Bore cleaners

[user 28522]

Do any of the supposed bore cleaners on the market do anything more or better than hot water or hot soap and water? Curious because T/C has their #13 bore cleaner and Butchs has a black powder bore cleaner. I haven’t searched a bunch so I’ll bet there are others. Seems at this point they would have faded away.

 

[SDSmlf]

Do any of the supposed bore cleaners on the market do anything more or better than hot water or hot soap and water? Curious because T/C has their #13 bore cleaner and Butchs has a black powder bore cleaner. I haven’t searched a bunch so I’ll bet there are others. Seems at this point they would have faded away.

Hard to beat warm/hot water and a little soap for cleaning up blackpowder residue. The commercial made stuff can work and has its place, with some folks having their favorites. Personally, I have had bad experience with TC#13 and will not temp fate with it again, though some seem to love it.

 

[TreeMan]

The commercial stuff is good for making your pockets lighter. Water, Dawn, windex, 409, or any concoction that is wet will work just as well.

 

[jackpine54]

Water works great, or if you want exotic and high tech you could use water with dawn dish soap!
Never had anything work any better.

 

[tenngun]

You might go all real high tech and heat your water

 

[user 28522]

That’s what I was thinking, some of these have been around for awhile so I just had to ask.
Don’t worry though, I’m not going to ask about lube!!!
Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[doubleset]

You might go all real high tech and heat your water

Many of us now have things in our houses called "faucets" which you can turn "on" or "off". Also in many cases, one of these faucets is connected to a supply of hot water.

 

[tenngun]

Many of us now have things in our houses called "faucets" which you can turn "on" or "off". Also in many cases, one of these faucets is connected to a supply of hot water.

Weren’t no faucets at Rendezvous Pilgrim

 

[SDSmlf]

Weren’t no faucets at Rendezvous Pilgrim

Believe the first faucets showed up at like 1500 BC. Lead pipes may have been all the rage, but can’t say faucets haven’t been around for quite some time.

 

[appalichian hunter]

Many of us now have things in our houses called "faucets" which you can turn "on" or "off". Also in many cases, one of these faucets is connected to a supply of hot water.

Yea but it is much funner heating water over a campfire. Is funner a word. I had a young lad ask me one time at a rondy what ya heating that water for, so I told him my rifle gun needed a bath, he up and says I dont like baths, told him me neither but the rifle does.

 

[necchi]

do anything more or better than hot water or hot soap and water?

Nope.
p.s. I take that back,, "tepid' water is fine. No need for "hot" water.

 

[Notchy Bob]

Nietzsche said, "This is my way. What is your way? The way doesn't exist."

I think we all have our preferences. I like hot water from the Mr. Coffee for cleaning at the end of the shooting day, and usually put in a little Dawn detergent for the first go-round, then follow with clear hot water to rinse. I use distilled water (89 cents per gallon at the local market) for this. Search for the thread title "Flash Rust" for recent and extensive discussions of water and rust.

However, I do like to bring a solvent (usually T/C #13) to the range for wetting patches for wiping the bore when needed. I have used plain water for that and it helped, but I think the solvent probably did a better job. The dispenser bottle is convenient.

There was a famous thread on this forum in (I think) 2020 with the simple title of "Boiling Water!" Which ran on for pages and pages. The late Zonie (rest in peace) eventually locked it, but you could probably find it with a search. It's worth reading.

I recently had an old pistol barrel relined and found it had a goodly amount of some kind of heavy grease in the bore when I got it back. In rummaging through my plunder I had just found an un-used pint bottle of Hoppes #9... The old formula... The good stuff... aromatherapy for shooters... and I used this for removing the grease, followed by the normal muzzleloader cleaning routine. Hoppes makes a blackpowder-specific solvent, but I've had no compelling reason to try it. I think the primary ingredient in the original #9 formula was kerosene. I don't know what's in their blackpowder-specific solvent.

I was lucky in that I had my dad for a mentor many years ago. He taught me his methods but also encouraged thoughtful open-mindedness. My methods and materials work well for me.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

 

[JackP]

I've used Windex with vinegar for about 20 yrs to clean my BP Cartridge rifles and muzzle loaders. Use a little WD 40 to displace the water then dry patch until dry then oil with Mobil 1 full synthetic. Never had a speck of rust even on those that aren't shot very often. I do use water in muzzle loaders to get out all the powder residue before the windex.

 

[Brokennock]

I'm all for straight up water, and maybe a little dish soap if really needed.

However. There are times, and weather conditions apply here, that I just really don't want to be messing with a bunch of water. (Though my little hose gadget from Dave Crisali makes this far more tolerable) Sometimes time, sometimes weather, is a factor.

So, what if we change the question slightly? What if we take the focus off cleaning, which water does just fine, and place it on the neutralization of the acids and salts that burnt black powder residue had that causes rust and corrosion?
What can one use as a quick swab or two, maybe a quick rinse and dump, that will neutralize these acids and salts?
We will go back and clean the crud later, for now we just want to eliminate the damage that crud can do.

 

[stikshooter]

I'm all for straight up water, and maybe a little dish soap if really needed.

However. There are times, and weather conditions apply here, that I just really don't want to be messing with a bunch of water. (Though my little hose gadget from Dave Crisali makes this far more tolerable) Sometimes time, sometimes weather, is a factor.

So, what if we change the question slightly? What if we take the focus off cleaning, which water does just fine, and place it on the neutralization of the acids and salts that burnt black powder residue had that causes rust and corrosion?
What can one use as a quick swab or two, maybe a quick rinse and dump, that will neutralize these acids and salts?
We will go back and clean the crud later, for now we just want to eliminate the damage that crud can do.

Would that not be the black powder residue that your plain water is famous for removing that causes those nasty conditions? Yup in the old days pee /Ed

 

[Kappa]

I use Ballistol and water 1:6 for patch lube and to wipe between shots use old cotton t shirts for cleaning patches between shots. For cleaning dawn dish soap or Doc Bronners and water.

 

[Brokennock]

Would that not be the black powder residue that your plain water is famous for removing that causes those nasty conditions? Yup in the old days pee /Ed

I don't know, is a quick swab of just water enough to neutralize the acids and salts? Or because you just added an oxidizer that those acids and salts use to create rust,,,, did you just make the problem worse?

 

[ronaldrothb49]

It's kinda like the better mouse trap. You cand spend $1 for 2 mouse traps or you can spend $10 for a mouse trap but they both just catch mice.

 

[LME]

Do any of the supposed bore cleaners on the market do anything more or better than hot water or hot soap and water? Curious because T/C has their #13 bore cleaner and Butchs has a black powder bore cleaner. I haven’t searched a bunch so I’ll bet there are others. Seems at this point they would have faded away.

We play with B.P. weapons for enjoyment. Our ancestors used their B.P. weapons to stay alive. The only thing they had to clean their weapons was water. They didn't have Dawn , Ballistol and God only knows how many other choice we have to use to clean ours! Most of the products out there are made to sell . A lot of the companies don't give a Rats_%SS whether they work or not as long as we buy them.

 

[Surfinator58]

That residue is no joke! Years ago after cleaning I stood up my beloved Flinter on the butt the few drops that were left in the breach dripped out of the touch hole burned an ugly scar of oil finish off of my stock I had to redo the entire thing