Curl- I used bear 'grease' back in the 70's. I mistakenly rendered down the fat from the outside of the animal, instead of the interior oil. The outside fat is more of a shortening than an oil, however oil did form on top of the shortening in the can. This was poured off and used as an all-temperature patch lube. For shooting, it was inferior to what I use now, LeHighValley lube.
; The bear oil did allow several shots before fouling built up, enough for big game hunting, of course where only 1 or 2 shots are taken.
: For squirrel or rabit hunting where many mroe shots are taken, a better lube is required if one doesn't want to have to 'wipe' the bore. I don't clena until all the day's shooting is done, so I had to search for a better lube.
; Marmot oil is superior to bear's oil, btw. Those I took to test this, were shot at the top of Hudson's Bay Mountain in Smither's B.C., before that was made illegal. The marmot oil was very much better than bear's oil and also made a tremendous leather boot waterproofer - better than Sno-Seal or Dubbin. It would allow up to 5 or 6 shots with heavy loads, but not as good as lehighValley lube. I've yet to find anything that's as good as that stuff. In my match .40 barrel, LehighValley even oustshoots spit - both cleaner shooting and more accurate and I've never had to wipe at any time using spit. The commercial stuff is simpley superior in my barrels & my bros guns too.
: For me, it's worth it to use all the time, even though I have to order it from the States. We're due to order another case right away as I just ran out.
: BTW- mink oil(sold by Track) was about as good as bear's oil.