Peroxide cleaning barrel

[vtflatlander]

Has anyone ever heard of or tried using peroxide to clean a rifle either between shots on the range or to clean a barrel when done shooting.Years ago I had a friend who did lots of BP shooting and swore by this method of cleaning instead of hot soapy water etc. He said it was faster too.
Fred

 

[mrclean100]

I have heard of peroxide being used in some homemade solutions , and when I use " Butches bore shine " to clean mine after shooting it foams up enough to make me think peroxide is one of their ingredients also .

 

[MikeChapin]

Peroxide is a strong oxidizer. Cleaning with peroxide alone sounds like a fast and easy way to rust up a barrel.

Some of the patch lubes and cleaning solutions use peroxide in the mix but the peroxide attacks the the water soluble oil or Murphy's Oil Soap in these concoctions making it better as a patch lube and cleaing solution. There is no free peroxide left to attack the steel in the barrel.

 

[MikeC]

Never use it alone. I use the following mixture to clean the barrel after shooting.

3 parts alcohol
2 parts peroxide
1 part murphy's oil soap

Plug the touch hole or nipple with a toothpick, pour a little down the barrel, cover the muzzle with your finger and tip the barrel back and forth a few times then let sit for a minute. then pour it out, run a couple of patches then repeat. Run an oil patch down the barrel and it's done. I do this at the range only takes a few minutes and the barrel is done. When I get home all I have to do it pull the lock clean it and clean the outside of the rifle, oil and I'm done.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Man oh man! People will insist on complicating things. The most effective cleaner of black powder residue is plain old water! There is nothing you can add to water that will make it better except for a bit of detergent to cut the oil left from patch lube. If you shoot only spit lube you can even skip the detergent. In all the bizarre concoctions people come up with it is still only the water that dissolves the residue. Take any of those magic ingredients alone and try it on some exposed fouling such as the flint pan or around the percussion nipple and you'll see for yourself that they do nothing to remove the fouling. Add your special formula to water and it works great, just as will the water alone!

 

[Little Wattsy]

Man oh man! People will insist on complicating things. The most effective cleaner of black powder residue is plain old water! There is nothing you can add to water that will make it better except for a bit of detergent to cut the oil left from patch lube. If you shoot only spit lube you can even skip the detergent. In all the bizarre concoctions people come up with it is still only the water that dissolves the residue. Take any of those magic ingredients alone and try it on some exposed fouling such as the flint pan or around the percussion nipple and you'll see for yourself that they do nothing to remove the fouling. Add your special formula to water and it works great, just as will the water alone!

Man oh man....EVERY time I climb into my car I am glad that some guy with a horse complicated things by toying with a buggy. And, living here on the west coast, I am glad that Lewis and Clark complicated things by mapping the Oregon trail.
Point is MOST men are pioneers in spirit at some leval and had we all just settled on what seemed easy at the time we would stil be living like a bunch of Indians; Surounded by rotting buffalo hides, waiting to be scalped, and looking foreword to the spring thaw when the human waste would start to smell up again.....Yah Im glad John Crapper decided to complicate things. :wink:

 

[MikeC]

Man oh man! People will insist on complicating things. The most effective cleaner of black powder residue is plain old water! There is nothing you can add to water that will make it better except for a bit of detergent to cut the oil left from patch lube. If you shoot only spit lube you can even skip the detergent. In all the bizarre concoctions people come up with it is still only the water that dissolves the residue. Take any of those magic ingredients alone and try it on some exposed fouling such as the flint pan or around the percussion nipple and you'll see for yourself that they do nothing to remove the fouling. Add your special formula to water and it works great, just as will the water alone!

To each there own. I know my way works, works great and fast. :wink:

 

[Swampman]

I wouldn't use peroxide. Windex is very hard to beat.

 

[tg]

There is always a pro/con division on the use of peroxide in the bore of a gun, pick a side and pull up a chair.

 

[redwing]

:grin: :bow:

 

[David Shaw]

I used to use the Murphy's oil soap solution. But I always believed in the "seasoning" your barrel theory also and wondered if this was counter productive. Good hot water works for me.

 

[vtflatlander]

Gee thanks guys. I really didn't mean to get a contoversey going. I have used hot soapy water myself. Just wondered if peroxide would be quick for the range thats all.
Thanks for all your input but I will stick with the water and soap for now

 

[MikeC]

I used to use the Murphy's oil soap solution. But I always believed in the "seasoning" your barrel theory also and wondered if this was counter productive. Good hot water works for me.

Modern day barrels do not need to be seasoned like the softer metals back in the day when that term meant something.

 

[tg]

"I really didn't mean to get a contoversey going"

On this forum?........ you gotta be kidding.

 

[squirejohn]

I've used the "MAP" solution and got instant flash rust in the barrel. I substituted water for peroxide and eliminated the rust. I also use plain water with equal results but feel the alcohol probably dries the barrel faster.

 

[Doug Lykins]

Those of us who have fired multi-thousands of smokeless rounds have a hard time accepting how easy it is to clean up a black powder barrel.
As you likely already know, with a smokeless barrel you scrub w/ powder solvent and then Sweets or similar copper solvent. The copper or lead fouling is a BIG pain. Shucks, a bucket of soapy water, swish it through until the water is clean, dry patch it real good, a little Bore Butter, Waa-laa, good as new! :thumbsup:

 

[Jim/OH]

I have used a mixture of equal parts of Murphys Oil Soap, Alcohol, and Proxide to wipe between shots when at the range for 10 years, without a problem. I have seen numerous posts about "flash rust" etc. but have never experienced it myself. I use it in all my rifles and pistols. However I do clean the rifle at home when done with water and Dawn dishwashing soap. After a few dry patches, duche it down with WD-40 if it is a gun to be put away for a while, next day a coat of oil on and in the barrel. If I expect to be shooting it within a week or two, the WD-40 is all I do. Hope this helps.

See ya, Jim/OH :hatsoff:

 

[skunkhead]

I have used peroxide in a three parts cleaner but I noticed if I got it on my stock after repeated use it started to mess up the finish on my stock. I don't know if it was the alcahol or peroxide. I started using simple green on patches at the range to loosen the fouling. But always I CLEAN WITH WARM WATER after the end of the day. I did this with three patch cleaner. There was an article in Muzzle Blasts about peroxide being corosive to the bore. I never had any trouble with that. But I clean with water when I am done.

 

[Ohio Rusty]

I can't believe this monster has reared it's ugly head again ...... There are so many different good cleaning products out there you should never need peroxide.

Peroxide is an oxydizer.... it bubbles and foams and forces it's way into the smallest nooks and crannies ...... Like the threads behind the face of the breechplug. So now you have BP fouling, which the sulphur has become a low grade sulphuric acid, and the salts from the potassium, along with the peroxide forcing all of that into the breechplug threads, just creating a recipe for rust where you can't clean it and a future disaster !! (breechplug into your face)

STOP using the peroxide to clean your guns !! Some really bad habits never die and peroxide in BP guns is like an undead zombie ....they keep coming back to cause havoc and problems.
Forget the 1970's rondyvoo recipe that used peroxide and use a proper cleaner for your guns that won't damage anything. A little dish detergent and luke-warm water is as good as anything, and it's cheap and virtually free.

Ohio Rusty >

 

[Zonie]

Boy, anything that's called Hydrogen Peroxide must be good. A whole lot better than just plain old water!
I mean, water is just.....water but, Hydrogen Peroxide...now that has to be some special stuff!

Why, I even remember when my big sister wanted to put a stripe thru her coal black hair so she put some Hydrogen Peroxide on it just wetting down a stripe. That stripe turned orange red! which was all right with her because her High School colors was Black and Red. Of course this was back in the '50s and my mom wanted to skin here alive! :grin:
Unfortunately, mom didn't get to skin her and I was sorta disappointed.

Anyway, something that costs more than those bottles of water everyone keeps carrying around and sipping on must be Really Good don't you think?

Then again... I've heard of folks who used Hydrogen Dioxide! NOW THAT must be almost as good as Hydrogen Peroxide what with taking the Per out of it and replacing it with a Di. I wonder if Hydrogen Dioxide would change Rosemary's hair to maybe a green stripe? Now, that would be something, don't you think?

OH... FOR CLEANING MUZZLELOADERS? No. I never touch that PER stuff. I just use plain old water but maybe someday I'll find someone selling that Hydrogen Dioxide stuff and try it. Who knows? It might work even better than water. :grin: