Is there a way to postpone cleaning a ml?

[The Miner '49er]

I have some assorted ml barrels for sale. I proofed each one and they passed. If you order one I promise to clean it before shipping. Make me an offer.

 

[cynthialee]

I can't walk away from a filthy firearm. It will eat at me until I get it done. As soon as I walk inside from shooting I am in the kitchen with a bucket of soapy water and my implements of scrubage.

 

[D.Summers]

One of the finest things for me, after shooting, is the ritual of cleaning ones gun! The cleaning of the bore, the scrubbing of the lock, oiling the whole gun, including the stock, is one of the great things about shooting these beautiful guns! I enjoy it a great deal! It's a part of the entire experience!

 

[Rudyard]

Well since I often went a week with a loaded ML & if fired I reloaded as it would be then . ide use spit on the rods jag to get the soot out to a minimum then run an oiled rag down the dried barrel never seemed to spoil the bore but it got wiped each night regardless.
Rudyard

 

[necchi]

There are circumstances where it's ok, that being a dry condition with small temp swings in the time period your working with.
It's all about ambient moisture and temp, (the dew point).
Moisture is the trigger that starts the corrosive part of the powder deposit, it's a risk factor for each individual in his daily environment.
Here in Minn, I wrecked one good shooter in just one over night at a camp, it was all right, but it was never the tack driver is was after that,
In a padded case, but on the ground under the cot,,
,a lesson learned.

 

[Britsmoothy]

In winter I hunt with my muzzloaders. Sometimes I don't clean them and I don't get serious issues.
I do however use homemade lube from plant and animal fats.
Sometimes if I want a fouled gun to sit a week I will smother it in my lube inside and out and no harm happens.
No way did homesteaders get all worked up about cleaning how some do today and it was for good reason the gun lived above or near the hearth!
I did a test last year where upon I stored a fould shotgun for a period of time. I did a thread on it here.
So over a period of six weeks plus I think my lubed fould 10g became this.

Then I cleaned it with boiled water and I got this.

There is a way to not have to clean immediately. Use a homemade vegetable and animal based lube, nothing fancy.
No need to worry at all.

 

[ernbar]

I try to clean as soon as I get home from the range but a couple of times I could not clean as usual till the following day. No harm done, no corrosion even with the humid Florida weather.

 

[Lippy984]

I get what you’re saying. I’ve been there. Time is rarely on my side with little kids around. I get paranoid if I can’t clean them right away, but my method is to go heavy with the Moose Milk (Ballistol+water) or straight Ballistol. Run a patch or two down the bore, spray down the lock/action, and get back to cleaning it as soon as I’m able.

 

[French Colonial]

In winter I hunt with my muzzloaders. Sometimes I don't clean them and I don't get serious issues.
I do however use homemade lube from plant and animal fats.
Sometimes if I want a fouled gun to sit a week I will smother it in my lube inside and out and no harm happens.
No way did homesteaders get all worked up about cleaning how some do today and it was for good reason the gun lived above or near the hearth!
I did a test last year where upon I stored a fould shotgun for a period of time. I did a thread on it here.
So over a period of six weeks plus I think my lubed fould 10g became this.
View attachment 236212View attachment 236213
Then I cleaned it with boiled water and I got this.
View attachment 236211
There is a way to not have to clean immediately. Use a homemade vegetable and animal based lube, nothing fancy.
No need to worry at all.

Once again Britsmoothy gives us real world experience which will be ignored.

 

[Brad Love]

One would think that a country that put man on the moon would be able to formulate some product that would allow a ml shooter to postpone cleaning his gun until the next day. Perhaps you fired once, or a couple of times, and want to shoot again tomorrow. Surely there should be a way to swab the barrel once, give the lock and hammer a quick wipe, and then the next day either shoot some more or do a normal cleaning. Any thoughts? Anyone ever try this w/o harming the gun? If so, how did you do it? Please don't reply with "it only takes 15 min to clean", "never use petroleum products", "great grandpa used water and that's good enough for me", etc. I'm seriously trying to see if there could be a way to use something to achieve this. I'm thinking a vapor impregnated reusable bag, a magic corrosion nullifying powder or liquid, etc. Surely some smart chemist out there has experimented and has found a way. Come on you scientist/shooters, sound off.

I have never waited with real black powder but ..., I use blackhorn 209 powder went to Saskatchewan and did not clean it for a week till I got home. No problems at all with this powder. It's almost like a regular rifle pistol powder.

 

[wiscoaster]

Di-hydrogen oxide works good.

Shouldn't I be wearing PPE when using this stuff?

 

[TexiKan]

On occasion, something happens to delay the usual prompt cleaning. I remember some information about Young Country's Lube 103 stating it would allow one to delay cleaning. Since I was using it at the time, after my last shot, I would lightly clean and then run a saturated path of Lube 103 down the barrel and wipe it around the nipple area. I did my through cleaning about a day later and there was no ill effect. I have done this a few times and today, my Sharon Hawken continues to be my main rifle since the early 1980's.

I understand Lube 103 is no longer made even though I still have some for such purposes, it makes sense that the basic substance can help delay the cleaning process. It also stated the gun can be lubed with it in the final process and although some have reported it does not inhibit rust as they like, I did use if for a while for that purpose and saw a lightly soiled patch, which is what most folks see after a week or more after using many different products.

 

[Art Caputo]

One would think that a country that put man on the moon would be able to formulate some product that would allow a ml shooter to postpone cleaning his gun until the next day. Perhaps you fired once, or a couple of times, and want to shoot again tomorrow. Surely there should be a way to swab the barrel once, give the lock and hammer a quick wipe, and then the next day either shoot some more or do a normal cleaning. Any thoughts? Anyone ever try this w/o harming the gun? If so, how did you do it? Please don't reply with "it only takes 15 min to clean", "never use petroleum products", "great grandpa used water and that's good enough for me", etc. I'm seriously trying to see if there could be a way to use something to achieve this. I'm thinking a vapor impregnated reusable bag, a magic corrosion nullifying powder or liquid, etc. Surely some smart chemist out there has experimented and has found a way. Come on you scientist/shooters, sound off.

While my strong preference is to thoroughly clean my rifles at the end of the day after shooting, I have been in “quick clean” situations with my flintlocks numerous times over the past decades. Chemistry IS the answer. The most effective means I’ve found that takes less then a few minutes, and effectively removes the highly corrosive black powder by-products from the barrel is the use of MAP(Murphy’s Oil Soap(4pts), IPA(6pts), 3%Peroxide(6pts). MAP will solubilize rust generating salts and carbon deposits very quickly without harm to the barrel. I keep a small brown bottle(3 Oz) in my bag. To quick clean, plug the flash hole, pour the 3 ounces down the barrel, plug/cover the barrel with your thumb and invert a few times. After sitting a couple minutes, pour out the solution, dry the barrel with a couple of patches, then apply a thin film of your favorite water displaying lube(ie. Ballistol, WD40). Wipe down the lock and outer breach surfaces with the same lube. Next shooting session, swab the bore with a clean patch, and the flash hole with a pipe cleaner….Done.
Never had a fail to fire, or any rust formation. Contrary to some viewpoints, I personally have never had ANY issues using MAP in my flintlocks, and all my barrels look new.

 

[Campbell]

Generally, waiting a day will do no harm.

 

[tenngun]

One would think that a country that put man on the moon would be able to formulate some product that would allow a ml shooter to postpone cleaning his gun until the next day. Perhaps you fired once, or a couple of times, and want to shoot again tomorrow. Surely there should be a way to swab the barrel once, give the lock and hammer a quick wipe, and then the next day either shoot some more or do a normal cleaning. Any thoughts? Anyone ever try this w/o harming the gun? If so, how did you do it? Please don't reply with "it only takes 15 min to clean", "never use petroleum products", "great grandpa used water and that's good enough for me", etc. I'm seriously trying to see if there could be a way to use something to achieve this. I'm thinking a vapor impregnated reusable bag, a magic corrosion nullifying powder or liquid, etc. Surely some smart chemist out there has experimented and has found a way. Come on you scientist/shooters, sound off.

@Britsmoothy did a line of post where he went sometime not cleaning his gun, with no bad results
Old guns have been found in the desert in very good shape while here in the Ozarks rust can happen pretty quick. Maybe it could stand a week maybe not, I ain’t chancing it.
Howsomever an animal fat like mink oil or lard swabed around should be a barrier against rust for a few days. And in the drier west maybe salt for some time
I don’t let the sun set on a dirty gun.

 

[Brokennock]

Once again Britsmoothy gives us real world experience which will be ignored.

Yup. Amazing how folks can post a bunch of opinions that are light on back up and heavy on conjecture and myth,,,, but when someone posts real experience they get ignored or ridiculed. And how many go to great pains to cultivate that 200 year old looking well worn and weathered look to their guns and gear only to have a complete breakdown over even the thought of some possible flash-rust if the cleaning water is too hot

I seriously doubt "great-grandpa," or more likely, great-great-great-grandpa obsessed over cleaning his gun thoroughly every time he got home and had fired a shot.
But then I also have very strong doubts about the "15 minutes to clean" crowd.

 

[Jasonb1911]

I think humidity has a lot to do with it.

∆∆∆ This ∆∆∆

I've found that I can get away with not cleaning for days at a time with zero damage when humidity is low. It all depends on where you are and how damp the air is.

 

[Jimbob]

Generally, waiting a day will do no harm.

I second that.

 

[Dark Angel]

I've postponed cleaning my cap 'n ball revolvers for several days and saw no harm done when I did get around to cleaning them, and had to do nothing more than the normal when I did. Those who claim rusting sets in immediately, well, maybe technically that's true, but practically speaking, I think it takes a while before you reach a point beyond which there's no return.

14 minutes!?!?!

Once, had a 'self-acclaimed' bp expert bp tell me that not cleaning my revolver immediately after shooting was be harmful. Never found this to be true in over 50 years of shooting bp. Of course, I generally do a thorough cleaning the next day. Too, this same 'expert' told me that by leaving my bp revolver loaded over an extend period also invited corrosion of my cylinder chambers. Of course, me being me and a bit of a smart-ass, when confronted with blatant stupidity, explained as though explaining to a 'slow' child why this was also no true.

 

[Jimbob]

One would think that a country that put man on the moon would be able to formulate some product that would allow a ml shooter to postpone cleaning his gun until the next day. Perhaps you fired once, or a couple of times, and want to shoot again tomorrow. Surely there should be a way to swab the barrel once, give the lock and hammer a quick wipe, and then the next day either shoot some more or do a normal cleaning. Any thoughts? Anyone ever try this w/o harming the gun? If so, how did you do it? Please don't reply with "it only takes 15 min to clean", "never use petroleum products", "great grandpa used water and that's good enough for me", etc. I'm seriously trying to see if there could be a way to use something to achieve this. I'm thinking a vapor impregnated reusable bag, a magic corrosion nullifying powder or liquid, etc. Surely some smart chemist out there has experimented and has found a way. Come on you scientist/shooters, sound off.

The attached file is an article by Ross Seyfried that appeared in a 1997 Muzzleloaer magazine.