Potentially OCD Question

[Booneliane]

Lots of folks, me included, don't have a shop, let alone a handy supply of compressed air. So let's have some advice for us poor folks.

Turn two burners on your stove top to low and lay the barrel across until it’s uncomfortable to hold.

 

[TFoley]

Turn two burners on your stove top to low and lay the barrel across until it’s uncomfortable to hold.

You have TWO burners on your stove top? Oy.

 

[Booneliane]

You have TWO burners on your stove top? Oy.

We’re pretty high falutin.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Turn two burners on your stove top to low and lay the barrel across until it’s uncomfortable to hold.

Wouldnt boiled water achieve the same thing?

 

[Booneliane]

Wouldnt boiled water achieve the same thing?

Oh it probably does. But I always figured dry heating the barrel is a sure fire way to ensure there’s no moisture left in there.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Flush it with acetone or 97% isopropyl alcohol and then compressed air. Spray liberally with WD40 and then use a product like Kroil, eezox, or barricade to coat the metal.

 

[Eterry]

I use hottest tap water into a small bucket with dawn. Put barrel in there, nipple out, and pump with rod and patches until they come out clean.

Then rinse in hot clean water. Then patch until dry. Lightly oil and stand it Barrel Down to keep oil from pooling in the breech.

 

[Billy Boy]

Alternating very hot/boiling water with cleaning patches, clears the fouling well for me.
Once I get clean patches (several) coming back up, I'll swab with a patch wet with 90% rubbing alcohol or Everclear. Concentrated alcohol readily absorbs any lingering water.
I'll follow that with a dry patch or two, then run a snugly fitting felt swab, saturated with bear grease or lamb tallow down, to coat the bore. No rust; no problems.
An alcohol patch, followed by a dry one, clears it for shooting.

Everclear, spoon of sugar, lemon juice, hot water.....you can get to that rifle tomorrow.....

 

[Grenadier1758]

Sure @Billy Boy, but what do you use to clean your rifle?

 

[Billy Boy]

Sure @Billy Boy, but what do you use to clean your rifle?

Patience and, well, tomorrow..

 

[renegadehunter]

Someone mentioned not having an air compressor.
I just buy cans of compressed air to blast some air through the flame channel after cleaning. Then a bit of alcohol poured through, and then it's ready for rust preventative once the alcohol has evaporated. I believe the cans of air are referred to as "keyboard duster" by some companies.
I use it to blow moisture out from under the sights, tenons, and under rib too.

 

[user 34300]

I use a little alcohol in the form of HEET or ISO-HEET fuel line deicer. IT is a cheep and easy way to get 100% alcohol that comes in a convenient package. I put a small hole in the foil seal so it squirts in a tiny stream. Squirt some in, swirl, pour out. The alcohol dilutes the remaining water. I also pop a cap on cap guns to blow it out of the snail. Caps are non corrosive. I then dry the bore with a patch and then oil or grease the bore.

Compressed air is used at home. I like the duster idea.

 

[Col. Batguano]

Wouldnt boiled water achieve the same thing?

It would--IF the effect of the boiled water didn't open up the pores in the steel and fill them with water molecules. As the steel cools and the water is forced out of the pores it settles on the surface and the higher energy of the hot water accelerates the oxygen in it and starts the rusting process on the surface. That's why you get "flash rust" by using hot water until the barrel finally cools.

 

[Britsmoothy]

It would--IF the effect of the boiled water didn't open up the pores in the steel and fill them with water molecules. As the steel cools and the water is forced out of the pores it settles on the surface and the higher energy of the hot water accelerates the oxygen in it and starts the rusting process on the surface. That's why you get "flash rust" by using hot water until the barrel finally cools.

Its nothing and you and I will be long gone before a barrel is trashed due to that.
I also contest these pores being opened up as you describe.
Oxygen maybe more available temporarily via the heat energy.
My belief that there is panic by most folk over this.
I don't panic anymore over this so-called flash rust and my barrels are just dandy thanks.

 

[Col. Batguano]

If you have an explanation or hypothesis as to why you get flash rust with scalding hot water but do not with room temperature water I would be delighted to hear it.

 

[renegadehunter]

If you have an explanation or hypothesis as to why you get flash rust with scalding hot water but do not with room temperature water I would be delighted to hear it.

I feel it is from using city water with chlorine added to it.
I have gotten flash rust every single time I've heated water from the tap (I live in a small city). Warm, hot, boiling...flash rust. Room temp or cooler, no flash rust.
I've read tons of threads where some say they always get flash rust with heated water, and others that say they never get flash rust with heated water. Then I read a post where someone suggested it could be from city water with additives?
So I bought a gallon of distilled water and used it the next time I needed to clean. Heated it on the stove, not boiling but very hot. Used half of it with a few drops of dish soap, then the other half just water for a rinse.
Zero flash rust for the first time (for me) ever.
I started a thread about it. Comments in the thread showed a very common theme of city water folks getting flash rust and well water folks not getting any, for the most part.
I haven't done any shooting in a while, but will continue heating distilled water and using it. I don't feel it cleans any better or faster, but I sure like how much quicker the barrel dries.
Here's a link to that thread. I'm not stating this as 100%, but I'm going to use distilled water and heat it until I see otherwise.
Warm/Hot water when cleaning and flash rust | The Muzzleloading Forum

 

[Britsmoothy]

If you have an explanation or hypothesis as to why you get flash rust with scalding hot water but do not with room temperature water I would be delighted to hear it.

I said...via the excited oxygen atoms being somewhat free more than normal.
By the way. I don't use boiling water but boiled water. It may of sat five minutes after boiling.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Its quite bizarre really isn't it.
Here we are using blackpowder that on combustion leaves an awful corrosive mess that most just accept but using water pure or otherwise , hot or cold and it causes a slight iron oxide probable a shade under a micron thick and it is deemed wreckless .
Oh boy ....

 

[Col. Batguano]

Boiling for a few minutes should remove the chlorine. I have a bunch of maple sap permeate I'll try it with. That's the water that's removed from the sugar sap after running it through a reverse osmosis machine. It can't really get much more pure than that.

 

[Blitz]

I feel it is from using city water with chlorine added to it.
I have gotten flash rust every single time I've heated water from the tap (I live in a small city). Warm, hot, boiling...flash rust. Room temp or cooler, no flash rust.
I've read tons of threads where some say they always get flash rust with heated water, and others that say they never get flash rust with heated water. Then I read a post where someone suggested it could be from city water with additives?
So I bought a gallon of distilled water and used it the next time I needed to clean. Heated it on the stove, not boiling but very hot. Used half of it with a few drops of dish soap, then the other half just water for a rinse.
Zero flash rust for the first time (for me) ever.
I started a thread about it. Comments in the thread showed a very common theme of city water folks getting flash rust and well water folks not getting any, for the most part.
I haven't done any shooting in a while, but will continue heating distilled water and using it. I don't feel it cleans any better or faster, but I sure like how much quicker the barrel dries.
Here's a link to that thread. I'm not stating this as 100%, but I'm going to use distilled water and heat it until I see otherwise.
Warm/Hot water when cleaning and flash rust | The Muzzleloading Forum

If you prefer warm or hot water and have chlorinated water just bring it to a boil and let cool a bit, the chlorine will evaporate, it will do so if your water sets overnight also.When I was in the army we were made to use nearly boiling water to clean our M1 Garands. No flash rust but the rifle I was issued had a horrible dark and pited bore, I think some rust may have been beneficial.

Buzz