How to keep ML rust free

[54Bernie54]

I have read many good forums on cleaning and protecting your barrel from rust,so many different ideas out there I'm not sure which one would works best. I seem to have the cleaning part down now. Boiling water with dish soap in a small container with the breech end of barrel,pore a little bore cleaner down then swab from the muzzle, change the water 2-3 times,then swab until the patch comes out clean, then dry patch.From there I would just swab with bore butter and thought all was good,until a few days later when I would check the barrel with a bore light and see little dots of rust.then would clean again and get 6-8 brown patches before a clean one. That was'nt a good feeling after thinking I did a great job at cleaning and protecting the barrel.
What is the best thing to do after cleaning? WD40 then bore butter? gun oil,bore butter? ,Ballistal? Think I read something to do with the petroleum in gun oils that adds build up, if someone can expand on that.Going to go with what the majority so all replies welcomed. Thanks a lot.

 

[Walks with fire]

Anyway you look at it; it's a steel barrel, which shoots real black powder (assumption). Warm water and a touch of soap if you wish is all you need to clean it. Some like Bore Butter but I use oil for bore protection and swab it out with denatured alcohol before shooting. A brush with a cleaning patch wrap for final cleaning comes in handy to keep those grooves clean on some barrels. There are a lot of opinions.

I feel that oil works just fine for my steel centerfires and and works just as well for my flinters; just swab it out good before shooting. Water cleans black powder better than anything and it's free and oil works inside and out. I am a hunter not a collector.

 

[Hanz]

I use Break Free CLP to prevent rust inside and out on my TC Hawken and my Pedersoli 1874 Sharps. My rifles must not have read any books on petroleum based fouling because I have no trouble cleaning them (easier than smokeless) and they remain rust free. I just run a couple of dry patches down the bore before shooting them. While shooting them I use a 1:1 mix of Ballistol and water when wiping the bore every five shots. The only time they see Break Free CLP is when they are already clean. I use it as a rust preventative and it works great.
Break Free CLP

Here's some more on Break Free CLP

From what I've heard it's what Uncle Sam says to use on his weapons. He's got a lot more invested in his than I'll ever have. I've used it for years on every gun I own and it hasn't let me down once. IMHO it's a so-so cleaner, a good lubricant and a great protectant.

Give it a try, it's good stuff.

 

[Many Klatch]

I'm cheap and I have had some problems with WD40 and Breakfree. I use a mix of 50% kerosene and 50% 2 stroke motor oil. Recently I ran out of the 2 stroke and have been experimenting with 30 weight oil. Either way they all seem to protect the barrels and then burn out cleanly after the first shot. After cleaning I oil a patch till it drips with the mix and then run it down the barrel. After the extra oil has been squeezed off in the barrel I use the same patch to oil the outside of the barrel and the lock.

Many Klatch

 

[chapmans]

I use Cleanzoil it's by far the best rust preventative I've ever used, I have turned on a lot of people to it and everybody loves it.
It won't hurt your wood. I'm pretty sure Log Cabin sells it!
Longball 58

 

[renovato]

I'm not sure there is a "best" way. It seems that either they work or they don't. Sounds like yours didn't. I don't think you could improve on your cleaning routine. I'd put the blame on the bore butter. It might be a good patch lube, but that's not the first time I've heard about it not protecting a bore very well.

I clean pretty much the same way, but I use Ballistol as a protectant. It doesn't seem to have good long term protection properties from corrosion tests that I've seen, but it has worked for me so far.

If you want the best anti corrosion liquid to use, that's CorrosionX. It outperforms most oils and protectants by a mile. Just wipe it out before shooting and you won't have to worry about any sludge or tar buildup.

I had a water leak go unnoticed in my storage area for a while and the humidity rusted out several guns and tools that were treated with CLP and Tetra. My .22 rifle had never seen anything but CorrosionX though, and it was like mint.

I wish my experience with CLP was as good as Hanz's. I've had several rust issues when using it. It seems to work great for very short term, but doesn't last well, or needs wiped frequently...or something. I don't think Uncle Sam buys the very best, I think he buys the very cheapest. I wish it worked better for me as I get it for free by the case. I use it as a lube on modern guns, but even as a lube it leaves much to be desired.

 

[Jerry Coffee]

I have read many good forums on cleaning and protecting your barrel from rust,so many different ideas out there I'm not sure which one would works best. I seem to have the cleaning part down now. Boiling water with dish soap in a small container with the breech end of barrel,pore a little bore cleaner down then swab from the muzzle, change the water 2-3 times,then swab until the patch comes out clean, then dry patch.From there I would just swab with bore butter and thought all was good,until a few days later when I would check the barrel with a bore light and see little dots of rust.then would clean again and get 6-8 brown patches before a clean one. That was'nt a good feeling after thinking I did a great job at cleaning and protecting the barrel.
What is the best thing to do after cleaning? WD40 then bore butter? gun oil,bore butter? ,Ballistal? Think I read something to do with the petroleum in gun oils that adds build up, if someone can expand on that.Going to go with what the majority so all replies welcomed. Thanks a lot.

There are as many opinions on rust preventatives as there are choices of women's shoes. I might as well give my opinion too. I use Ballistol on any thing I don not want to rust.

Whatever you choose, DO NOT even consider using WD-40. It is easy to apply and looks great after it is sprayed on and wiped down. It will give you a false sense of security from rust and will evaporate in a week and surface rust will start. I have a small can of WD-40 for temporary solution to squeaky door hinges.

 

[Hunter66]

I would stay far and clear of WD-40. I found out in my years of competetive shooting that NOTHING can foul powder like WD-40. I know guys that react to it like a vampire to sunlight. I find that a swab of balistol in the bore and everywhere else has been the best thing I have found to stop rust hands down.

