , exspecialy with pre lubed patches using bore butter/ wonder lube . you going to need a hammer to seat the ball .
infact i have see it where literaly tha patch sticks and you have to drive the ball through the patch to even seat it ..

right now i have out in my shop a Dauglas barrel that had a stuck cleaning jag .
now granted , accourding to the customer , the barrel has set for around 5 years .

simply put , i could not budge the jag and broken section of RR . which was about 5 inchs from the breech face . i had to de breech the barrel and drive the load out ... on the jag was a pre cut ticking patch that i suspect had wonderlube on it as it looks very much like some of the old dried up borebutter i have
the rifling in that area is ruined
where it was setting . the rifling has not faired well at all

That's a shame. Is it long enough to warrant cutting off and re-breaching? My first thought was to send it to Bobby Hoyt and have the bore "freshened" but probably not worth it for a Douglass barrel.