Never cared for Thompson bore melt (aka bore butter.) Odor and propensity to turn to near liquid at 80 degree's did nothing but antagonize my effort to enjoy a lovely day of shooting. So without little hesitation I switched to Ox-Yoke's Wonderlube. That heavily scented wintergreen concoction was a tad better in the heat to keep its intended form but plugged my sinuses due to its nasty smell also. So I decided to do some on-line research. I found that at one time there was a product marketed that had (all) the characteristics I was looking for in a patch lube. A bottled Lube & cleaner and one noteally very effective at preventing corrosion. LeHigh Valley Patch Lube the Trifecta of patch lubes. So I was told. _Unfortunately it was discontinued. _ I received a Tip from a friend and Traditionalist shooter stating that a very near duplicate product was now marketed._ Shanandoah Valley Black Powder Cleaning Solvent and Patch Lubricant. What a welcomed improvement over all those greasy and other oily patching liquids.
I now can shoot repetitive shots without swabbing my barrel and it seems to keep my barrels crud softened. No doubt about that. Cleaning up after a days shooting has been a breeze too, and as advertized its proven to me to be a excellent rust preventative also.
Here are a few home-made recipes I've tried myself. Moose Milk one's for those interested. And a smear on lubricant without that horrible Wintergreen scent oh so many have grown fond of.
Olive Oil & Bees wax - Mix olive oil into melted bees wax in small amounts. You want your patch lube to be a little stiffer than Crisco, but not to the point where a purposely flexed patch shows the "cracked lube look."
Moose Milk: Your typical 1 oz Shot Glass is handy for this one.
1 shot: of water soluble oil "Ballistol"
1 shot: of Pinesol.
2 shots: hydrogen peroxide - 3% solution.
20 shots: of H-2/O _water.
When weather turns very cold to the freezing point, you can add 2 shots of Alcohol to your mix to help prevent it from freezing.
Recipe for another form of moose milk:
Castor Oil 4 oz.
Murphy's Oil Soap 1 oz.
Witch Hazel 4 oz.
Isopropyl Alcohol (91%) 8 oz.
Bottled Water (non-chlorinated) 16 oz
http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_experiments/corrosion/corrosion.html