 

[jtmattison]

I clean with warm water and a drop of dish soap. I flush the barrel with 2-3 patches. Then I rinse with the garden hose. I dry it with a blast from the air compressor followed by 5-6 patches. Next I spray Rem-oil down the bore and soak it good with patches soaked with Rem-oil. I let it sit while I clean the rest of the parts, lock, nipple...etc. I then blow the excess oil out with the compressor, wipe it down, and reassemble.
I have NEVER had a single speck of rust.

HD

 

[smokehouseman]

I would have to go along with Huntin Dawg especially with reference to Rem-oil. The one exception I would have would be to use cold water instead of warm or hot, I've found that I was getting a lot of flash rust with the hot water. With all the pooh pooh you may read about petroleum products I've experimented with Marvel Mystery Oil and I've never had any adverse effects. Thats :2 worth.

 

[jdixon]

Just got done cleaning mine, my hands are still dirty matter of fact. My usual procedure, Butch's Black Powder Bore Shine, six patches soaked in the stuff, run them up and down there barrel six time each, then dry out the barrel with dry patches, end with a patch sprinkled with denatured alcohol to dry everything out, then run a patch with some Ballistol on it down the barrel. To date, never had any rust using this method :hatsoff:

 

[redwing]

If you shoot modern center fire Autos like the M16 CLP is great. You are shooting a chrome bore and chamber ball powder and clean primers.
My old Colts come with Inst. that state in dry condition the bore only needs to be cleaned once a year with CLP.
In a black powder fire arm its about useless over the long term. You can get rust in the bore if use CLP and store the firearm. The Ballistol or Rig products work well in BP guns. Dry them out with a 91 or 98 % alcohol then a little of the oil.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I don't think there is one way to treat all barrels in all climates to keep them rust free. Variations in relative humidity, both in storage areas, and outdoors determine who quickly rust can form no matter what is used. Ballistol has been shown to work very well. Its mainly Mineral Oil , with some additives. It was designed specifically to prevent rust, so you have to give it some consideration. I have been lucky to live in a relatively dry, A/C environment, where the RH in my gun locker is not that high, ever. So I have not had to deal with rust very often. It has happened in the past.

I have used Young Country 101 lube( now bore butter, or wonderlube) on the outside of my barrels as a rust inhibitor, and it has worked very well. I am currently using Ballistol, as an alternative to Rem Oil in the barrel, to see how long it goes preventing rust. So far, its been in my MLer for several months and no sign of rust.

If, however, you live along the coasts, where salt water, and salt air is common, you have much worse problems keeping steel rust free. If you live in the high dry plateaus of the West, you can also have trouble with some oils drying out. I know that WD40 was less effective for me in any use during the winter months, here, when the relative humidity is so darn low. I suspect that Plink has the same problem in Northern Indiana and S. Michigan.

So, experiment as we all have to do to find something that seems to work for our conditions. There are few quick fixes in the world, altho some products are better than others. Just read the advice given here and see what works for you.

 

[smo]

Windshield washer fluid to clean then 3M oil on a patch ,Then swab bore with denatured alcohol prior to shooting to remove any oil in the bore.No problem with rust so far ,However as stated above it depends on climate & storage.

 

[huntman58]

I clean as you do but when done I oil with gun oil now using rem oil. I do reoil all my guns about once every month or two. This has worked for me when I lived along the coast in Calif and up in the high desert of Idaho. Fact on the barrel of my 30 year old CVA rust has never been a problem doing it the way I do. The deal with oil and BP is more when used as a lube when shooting I believe. I do oil heavy but always wipe it down with a few dry patches when I get set up to shoot

 

[Mulebrain]

I scrub with dish soap, and a bore brush. I flush with a garden hose, run patches through unit dry and clean, then olive oil patches until they come clean.
I always take an olive oil patch and wipe down the barrel and lock etc...

Done

I am not a fan of WD, and have found it to harbor moister.

 

[billandbeaufort]

One squirt of Dawn in bucket of very hot water, 3 or 4 up & downs with a bronze bore brush, then use a cleaning tube from nipple hole and pump with a bore mop. Then dry patches til they come out clean and dry. Then a bore mop with Bore Butter. Clean nipple, wipe outside with bore butter, Done! This rifle is hung on the wall 30 feet from a saltwater canal! So far so good.

 

[MikeChapin]

I use TOW's Bore Clean cut 50/50 with water at room temprature. It's nothing more than a strong soap with some chelating agents. After the bore is clean, three or four patches, I run two patches of Balistol/water mixture. This kills the soap and catches the last bit of graphite out of the barrel. A couple of dry patches to dry out the bore and then a patch sopping with Balistol to protect the bore.

If the rifle has a patent breech I use a .22 bore brush with the cleaning patch wrapped around it to clean the breach area. I just use the patch I cleaned the barrel with.

I quit using hot water cleaning after a few times. I was getting too much flash rust. I found using room temprature water works just as well with no flash rust.

I use Balistol to protect the metal parts on the rifle. I live in the mountain west so humidity is not a problem here. Those in more humid climates may have to use something different.

 

[windwalker_au]

very hot soapy water i then change the water and repeat and finish with balistol inside and out never had a problem,when i am out hunting or at the range i use rubing alcohol to swab the bore then when i get home hot sopy water and balistol.
bernie :thumbsup:

 

[bob308]

i have used hot soapy water like you than a dry patch. then a good swabing with wd40. then some oil. then i oil again the next day.

most peoples problem with wd40 ia they don't know what it is. 1 it is not a cleaner, 2 it is not a rust preventive oil. it is what its name is water displacement #40. and that is what it does helps dry any moisture left after the dry patch.