Bore Seasoning

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So let me get this right. For those that remove their barrels and clean them with very hot water and soap.
You all just put the rifle away with nothing coating the barrel?

It may not be a thing NOW, but it was in decades past.
I always remove and clean my sidelocks with warm soapy water followed by a hot water flush. Swab with dry patches then a coule patches with alcohol while barrel is,still hot, the a patch with oil to prevent rust. Store the barrel muzzle down for a day or two to allow any residual oil to flow away from the breech area.
 
I havnt used bore butter since the early nineties when I was starting out with black powder. It's what the fella at the store told me I needed. It worked fine as a minie ball lube in my musket. Additionally it had a unique medicinal smell to it. I no longer use it but it is a bit nostalgic to me. Simpler times.
 
i have acquired many rifles over the years that have been "Seasoned" . the thing that is common with them is the cleaning patch with say Alcohol, ballistol, or any type of solvent, will keep showing black rifling streaks until your shoulder falls off.
one i got not long ago, i bore scoped. the lands were nice and shiny. the grooves were black as if coated with Teflon. i started with a brass brush and solvent. followed with patches soaked with solvent. followed with patches soaked with Alcohol. then brass brush. repeated this until those patches came out without the skid marks.
bore scoped it and had shiny metal in the grooves. loaded the same, but shrunk the group a bunch.
only took 110 patches and a bar of soap. the soap was to clean out the fouling in my mouth! wife takes offense when i challenge the parental relationship of an inanimate object.
i have a tube of bore butter. think i bought it to use with a 9mm cal Spanish pos rifle i traded some Plymouth hub caps for in 1970. 99.5% still in the tube. smells good though.
 
i have acquired many rifles over the years that have been "Seasoned" . the thing that is common with them is the cleaning patch with say Alcohol, ballistol, or any type of solvent, will keep showing black rifling streaks until your shoulder falls off.
one i got not long ago, i bore scoped. the lands were nice and shiny. the grooves were black as if coated with Teflon. i started with a brass brush and solvent. followed with patches soaked with solvent. followed with patches soaked with Alcohol. then brass brush. repeated this until those patches came out without the skid marks.
bore scoped it and had shiny metal in the grooves. loaded the same, but shrunk the group a bunch.
only took 110 patches and a bar of soap. the soap was to clean out the fouling in my mouth! wife takes offense when i challenge the parental relationship of an inanimate object.
i have a tube of bore butter. think i bought it to use with a 9mm cal Spanish pos rifle i traded some Plymouth hub caps for in 1970. 99.5% still in the tube. smells good though.
I am wondering if one of those jags with a threaded cap and ferrul to hold a piece of wire screen would work better/faster, than the brush. They used to sell them for removing lead from heavily leaded pistol barrels.
 
After about a decade of recommended use, I can say that the Bore Butter rifle seasoning bit is B.S. This is in a 50 caliber Kentucky percussion rifle with about 10 years of use. Yes, the rifle loads and cleans a bit easier but that is probably due to a nice broken in barrel, not seasoned with that yellow stuff. Make your own lube. It's cheap, easy, and gives you something to do on a rainy day!
Seasoning was for old iron barrels, and cast iron skillets of any age.
Newer barrels have been steel for over 125 years.
Bore butter is a poor choice for BP gun use at any rate.
There must be at least 50 other lubes that are better.
 
So let me get this right. For those that remove their barrels and clean them with very hot water and soap.
You all just put the rifle away with nothing coating the barrel?

It may not be a thing NOW, but it was in decades past.
I dry mine and run a patch saturated with barricade down the bore and sit her business end down at least overnight.
 
...only took 110 patches and a bar of soap. the soap was to clean out the fouling in my mouth! wife takes offense when i challenge the parental relationship of an inanimate object.

That's too funny! My wife will say to me (when I do the same) "Did the vocal lubrication help any, or just make you feel better?"

Old No7
 
Been using this for decades. Never had any issues with it. As with all things; your mileage may vary, but nobody at T/C ever told anyone that it would prevent rust.
You are correct, nobody at T/C ever told anyone that it would prevent rust, but the label on the tube stated it ‘inhibits’ rust. Kind of like what the meaning of ‘is’ is.
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