Do you get your smoothies REALLY clean?

[Skychief]

I'm not new to muzzleloading at all, but, the thread title might make you guess so.

I shot one of my fowlers today, and, the subsequent cleaning of it prompted this thread.

You see, I can get any of my rifle bores squeaky clean. I'm talking about snow white patches at the end of the process.

Not so with my smoothbores though! Yes, I admit it, I can't seem to ever get them as clean as my rifles.

The last patches still show quite a bit of grey on them, no matter what I have tried in the past.

So I thought I would quiz the vast knowledge here, and ask if you all are in the same boat. Perhaps it's the nature of smoothbores and what I am seeing is some trace lead from the shot loads that I fire?

I have never had any trouble with even a hint of rust when dealing with my fowlers for years, so, maybe it just doesn't matter that I am not able to get a super clean patch at the end of cleaning them.

Please weigh in with your thoughts.

If you all truly get your smoothbores spotless, please relate your methods. I have been at this for decades now, but, realize I can learn more if I listen close enough.

So that you all know, I have used buckets of hot, warm, cold, soapy, non soapy and ballistol enriched water. Brushes, jags with all manner of moose milk concoctions and differing patch materials, wd 40, windshield washer fluid, etc, etc...

You name it, and I have probably tried it with plenty of elbow grease thrown in too!

I look forward to your kind responses gang and want to say "Thanks" right now!

Best regards, Skychief.

 

[hanshi]

I suppose, like the army inspectors, you can ALWAYS find dirt even where it really ain't. I wouldn't worry over gray.

 

[robert1]

That grey would be lead. Patching won't remove that. A few strands from a copper scouring pad wound around a loose bore brush will remove it easily.

 

[Skychief]

Thanks Hanshi for responding. :thumbsup:

 

[Skychief]

That grey would be lead. Patching won't remove that. A few strands from a copper scouring pad wound around a loose bore brush will remove it easily.

Thanks Ryan. I have no reason to doubt that it is lead that I am seeing on my patches.

If it IS lead, is there any reason to routinely get it out with your method or any other?

In other words....Is it anything to worry about???? :idunno:

 

[coloradoclyde]

Just take a copper chore boy to it.
I think my smoothies are easier to clean....figured it was because there is less interior surface area on a smooth bore compared to a rifle.

 

[Skychief]

What's a Copper Chore Boy, Colorado Clyde?

 

[Stumpkiller]

I find it a lot easier to get my smoothbores clean. Warm soapy water and a bore mop.

 

[bpd303]

Chore Boy is a pot scrubber sold in most supermarkets kitchen section. They come in copper and stainless. The copper are kinder to the bore. I use them to remove stubborn fouling like lead and rust with Kroil. Just pull off a chunk & wrap it around an undersized brush for a bang up job of cleaning. https://www.google.com/search?q=chore+boy&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

 

[Skychief]

Thanks bpd.

 

[theoldredneck]

I am not as knowledgeable about this as the older more experienced shooters here. By luck after reading on this forum about using the brown paper shot holders I noticed no lead in the bore to amount to anything. They are easy to make, give better patterns and seem to make cleaning easier. I have tried cloth and paper, for me the paper is easier. I have big hands and like the 28 gauge. The paper is easier to start down the barrel and hold when loading. Then the fact that cleaning was easier sold me. I think it keeps the shot off the barrel and with each shot helps clean from the shot before. I think Stumpkiller had the post on the paper shot holder/tubes?made from paper bags?

 

[Robert Egler]

Before I went to using paper shot cups I had the same problem. This is not a period correct cleaning method ( :grin: ), but I put a brass cleaning brush on the end of my ramrod, but a bit of Hoppes bore cleaner on the brush, chucked the other end in an electric drill, and ran it up and down the bore with the drill on high speed a couple times. It was clean after that! :haha:

 

[Ron LaClair]

I don't sweat the small stuff :shake:

 

[Spikebuck]

I could get my smoothbore cleaning patches white with just soap and water, but then if I ran a patch down with something that cleaned lead, have a dark-grey mess on it....so clearly the soap and water alone wasn't truly cleaning everything out of the bore.

While I didn't use it every time I cleaned, I had been using JB Bore paste on occasion to really scrub everything out of the bore. But, that stuff is kind of a mess and after use I felt I had to clean the bore paste out...another cleaning step.

Then someone on the forum was talking about the good luck they had with Gunzilla. I bought a bottle and really like it. After first swabbing the black powder fouling out with just soapy water, I run a dry patch down, then swab with a few patches of Gunzilla to remove lead. It's low-odor, supposedly "all natural" and comes in a squirt-top bottle for easy application to patches. Works great. The first time I used it I bet it took about 10 patches to get a clean patch back out. Now, since I'm staying on it because of the ease of use, just a couple each cleaning.

 

[Lorne Johnson]

The material and condition of the bore (or bores) makes a big difference in cleaning and in just "how clean" you can get them.

Chrome lined (or washed) bores get very clean quite quickly. Well polished modern steel takes slightly more work.

150 old laminated steel (or damascus) take longer, a lot longer. And, I wouldn't claim to have ever gotten one of those truly pristine.

 

[Artificer]

Besides using Chore Boys, about once or twice a year during the shooting season, I took a 12 ga bronze bore brush and wrap it with steel wool so it fit snugly in the bore. Then I pieced together enough aluminum shotgun cleaning rod sections to make a rod long enough to extend beyond the bore. I chuck the end of that rod into a 1/2" hand drill and run it slowly in the bore with a good lead removing bore cleaner on the steel wool covered brush. This actually polishes the bore just a wee tiny bit, but did not affect accuracy with a patched round ball.

Gus

 

[MSW]

another vote for Gunzilla ... found some of this stuff at a gun show and it will clean darn near anything .. I did have it loosen paint on a hinged bit of radiator cover, so I would be hesitant to get it on a nice stock finish ... haven't run a test yet ...

 

[George]

In other words....Is it anything to worry about???? :idunno:

Not for me. I can always get some gray on a cleaning patch after cleaning, but I've never seen any negative effects on the way my smoothbore shoots, either shot or ball, so I ignore it. Not sure what it is, doubt it's lead, but I don't care, so long as it has no effect.

Spence

 

[Britsmoothy]

Keep pouring boiling water down there. That lifts my lead.
Sure I don't get white patches. I just wait till dry. Coat the warm bore with patch lube and air by the chimney.

B.

 

[coloradoclyde]

What's a Copper Chore Boy, Colorado Clyde?

Chore Boy is a pot scrubber sold in most supermarkets kitchen section. They come in copper and stainless. The copper are kinder to the bore. I use them to remove stubborn fouling like lead and rust with Kroil. Just pull off a chunk & wrap it around an undersized brush for a bang up job of cleaning. https://www.google.com/search?q=chore+boy&ie=utf-8&o...[/quote]

What bpd 303 said. :grin: :thumbsup:
just make sure its pure copper and not copper plated steel.