About lube:

I am a great believer in Ballistol; that German gun oil. Use it straight as a preservative in place of synthetic oils. Mix it 30:70 (Ballistol & water) with water for cleaning your barrel after shooting or for wiping between shots. In a pinch, the cleaning fluid works quite well as a patch lube as well (spit patch with an attitude!) I do not use water for cleaning my guns - ever. Especially hot water flushed through a barrel will seep into the breech threads and cause rust; no matter how much oil you add afterwards.

The lube that I use is a derivative of the old Felix bullet lube, adapted for muzzle guns. As follows:

2 parts neatsfoot oil
1 part castor oil
1 part lanolin
bees wax to taste.

Method: Heat the neatsfoot and castor oil till it just begins to change color. Don't burn, please - it stinks! Reduce temp and add lanolin. Add beeswax to taste (for patch lube, a little; for bullet lube, a little more.) You can test the consistency by dipping a cold knife blade into the mix; the lube will set on the cold metal and you can test consistency.

On some makes of oil (depending on who sells the stuff), you may need to add just a sliver of Murfey's oil soap (sodium stearate) to get the two oils to combine. To test, heat a small volume of the two oils and then let cool. If it combines, you're ok. If it seperates on cooling, add a little soap to the hot mix (it foams!)

This stuff is magic. I use it as a patch lube, a bullet lube, a bore conditioner and preservative. It's kind to wood. I resize my cartridge cases with the stuff. A dab on a wood screw allows it to screw into a tight hole without splitting the wood or siezing. I even add a little over dried release agent just to make doubly sure the bedding job does not stick. Best of all, it contains no petro chemical products so there is no powder contamination.

Last tip. Before loading up for the first time, pour some pure alcohol down the barrel, let it run out of the nipple/vent. Cant the rifle so the stuff does not spill on the wood. Cleans all the oil residue out of the gun and I've never had a miss fire.