Cleaning and Lube Products

[dblubaugh]

I'm wondering if anyone here is using these products:

For bore cleaning, Hornady Muzzleloader Cleaner & Lube.

For rust prevention, Corrosion-X. (They market Corrosion -X for guns but its exactly the same thing as regular Corrosion-X).

I just tried the Hornady cleaner. It isn't a water based cleaner. It smells like good old military base pine oil latrine cleaner and seems to work pretty good but I find using a couple different cleaners each time I shoot gets it all out when one cleaner never does.

I have used Corrosion-X on weapons for years and it works great both for preventing rust and removing rust. I use it on all my firearms. Since I'm new to muzzleloading, I would appreciate views on this as it relates to sidelocks. It seems to be working great on mine so far.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Nope!....In my opinion there are many products out there today designed to separate the modern muzzleloader shooter from the money in their wallets...

 

[meanmike8665]

So, tell us what is your favorite products?

Michael

 

[coloradoclyde]

I have many times....
The point I'm trying to make is that one needs to separated marketing from function....
Cleaning is an action...not a product! If you see a cleaning product with the words "muzzleloader" on the label, you're being hoodwinked....Just like when you see a sales flyer that has a percentage attached to it. Marketers know people can't do math.

As far a rust preventatives go....They'll all work on a muzzleloader under the right conditions..

I like products that work, are cheap so I can save my money for more important things, and are widely available.

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

Clean - Water, room temp, not hot

Clean, if BAD - Butch's BP Bore Shine is arguable the best solvent-based cleaner I've ever used. For a mechanical scrubbing, you can't beat J&B Bore Compound

Lube (metal parts) - General, CLP. Trigger, Slick2000 EWL (Extreme Weapons Lube) [won't gel, best ever used!]

Preserve (bore/ext metal) - Barricade by Birchwood Casey

Quick Lube/Preserve - Ballistol if shooting it within a day or week

I mostly use the water, dry patch and Ballistol, as I used to burn up 8 or more pounds of BP per year.

 

[coloradoclyde]

For cleaning;
water
soap
alcohol
All these are always around the house...

To preserve;
I like G96 it has not failed me in 40+ years of using it, but will use whatever I have around from WD-40 to Fluid film.

 

[Billnpatti]

Clyde is dead on when he says:
"Nope!....In my opinion there are many products out there today designed to separate the modern muzzleloader shooter from the money in their wallets..."

The best cleaner is also the cheapest....good old soap and water. I like my water to be pretty warm like you might use to wash your hands. Soap and water will remove all of the gunk from your barrel. Then you need to rinse with clear water and dry it with dry patches. I like to spray some WD-40 down the barrel after I dry it. This is to just get the last traces of moisture out of my barrel. Wipe out the WD-40 and use some good oil such as 3 in 1 to oil your bore. Clyde likes G-96. Its good stuff but usually costs more than 3 in 1. As long as it is an oil with a rust inhibitor in it, you can't go wrong.

One thing I often do before leaving the range is to wipe out my bore with some plain old El Cheapo automobile windshield washer fluid. It softens and removes the heavy fouling and makes it easier to do the final cleaning at home.

I have no idea how many answers you will get to your question but when you ask about the best lube or cleaner, you have opened Pandora's box.

 

[rdstrain49]

:metoo: soap n water

 

[Spikebuck]

The only time I use something other than good ol' dish soap and water to clean is in my smoothie where I've been shooting lead shot. The last time I clean it when small game season ends I first use soap and water, as usual, dry patch, then go in with Gunzilla or JB Bore Paste to clean out lead fouling. When I shot lead conicals I used to do the same thing with rifles, but with patched RB, there is no lead fouling.

Rust inhibitor?...whatever trips your trigger and does the job.

 

[coloradoclyde]

The only time I use something other than good ol' dish soap and water to clean is in my smoothie where I've been shooting lead shot.

Ever try a copper chore boy pot scrubber? That will get the lead out.
Just make sure it's a pure copper one and not copper plated steel.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Take your magnet when you look for a copper scrubber. Most are copper plated steel. Its getting hard to find Chore Boy copper scrapers. Looks like its time for a trip to ACE Hardware.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Soap & water to clean. Barricade to protect.

I have and do use Corrosion-X for electronics in sailboats and R/C model seaplanes and it is great for that. I suppose it ought to work for firearms.

Not sure how you would clean it out before shooting.

 

[dblubaugh]

Thanks, guys. Well, I guess no one has tried Hornady ML Cleaner. So far, I am a impressed with it. Corrosion-x is a terrific lube and also prevents and stops corrosion. Yea, it's great for electronics, too. I have used it for years in aviation and started using it for firearms about three years ago after seeing an ad for Corrosion-x Guns. I was wondering if it was the same stuff and called to ask them. I was assured it is the same exact stuff, just marketed for guns in a small bottle. I leave a very thin coat in the barrels after complete cleaning.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Corrosion-x is just mineral oil and a viscous neutral lubricant like you would find as the base for lithium grease.

It's just another mineral oil based product like ballistol or 3 in one oil....Nothing magical about it.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Hornady one shot muzzleloader cleaner is mostly water (more than half).....the bulk of the remainder is propylene and dipropylene glycol....

Water is free and propylene glycol can be had for $5.00 a gallon....A tiny bit of knowledge can save you a lot of money.....Money you can use for that new gun you always wanted...

 

[Kansas Jake]

Clyde nailed it. I've used soap and water for 40 years to clean my muzzleloaders. I usually use WD 40 after drying to displace any moisture. For years I just used 3 and 1 oil or in some cases a gun oil. I now use Barricade most of the time. Never had a rusty barrel, but then we don't have real high humidy in most areas of the Great Plains.

 

[Black Hand]

Water and sometimes a couple drops of dishsoap. Cheaper than the water/soap mixes they sell commercially as "Muzzleloader cleaning products"...

Bear grease for lube.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Constantly reforming and reinventing muzzleloading cleaning solutions by the petrochemical industry keeps their chemists busy.....and keeps oil valuable because it's a way to get rid of byproducts.....The food equivalent of a hotdog....
Newbies hate to clean their guns (because they don't have a clue how to clean them)....and people are generally lazy.(when it comes to cleaning) Heck!....shooting is fun, not cleaning..... This makes them ripe for "snake oil" salesmen peddling their magic potions...

 

[eggwelder]

used to used soap and water on all my muzzle loaders. now one of them gets Dutch`s waterless system, followed by WD 40 then G96 if not going to be used for a while. yes, i know its not really waterless, but it is a "rescue rifle" and has a pitted barrel which is prone to rusting when i use soap and water. its also my favourite to shoot. I have & still use CLP and did use Ed`s Red (for rust prevention)once when i was out of all the other stuff. i actually enjoy cleaning my rifles, it gives me a chance to reflect on the days shooting. i usually won`t go shooting if i know that i will not be able to spend about 1/2 hour cleaning the gun used. sometimes i use more than one gun so the cleaning time can end up getting extended.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Water and sometimes a couple drops of dishsoap.

:applause:

Yes, I was just a plain old water man, maybe with something abrasive like a piece of pot scrubber IF I had fired a couple dozen blanks of Diamondback powder.

A knowledgeable fellow I read one day, wrote that a couple of drops of dish soap, for hand-washing dishes, alters the surface tension of the plain water, and makes the water a bit more "base". Tried it; it worked better.

After drying, I like a little WD-40, and then some sort of oil to prevent rust.

LD