I want to do more patterning of several shotguns. I have access to a patterning board (actually a large square of boiler plate) at my local trap club. There is usually a bucket of grease/paint (?) there but when I go to use it the stuff seems to be dried up and/or barely useable. So I want to come up with my own plan for this.

Is there a spray grease that might work? Something that I can spray on and roll out from shot to shot? I picture buying some elcheapo paint rollers for this and simply throw them away at the end of the day. And if no spray is available, perhaps mixing up a concoction that I keep in a very sealed container that might only require a stir stick when I go to use it once every couple months.


Would like to hear from somebody that has already done this drill and completed the trial-and-error stuff.

Usually gun clubs will have grease in a 5 gallon bucket that can be rolled on a steel plate with a paint roller after each shot, works great and is easier than paper. I have never heard of a spray grease.

If you keep the lid on the grease bucket it will last a LONG time.But most gun club patterning boards don't get the attention they deserve and the grease is rarely taken care of

The club has a bucket there, but when I went to use it I encountered exactly what you described; the paint/grease was air hardened and the roller handle a mess.

The spray grease I was thinking of was whitish lithium stuff, but it might be too runny/clear.

So I hope somebody knows of a recipe for paint/grease that won't splatter when I roll it and might last a year in my garage sealed up between uses.

Rattle can white spray paint.

May not work if the plate has been previously greased up. If so, don't try and reinvent the wheel. White lithium greese. Hide your own supply in the weeds if it comes to that. For any rolled on greese based idea to work it has to be thick and messy. Nature of the beast. The roller lasts a long time, little reason to throw them away after each use.

Butcher paper, if you have a way to hang it.

Now if you are really serious there is the "Lucky Weasel"

And no mess.

http://www.luckyweasel.com/

Here's a simple mixture with desirable properties for patterning boards:



Blakely's website: http://www.peteblakeley.com/

Perhaps you knew this already: Do not pattern steel shot against a steel patterning board. Steel shot will bounce back toward the shooter.

--Bob

Thanks Bullshooter, that is the info I am looking for. I will let you know how that works out. -MN

Neither the local Lowes or Home Depot had any of the titanium dioxide. I called a specialty paint shop in town and they wanted $107 for a can (gallon?) of some pigment stuff. I did find what I needed via Amazon and got a pound of it. Mixed it up 4-1 with vegetable oil and it works really good. It does make for a slimy concoction that splatters and is a bugger to get off stuff, so my kit when I go to the range includes rags and latex gloves. I found a plastic roller cover at Home Depot that I am storing the roller in, (something that came about on Shark Tank) . I'm storing the liquid mixture in a liquid detergent bottle my wife used up. It has a pour spout, seals up good, and has a handle.

I made up about a quart of the stuff and that should last me several range patterning outings. Found it doesn't take much of the mixture on the roller to roll out a fresh coat on the steel patterning plate. I've made two trips about five days apart and the mixture hadn't dried completely to the touch in the high desert sun/heat.

Here's a pic of the stuff I got and mix 4-1 with vegetable oil

[img]http://i.imgur.com/YvDYmZB.jpg?1[/img]