Alcohol patches during cleaning.

[Shack56]

I carry a few sealed alcohol swabs in my bag, good for cleaning and drying the flint and frizzen on damp days.

 

[longcruise]

I had an experience that convinced me not to use alcohol to wipe between shots.

I arrived at the range and discovered I'd left my homemade wiping mix at home at that time I was using 1/7 NAPA/water as patch lube and wiping solvent. I had plenty of pre treated patches so I decided to wipe between shots with some 70% isopropyl that turned up in the bottom of the shooting box.

The alcohol patches were near impossible to pull back up out of the barrel. On the last effort I had to hook the handle of the range rod around around a shooting line cover support to extract it.

At that point the session ended

I had not yet learned of the wonderful properties of spit. :haha:

 

[longcruise]

We do endure many many repetitious posts here. I and many others are equally guilty of these repetitions. However, there are many new members here who have not seen your previous posts and have come here seeking information.

If you find it monotonous to repost information, you can write it once and copy and paste it when needed. Or, open a site with your info on it and reference it with a link.

Or, Claude could dump the entire board into a giant cauldron and boil it down like maple sap until it contains the pure essence of the knowledge within. Then simply close the board and leave it with only it's search function. A newbie could absorb all of it in an evening.

A second process could also be initiated wherein the knowledge is boiled down to it's wisdom! The risk being that there may be nothing left :haha:

 

[Grumpa]

... all of the elements of loading and shooting procedures are inter related. It's hard to look at one element on it's own without examining how it affects and/or modifies other elements.

This is a grain of wisdom that all of us should keep in mind.

 

[Billnpatti]

:hmm: Hmmmm After having considered what you said, I have come to the conclusion that there is wisdom to be had there.

I surely don't mind sharing my cleaning method with all who are interested. I just don't want to bore those who aren't. So, I just offer it to whomever wants it just for the asking.

 

[Greenjoytj]

Sound like the alcohol wipes were working it dried the fouling out to cement. Too many shots not enough damp wiping. The wet patch got past the fouling and now the dried out patch can't loosen the cement like fouling. You should have dribbled more alcohol down the side of the stuck ram rod to soften the fouling and wet the patch again.

 

[longcruise]

That probably would have worked. I was wiping after every shot.

 

[Danny Ross]

Well if you found it and I stand corrected. I have only went by what the pharmacist had told me many years ago and have NEVER seen alcohol at that percentage. Where did you find it at? DANNY

 

[deseeb2001]

I use alcohol after the water cleaning process. Not for further cleaning, but to eliminate moisture.

This is all I do as well, just at the very end of my cleaning before I lightly oil the bore.

 

[azmntman]

Where did you find it at? DANNY

Looks like a SAFEWAY purchase

 

[longcruise]

:haha: :haha: :haha:

I'm going to check it out at the local Safeway.

 

[gunmaker43]

Windex, been using it for 30 years, bores are bright. Wipe between shots on range & final clean up followed by WD 40.....Tom

 

[Danny Ross]

We don't have Safeway around here.

 

[Col. Batguano]

Me too, and then blow it with the compressor (both through the touch hole and from the muzzle end) after drying the wet alcohol with 3-4 dry patches. Then oil it. Never had an orange patch after 3-4 weeks between shooting when getting ready to shoot again. Probably more than I need to do, but you can never be overly clean when it comes to gun bores.

 

[eaglesnester]

Just checked the label on the 4 liter bottle of isopropyl alcohol it reads Shelbri Chemical Sales (Canada) 99% Class 3 UN1212 P>G>II

 

[smoothshooter]

Using alcohol patches is the main step in my cleaning process.
Be sure to use 70% Isopropyl Alcohol only. Using alcohol for this with more than 70% will not remove all of the fouling because it evaporates too fast. The 70% Isopropyl contains enough water ( 30% ) to give adequate " dwell time " for the fouling to loosen up.
Always follow up the alcohol with the oil of your choice after the alcohol completely dries.

 

[Hunter John]

Never heard that before, but seems to make sense.

I've always mixed 91% alcohol with windshield washer fluid...50/50. Makes a nice field cleaner as well.