Does black powder really cause rust ? I havent seen it

[flntlokr]

So i got a question for you guys. Ive always read. You must clesn your guns right after you shoot them.. or at least the next day no later.

Due to rust in the barrel and the gun itself yada yadas.

Well i havent seen this.. once.. I have 8 black powder revolvers.. a flint lock pistol.. 54 cal hawkins a howdah pistol 20ga.

Never. In fact i bought 14 acres 40 days ago.. when i got the keys on closing first thing i did was shoot about 5 of my guns into a wood pile 30 yards out.. was deff a form of freedom i havent had living in townhouses all my life.

But due to the move and house repairs and everything needing to be done. I havent had time to clean them. I finally clean the revolvers maybe 5 days ago when i got my 1847 walker.. but my 54 hawkins and flint lock pistol.

Havent touched em. The revolvers i did clean had no rust or pitting or corrosion at all.

Decided to take a look.. and there is no rust on the flint lock or hawkins either. They all had a white powder inside the barrels and cylinders came out in chunks. But once cleaned with water and bore brushes.. nothing.. all shiny.. smooth etc.

This is 40+ days after shooting. Starting to not believe this needing to clean your guns right after you shoot thing. Also i use real black powder.. 2f or 3f.. goex and that german stuff

The only time I have had rust in a barrel was when I first started many years ago, and I rinsed with almost-boiling water, dry swabbed, then waited until next day to oil the bore. Came up with orange patches when I swabbed the dry barrel before oiling every time.

 

[Reno]

Good for you. I generally clean my rifles and smoothbores before I leave the range. Then a thorough cleaning when I get home followed by a check up in a few days.
Take care of your equipment and your equipment will take care of you.

You can get by a few days but you will begin to notice small incremental spots.

The bores might be the first with spits developing in the lands and grooves.

 

[Urban Coyote]

Remind me never to buy a blackpowder gun from you!

So many beautiful muzzloading rifles ruined by failure to perform timely simple maintenance, I know, I've gotten stuck with few, misrepresented online, pretty nice ones since reduced to "works of art".

 

[Nobody85]

Potassium Nitrate is hydroscopic. It will bond with H2O in air. That’s why the British started to tumble their powder in graphite. They learned it would maintain grain size better, and have somewhat of a barrier from moisture. It will even wick moisture before it’s been fired. Try hunting all day in Georgia with null-B in your pan. You might have the disappointment of a lifetime if you run into the buck that haunts your dreams.

 

[smoothshooter]

So i got a question for you guys. Ive always read. You must clesn your guns right after you shoot them.. or at least the next day no later.

Due to rust in the barrel and the gun itself yada yadas.

Well i havent seen this.. once.. I have 8 black powder revolvers.. a flint lock pistol.. 54 cal hawkins a howdah pistol 20ga.

Never. In fact i bought 14 acres 40 days ago.. when i got the keys on closing first thing i did was shoot about 5 of my guns into a wood pile 30 yards out.. was deff a form of freedom i havent had living in townhouses all my life.

But due to the move and house repairs and everything needing to be done. I havent had time to clean them. I finally clean the revolvers maybe 5 days ago when i got my 1847 walker.. but my 54 hawkins and flint lock pistol.

Havent touched em. The revolvers i did clean had no rust or pitting or corrosion at all.

Decided to take a look.. and there is no rust on the flint lock or hawkins either. They all had a white powder inside the barrels and cylinders came out in chunks. But once cleaned with water and bore brushes.. nothing.. all shiny.. smooth etc.

This is 40+ days after shooting. Starting to not believe this needing to clean your guns right after you shoot thing. Also i use real black powder.. 2f or 3f.. goex and that german stuff

Lots of variables.
Local humidity is a big one.

 

[Grenadier1758]

There's lots of variables as @smoothshooter says. Local humidity is one of the major reasons for black powder fouling to gather in the water (and oxygen) for rusting to start. Another reason somewhat related to humidity is the water used to clean the rifle. Local tap water treated with chlorine will have more activity to create rust when black powder fouling is present. The rifle will need to be cleaned anyway. Just go ahead and clean the rifle soon after shooting. As soon as possible when shooting the substitute powders.

 

[hanshi]

I left MLs loaded for months in my native Georgia without any rust. And Georgia is HOT and HUMID!

 

[Grenadier1758]

Black Powder is not corrosive, black powder fouling is. @hanshi's experience is quite common.

 

[TFoley]

We live in UK, in the so-called temperate zone, in spit of the fact that as far as our position on the earth is concerned, we are over 150 miles North of Ottawa.....

Today was 31C, hovering over 32/33 in places South, like London, but it you leave a BP gun uncleaned overnight, it WILL rust, or start to rust. I clean mine on the firing point - roughly, to get most of the crud out. Then the instant I get back to the house, for as long as it takes, and then, a repeat of the whole process the next day - even a wipe through a few days later, too.