Kerosene?

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I just got a copy of "Black Powder Revolver Primer" by E.R. Walker. He recommends using Kerosene for cleaning black powder revolvers. He advises soaking the whole firearm in Kerosene, minus the grips which could be damaged. I am always concerned about water residue from "Moose Milk" that may affect my BP revolvers longterm. It sounds like it might work well.
Any thoughts on cleaning entire BP guns, minus stocks, in Kerosene?
 
I just got a copy of "Black Powder Revolver Primer" by E.R. Walker. He recommends using Kerosene for cleaning black powder revolvers. He advises soaking the whole firearm in Kerosene, minus the grips which could be damaged. I am always concerned about water residue from "Moose Milk" that may affect my BP revolvers longterm. It sounds like it might work well.
Any thoughts on cleaning entire BP guns, minus stocks, in Kerosene?

Sounds messy, toxic, and wasteful.

I suggest using/purchasing an air compressor. Then you can use dish soap and water, which is really fast and cheap. As a bonus, all the gunk can go right down the drain.

Compressed air removes all water residue, even from tight spaces, very quickly. It'll also evenly distribute oil over and into the entire gun.
 
I think most spray oils use kerosene as the base, but list it under a different name, everyone here has probably used it at one time or another. . It's a good solvent-lube for lots of uses, but not what I'd recommend or cleaning black powder, I use soapy water for that. And it doesn't take much soap. I own air compressors and don't use them to clean with either. With humid air the compressed air will always carry some water though and water is what I think works best on BP, so maybe I should.
 
I just got a copy of "Black Powder Revolver Primer" by E.R. Walker. He recommends using Kerosene for cleaning black powder revolvers. He advises soaking the whole firearm in Kerosene, minus the grips which could be damaged. I am always concerned about water residue from "Moose Milk" that may affect my BP revolvers longterm. It sounds like it might work well.
Any thoughts on cleaning entire BP guns, minus stocks, in Kerosene?
Nothing de-solves black powder residue better than warm soapy water, Warm water does not produce flash rust nearly as fast as boiling water and cleans just as well. W-D 40 is applied after the gun is rinsed and wiped dry which lifts any residual moisture in corners and crevices not reachable when wiping dry .
Kerosene being a petroleum product does not lift carbon deposits well and while better than nothing will not clean fouling nearly as well as water, even cold water.
 
Isn't WD40 petroleum based?
Yes but when it's applied after the water has desolved the fouling it will lift any residue moisture where it can evaporate and leave a barrier to prevent oxidation/rust underneath.
I usually follow up with Gunzilla which is a vegetable CLP. Gunzilla will also desolve carbon fouling better than water. Cooked on Carbon fouling is the toughest of all fouling to remove even surpassing bullet jacket fouling.
 
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For the Top Strap, I point the gun down into my small tub of hot soapy water and run the brush up the muzzle. Rinse with hot water, repeat. No water in the action.

The cylinders go in the tub and same brush to scrub out the insides.

The 47 Walker the barrel seemly goes int the tub and brushed.

Then they all go into the shell dryer on high heat. Yes a bit of flash rust but take that out and off with a rub and oil down.

There is a cleaner called Carbon Killer 2000 (I call it CK2K) that is non toxic and low odor. That works but uses a fair number of patches if you have been shooting the BP side of the cylinders. I have the setup in my gun box and at the range and if the fouling is bad I will clean it that way.

Best way to use is to get an eye dropper bottle, drizzle on a nylon brush, run into the bore, drops on it on the other end and back through then a patch. Goex 4F in larger charges has proven to be really bad fouling wise. Worse than any mil surplus rifle I have ever owned.

But Soap and Hot water works well (I do brush residue out of the barres at the range with a nylong 45 cal Brush (in my case, appropriate cal brush of course per what you shoot)

Compressed air can dry the open parts but will not get all water out of the action. Filling the action with synteic agree ala Mike works nicely for any stray water.
 
I find plain old tap water, cold, warm or hot with a drop or two of dish soap works the best. An old toothbrush, proper fitting jag for barrel and cylinder works amazing well also. I have a air compressor so I use it. I will sometimes after using the air compressor wash the revolver down with WD-40 (water displacement - 40) then blow that stuff out and finally give everything a good wipe down with a GOOD gun oil inside and out. Your guns deserve the best care you can give them.:thumb::D
 
I think most spray oils use kerosene as the base, but list it under a different name, everyone here has probably used it at one time or another. . It's a good solvent-lube for lots of uses, but not what I'd recommend or cleaning black powder, I use soapy water for that. And it doesn't take much soap. I own air compressors and don't use them to clean with either. With humid air the compressed air will always carry some water though and water is what I think works best on BP, so maybe I should.

Yeah, good point, lots of even simple spray oils probably aren't great for you either.

For the Top Strap, I point the gun down into my small tub of hot soapy water and run the brush up the muzzle. Rinse with hot water, repeat. No water in the action.

The cylinders go in the tub and same brush to scrub out the insides.

The 47 Walker the barrel seemly goes int the tub and brushed.

Then they all go into the shell dryer on high heat. Yes a bit of flash rust but take that out and off with a rub and oil down.

There is a cleaner called Carbon Killer 2000 (I call it CK2K) that is non toxic and low odor. That works but uses a fair number of patches if you have been shooting the BP side of the cylinders. I have the setup in my gun box and at the range and if the fouling is bad I will clean it that way.

Best way to use is to get an eye dropper bottle, drizzle on a nylon brush, run into the bore, drops on it on the other end and back through then a patch. Goex 4F in larger charges has proven to be really bad fouling wise. Worse than any mil surplus rifle I have ever owned.

But Soap and Hot water works well (I do brush residue out of the barres at the range with a nylong 45 cal Brush (in my case, appropriate cal brush of course per what you shoot)

Compressed air can dry the open parts but will not get all water out of the action. Filling the action with synteic agree ala Mike works nicely for any stray water.

Continually flash rusting a firearm is going to destroy the finish over time, I'd try and avoid that.

Compressed air will absolutely get all the water out of the action of a percussion revolver. If you're talking about leaving all the parts installed in the action while washing with water I guess you could do that, but I wouldn't recommend it. Neither air nor water displacing oil is going to be able to remove the water from the threads of screws and the like.
 
I have seen flash rust over parts of machinery when that part was stored for some time. Not an issue and that is from a guy who restores old tractors and paints them and does a magnificent job. He can't pre coat with anything as that messes with the primer. So he lets it flash rust, cleans it off when he is ready to paint it before he puts it on. Perfectly smooth surface, no pits, no penetrating corrosion.

Rust is actually the main protection system on some structures. Once it rusts to X degree, no more corrosion. Yes it is lethal in other circumstances per re bar in concrete.

A blanket statement like that does not do anyone any favors information wise.

First of all its not the entire firearm, its discreet parts. As long as there is no pitting, there is no damage.

And yea, I have personal experience with that. 60 years ago, my dad died in a boat wreck. Hunting trip. They found the boat and his gun was still stored in the cabin, they flushed it and sent it to my mom.

She in turn turned it over to a gunsmith we had know since we were wee lads, he went through it again, flush, cleaned, all good. We hunted with that rifle for 40 some years. Then one day my younger brother took it down to confirm sight in, first shell that came out was a wrinkled mess. He stopped and consulted his much more gun savy brothers (two of us were deep into guns).

Ok, no, don't shoot it ever again. Best guess is corrosion got into the metal and its gone from no issue to its dangerous in a year. It never was abused water wise, always cleaned, seldom hunted if ever in the rain, alwyas cleaned.

So yea, it can happen, worst set of conditions, it was in salt water for a week and unknown how much time passed before they got the boat and then the gun to someone to flush it (exposed to oxygen would be the time it started to do the bad stuff)

We replaced the barrel on it eventually and still shoot it.

So no, a bit of controlled flash rust is not an issue.

Compressed air has a lot of water vapor in it. A hidden passage can trap water and you have rust occurring. As its hidden and continues, its the kind of rust that will damage things though in a mechanism, not likely a serious problem though the frame could suffer.

Heating dries all water and the vapor leaves
 
A blanket statement like that does not do anyone any favors information wise.
There was no blanket statement. I said continually flash rusting a firearm will destroy the finish. Which it absolutely will. Flash rust is not good for bluing, the protective finish fade and go away the more times you let it rust.

If you remove flash rust quickly enough, It's not going to hurt the functionality of the gun, but it's going to flash rust easier in the future as you remove the protective black oxide.


Compressed air has a lot of water vapor in it. A hidden passage can trap water and you have rust occurring. As its hidden and continues, its the kind of rust that will damage things though in a mechanism, not likely a serious problem though the frame could suffer.

Heating dries all water and the vapor leaves

Not nearly as much rust as you get putting a wet firearm into an oven. If you've got flash rust showing up on the surface of the firearm, you've also got it showing up in screw holes.

Also, compressed air actually has less water in it by volume than ambient. If you've got enough vapor coming out of your compressor to leave behind visible water, you've gone too long before draining your tank, the compressor is way too small for the volume of air needed, or the compressor was designed horribly.
 
Many shotguns that are 'sticky' are that way as a result of using WD-40; it gunks things up ultimately. Old time experienced gunsmiths will tell you this.
I'm and old time gun mechanic/smith if you prefer the term and all the WD-40 does is lift the residue moisture from cracks and crevices where it can evaporate. It then in wiped off and the gun is oiled to prevent oxidation.
Another problem with WD-40 use is it will thin brown or blue finish on a barrel as it is also a penetrating oil. It took me a few years to figure out why the bluing on my hunting rifles was thinning out after wiping them down with WD-40.
 
For the Top Strap, I point the gun down into my small tub of hot soapy water and run the brush up the muzzle. Rinse with hot water, repeat. No water in the action.

The cylinders go in the tub and same brush to scrub out the insides.

The 47 Walker the barrel seemly goes int the tub and brushed.

Then they all go into the shell dryer on high heat. Yes a bit of flash rust but take that out and off with a rub and oil down.

There is a cleaner called Carbon Killer 2000 (I call it CK2K) that is non toxic and low odor. That works but uses a fair number of patches if you have been shooting the BP side of the cylinders. I have the setup in my gun box and at the range and if the fouling is bad I will clean it that way.

Best way to use is to get an eye dropper bottle, drizzle on a nylon brush, run into the bore, drops on it on the other end and back through then a patch. Goex 4F in larger charges has proven to be really bad fouling wise. Worse than any mil surplus rifle I have ever owned.

But Soap and Hot water works well (I do brush residue out of the barres at the range with a nylong 45 cal Brush (in my case, appropriate cal brush of course per what you shoot)

Compressed air can dry the open parts but will not get all water out of the action. Filling the action with synteic agree ala Mike works nicely for any stray water.
The grease in the action is a good idea if one is not going to clean their gun regularly after each use as it keeps the fouling from covering the internal parts.
 
On the black powder revolvers an action shield and packing the insides with hi temp wheel bearing grease is a really good option. It saves a lot of time during cleanup and is good for about a year if you are a regular shooter. Once a year dig the grease out, clean everything and repack it.
 


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