Effective cleaning

[StewartLeach]

Mr. T, when cleaning the flint gun on the back porch I follow the usual methods of removing the lock, plugging the vent with a toothpick, and pouring the bore full of warm tapwater with a few drops of dish detergent. Then I add an important ingredient- patience! I let it sit for fifteen minutes or so while cleaning/lubricating the lock, reorganizing and refilling the shooting box, etc.

Pour out the yucky water, patch with a coarse patch, refill and et sit again for a few minutes. Dump, dry well, and protect with Barricade. I leave the range rod and Barricade patch with the rifle, and run up and down every day or so for a few days.

White Fox, in the People's Republic of Boulder, where we argue about the most humane method to relocate prairie dogs.....

 

[Terry Fairchild]

Geeze,that sounds way too easy White Fox!
I've got some Barricade on order ,when it gets here I'm gonna try your method.
Thanks
Mr.T

 

[rduncan]

I like that. Simple is better and back then there wasn't any choice...you used what worked. and is it true that bear fat was both lube and rust preventive?

I read somewhere that urine also works...anyone you heard about tried that?

 

[Grenadier1758]

Any liquid that is mostly water will clean black powder fouling. Therefore urine will work. The main issue is the excessive amount of salt. I don't recommend using urine on a regular cleaning regimen.

Water is the only necessary ingredient. Other additives may help clean out the fouling such as dishwashing liquid or Murphy's Oil Soap or Ballistol or what have cleans the fouling. The important steps are the drying and lubricating to prevent rust.

 

[XVIIc Wheelock]

New to this site, but long time flinter. Same flint rifle for 40+ years.

After shooting, run a swab of Hoppes 9+ for BP down the bbl. till I get home.

Immediately remove lock, tape some good ole duct tape over the ignition hole, slosh two half bbls of plain room temp water with thumb over bore and dump each.

Patch till dry, run another swab of Hoppes, then dry patch a couple of times.

Store with patch of synthetic Moblil One, never petro or gun oil. NEVER ANY RUST or gumming. Bbl remains slickery in the pores after dry swabs before shooting again.

I dont use alcohol or brake cleaner in the bbl as accidently if it gets on the stock...!

I also wipe with one very light hoppes patch between shots.

 

[kingsax26]

LOL thats about the easiest cleaning method i thinbk ive heard...but youve never met my .32 caliber....

just for shirts n giggles...you should giving this a try:

all you need is patches, oil, and a tub of non pumice go-jo

1) drop a blob of go-jo down freshly fired bore (before adding water
2) run a patch up n down a few times (patch should be nasty looking)
3) fill bbl 1/2 way with water
4)using same patch from step 3 swab bbl until patch turns lght grey (add more water if needed)
5)dump water...add fresh water swab with a new patch.. continue swabbing until patch is clean
6) oil
7) admire the tiny amount of patches you used
8) drink a beer

this method was reccomended to me by Roy Strogh while we were at a Vous together and he saw me with about 100 dirty patches at my feet. Ive been using it ever since...it usually only takes me 10 minutes and a few patches to get a squeaky clean bore.. i tend to run an alchohol patch after the last rinse....then oil the barrel... but it works great!
4)

 

[cschibi]

I use alcohol swabs to swab the bore between shots to remove the typical surface BP fouling between shots while at the range. This has given me somewhat consistent accuracy results. When I get home to begin my cleaning process, I use Hoppes BP Solvent to loosen the lead fouling then progress with an aggressive cleaning with my brush. ~5-10 iterations. I use a combination of patches soaked with ballistol & water mix to remove the remaining fouling. I repeat this process until the patch doesn't show any lead or powder streaks from the barrel. I then use a bore light to inspect the bore and look for any texture remaining in the barrel. Once smooth, I then finish off with a couple of dry patches then a heavily soaked patch with BC Barricade. It's has worked well for me well thus far. It' takes me an hour or so to complete this process.

 

[tenngun]

I like that. Simple is better and back then there wasn't any choice...you used what worked. and is it true that bear fat was both lube and rust preventive?

I read somewhere that urine also works...anyone you heard about tried that?

As urine breaks down after a day or two it will make ammonia. It will wash hair and take the stains out of cloting. At sea in the old days day old urine would make suds with soap, somthing salt water wont do.But best keep it away from your guns. Its full of potasium and sodium salts, and acidy to boot. You can 'brown' a barrel with urine, you dont want to 'brown' a bore.
I'm on of the plain hot water guys, or a little mild soap. I like barricade but found animalfats work well. I like to swab with wd40 but havn't had good succsess with it as a rust prevenitive.

 

[jamesthomas]

I use alcohol swabs to swab the bore between shots to remove the typical surface BP fouling between shots while at the range. This has given me somewhat consistent accuracy results. When I get home to begin my cleaning process, I use Hoppes BP Solvent to loosen the lead fouling then progress with an aggressive cleaning with my brush. ~5-10 iterations. I use a combination of patches soaked with ballistol & water mix to remove the remaining fouling. I repeat this process until the patch doesn't show any lead or powder streaks from the barrel. I then use a bore light to inspect the bore and look for any texture remaining in the barrel. Once smooth, I then finish off with a couple of dry patches then a heavily soaked patch with BC Barricade. It's has worked well for me well thus far. It' takes me an hour or so to complete this process.

What are you shooting to have to go thru such a routine?? :shocked2: . An hour to clean? :surrender: Me an Stuartg went shooting Thursday and it took me around 8 or so patches to clean my rifle after I got home and that included the oil patch maybe took 15 minutes. Aggressive cleaning with a brush, etc?

 

[Juice Jaws]

This topic seens to come often. After 30 years of shooting muzzle loaders the best way to clean is pour boiling water down barrel. And swap it out a few times and comes out clean. Run a patch with oil down the bore and you have a clean gun.

 

[jamesthomas]

:bull: If you like having to deal with flash rust. Boiling water my a**.

 

[azmntman]

I have tried boiling water and did get the flash rust (in 10% humidity?) It cleaned easily though.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I used to boil it, having heard that was the way to go, but now just use hot water from the tap. Seems to work as well and is easier on hands and wood finishes when you slop.

 

[the Black Spot]

I use window cleaner with vinegar. Patch until dry And clean.

 

[tenngun]

I never saw the 'flsh rust' but boiling makes it two hot to hold while cleaning. So I use just hot. Plug the touch hole, fill with water, soak, dump, repeat till clear, swab a few times, dry and oil.

 

[Hans74]

A lot of problems start from improper cleaning powder rifles.
One big mistake I have found is using a oil or other combinations mixed in water for cleaning the bore.
Just plain water on a tight patch for a few passes when you first start cleaning followed with several dry cotton patches. This will remove the patch lube then and by this time the patch will just about be clean and now I will draw water through the flash hole or the nipple and pump a few strokes then I follow with several 100% cotton flannel dry patches. If you run an oily patch through before you get the patch lube out of the bore you will have little water beads that will stay behind and the oily patch will deposit the oil on top of the water and this is when you will get a brown patch several days later when you clean the oil out before you load that rifle again.
Sometime put a little oil soap water mix on a sheet of glass and use a rag and make one or two passes over the glass and look close, you will see water beats still on that glass. Kind of like water beating on a waxed car finish.

Butch

 

[Pierre du Plessis]

When I got my Dickert-styled rifle last year, it was already about 37 years old - and had been in storage for quite some time. It had been wonderfully cared for, but I think that storage resulted in a little bit of rust in the rifling, and which is stubbornly clinging - I am having trouble getting it all out simply by shooting and cleaning (plus cleaning takes forever - probably about an hour after a single shot). The rifle's accuracy is amazing, and I'd like to prevent it from rusting any further - should I take it to a gunsmith to have the bore polished up, or is there something that I can do on my own?

 

[Drago]

Is there rust in the barrel or is it pitting left from rust? If its pitting, it's there to stay unless you have it rebored

 

[azmntman]

Should not need to FULLY clean it after a single shot? If its that accurate I wouldn't worry much. Just fire a round, swab well and keep shooting. As per above pitting is permanent but doesn't always mean the rifles no good. Hope it is just rust, if so, I would keep it fully cleaned (at the end of the day) and well oiled and enjoy! You can always use steel wool or scotch brite pad on an undersized jag and ream it well but if its shooting well and your sure its "clean and oiled" when ya put it up yer good to go!

 

[Pierre du Plessis]

From what I can tell, there's no pitting - just a wee bit of rust. But that wee bit of rust is quite frustrating, and I'd like to have it removed.