Inside the barrel

[rancher]

Is there any type of finish on the inside of muzzleloader barrels or are they just left bare? I know you have to season them, but I'm thinking more like some type of finish on the metal. Thanks.

 

[Rebel]

No, and no you don't season them either. They are made of steel not iron, so there is no need to try to season. Clean it good, shoot it, clean it and shoot it. That is all the seasoning it needs.

 

[boar]

None that Iam aware of. Be kind of hard to season them when you pump soap and water throught them when you clean them. Just oil to keep from rusting. That what I do. Dilly

 

[rancher]

What does bore butter do then? I'm a little confused because I thought that "seasoned" it.

 

[Rebel]

If the barrel is completely dry before you use it the bore butter acts as a lube and stops rusting.

 

[rice1817]

Wonder lube, by any of the brand names, is the result of a big marketing ploy, in my opinion. Biggest selling point is that it is made of "natural" materials without petroleum which is responsible for a lot of fouling problems. Prior to the introduction of Wonder Lube, lots of guys were using axle grease or motor oil for a patch lube, and a lot of commerical stuff was petroleum based, too. They sell that stuff in a toothpaste tube for 7 bucks. Nothing in it but beeswax, some sort of vegetable oil, yellow food coloring and some candy flavoring for the wintergreen smell. I really don't think there are any proprietary "secret" ingredients in it beyond that. You can make your own really inexpensively and you will not be able to tell the difference between your 50 cent per pint batch and the 7 dollar store bought tube. Stumpy's Moose Snot is essentially the same thing, only better and cheaper. And as for the 1000 shots-in-a row test, it was true, they did do that, but under laboratory conditions with a controlled environment that you and I are unlikely to enounter in the field.

 

[roundball]

What does bore butter do then? I'm a little confused because I thought that "seasoned" it.

Bore butter is a generic term referring to lubes like Oxyoke's Wonderlube, TC's Natural Lube (made by Oxyoke) etc...and NL1000 is an excellent one...used it exclusively for years on many different muzzleloaders.

Main thing I like about it is that under most conditions of the year I can shoot range sessions without having to wipe between shots...and I can sit hunting for hours without any worry that the natural lube will harm the powder.

One thing about any paste type lube is to remember that "what we put in we must take out"...meaning don't let any lube residue "build-up" in a bore.

For example you might clean a bore until you get white patches out and assume it's clean...but if you'll include a couple dozen strokes with a bore brush, you'll be amazed at the amount of additional gunk that can come out.

So when using borebutter I always use a bore brush for a few seconds to ensure nothing is ever allowed to build up and affect accuracy.

PS:
While it's true the suggested retail price is $6-7/tube, I've never paid more than $3-4/tube by finding it on EBay, Gunbroker, etc...and one tube lasts a long time...I buy my shooting patches already prelubed with NL1000.

 

[catman]

EBay, that's dirty word roundball....

 

[Slamfire]

Is there any type of finish on the inside of muzzleloader barrels or are they just left bare? I know you have to season them, but I'm thinking more like some type of finish on the metal. Thanks.

The bore on my Renegade smoothie was blued. :winking:

 

[shortstring]

Wonder lube, by any of the brand names, is the result of a big marketing ploy, in my opinion.


I agree.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I agree with Carbine, the conditions of the test were carefully controlled. That's amazing that it was done but slather on enough of any lube and firing could go on until you had to clean the nipple/drum. I've never used Stumpkllier's 'moose snot' since I use white Go-Jo but it must be similar in consistency and I know I could slather enuff on a patch to slide it down the bore for many shots. I tryed many patch lubes and found out it works best for me.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Rnacher: You are new to the forums, so I will tell you directly: The use of any kind of lube in your ML rifle barrel does not " Season " anything. Anything you read or were told to the cotrary was just someone carrying on old wive's tales, or something they read in " Last of the Mohigans", Which was written back when barrel were made of iron, NOT STEEL.

Your barrel is steel. You cannot season it with anything. You can protect the bore from rusting by using certain lubes. BUT, and this is important, the lubes you use to protect the bore from rusting when not being used MUST BE REMOVED before the gun is shot again if you are going to get the best accuracy.

We have seen barrels where " Wonderlube " has been put in them time after time, pretending that it is also a " solvent" ( when its not ) that removes or thins out old dried lube in the barrel. The barrels won't shoot well, and the owners want to replace them. This can happen in as little as a couple of years after the barrel was new! All it takes is a good cleaning, and scrubbing with a bore brush, and the barrel is as accurate as the day it came from the factory.

DON'T GET YOUR ADVICE about maintain, cleaning, or lubing, or loading, you ML rifles and shotguns, from any manufacturer's hype. Ads are for the purpose of selling products. They haven't changed since these folks were selling snake oil!

The reason this forum exists is so that people who don't belong to a local club, or have access to experienced shooters to guide them, can find that advice here. We have members who contribute here that live all over the country, and several who live overseas. We are shooters, and not manufacturers, by and large, and have no vested interested in selling you a particular product.

BTW, I use " wonderlube " and like it, but I don't use it the way the ads say I can. I didn't fall of a turnip truck the morning I bought my first jar of the stuff. I had been using " Black Solve " before that, and was looking for something that was more solid to lube my patches.

 

[DanChamberlain]

I'm going to go out on a limb a bit and state that I believe there is normally no good reason to use a soap product when cleaning the barrels of muzzleloaders. Water and brush, water and patch followed by lube of choice. While steel is not as porus as iron and that's what allows you to season iron, steel is porus and I believe lube will stay inside the pores. It's a good place for lube to be. So, I clean my ML barrels just like I clean my cast iron pans. Water, scouring pad, dry and lube while the barrel is warm from the hot water rinse.

This method has never given me a rusty bore or powder chamber.

Dan

 

[playfarmers]

"We have seen barrels where " Wonderlube " has been put in them time after time, pretending that it is also a " solvent" ( when its not ) that removes or thins out old dried lube in the barrel. The barrels won't shoot well, and the owners want to replace them. This can happen in as little as a couple of years after the barrel was new! All it takes is a good cleaning, and scrubbing with a bore brush, and the barrel is as accurate as the day it came from the factory."


I have such a rifle. I fell for the Bore Butter hype, and after 3 or 4 years my rifle wouldn't shoot worth a hoot. I was ready to get a new muzzleloader when I read about the build up it could leave. I cleaned that rifle thouroughly wearing out a brass brush doing it. Now, several years later that rifle still shoots great. My new Lyman Trade rifle will never see Wonderlube on it's patches.Stumpy's Moose Snot and moose juice are what is going through it. :thumbsup:

 

[arcticap]

Some barrels have factory blue on the inside, Traditions has interior nickeled models and Investarms has made chrome lined barrels. I recall that at least one special run Traditions model had a teflon coating inside.

 

[J.D.]

Wonder lube, by any of the brand names, is the result of a big marketing ploy, in my opinion. Biggest selling point is that it is made of "natural" materials without petroleum which is responsible for a lot of fouling problems.

All natural is in the eye of the marketing rep.
All of the yellow miracle lubes have a parafin wax base, with USP mineral oil added in an attempt to keep it from caking.

It doesn't work, BTW, that's why there is such a build up of parafin in the bores of those who use it.

Parafin wax is a by product of petrolium refining, so y'all are putting a petrolium product in your bores.

Nothing in it but beeswax, some sort of vegetable oil, yellow food coloring and some candy flavoring for the wintergreen smell.

Nope, Its parafin wax with USP mineral oil, which is nothing more than a higly refined liquid parafin. The coloring and wintergreen do nothing to improve lubircation. It's only there to fool the consumers. Good marketing, donchaknow.

The yellow miracle lube formula is the same basic formula as chapstick, slightly modified to lure BP shooters.

Maybe a cherry flavor would shoot better? :hmm:

IMHO, beeswax blended with nearly any quality non-petrolium oil, or even crisco makes a better lube.

J.D.

 

[rice1817]

Nope, Its parafin wax with USP mineral oil, which is nothing more than a higly refined liquid parafin. The coloring and wintergreen do nothing to improve lubircation. It's only there to fool the consumers. Good marketing, donchaknow

I stand corrected. When I made my own, I used Beeswax and olive oil. I liked it better than the factory stuff. I had assumed that "all natural" meant no petroleum products. I did read on another board, on a posting by a chemist, that parafin is chemically one of the most "muzzleloader friendly" of the petroleum products, but it is hardly all natural.

Is there any particular solvent best suited to removing the "all natural albeit parafin-based bore butter" residue from the barrel? Or just scrub the heck out of it with a bronze bore brush?

 

[J.D.]

When I made my own, I used Beeswax and olive oil. I liked it better than the factory stuff. I had assumed that "all natural" meant no petroleum products. parafin is chemically one of the most "muzzleloader friendly" of the petroleum products, but it is hardly all natural.

Is there any particular solvent best suited to removing the "all natural albeit parafin-based bore butter" residue from the barrel? Or just scrub the heck out of it with a bronze bore brush?

Crude oil is a natural product of decomposition of very old vegitable matter. So in that respect, the manufacturer can claim that their product is all natural. Beware manufacturers who use semantics to hawk their wares.

I'm no chemist, but beeswax is softer than parafin. They appear to be two completely different animals.

Is there a good solvent to remove caked on parafin?

I dunno. IMHO, its best to avoid the stuff to begin with. Scrubbing the daylights out of the bore is probably the best way for most folks to get it out.
J.D.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

I season my cast iron skillets and shoot my steel barreled muzzleloaders. One can clean and scrub the bore with plain old water, (or any of the other 900 and 99 cleaning formulas which will work almost as good) ) from the kitchen faucet, or the nearest mud hole, flush bore out good, run some dry patches or tow to remove traces of moisture, lube it with pig lard, Crisco, or again the 900 and 99 other lube formulas, which will work almost as good.


BS aside, just clean the bore good with water or appropriate black powder solvent, dry it good and lube with whatever of choice, many decry it, (but we are unprejudiced decriers here, we will decry almost anything) IMO, WD-40 is hard to beat.

 

[Twowithone]

Thank you for the info and the others that posted their findings on here with thbis stuff. :hatsoff: