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Hot Water and Barrel Removal
- Thread starter Hoyt
- Start date
Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:
Russ T Frizzen
70 Cal.
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2004
- Messages
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I've never taken the barrels off my pinned stock guns to clean them. I doubt they did back in the day. I use really hot water and lots of it and plenty of patches. When the patches come out clean and dry, I lube with one patch soaked in a mix of beeswax and tallow. Haven't lost a barrel yet. You can buy a fitting and hose that clamps over the breech/vent area and lets you pump the water in and out of the barrel. Track sells them.
I only remove the keyed & hook-breech barrels. The pinned ones I clean with the vent pointing down on a towel (one the wife never sees) and the muzzle below everything else. I sit on my back steps with the gun on the porch angling down so the drips all end up on the lawn.
Prior to any patches I plug the vent with a folded patch and fill the barrel with hot, soapy water and let it soften the fouling for a minute, then pour it out. After a few wet patches I repeat with hot, clean water.
Prior to any patches I plug the vent with a folded patch and fill the barrel with hot, soapy water and let it soften the fouling for a minute, then pour it out. After a few wet patches I repeat with hot, clean water.
Just keep the muzzle and vent hole pointing down so that any excess doesn't get on the stock. I plug the vent hole on a flinter with a piece of toohpick, and fill the bore with water and let is set while i clean the lock. Then dump part of the water and slosh whats left around some, then pour it out. Then run a couple of wet patches, a couple of dry ones, spray some WD-40 down the barrel and on a patch and run it down the barrel to displace any remaining moisure. Then a patch with oil and yer done.
What's wrong with getting your stock wet? Don't you guys ever go out hunting/treking in the rain? If your gun is built proper, the wood under the barrel, behind the lock, etc. should be finished in some manner- sealed at least.
That said, about once a year I pull my barrel, and all the hardware and re-seal the stock. It doesn't take much. I just get a patch wet with some raw linseed oil and rub it down. It can take a week or so to dry completely, which is why I do it in the winter when there is less humidity.
I've been doing this for many, many years. My stock has never been water damaged. The metal parts on the other hand.... they have gotten pretty rusty after several days out in the rain.
My .02
That said, about once a year I pull my barrel, and all the hardware and re-seal the stock. It doesn't take much. I just get a patch wet with some raw linseed oil and rub it down. It can take a week or so to dry completely, which is why I do it in the winter when there is less humidity.
I've been doing this for many, many years. My stock has never been water damaged. The metal parts on the other hand.... they have gotten pretty rusty after several days out in the rain.
My .02
Getting the stock wet is not a big problem. Driving fouling in solution where it can discolor wood and seep under the barrel and into mortises where it will form hydroscopic salts and acids and hold the moisture, leading to corrosion, is a problem.
Stumpy,
If my math is correct, your moose milk recipe produces about 1 qt of milk. What do you store it in? Will it evaporate after time? Also, about how many tins ( altoid or shoe polish I assume) do you need for the snot? Can it be left in say, a soup can and re-melted and poured as you need it?
If my math is correct, your moose milk recipe produces about 1 qt of milk. What do you store it in? Will it evaporate after time? Also, about how many tins ( altoid or shoe polish I assume) do you need for the snot? Can it be left in say, a soup can and re-melted and poured as you need it?
Yes, it evaporates . . . sort of. Castor oil never evaporates (one of its desireable lube qualities), but it does gum up a bit. I have been double soaking patching strips in the milk and allowing them to dry. The castor and Murphy's remain in the fabric, making a very non-messy patching material. I then carry it in a waxed deerskin pouch just large enough to hold a rolled 6 foot strip.
Anyway, I use a highly period 2 liter soda bottle to mix and store the milk. For carrying a small amount I use 1 oz glass McCormick seasoning bottles that the threads have been ground off using a Mizzy Wheel . A 1/2" cork stopper fits perfectly. (Rubber stoppers work out as you watch ~ the stuff is slick). (The Mizzy wheels also work for trimming the humps of flints)
By amazing coincedence, I have soup cans with the Snot even now. They fit perfectly inside canned vegetable cans to make a double-boiler. I cover the can with wax/butcher paper between melts. After you re-melt it and before you pour stir it up vigorously and it will have a nice, spreadable texture. The standard Snot recipe will make two standard Kiwi tins full plus a little, or two Altiods rectangular tins topped right up full.
Anyway, I use a highly period 2 liter soda bottle to mix and store the milk. For carrying a small amount I use 1 oz glass McCormick seasoning bottles that the threads have been ground off using a Mizzy Wheel . A 1/2" cork stopper fits perfectly. (Rubber stoppers work out as you watch ~ the stuff is slick). (The Mizzy wheels also work for trimming the humps of flints)
By amazing coincedence, I have soup cans with the Snot even now. They fit perfectly inside canned vegetable cans to make a double-boiler. I cover the can with wax/butcher paper between melts. After you re-melt it and before you pour stir it up vigorously and it will have a nice, spreadable texture. The standard Snot recipe will make two standard Kiwi tins full plus a little, or two Altiods rectangular tins topped right up full.
Hmmm, that's a good point. However, I still have't seen any signs of detriment on my gun. Of course after a particulary nasty treck or really heavy shooting, I've cleaned it in the shower. Maybe the salts and such just get washed out?
Cheers,
Cheers,
Thanks Stumpy..gonna make some tonight. Does the milk have a long shelf life or will it eventually evaporate in the jug? The reason I ask is because I once made a gallon of the stuff ( that's the recipe I was given) and it evaporated after about 2 months. It was stored in a gallon milk jug, the kind you can't see thru.
It's pretty stable, but it does seperate and needs to be shaken well before using or dispensing. I have no idea what the shelf life actually might be, but the alcohol comes in polyurethane containers so I imagine a sealed glass or poly container ought to hold it useable for years. I have no idea what interaction the various components might have that would break them down over time. I know the castor oil is stable in alcohol (that's R/C engine fuel) but the witch hazel and Murphy's fats and oils I can't say.
