DOES IT EVER GET CLEAN?

[Uncle Miltie]

Clean with regular unheated water and your rust problem will go away.

 

[Okie Hog]

Clean with regular unheated water and your rust problem will go away.

Bingo!!! Most shooters who have this problem use hot water in their cleaning procedure.

 

[ohio ramrod]

Overcleaning a muzzleloader probably reduces its life by hundreds of years.

You should really consider storing your muzzleloader in a nitrogen atmosphere as well.

I always store all of my guns in a 78% nitrogen atmosphere!

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

Clean with regular unheated water and your rust problem will go away.

What if you clean with hot water and don't have a rust problem?

 

[flashpoint]

Ditto on the Rig. I've used it for decades. I had my 45 flintlock stored in a closet in SE Alaska for several years where it rains 120 inches or more a year. A heavy coat of Rig in the bore and all the metal kept it in fine shape.

I am not familiar with RIG? Is it better than Barricade which I have been using?

 

[flashpoint]

I always store all of my guns in a 78% nitrogen atmosphere!

Hmmmmmmm? Really?

 

[flashpoint]

Clean with regular unheated water and your rust problem will go away.

So why would cold water keep the rust away? Thanks.

 

[flashpoint]

What do you lube with? I don't see flash rusting. Am I doing something wrong?

I use Mink Oil to lube.

 

[Uncle Miltie]

What if you clean with hot water and don't have a rust problem?

If you use cool water you will be cooler.....

 

[Uncle Miltie]

So why would cold water keep the rust away? Thanks.

Hot water often causes flash rust.

 

[nchawkeye]

So why would cold water keep the rust away? Thanks.

Hot water can cause flash rusting...I simply put a toothpick in my vent hole, fill the barrel with tap water and then pour the water out, then repeat...Run several patches down the bore to dry and pour a little rubbing alcohol down the bore, pour out...Then dry with patches, spray with WD-40, swab and then run a patch down with your favorite gun oil, done...

I do let the water soak a few minutes to soften the fouling, I typically clean my lock while doing this but by pouring water down the barrel you are pouring out most of the residue left in the barrel...

I used to mix MAP, buy special solvents, etc and through the years found that they simply are not needed for black powder...

 

[Resolve]

Hot water often causes flash rust.

I agree Uncle Miltie. I learned the hard way I flash rusted 2 new Traditions barrels before I figured it out.
R
"And remember folks, you can abuick a Buick".

 

[Steve Martin]

I have had very good luck using RIG as my final patch through the barrel myself and I live in very humid Florida. For those not familiar with it, RIG is just a very good quality gun grease made by Birchwood Casey.

 

[PathfinderNC]

"Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I wake up in a cold sweat and wonder if I really cleaned my Seneca .45 as thoroughly as possible?"
May I suggest therapy?

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

I use Mink Oil to lube.

Are you seeing rust in the bore or on the outside? Is the mink oil applied to the bore or outside? A long time ago, I did see some flash rusting on something, but since then it hasn't recurred. Evidently I changed my procedure and accidentally got it right. Groovy.

 

[sleepingbulldog]

I used to plug my vent with a toothpick and fill the barrel with water and it worked fine, but on a whim I bought this the other day: Track's Best Flint Flush Cleaning Tool, for breeches up to 1-7/16", without spillage - Track of the Wolf

I just got done cleaning my rifle after a day at the range using this tool and it really made cleaning easier.

 

[sheriff john]

Edward Mead's 1851 "Illustrated Treatise Of the Rifle, Shot-Gun, and Pistol" advises "Hot water should be used, making the operation as quick as possible. If t,he barrels has become leaded and you have not the regular cleaning rod with scraper, scratch brush, &tc, it can be scoured with fine sand or brick-dust, which should be used with water; this will effectively remove the lead. The effect of hot water is to warm the barrel, which greatly accelerates its being wiped dry to prevent rust. It should be oiled inside and out after washing. If used soon, the inside oiling may be omitted. The best kind of oil for the purpose is the pure sperm or bear's oil . Sweet oil should never be used: it contains a vegetable acid and is sure to rust the gun."

Meade was a contemporary of the Hawkens, operating in St. Louis at the same time. Instructions are for "stub twist, wire twist, and damascus".

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

Edward Mead's 1851 "Illustrated Treatise Of the Rifle, Shot-Gun, and Pistol" advises "Hot water should be used, making the operation as quick as possible. If t,he barrels has become leaded and you have not the regular cleaning rod with scraper, scratch brush, &tc, it can be scoured with fine sand or brick-dust, which should be used with water; this will effectively remove the lead. The effect of hot water is to warm the barrel, which greatly accelerates its being wiped dry to prevent rust. It should be oiled inside and out after washing. If used soon, the inside oiling may be omitted. The best kind of oil for the purpose is the pure sperm or bear's oil . Sweet oil should never be used: it contains a vegetable acid and is sure to rust the gun."

Meade was a contemporary of the Hawkens, operating in St. Louis at the same time. Instructions are for "stub twist, wire twist, and damascus".

Apparently I sort of stumbled into this procedure independently. I figured out how AI was getting flash rusting; when I started out, I used boiling water. I did see some flash rusting with this methodology. Later, boiling water became tedious, so I switched to hot tap water and found that it worked just fine. Now, if only I could actually get real sperm oil or bear grease.... Then again, Bore Butter seems to work well.

 

[mkabe]

I can drive myself almost plumb crazy trying to find the very best single solution to cleaning and preserving Black Powder/Subs firearms as if there even is one. I have pretty much settled on using genetic windex, or even cheaper car windshield washer fluid in the field, again when back home followed by several patches with Ballistol (love that stuff).
Seems to work fine.

 

[Siringo]

In the process of shooting, what do you think is the effect of burned on patch lube? Beeswax in the lubes coats the bore. No water or solvent can cut beeswax. I’m convinced that brown streaking I get on dry patches is lube residue.

In cleaning other BP firearms I used to run BB patches down the barrel as a final step. I thought the barrel was clean but the patches would come out black and gradually after many patches come out clean. Leaving a BB film in the barrel and come back a few days later would result in a patch that was brown/black again. After a couple of patches it would be clean and subsequent cleanings days later would show no brown. It was then that I realized that the BB was dissolving the burn/burnished on lubricant.