Great BP cleaning solution
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Haven't tried it. Usually I use hot soapy water.
Pretty much anything wet will clean blackpowder residue. The cheapest, wettest, most historically correct, available cleaning solution is plain old water. I’ve used concoctions and still do at times. Pretty much they don’t work any better than H2O. Your concoction would work well as a wiping solution between shots because it will evaporate fast. As a final cleaning regimen water is king.
bisleyjohn
Pilgrim
I use my own take on Ed’s Red.
I call it John’s Joose!
I call it John’s Joose!
Never used that, but considering how effective water is at cleaning blackpowder fouling, your mix of alcohol and Lestoil should be at least as effective as water and a squirt of dish washing soap.
Phil Coffins
69 Cal.
Magic mixtures come up often and prove that making this sport complex and more expensive is still with us.
Gtrubicon
50 Cal.
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I’m very new to black powder shooting, and cleaning. I have only used water with a drop of dawn in a small 2 gallon bucket, I put a patch on the jag, pump that water several times up and down the bore and done. I can’t imagine a more simple solution.
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Plug the breach , Pour in hot tap water w/ funnel , muzzle up. Let soak a little 'til the barrel warms. Dump out the dirty h2o , swab out with a few patches and or a bronze brush 'til the patches come clean. . Oil and put muzzle down , wipe again next day. Good to go.....
S.Kenton
58 Cal.
I’ve used all sorts of things… I find myself going back to water and a small squirt of dawn dishsoap… easy, cheap and effective..
I find a mixture of Ballistol and dihydrogen oxide mixed 1:10 at room temperature works just fine.
If a mixture will not dissolve table salt (test your concoction) it will not dissolve the salts in the fouling. that cause the rust and corrosion.
Especially if you are using the "P" stuff that is corrosive as all get out even in stainless steel hand gun barrels.
I have been using the above mixture for 40 years on my BP guns and have yet to have a gun rust.
Caveat: using real Gunpowder not the substitutes which is like substituting North Carolina river bottom moonshine corn whiskey for 50 year old single barrel Scotch.
respectfully
Bunk
If a mixture will not dissolve table salt (test your concoction) it will not dissolve the salts in the fouling. that cause the rust and corrosion.
Especially if you are using the "P" stuff that is corrosive as all get out even in stainless steel hand gun barrels.
I have been using the above mixture for 40 years on my BP guns and have yet to have a gun rust.
Caveat: using real Gunpowder not the substitutes which is like substituting North Carolina river bottom moonshine corn whiskey for 50 year old single barrel Scotch.
respectfully
Bunk
ohio ramrod
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Warm dihydrogen monoxide will work great and is cheap. Mixed with soaps or alcohol speeds up the process.
The problem is there a misunderstanding about what it means to "clean" firearms. Modern smokeless propellants and non-corrosive primers means anything, including doing "nothing" will work pretty well. However clean it "looks", there is a problem when dealing with corrosive residues.
Blackpowder is a completely different animal, now interestingly enough, the only chemical that dissolves salts as a class, is WATER. Somebody can run 950 oil soaked patches down their gun and it will never dissolve or remove all of the burnt powder salt residues embedded in the bore nooks and crannies and elsewhere. It will happily corrode the bore over time underneath a thick the layer of oil or grease. It won't matter how "clean" it looks. Oil does not neutralize salt!
That's why "hot soapy water" has long been the only way suggested to clean firearms using corrosive ammunition, it isn't because people are being cheap, or sentimental, it must be water or water based. It's basic chemistry 101, not opinion or stubborness.
We’ll if a 1$ bottle of alcohol and a 4$ bottle of Lestoil that will last forever is too much money for the longevity of your guns its not for you, soap and water is my go to, i was referring to running patches through for shooting and qiuck cleans should have made that more clear
RAEDWALD
40 Cal.
Warming the water is only for the user’s comfort and soap/detergent has no effect upon black powder so plain cold water is quite adequate.
The soap / detergent is for those times when you use an oil or grease based patch lubricant. Water doesn't dissolve grease. The detergents do act to remove the grease.
Except there is nothing there that will dissolve the salts that are a result of combustion. That mix may wear away the fouling but I doubt it wll get he corrosive materials in the pores of the steel.
Good luck it is your gun but I stick with water and Ballistol.
Put som e of the mix in a glass and drop in a sprinkle of tale salt.
Bunk
