Bore cleaners

[LME]

We have extremely hard water where I live so I once mentioned using condensed water from the dripping air-conditioner and just any old dish soap and got a few rather severe replys. My "sacrilegious" post about not using only or just Dawn got the attention of a handful of diehards who wanted to know why I wasn't using the revered Dawn. Is there really any difference?I personally feel alot of readers would be surprised to find out it's the water and not the "magic" Dawn that's doing the work.

I use whatever my wife brings home after grocery shopping. They all have worked?

 

[Okie Hog]

I've used Windex with vinegar for about 20 yrs to clean my BP Cartridge rifles and muzzle loaders.

The slightly acid Windex with vinegar eats up the residue of black powder and the substitutes which is base.

Before leaving the firing range i run a patch wet with Windex with vinegar. At home cleanup is a snap.

 

[doubleset]

I personally feel alot of readers would be surprised to find out it's the water and not the "magic" Dawn that's doing the work.

When you're dealing with something where the primary issue is solvency in a particular fluid, this is almost certainly true. The Dawn, or Simple Green, or Moose spit, or mink pee may help in emulsifying any types of grease or oil or residues that aren't water soluble, but a lot of the residue is water soluble. So that falls to the H20.

 

[doubleset]

Cruel dilemma: to have a bore really clean or be quickly rid of the "chore of cleaning"...

One must approach the chore of cleaning as a Zen exercise. Only then will you be at peace, and one with your firearm. This is the way.

 

[Erwan]

One must approach the chore of cleaning as a Zen exercise. Only then will you be at peace, and one with your firearm. This is the way.

Yep, the time of cleaning is a moment of ZEN meditation and relaxation after target shooting.

I’m shooting four days the week, preparing the material (each rifle have he’s box), I rarely shot two days one following the precedent with the same rifle. When I’m back to home I do my zen meditation, really zen, alone and in silence.
Fixing this or that, bullets casting, making paper or linen cartridges for the Sharps etc for the next day, and this from first January to thirty one December…
But I can tell you something : I hate the fact of don’t do that or something else for the gain a bit of time during cleaning or preparation…
Ok, now I can do it well and easily, I’m retired, in my seventy five year of life, and the time to do what I like doesn’t count anymore for me.
When I was younger it was the same way about the time management for cleaning and care (for all what is concerning arms and shooting), the only difference was that I didn’t shot four days the week : sometimes you have to go to work a bit to buy bread and cheese ...

I don’t understand people saying "I want do quickly” for all and anything. Are you like those modern people or can you understand it : "quicker, quicker, quicker", always quicker ?

Have a nice day.

 

[nit wit]

I'm using commercial glass cleaner nowdays, works great!
Nit Wit

 

[Boston Bill]

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

Hoppes makes a blackpowder-specific solvent, I tried it, doesn't work. After warm or hot water and Dawn I have found Track of rhe Wolf solvent to be the next best thing. Bore Clean Solvent

 

[morehops52]

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.

Just checked in and see the OP was 1/22. Hard to believe that water and dawn soap could run 7 pages and counting....and for the Nth time

 

[Boston Bill]

I use only room temperature Perrier water. And Grey Poupon mustard.

Wouldn't Grey Goose be better?

 

[DuncNZ]

Hot water will cause less rust than cold , simply because it evaporates more quickly .
On reading this thread , and many more like it, it is obvious to me, that there many different solutions to the problem of cleaning black powder and patch lube residue from our ML firearms .
These obviously all work to a greater or lesser degree and the users are happy with their personal choice .

 

[Greenjoytj]

Heat accelerates chemical reactions. Rusting is a chemical reaction with oxygen involved.

Cold water is best but even I can’t stand cold water on my rubber glove incased hands, so as a compromise I use tepid temperature water as cool as I can take it. I have see flash rusting occur on my rifle on the bare steel were bluing is worn off, it took seconds to occur I could not have wiped off the water faster than the heat in the steel evaporated the water. Red/orange rust dust remained were the water was. That red dust just wiped off.
Now I use tepid temperature water which is a compromise between hot water making the detergent work better to remove patch grease and lift fouling so the water can carry it away, and cold water to slow rusting.

Dry off fast and get the Hoppe’s on to the metal for the second cleaned prior to application of a quality synthetic gun oil.

Loved the ZEN post it was perfect. BP shooting is like a religion and people will defend the most ridiculous beliefs regarding BP usage and clean up that ignore scientifically proven products and methods.

 

[doubleset]

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

Never been a Nietzsche fan. But beyond that, I don't recall ANYTHING in his writings about firearms. All references to weapons are abstract and metaphorical. So maybe not the best guy to go to about cleaning BP rifles. Often there are many ways that can be taken. It doesn't follow that all are equally good.

 

[FishDFly]

"Loved the ZEN post it was perfect. BP shooting is like a religion and people will defend the most ridiculous beliefs regarding BP usage and clean up that ignore scientifically proven products and methods."

Very well said.

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

Oy vey.

 

[Nor'Easter]

I just re-read all the posts. Thinking out loud, I wonder if there is a correlation between preferred patch lube - powder & grade used - and the cleaning product(s) people gravitate to as effective cleaners?

Maybe folks could include that in future discussions, just to see if there is a pattern?