cleaning a smoothbore

[bpd303]

Old cut up tee shirts work as well.

 

[stantdm]

I did mention that when I go to a Ballistol patch it does get more black that the dry patch. I am using cotton flannel patches that I cut myself. I buy the material about three yards at a time.

I will add that today I was fiddling with it and decided to run a couple of patches with Kano Kroil on them. Some fouling showed up but then the dry patches after the fourth one were clean. So right now its clean. I am going to shoot it again this week and see how it cleans up.

Thanks to everyone who posted about my original post. Lot of knowledge on this site.

 

[bpd303]

This post has a lot of info about cleaning a smooth bore. http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/290109/

My last post shows a flush system I also use if I want to get fancy. :grin:

 

[satwel]

I used to use the Peroxide, Murphy's Oil Soap, Alcohol mix, but the peroxide caused flash rusting in the bore in a matter of minutes. Now I leave out the peroxide, it's not needed. Everything in BP is water soluable without the need of an oxidizer.

 

[Zonie]

I agree if no oils were used in the patch lube.
For instance, if the patches were lubed with spit, water would be the only thing needed.

If any kind of oil or grease was in the patch lube. adding a bit of soap or detergent to the water during the "wash" part of cleaning the bore will help to break it down into something soluble so the water can wash it away.

 

[Britsmoothy]

I agree if no oils were used in the patch lube.
For instance, if the patches were lubed with spit, water would be the only thing needed.

If any kind of oil or grease was in the patch lube. adding a bit of soap or detergent to the water during the "wash" part of cleaning the bore will help to break it down into something soluble so the water can wash it away.

Or just hot water :thumbsup:
B.

 

[MacRob46]

1/3 murphy's oil soap, 1/3 denatured alcohol, 1/3 drug store peroxide. will clean it great. follow after drying with WD-40 then apply what ever long term grease you like. I use Rig 20+ years of match shooting and no complaints.

I have used that formula for 25 years but do not follow it with water. Instead I just dry the bore completely and oil it generously. During all that time I have not had any rust. It is not good for cleaning locks or any surface areas however. Any good BP solvent fills that role. I do not us WD40, preferring Breakfree, for the bore after cleaning.

 

[Grandpa Ron]

My cleaning method is, remove barrel, pump hot soapy water, rinse in Hot water, dry patch, WD 40 patch, dry patch, Balistol patch, dry patch, final Balistol patch.

Lock gets same sequence with nylon brush.

Reassemble gun.

Works fine fine for me, but you will develop your own method.

 

[stantdm]

It is impractical to remove the barrel on this trade rifle. I am using the 50-50 Ballistol and water mix and while it isn't tablecloth white at the end of day it isn't rusting either.

 

[Grandpa Ron]

Yes removing a pinned stock is a pain and can wallow out the pin holes. If you do not remove the barrel your method is a good one. It also helps if you shoot often so the barrel does not have time to rust up.

Another method is to carefully pour boiling hot water down the barrel with a funnel until it runs clear from the touch hole then follow with your Balistol method.

Regardless of the method used, if you shoot and clean often; I believe you should unpin the barrel at least twice a year to re-wax the barrel and stock channel.

 

[Britsmoothy]

I very often just poor hot water down. Up end the barrel to tip the water out. Then run a wet patch up and down. More boiled water and tipped away a few times until the breech is hot.
Then I dry it out with dry patches and let the heat do the rest. Wipe the external soot off. Lube inside and out job done.
5-10 minutes.

B.

 

[Grandpa Ron]

Just to expand on my previous post,I understand the reluctance of shooters to completely disassemble their gun for cleaning especially if you shoot a lot.

I have built most of the guns I shoot so taking them apart is not an issue; I had reassembled them a thousand times as they were being built.

The biggest issue is the wallowing of the cross pin holes over time. To this end on the last trade gun I built I used .062” barrel pins in .093” OD tubing glued into stock. So far after a couple of years of shooting it seems to work well.

I have cleaned my gun buy numerous mentions without disassembly but I do not believe any of them are as good or as thorough as good old soap and hot water and at times a bore brush.

All that said; if you shoot a lot and clean a lot, no matter what the method, your gun will not have a chance to rust. :wink: