I have been trying hard to take care of my percussion rifles and I am scratching my head on something. I used my great plains for an elk hunt last month. Did not connect, but shot the load out at the end of the hunt and cleaned the rifle with hot, soapy water. I dried it with a bunch of patches, lubed it with wonder lube on a patch, and put it away until today. Today I pulled it out to load for tomorrow's deer hunt and when I ran a few clean patches down the bore to remove the grease, I got what looks suspiciously like some rust mixed in with the wonder lube. The lube is normally yellowish and it was a rusty brown. No bueno. So I wonder if I am doing something wrong. Here is what I do:
- Put the barrel in a bucket of hot soapy water, wrap a patch around the jag and pump it up and down until the barrel appears to be clean. I put a smaller caliber brush on the rod and clean out the patent breech channel as well. If necessary, change the water out if it is too filthy. If I can get the nipple off, I remove it and and run a pipe cleaner into it and the channel. Fill the bucket with just hot water and do the pumping thing again until it is all rinsed out.
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- Drain the barrel out and shake as much water out as possible. Run clean patches through until there is no evidence of moisture. stick a pipe cleaner or two through the channel to dry it and reinstall the clean nipple. Any exterior pieces that need it get wiped down.
- Give it a half hour to let things finish drying (live in Colorado in a VERY dry climate, think 20% or less relative humidity) and then run a patch saturated with wonder lube down the bore the coat everything. Wipe down all the exterior metal parts with conventional gun oil, reassemble the rifle and store.
Am I doing something wrong? Worth trying Hoppe's black powder solvent instead? Other comments?
