barrel cleaning

[fishindoc]

can i use original hoppes gun cleaner with blackposer to clean my barrel
joe

 

[Russianblood]

You can but water would clean it better.

 

[renovato]

The solvent won't get out the corrosive residues. Same with firing corrosive ammo. You need water to dissolve the corrosive salts. That's why black powder solvents are water based. I use Ballistol mixed with water for cleaning. I use it as a patch lube too. It works great for both.

 

[roundball]

can i use original hoppes gun cleaner with blackposer to clean my barrel
joe

To be honest, I'm not sure it would break down the BP fouling or not...but IMO, russianblood has it right...the simplest, cheapest, best cleaner is water...I happen to like steaming hot soapy water & a hot water rinse to get the barrel hot which then aids in drying...but plain tap water probably works too.

The main thing is to dissolve and flush out all the corrosive salts, then get the bore absolutely bone dry, then cover every square inch of the bore with lube as a barrier to the air which holds moisture.

And if it's not 100% clean and 100% dry BEFORE covering it with lube, rust will form under the lube...a problem that a lot of people attribute to a lube failure, when it's really a process failure on the part of the owner.

Lots of cleaning approaches work as long as the end result is achieved: 100%, 100%, 100%.

 

[Lone Carabiner]

No, use hot water first. Put a toothpick in the nipple and pour hot water filling the barrel. Let it soak for awhile, pour out, then redo. Then use GO-JO on a bore mop to wash the barrel and repeat. Dry the barrel and use GO-jo again on patches.
This is a field cleaning, at home of course you have plenty of hot soapy water which will get the powder fouling. Dont forget to use an old toothbrush around the nipple drum. :v

 

[szihn]

In my shop I use a mix of 3 parts rubbing alcohol, 2 parts hydrogen peroxide and 1 part Murphy's Oil Soap. Plug the vent or nipple and pour about 1/2 a shot glass of this mix down the barrel. Put your finger over the muzzle and slosh the gun around until the entire bore is coated. Pour it out and do the same thing again with another 1/2 shot glass full.
Pour it out and dry the bore with cotton patches, and then lube it with your choise of good rust preventing lube.
About one time a year do a vinegar clean.
Start with a clean bore, and plug off the nipple or vent. Pour in 1/2 shot glass of white vinegar and let it stand 1 minute.
Pour it out and follow with a hot water flush several times to prevent rust from the acid of the vingar. Again, lube it with a good rust preventing lube.
This eats up the hard fowling that sometimes builds in the breach of muzzleloaders and looks like limestone. If you do the vinegar clean about one time a year the hard foul never builds up much and you don't get misfires due to cloging.

 

[Kentuckywindage]

Take a little bottle and mix 50/50 with Rubbing alcohol and windex! It just taking all the fowling right off. I cleaned my flintlock yesterday with it and used MAYBE 7 patches total. That includes dry one's. Give it a try, No rust issues with my barrel.

 

[Birddog6]

Lots of dif. ways of cleaning. Personally, I would not put anything acidic or corrosive in the barrel such as peroxide, clorox, vinegar (mild acid), etc. The best solvent for BP is Water. And if you do swab with alcohol, it is imperative that you swab it with a rust inhibitor as it will start rusting about 30 seconds after you do the alcohol treatment.

Same thing if ya use hot water, you need to dry it well & Imediately swab with a rust inhibitor because with hot water it starts flash rusting as soon as you dry the bore & it starts cooling.

Anyway, here is how I have cleaned them for years & it works.....

I use this cleaning method with a Flushing Kit to clean all my flintlocks & percussions, longrifles and halfstocks.

I use a good healthy squirt of dishwater liquid soap & a gallon jug of cold water for the flushing solution. (or 2 oz of Ballistol per gallon of water in a jug)

I put the rifle upside down in a cradle & remove the lock & have the barrel end a little lower than the muzzle. This way if I get any seepage out of the clamp or fitting, it stays on the Outside of the barrel & drips off the barrel & does NOT go down into the barrel channel.

Next thing I do is take a breech scraper & scrape the accumulated fouling off the breech face. It takes about 15 seconds & knocks all that thick crud off the breech face. (Note: they make a special scraper for a GPPR & T/C patent style breech or you can take a standard blade scraper in .36 cal & make one for them by rounding the edges of the blade to the contour of the patent breech interior. On a 40-45 you may need a .32 cal on for this)

Then remove the range rod & invert the rifle muzzle down & bump the breech with your hand the fouling will fall out.

Now put the rifleback in the cradle upside down & connect the Flushing Kit & wet a patch, put it on a jag on a range rod with a bore protector & take it to the breech & then suck the barrel full of the solution & just leave the rod hanging out at the muzzle, with the barrel full of solution. (You may need to support the rod at the handle).

Then while the barrel is soaking I & clean the lock asm. under faucet with a old toothbrush, blow dry with air & or dry with a paper towel & take a tiny screwdriver & work the towel into the cracks & etc., then spray the lock down entirely including the flint, with Ballistol aerosol & pat dry with a paper towel & set asside.

Back to the rifle in the cradle, I take a cleaning jag & a tight patch, & start swabbing back & forth in full strokes to flush the barrel real good for about 20 strokes. Change patches & do it again, change patches and do it again til I am sure it is clean.

Then I take the jag off & put on a breech scraper & check for any fouling. Scrape if necessary & if there is any fouling I put on a Breech Brush & brush the breech. The back to the jag & wet patch & flush again.

Then I swab with a dry patch a time or two. I wad up 2 patchs & put them in the bore & shove them to the breech with the jag & hold it there tight with the ramrod & then take a worm & pull it & check it for moisture & fouling. Then I do 2 more. And 2 more if necessary to BE SURE THE BORE IS COMPLETELY DRY.

When dry, I then squirt a lil Non-Aerosol Ballistol in the barrel from a pump spray bottle & wet a patch real wet with same Ballistol & again swab & force some out the vent. (By doing this you just lubed the cone of the vent.

When I am satisfied it is lubed real good, I install the lock & close the frizzen on a dry patch so any excess Ballistol will run out the vent & be absorbed in the patch at the frizzen.

You can do all the same with BreakFree which I used before I found Ballistol & it works good also.

Now keep in mind this is not a "Maybe" this will work, this is a "I KNOW " it will work proceedure.

Some tell me I go to too much detail, I know it works. I know I don't have any rust in the bores of my rifles & have done this for 30+years, so it must work.

It is IMPERATIVE that you get ALL of the moisture out of the barrel and at the breech before you put the gun oil in the bore.

It is IMPERATIVE that you Reswab the bore the Next day & the 3rd day just to be sure you got it all lubed & etc.


:thumbsup: Birddog6

 

[Old Charlie]

I shot my Old Army in stainless steel day before yesterday. When I went to clean it ,I tryed some Hople's #9 I had laying around. It cleaned it very well. The gun had been shot the day before and left over night before cleaning.
Old Charlie

 

Stainless is a bit different from the normal steel used in MLers...I use just tap water followed (after the gun is nearly clean) by a little Lehigh Valley Lube, which appears to have some type of oil soap in it. This is easy and cheap (and the Lehigh is not necessary). After cleaning I coat the bore with mink tallow, but bear's would be better. I think a key is to plug the vent or nipple and fill the barrel with water right after shooting if possible--let the gun stand vertical for a few minutes to dissolve and soften fouling, then decant. After that it is easy...

 

[fishindoc]

thanks for all the reponses to the cleaning of my flintlock barrel. it has been very educational. why however are my posts being moved around to other forums. I am not a stupid man and don't like to be baby sat- with that said maybe an explanation is in order
thanks joe

 

[TN.Frank]

Ballistol will also kill the crossive salts that are left behind by black powder. Granted, water is cheaper and that's what I use for my first clean up, then I follow it up with a couple three patches with Ballistol then I dry it with a couple patches then run a patch with olive oil down the barrel to protect it. I run a olive oil patch down bore every week or two just to keep things lubed up. :thumbsup:

 

[fishindoc]

thanks guys for all the tips- i tried the windex and it worked great i couldn't believe how much residue came out- i never new gunpowder was basically a water soluble salt
:winking: joe

 

stay away from BORE BUTTER to store your gun.its ok to use to shoot with.i also dont use HOT STEAMY water as it causes flash rust. i use luke warm water and dont get that rust.i think bore butter and flash rust is what is causing a lot of bores to rust.use WARM water and avoid this problem.

