Best way to season a bore?

[roundball]

IMHO, based on my experience and research, a good oil, or very light grease are much better preservatives for modern ML barrels.

And I appreciate that we all may have different opinions and that's healthy.
For the record, I clean my steel bores so squeaky clean with dishwashing detergent after every use that the bores are bare raw metal and if I don't dry them immediately they flash rust.

Point being there is no buildup, no seasoning allowed in my rifles. However, I do use Natural Lube 1000 as my bore & patch lube...plastered right back in the bore in large amounts smeared onto lubing patches...only lube I've used for 17 years in several rifles, never lost a barrel yet.

IMHO the problem that some claim to have with bore butter is a user problem, not a lube problem...people either don't get a bore 100% clean and 100% dry before they apply bore butter over the top of what they've left behind...and/or...they don't apply enough of it.

 

[DBox]

I have enjoyed this discussion. If we all felt the same about everything we would probably all look similar and shoot the same rifles. My way works for me. You should use what works for you. Do you agree?

 

[Stumpkiller]

Whats the best way to season a new bp rifle bore?

I prefer big-game hunting season, but practice during woodchuck season and a little small-game season will get you and the rifle shooting well.

Heck, they're great in every season year-round!

 

[nw_hunter]

Easy to see why we have Republican, Democrats, and Independents.Everyone has a different way of doing things it would appear! :hmm:

I like Roundballs's take on it! He has been doing it his way for years and it works for him.Why do it any other way? I have another way of cleaning my barrels and it works for me! :v

 

[shortbow]

Yep, different strokes... and all that. :v BTW, the reason that folks don't get sick from cast iron skillets washed w/o soap is that when you heat them, the grease in the pores of the iron boils and kills any bacteria. I have been using a frying pan that belonged to my grandparents, parents and then to me and it has never seen soap and has never made anyone sick.

I have some friends who laugh at my old time cookware, while insisting on Teflon stuff, yet Teflon is proven toxic.

 

[hepburn4590]

The old wives are lurking here abouts. You season a skillet. You shoot a rifle. Just shoot it, clean it, and oil it.

 

[jtmattison]

Here's some malarky right out of a T/C sidelock manual...

When using an all natural, non-petroleum based lubricant such as T/C’s
Natural Lube 1000+ , the bore becomes seasoned with use, much like the surface
of a cast iron skillet. Fouling is greatly reduced, and as a result it is not
necessary to clean between shots, or even immediately after extended firing.
The reduction of fouling present and the void of any petroleum combine to
eliminate the corrosive effects on the steel. This does not mean that your obligation
to clean the firearm after use is eliminated. The use of T/C’s Natural
Lube 1000+ merely eliminates the need to clean between shots as excessive
fouling will not build up. You can also delay cleaning after you have shot for at
least the duration of your hunting trip without fear of damaging your firearm.
You should clean your firearm after use prior to storing it away, and in order
that you do not lose the “seasoned” characteristics already imparted to your
bore, you should clean it with a non-petroleum based cleaner such as T/C’s all
natural #13 Bore Cleaner. Once a petroleum based solvent is introduced, the
“seasoning” process is neutralized, much like washing your cast iron skillet
with detergent.


:shake:

HD

 

[roundball]

Here's some malarky right out of a T/C sidelock manual...

When using an all natural, non-petroleum based lubricant such as T/C’s
Natural Lube 1000+ , the bore becomes seasoned with use, much like the surface
of a cast iron skillet. Fouling is greatly reduced, and as a result it is not
necessary to clean between shots, or even immediately after extended firing.
The reduction of fouling present and the void of any petroleum combine to
eliminate the corrosive effects on the steel. This does not mean that your obligation
to clean the firearm after use is eliminated. The use of T/C’s Natural
Lube 1000+ merely eliminates the need to clean between shots as excessive
fouling will not build up. You can also delay cleaning after you have shot for at
least the duration of your hunting trip without fear of damaging your firearm.
You should clean your firearm after use prior to storing it away, and in order
that you do not lose the “seasoned” characteristics already imparted to your
bore, you should clean it with a non-petroleum based cleaner such as T/C’s all
natural #13 Bore Cleaner. Once a petroleum based solvent is introduced, the
“seasoning” process is neutralized, much like washing your cast iron skillet
with detergent.

:shake:
HD

As big of a TC fan as I am, I swear the same people who designed TCs early style Flint lock assembly must have written their owners manual...there's that one you listed and the other good one is:

"put 4F into the touch hole...filling the ignition channel with 4F lays a fuse from the pan into the main charge"
:shake:

But if we made a list of TC Pros & Cons...the Pros list would be very long compared to barely a blip on the cons list :wink:

 

[shortbow]

:cursing: As an old wife full of malarky, I googled "porosity of steel" and came up with 639,000 hits. All you experts might want to have a look as well. :rotf:

 

[rabbit03]

I think part of the problem aside from everyones personal opinion, mine included, is that we are trying to make the SEASONING into something that it is not! No one is saying, or at least I am not, that the steel in the muzzle loader rifle barrels yields to some type of non petrolium oil and it is then seasoned by impregnation into the steel. I think what needs to be clarified is that the rough steel inside the barrel (and yes it is rough under a microscope) is really only smoothed over with the carbon from this burnt grease from deer tallow or any other natural lube. It does this under tremendous heat and preasure and I believe as some do here that the bore will become seasoned in this respect and not like some are arguing, that it will or will not penetrate into the steel itself.

This seasoning affect does basically the same thing in a cast iron skillet whereby it creates a smooth slick surface and that is what we are trying to refer to as being seasoned, not that the lube works its way into the metal.

I would further say that each time you shoot you get a bit more carbon buildup on the rough interior surface of the bore but as you shoot each successive shot an amount of the carbon (seasoning) is scraped off flush with the surface of the bore preventing any excess buildup that would effect accuracy. So you would have a patched ball riding on a slick surface inside the bore made up of a small amount of carbon that has only worked its way into the little fizzures and depressions in the barrels bore.

This is only my thoughts and I can not back this up as of yet but one day will hope to do some experiments with a lube like hog lard, deer tallow or whatever and maybe cut open a barrel (an old one) to see under a microsope if this is not the case. I think a person could take a thouroughly clean barrel, cut off a portion of the muzzle and take that piece and cut it lengthwise for a standard showing the fine cracks and depressions present in the barrel. Then take and shoot the rifle a hundred times or so using the lard and then cut another portion of barrel off and do the same test as above and just see if the crevices are filled with a slight bit of carbon or not!

Cleaning could be done with hot water only to see if the carbon would remain in the bore, what your trying to see is not how well you can remove the carbon but to see if it gets down into the cracks and crevices under the high heat and preasure.

Now the question would be, does this filing in of the cracks and making a slick surface for the patched ball to ride along, make any difference in accuracy at all. I guess some might say that it wouldn't matter if there was an increase in accuracy and that it might make the bore less prone to rust if there were to be a slick coating of carbon in the bores cracks and crevices.

So now that we have seasoned explained we can now let the arguments continue (oops I mean discussions) :blah:

rabbit03

 

[roundball]

I think part of the problem aside from everyones personal opinion, mine included, is...

Notice that I was very careful not to take that step...I simply listed the cleaning & lubing steps I take with my rifles :grin:

 

[shortbow]

That last comment of mine was snarky and prideful and I appologize for it. :surrender: :v

 

[Old Sarge]

I highly recommend your way to season a bore. I also don't want any build-up of anything in my bores. Winter, spring, summer, fall...That's great! :hatsoff:

 

[bpbrs]

The old wives are lurking here abouts. You season a skillet. You shoot a rifle. Just shoot it, clean it, and oil it.

Correct you are! For you yellow stuff fellas who insist it is a preservative try this out.

Try cleaning your cast iron like a bore and see how fast it rusts up even after plenty years seasonings.
Seasoning a CI pan and cleaning it are 2 very important steps in the CI process to cook properly.

 

[roundball]

"...For you yellow stuff fellas who insist it is a preservative..."

By 'yellow stuff' are you referring to Natural Lube 1000?

If so, who insisted it was a preservative?

 

[jtmattison]

By 'yellow stuff' are you referring to Natural Lube 1000?

If so, who insisted it was a preservative?

T/C

:haha:

HD

 

[Snakebite]

Best way to season a boar, soak it in milk or salt water, use a good season salt and pepper rub and then smoke it for about 8 hrs with some good old Texas mesquite. That's the only boar/bore I think you need to season :hatsoff:

 

[Otter]

Best way to season a barrel is to shoot as often as possible during the winter season, spring season, summer season, fall season and hunting season . . .

 

[Zonie]

Roundball:
Although it doesn't come right out and say that the Natural Lube 1000+ is a preservative, the quote from the TC manual given above does say, "... You can also delay cleaning after you have shot for at
least the duration of your hunting trip without fear of damaging your firearm..."

This seems to say that the yellow stuff is not only a good temporary preservative but it so good it will prevent corrosion (rust) in a fouled bore for days.

Personally I not only disagree with that but I would never use the yellow stuff for a bore protection after cleaning my rifles.

:hatsoff:

 

[roundball]

"... You can also delay cleaning after you have shot for at least the duration of your hunting trip without fear of damaging your firearm..."

The problem with using examples like this statement is there is no definition of what is meant by the "duration" of the hunting trip...is it a day...3 days...a week...a month, etc...so it really doesn't make a clear point.

For me personally, I pay no attention to that kind of advertising hype...I completely field clean my rifle after shooting a deer before I ever drag it out...don't want that residue in my bore or on my lock even for a few hours.

I know some people are scared of Natural Lube 1000 mainly because of threads like these but it's obviously an excellent bore lube...too many people use it successfully for it not to be...just have to know how to use it as it is not a forgiving lube...ie: it won't make up for mistakes made by the gun owner...been fine for me on many rifles for many years...just bought several more more tubes on a Walmart end of year half price clearance sale, $3/tube
:thumbsup: