HELP! Cleaning Black Powder handgun

[ernbar]

Steel wool polishes does nothing for etching/pitting , why it's used for cleaning up bores (leading)/Ed

Removing metal is what removes pitting. The blemish I had on my Uberti finish looked etched and deep but thank God it wasn’t otherwise it would have gone back to Midway.

 

[cynthialee]

Is there any detergent in the US other than Dawn?

it is the most common brand of dish detergent we use, there are plenty of others but none come close to the sales of Dawn
and it is pretty darn effective at cleaning BP residue

 

[hawkeye2]

Is there any detergent in the US other than Dawn?

Well yes and probably the cheapest detergent in the Dollar General store would do the job but Dawn is the one for the kitchen and if I sneak a little at a time from the wife's supply I don't need to buy my own.

 

[AZbpBurner]

In 1968 Dad brought home an 1861 Colt Navy. It was my job to disassemble & clean it after a trip to the range. We went shooting nearly every weekend, so I got plenty of practice.
The rule was to never let the sun set before all guns have been cleaned.
Warm water with dish soap and brushes were used, followed with a hot water rinse, then WD-40 to remove moisture. Barricade was used when guns were prepped for storage.
So, put away the gun scrubber, Ballistol, Windex and all that other ¢rap and use dish detergent & warm water.
After over 50 years and my first cap & ball revolver has had a lot of worn parts replaced, but it still looks like new.

 

[AZbpBurner]

In 1968 Dad brought home an 1861 Colt Navy. It was my job to disassemble & clean it after a trip to the range. We went shooting nearly every weekend, so I got plenty of practice.
The rule was to never let the sun set before all guns have been cleaned.
Warm water with dish soap and brushes were used, followed with a hot water rinse, then WD-40 to remove moisture. Barricade was used when guns were prepped for storage.
So, put away the gun scrubber, Ballistol, Windex and all that other ¢rap and use dish detergent & warm water.
After over 50 years and my first cap & ball revolver has had a lot of worn parts replaced, but it still looks like new. And don't leave it overnite before cleaning.
View attachment 149320

 

[Okie Hog]

i take the grips off and chunk the gun into the dish washer, gets it squeaky clean. Then it's hit with spray lube.

 

[towgunner11h]

I second what ernbar and others have said- use bronze wool, not emery or sandpaper.

 

[cynthialee]

i take the grips off and chunk the gun into the dish washer, gets it squeaky clean. Then it's hit with spray lube.

when I said this very same thing I was met with scoffing, derision and mocking
I still have been known to put BP gun parts in the machine. Works well.

 

[user 31257]

i take the grips off and chunk the gun into the dish washer, gets it squeaky clean. Then it's hit with spray lube.

I like that but I’m not sure I could get away with it if my wife was home.

 

[ernbar]

when I said this very same thing I was met with scoffing, derision and mocking
I still have been known to put BP gun parts in the machine. Works

That would work great in a dedicated gun parts washer just for that but if I did that in our dishwasher I have a very good idea the wife would use my Dragoon as a club over my head!!

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

Tepid water is , along with a drop of Dawn (to make you feel better) the only thing needed ! Boiling water is for tea/coffee !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!/Ed

Yes, I agree.

Moose milk made with Ballistol is fantastic.

Yes, it is. I use that at the range before going home. I keep a small bottle in my kit.

 

[Nobody85]

If you boiled the parts in a pan, it might be where the metal was touching the bottom of the pan. It makes water marks and swirls on surface. I’ll boil to clean, but usually just browned or blued parts

 

[Grenadier1758]

when I said this very same thing I was met with scoffing, derision and mocking
I still have been known to put BP gun parts in the machine. Works well.

There is no doubt that cleaning your revolver in a dishwasher will get it absolutely squeaky clean. Using the dishwasher is easier than normal cleaning with tepid water, some dish washing soap, patches and normal cleaning. It would take me longer to clean the dishwasher after using it to clean my revolvers than it would to just get the bucket, water and soap. So, even though the Dishwasher method works, do expect to catch some scoffing, derision and mocking. I expect that the harsher chemicals used in the dishwasher detergent to be harder on the finish and one still has to get rut inhibiting lubricant into all the places that rust can form.

Using boiling water to clean a muzzle loader of any description is just not necessary. It works of course, but its not necessary and I don't like getting my fingers burned cleaning my muzzle loaders.

 

[cynthialee]

as BP residue is water soluble I have never needed to clean the dishwasher after I put a cylinder in the dishwasher

 

[TrapperDude]

I don't submerge my BP revolvers. I just use twisted paper towels and q-tips dampened with some olive oil to get the big stuff out of the chambers. What's left gets hit with q-tips and some 'Damn Good Bore Solvent," which is probably just Windex, based on how it smells. I bought the stuff when I got my first revolver.

I vigorously rub Frog Lube over and into everything when I finish, removing the excess after I finish, so the parts are dry but slick because of how the vigorous rubbing gets the Frog Lube into the pores. That actually makes the cleaning process a lot faster the next time I shoot.

 

[Ninering62]

You used tap water didn't you.

Thats a very good possibility there. He could have high mineral content in his water & that may have caused that reaction.

 

[dehart.stephen]

Tepid water is , along with a drop of Dawn (to make you feel better) the only thing needed ! Boiling water is for tea/coffee !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!/Ed

I suspect the reason hot water was favored, was largely to speed rhe drying, maybe to cut contaminated chamber grease faster, in the case of revolvers. Just guessing....

 

[cynthialee]

I use scalding water so the metal dries up fast

 

[stikshooter]

I suspect the reason hot water was favored, was largely to speed rhe drying, maybe to cut contaminated chamber grease faster, in the case of revolvers. Just guessing....

Yup your guessing , cold barrel add hot water = warm . Everything done today mimics what was done back when ,if you think back in the day folks boiled water for anything other than coffee /baths (hold that thought) ! Warm worked if a crick weren't close (supplied by the shooter) if you get my drift ,other than that tepid /cold as long as it was water it worked . like most thing simple prevails , it's folks today who have to invent new ways to make what works more complicated than needed/Ed

 

[bud in pa]

I would check the ingredients in the dishwasher tablets or powder before putting a gun in it. Could be there might be a caustic in it.