Cleaning your ML

[Juice Jaws]

Hot water... all I've ever used and all fourteen of my bores are mirror brite.

Must just be blessed, no wonder concoctions or miracle solutions besides hot water followed by a good protectant.

Just don't understand why many always must reinvent the muzzleloader wheel. These firearms are not shoot and set aside guns, they will turn nasty if left alone while fouled in an instant. Don't be lazy, take care of them after using and periodically do checkups, it's worked twenty three years for me now.

The key with water is HOT water, it'll evaporate almost instantly. If your worried about displacement of residual water, run straight iso alcohol down the bore. That right there is as modern as I go. It's not hard nor rocket science. Blackpowder arms have the longest running track record in history. Use the acronym KISS...

I am with you, hot water, a little alcohol if I think I need it, then some oil. Never had a problem, I enjoy cleaning my guns, its part of the sport and I think it is the easies part of the sport.

 

[Crewdawg445]

Agreed, setting by the fire after a shoot it indeed is a relaxing affair.

 

[coloradoclyde]

An advice I got from a gun maker was to fill the barrel with a 50/50 solution of denatured alcohol and murphys oil soap. He recommended leaving the barrel full overnight (after plugging the flash hole) and just running a clean jag in it after that. Has anyone tried using that before?

The solution sounds like it should work, it's basically a M.A.P. solution without the peroxide.
However, with M.A.P. you're done in 5 minutes....It's the whole "soaking overnight" thing that sound problematic to me. What if your vent pug begins to leak?....You'll have a mess and probably a ruined stock finish. Not that, it wouldn't work, it probably would work quite well....But I don't want to spend 2 days cleaning my gun.

Be sure to report back if you try it..

 

[Crewdawg445]

Honestly, If I had to use a overnight "solution" to soak my bore to clean it, that is just laziness to me.

Cleaning is ridiculously simple with a freshly shot firelock. I'm so anal I drive myself nuts.

Yet to squeaky clean a rifle it honestly takes less tan 20 minutes, longest portion of that for me is heating the water.

 

[coloradoclyde]

I agree with you 100% Crewdawg... Laziness is your enemy.

Some look for easy ways to clean, but the longer you wait the more difficult it is to clean.
I have adopted, cleaning immediately....and am much happier with the results. In my opinion, the faster you remove the fouling after being fired, the easier it is to clean.

The one advantage to soaking overnight would be if one was a conical shooter and had a lot of lead fouling he was trying to remove....

 

[Crewdawg445]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[tenngun]

I think that’s a trueism. I swab often when shooting, then when done with my outing I do several multi swabs and wipe exposed areas. Then as soon as home I do a real clean.
I like fiddling with my guns so it’s not a chore to clean, it’s just part of my shooting.
At an event a deep clean is done right after my shoot... even if it’s just one blank shot.
I fill with warm water, dump, repeat, swab, dry,oil then oil the stock.

 

[Mike Suri]

Again thank you for all your replys. I have eliminated the bore butter/wonder lube and am now cleaning my ML's with water and finally either Ballistol or B/C Baricade (which is easier for me to find and smells SO much better). So far when I run a patch down the bore I am seeing a very white patch come out! That is good!
Treating my guns with the realization that they are made of modern steel, not hand forged iron as the originals were, has helped my mindset a lot. Of course at an event or on a trek, the animal grease will come in to play. I just need to remember to run a little alcohol down the barrel before I load !
Again thnk you all.

 

[rfdr]

there are no mysteries, secrets, or special concoctions needed to clean a traditional muzzleloader. weren't any problems or issues back in the 18th and 19th centuries, nor none here in the 21st information age millennium. and they surely didn't have all the nonsense "cleaning" chemicals the vendors these dayze are hawking.

all it takes is plain tepid, not hot, tap water (no soap!), some jagged patches, and a follow up with some kinda gun oil.

however, the above sentence will only work best IF yer diligent about keeping the tube moist after a shooting session.

after firing your muzzleloader and yer packing up for the trip back to the homestead ranch, run some kinda sloppy wet oily patches down the tube, maybe do it 3 times. leave the rod and last wet patch in the barrel. spritz or wipe the entire lock with that oily stuff. i like a moose milk 1:6 mix, or straight ballistol, or wd-40. this will make real cleaning a breeze later on.

such cleaning begins with the lock - put it on half cock, remove it off the firearm, remove the flint and leather (or lead) of a flint lock, and dunk the lock in a pail of tepid tap water and leave it there.

if the barrel has a hooked breech and barrel keys, remove the barrel, dunk the ignition end in a pail of tepid tap water, push a patched jag down and up the tube until clean water emanates out the ignition orifice. run down some dry patches, then follow up with an oily patch. done. move on to the lock. *

if the barrel is pinned, do NOT remove it, plug the touch hole or nipple with a tooth pick and pour tepid tap water into the barrel and allow it to stand muzzle up.

* back to the lock - with a stiff nylon bristled brush (hard toothbrush) scrub the entire lock, dunking in the water. if need be, change the dirty water for clean water. when the water remains reasonably clean, shake the excess water off the lock, dry it reasonably well with paper or cloth toweling, spritz the entire lock wet with an oil (i prefer ballistol or wd-40), pat off all the excess oil. put back the hooked breech barrel, put back the lock, put back the flint if a flintlock. done.

pull out the touch hole toothpick of the pinned barrel, run sloppy wet jagged patches down the tube, when it appears reasonably clean go to dry patches followed by an oily patch, put back the lock, put back the flint if a flintlock. done.

there now, that wasn't so hard - or time consuming once you get down the simple process.

 

[Road_Clam]

This stuff is awesome as far as rust prevention. I use it on all my millsurp rifles and my bp rifles.

https://www.eezox.com/

 

[Redstick Lee]

THIS !!

nuff said

 

[torpedo]

So far I haven't found anything to beat Barricade and BreakFree CLP.

BreakFree CLP, nothing better, IMHO.

 

[gonpce]

BreakFree CLP, nothing better, IMHO.

It might not sound great but virgin olive oil works as good as any

 

[Black Hand]

It might not sound great but virgin olive oil works as good as any

Olive oil, especially the extra virgin grade, will go rancid and get sticky. The lower grade varieties may have greater longevity, but I suspect they will also get sticky over time...

 

[Metalmechanic]

For what it's worth
I shoot mostly blank rounds (Revwar militia)
I have found windshield washer fluid, WD-40 and motor oil (SAE 30) work wonders on the bore and paste wax to protect the outside and wood.
WWF has alcohol, soap and water, ideal for dissolving BP residue and a quick dry. WD - 40 to displace any leftover water and a LIGHT coat of motor oil (it has anti corrosion properties and withstands high temps) to seal the bore.
When I shoot lead I use Hoppes #9 as a Pb solvent.
At seasons' end I will lightly coat metal inside and out with Shield from BORETECH. I use SHIELD to protect all my precision tools (works a charm).
Only down side to WWF is it may react with the stock finish.

Larry

 

[gonpce]

Olive oil, especially the extra virgin grade, will go rancid and get sticky. The lower grade varieties may have greater longevity, but I suspect they will also get sticky over time...

I have found just the opposite. Even in the shelf the extra virgin will last for years

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

I’ve got traditionals and like to use period lubes for the job, so bee’s wax and mutton’s tallow for this shooter.

 

[Historian]

Just curious if anybody has tried peanut oil as a lube to shoot with? I have heard guys also using hard Crisco. The absolute best for Long Term Storage is WD-40 Rust Preventative.If I plan on shooting within a month or so I use Balistol. I use alcohol swabs to get the Oil out prior to shooting. Never had an issue.

 

[Carbon 6]

Olive oil, especially the extra virgin grade, will go rancid and get sticky. The lower grade varieties may have greater longevity, but I suspect they will also get sticky over time...

Certain plant based oils are classified as true drying oils, such as linseed oil, Tung, sunflower, safflower and others....Other oils can become gummy and sticky. There are many factors that influence this, heat, saturated fat level, acidity, etc. One of the biggest factors that causes oils to dry or become gummy is the introduction of metal salts, particularly lead, zinc, and iron salts. lead was first added to paints as a drying agent. This is important to consider when shooting lead projectiles out of steel tubes.

 

[Greenjoytj]

I started using this product as a lube and rust preventer and like its performance so far. It should work as a patch lube too I just haven’t tried that yet. Read the manufacturers write up from th to links.

http://www.lubegard.com/C-195/LUBEGARD+Premium+Universal+Lubricant

http://www.lubegard.com/LXE.aspx