Help me keep a good thing going...

[kelvinator]

So I got to shoot this weekend a recently acquired used, but new to me Sante Fe Hawken circa 1984 ish.
I didn't clean it much as it looked very well maintained.
Shot it with the recommended .520" RB and .018 patch that I just lubed with spit.
Dead nuts accurate with 70 - 90 gr FFFGoex.
Couldn't be more pleased with it.
So... upon cleaning afterwards, with the usual hot soapy water... this is where I think I may be screwing up.
I swab with RemOil soaked patches, which contain petroleum distillates.
No matter how many patches of the RemOil I run, they never come clean.
If I stop with the RemOil and just run a patch with plain oil it's clean on the first stroke.
I'm thinking I should ditch the RemOil.
My fear is it is dissolving the "seasoning" in the barrel.

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

So I got to shoot this weekend a recently acquired used, but new to me Sante Fe Hawken circa 1984 ish.
I didn't clean it much as it looked very well maintained.
Shot it with the recommended .520" RB and .018 patch that I just lubed with spit.
Dead nuts accurate with 70 - 90 gr FFFGoex.
Couldn't be more pleased with it.
So... upon cleaning afterwards, with the usual hot soapy water... this is where I think I may be screwing up.
I swab with RemOil soaked patches, which contain petroleum distillates.
No matter how many patches of the RemOil I run, they never come clean.
If I stop with the RemOil and just run a patch with plain oil it's clean on the first stroke.
I'm thinking I should ditch the RemOil.
My fear is it is dissolving the "seasoning" in the barrel.

Hint: there is no seasoning in a steel barrel.

 

[Semisane]

Hint: there is no seasoning in a steel barrel.

Unless the barrel is made of cast iron.

 

[TDM]

If you scrub hard enough and long enough your patches will still show discoloration. Nature of the beast.

 

[Don Steele]

Congratulations on your shooting success. As already pointed out, there's no "seasoning". Forget about that.
Leave the RemOil on the shelf. NOT intended for cleaning blackpowder residue.
After getting the bore clean with water...you'll need to get the water out. I use Ballistol, and/or Mobilmet S122 ( it's a water soluble oil, much like Ballistol and a heck of a lot less expensive when you can find it).
One of the most important additional steps you can incorporate is to go back to your rifle a day or so later and run a clean patch, slightly dampened with Ballistol down the bore to verify there's nothing ugly happening.
Here's one more thing that may or may not help. As odd as it might sound, all cleaning jags aren't the same. Buy two or three from different sources and measure them with a micrometer. You might be surprised. In my case at least...in order to get my cleaning patches solidly into the grooves in my barrels I've found it useful to cut a piece of paper towel the same size as the cotton patch and use it to "shim" UNDER the patch. That forces the patch material tightly into the grooves. I do this after the non-shimmed patches are coming out looking pretty clean. When the shimmed patches come out without residue, I know my barrel is clean. Without the "shim" I can get clean looking patches that aren't reflecting what's still in the grooves. That might be because the cotton cleaning patch material I use isn't quite thick enough, I don't know. It's 100 % cotton flannel I purchase in bulk and cut 2x2's from it for cleaning all my firearms.
IF you are not shooting very often, and feel the need to protect your bore for "long term storage", a product like RemOil, Barricade or G96 works just fine.
Sorry to get so wordy...hope this helps.

 

[kelvinator]

Duly noted on all points gentlemen, thank you kindly.