Cleaning Solutions
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don hepler
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I have seen some guns show after rust, and others need very little attention. Perhaps it's something I did different, that particular day or the weather, I don't know. But...here is what I have learned. Clean it, then check it again tomorrow, wait a day or two, then check it again, then check it again next week, then every month after that. If we weren't having problems, this discussion wouldn't continue to come up. A clean gun, means you're not lazy and want to protect your investment.
I use 91% or 99% Isopropyl. I get it from Walmart usually. It is in the pharmacy area of the store. Denatured alcohol from the hardware store also works well.
Yes, the 70% isopropyl alcohol will work just fine. Youjust have a little more water in the mix.
One of the great things about cleaning products for black powder is that all of them will work. That's why there are so many of them out there. The easiest cleaning solution is water with a small amount of dishwasher soap. Water by itself will work, but the soap cuts the fouling and any oils used for patch lubrication. I will add some alcohol to the cleaning solution to prevent freezing in winter.
Don't get too hung up over what solution to use. Just clean thoroughly and lubricate with a rust preventing oil. Oil again in a couple of days and your gun should be clean.
One of the great things about cleaning products for black powder is that all of them will work. That's why there are so many of them out there. The easiest cleaning solution is water with a small amount of dishwasher soap. Water by itself will work, but the soap cuts the fouling and any oils used for patch lubrication. I will add some alcohol to the cleaning solution to prevent freezing in winter.
Don't get too hung up over what solution to use. Just clean thoroughly and lubricate with a rust preventing oil. Oil again in a couple of days and your gun should be clean.
Billnpatti
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Isopropyl alcohol is plain old rubbing alcohol. You can get it at any drug store. If you want a bit stronger alcohol, you can buy denatured alcohol at any paint store. Your final choice could be Everclear that you can find at your local liquor store. What you don't use, you can drink.
Billnpatti
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Ballistol is great stuff but it is not a good rust preventive. Use a good gun oil to prevent rust. My preference is Barricade.
Grenadier1758 said:
I've seen many shooters using water with soap mixed 3:1 (3 parts water, 1 part soap) It seems to clean well, but it has to be swabbed out dry.
Adding Isopropyl will make the solution evaporate quickly if any spots were missed. A few have were using a mix of peroxide, murphy's oil soap, and Isopropyl.
3 parts water and 1 part soap is obscenely heavy on the soap side!!
Soap just makes things slippery and helps float away particles as they loosen.
10-1 or even 20-1 is plenty of soap in any mix.
Unless your in freezing temps and need water to not freeze adding alcohol to the mix will only make you feel good.
I use denatured alcohol after cleaning with soap and water and rinsing and drying,,
the alcohol will mix with any remaining moisture in the bore and help it evaporate quicker.
I always hafta shake my head when I see all this stuff about cleaning solutions when the answer to the problem is water.
Short and sweet, water is the best stuff out there for cleaning, a little soap just makes it easier.
Think about how soap was made in the 17-18th century, lye and animal fat, they didn't need to dump a bunch of lye down the barrel,,
Soap just makes things slippery and helps float away particles as they loosen.
10-1 or even 20-1 is plenty of soap in any mix.
Unless your in freezing temps and need water to not freeze adding alcohol to the mix will only make you feel good.
I use denatured alcohol after cleaning with soap and water and rinsing and drying,,
the alcohol will mix with any remaining moisture in the bore and help it evaporate quicker.
I always hafta shake my head when I see all this stuff about cleaning solutions when the answer to the problem is water.
Short and sweet, water is the best stuff out there for cleaning, a little soap just makes it easier.
Think about how soap was made in the 17-18th century, lye and animal fat, they didn't need to dump a bunch of lye down the barrel,,
I only use alcohol in my water at the range (read my backyard) so as to increase the evaporation rate.
When cleaning I use water with a little soap in it. I use alcohol after the last of the water is poured out to help pull the water out of the nooks and crannies.
When cleaning I use water with a little soap in it. I use alcohol after the last of the water is poured out to help pull the water out of the nooks and crannies.
Billnpatti
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My "go to" for water displacement is WD-40. That is what it is made for and it really works. It is only adequate as a lubricant in my opinion and not worth a damn as a rust proofer. I use, sparingly, a good gun oil such as Remoil as a lubricant and Barricade as a rust proofer. But it is hard to beat WD-40 as a water displacer. My way is not the only way but.......I think it is the best way. Others may disagree and that's okay. :hatsoff:
Hooked breech rifle? Can you take the barrel or barrels off the stock? If so, plain old hot water is as good as it gets. I remove the nipple and flush the barrel with hot tap water. I made up a device from a washing machine supply hose and a piece of brass tubing. I put the barrel in the garage wash sink and run hot tap water through it for several minuets while I put my gear away. Water disolves any salty stuff that can cause a rust problem. A couple of patches and it is clean and dry. Wipe it down with oil and a couple of oily patches and you are good to go. I use LPS-3, it is like spray cosmoline. The flushing action removes any thing that would cause rusting in places you can not get at with a patch. The heating of the barrel makes it dry quickly, and spreads the LPS-3.
I use the flushing trick on modern rifles after corrosive ammo. It is not messy at all.
Adding stuff to the water does nothing extra. Water is the active ingredient. Oils and soaps only hinder the cleaning action, IMHO. That said, Windex, the kind with vinnegar, eats black powder residue. It actually fizzes. I use in my cartridge rifles and anytime I can't flush something with hot water.
I use the flushing trick on modern rifles after corrosive ammo. It is not messy at all.
Adding stuff to the water does nothing extra. Water is the active ingredient. Oils and soaps only hinder the cleaning action, IMHO. That said, Windex, the kind with vinnegar, eats black powder residue. It actually fizzes. I use in my cartridge rifles and anytime I can't flush something with hot water.
Actually soap is a wetting agent that makes the water "wetter"and as someone said assists in removing any particles.Soap or detergent is used as an additive in paint sprayers,insecticide and other spray operations for the same reason,it helps water do its job better.Only a very small amount is needed.
not only does soap act as a wetting agent, it is a surfactant which helps get the crud out
So I will continue to use soap in my cold water.
So I will continue to use soap in my cold water.
A little soap will also help to break down any of the oils that may have been used on the shooting patches.
Any oil left behind in the barrel will make it difficult for the water to totally dissolve the black powder fouling.
Adding a bit of soap or detergent will help a lot.
Any oil left behind in the barrel will make it difficult for the water to totally dissolve the black powder fouling.
Adding a bit of soap or detergent will help a lot.
Joel/Calgary
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In our neck of the woods, 100% methanol is common and cheap as gas-line antifreeze, fondue and/or stove fuel, and lacquer thinner. It's often labelled as "methyl hydrate" to reduce the poison-centre visits by idiots.
Regards from East of the mountains,
Joel
Regards from East of the mountains,
Joel
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I agree totally with the 'cold' water and a dab of Dawn soap. I carry a few drinking water bottles full of this strange concoction and have yet to have an allergic response to it on my gunz or hands/fingers.
I read of someone taking 25 minutes to clean a bp rifle. sounds fun and the caressing should take this long but I never took 20 minutes to clean any black powder fouled firearm. just the contrary... I seem to make clean firearms faster when cleaning up after bp then the dreaded smokeless. I know that smokeless is capable of setting for prolonged periods of time before cleaning is required but ,., I never put away a dirty gun ... just the way I was raised I guess. I find the filth of smokeless and brass projectiles to be tedious in the cleaning required to be sparkling clean as when I clean after a shooting outing with my bp firearms.
water can and is found in the strangest places and seems to appear in nature as well. I find it in pipes and in small or large jugs in the store of all places. it comes spraying out in my shower and is often found in little indentations in the earth. I have also heard of other uses of water such as making good coffee or whiskey. some get obsessed with using it as a body flushing fluid when desiring to get Sunday spruced ... add a small amount of soap to this magical mix and it seems to cut the gunky oils and stink that some find distasteful on the human body... :surrender: ... :thumbsup:
I find that the rem oil spray in pressurized cans does all the rust preventative on my firearms. I wipe em down with it and just before loading I wipe the bore with a couple clean patch's to remove the spoiling effects of oil in my charge of bp.
water water water ... what other substance will get er done like it? :hmm: ...
I read of someone taking 25 minutes to clean a bp rifle. sounds fun and the caressing should take this long but I never took 20 minutes to clean any black powder fouled firearm. just the contrary... I seem to make clean firearms faster when cleaning up after bp then the dreaded smokeless. I know that smokeless is capable of setting for prolonged periods of time before cleaning is required but ,., I never put away a dirty gun ... just the way I was raised I guess. I find the filth of smokeless and brass projectiles to be tedious in the cleaning required to be sparkling clean as when I clean after a shooting outing with my bp firearms.
water can and is found in the strangest places and seems to appear in nature as well. I find it in pipes and in small or large jugs in the store of all places. it comes spraying out in my shower and is often found in little indentations in the earth. I have also heard of other uses of water such as making good coffee or whiskey. some get obsessed with using it as a body flushing fluid when desiring to get Sunday spruced ... add a small amount of soap to this magical mix and it seems to cut the gunky oils and stink that some find distasteful on the human body... :surrender: ... :thumbsup:
I find that the rem oil spray in pressurized cans does all the rust preventative on my firearms. I wipe em down with it and just before loading I wipe the bore with a couple clean patch's to remove the spoiling effects of oil in my charge of bp.
water water water ... what other substance will get er done like it? :hmm: ...
I tried using StumpKiller's Moose Milk for patch lube and swabbing between shots. Works great.
Stumpy's Moose Milk
A general purpose blackpowder solvent and liquid patch lube. Shake well before using
Castor Oil 3 oz.
Murphy's Oil Soap 1 oz.
Witch Hazel 4 oz.
Isopropyl Alcohol (91%) 8 oz. (I used 99% instead)
Water (non-chlorinated) 16 oz.
Two weeks ago I fired 29 shots in one range session using Goex 2F. Not one misfire. Swabbed between shots.
After the final shot I soaked a couple patches with the moose milk and pumped it vigorously back and forth about 10 times in the barrel. It came out a white foamy.
Put 2-3 dry patch's through. When pulling the last dry patch out it was white, no one speck of black. tried it on the lock area and residue around the nipple area/ barrel exterior.
The BP Residue wipes right off. No hesitation. Then oiled it inside/out.
Got home and put 2-3 drops of dish soup in a 2.5 liter ice cream tub filled with luke warm water.
Pumped a patch through a few times, only a few specks of black flakes came out the nipple. Water was slightly dirty. refilled the tub with plain water and repeat to rinse out any soapy water left behind. Clear water on the first patch. Dry patched it then oiled the heck out of it with gun oil. Two weeks later, no rust thus far. About 15 minutes start to finish for cleaning & complete reassembly.
Stumpy's Moose Milk
A general purpose blackpowder solvent and liquid patch lube. Shake well before using
Castor Oil 3 oz.
Murphy's Oil Soap 1 oz.
Witch Hazel 4 oz.
Isopropyl Alcohol (91%) 8 oz. (I used 99% instead)
Water (non-chlorinated) 16 oz.
Two weeks ago I fired 29 shots in one range session using Goex 2F. Not one misfire. Swabbed between shots.
After the final shot I soaked a couple patches with the moose milk and pumped it vigorously back and forth about 10 times in the barrel. It came out a white foamy.
Put 2-3 dry patch's through. When pulling the last dry patch out it was white, no one speck of black. tried it on the lock area and residue around the nipple area/ barrel exterior.
The BP Residue wipes right off. No hesitation. Then oiled it inside/out.
Got home and put 2-3 drops of dish soup in a 2.5 liter ice cream tub filled with luke warm water.
Pumped a patch through a few times, only a few specks of black flakes came out the nipple. Water was slightly dirty. refilled the tub with plain water and repeat to rinse out any soapy water left behind. Clear water on the first patch. Dry patched it then oiled the heck out of it with gun oil. Two weeks later, no rust thus far. About 15 minutes start to finish for cleaning & complete reassembly.