 

[Halftail]

This is a funny topic.Ask 50 differany guys their cleaning methods and you will most likely get 49 and 1/2 differant answers.Some guys will swear what works for others is deffinatly not the thing to do. :haha:
I am a little reluctant to even answer any cleaning question posted on the web.However,I have introduced a few first time BP Shooter/Owners to my cleaning methods firsthand and they are still in the "game" with fully functional firearms. :v

 

[hawkeye1755]

Yip, your are right Halftail.When i started ML in the last century :grin: , i ask alot of questions about cleaning the barrel.It starts with: Take the barrel from the stock, put it in a bucket with cold,no, warm,no hot water.The next one said never remove the barrel from the stock.Do it only one time in the year when you make a ' great cleaning'.Never understand what he mean with 'great cleaning'. :hmm:
Cleaning the barrel is a never ending story for every ML shooter.
:hatsoff:

 

[TN.Frank]

Yep, no matter how well you clean and lube it you should still run a patch with olive oil or Ballistol down bore every couple weeks to keep the rust away. It's somewhat a "labor of love" but I think it's well worth it to shoot the guns of my ancestors. Flintlocks Rule. :thumbsup:

 

[Birddog6]

Swab every two weeks ??

How about swab once every 6 mo or so ? If you have a good rust inhibitor in the bore & the gun is stored in a dry climate, you sure don't need to swab it every couple of weeks. Be that the case I would be swabbing 1-2 every day to keep up with them !
Also, I have barrels that I buy in advance to build rifles with that I swab good with Ballistol & wipe them down good with it & put them back in the tube & don't see them again for 2-3 years & when I get them out they still look like new, inside & out.

Now if ya live in New Orleans or VA Beach or someplace where it is humid & damp all the time, yes, you may need to swab more often, but as a general rule the rust inhibitor Should be good enough that you don't have to swab them all the time. I know several guys with 75-100 dif. ML's..... They would be swabbing all the time ! :rotf: :rotf:

 

[CrackStock]

It starts with: Take the barrel from the stock, put it in a bucket with cold,no, warm,no hot water.The next one said never remove the barrel from the stock.Do it only one time in the year when you make a ' great cleaning'.Never understand what he mean with 'great cleaning'.
Cleaning the barrel is a never ending story for every ML shooter.

Undertaker,

The answers given vary for different situations. People live in different climates and use different guns in different ways. I have had some experience with different situations, so I can see merit in different answers.

If you have a hooked breach gun with a halfstock, then pulling the barrel and putting the breach end into a bucket of water is a convenient method of cleaning. If not for the sights, one could take a bath with it.

If you have a pinned barrel fullstock, then pulling the barrel is a lot of trouble for no reason. Plug the vent or nipple and slosh water in the bore until it runs cleans. Follow with some cleaning patches and then drying patches and then lubing patches.

Water temp is truly personal preference. Either way can be managed. I have used hot water and believe that unless you dry and lube the bore very quickly, it will form a rust film quickly. I did this at home when I shot in competition near my home.

I normally use cold after hunting. I believe that unless you dry it carefully, that you can get rust later, so I am careful about that step. I use cold since it is available in the creek where I hunt and I can clean my gun in the field rather than leave the fouling in the bore for the drive home. This also makes less mess in the wife's house.

Lube is another issue where there are multiple options that work well. I use Rig 2 Sportsman's Oil. It is a water displacing oil that works very well for salt water fishing equipment and also for my ML guns. I know that people use Ballistol and Sheath gun oil and claim good results. I have also used 30 weight auto oil (I had it in my truck in case I needed it) when I had nothing else and this worked very well. I use alcohol to clear this out before shooting.

Others claim that Crisco vegetable oil or commercially available Bore Butter is better. They state that petroleum residue causes fouling in the bore, but I have tried both ways for substantial periods of time and believe that the difference in fouling has more to do with powder types; sizes of charges and patch lubes used than the bore preservative used.

As to great cleaning, I suspect that the writer meant to clean once, but was wanting you to do it very well rather than often. I like to run a white patch down every bore at least once every 90 days just to be sure, but then I am from Louisiana and now live in the Carolinas. Humidity is a big concern. I follow this inspection patch with a lubed patch -- just to be sure. When I lived in Indiana, I was not so careful as it was quite dry where I lived.

Different answers for different situations...

CS

 

Hoppes #9 Plus, the original, is not intended for black powder. It's mostly ammonia and is great for copper fouling and smokeless powder fouling and not bad for lead fouling.

Given the more than lengthy diatribes regarding cleaning a muzzeloader this has been a most amusing thread. Thank you for posting your question.

Vic