Seasoning your barrel?

[Turtle Creek]

This is my first BP forum/internet deal so I look around, read this/that.
So, I've read some posts about not using a bore brush because you can ruin the barrel seasoning like you would in a cast Iron skillet.
So who buys this.
You are cooking eggs in your barrel?
Seasoning a steel barrel?
I'm suspecting witchcraft....

 

[nchawkeye]

You don't season a barrel, myth...

 

[F.G. Ford]

Seasoning a barrel!
A little garlic, allspice, curry....ah, er that is another site!
Seriously that is an old reference to old iron forged barrels that had to be sealed, kind of like a frying pan.
The barrel would be heated hot then tallow, bear fat, possum fat, or whale oil would be heated to help prevent rust from developing.
Today barrels are made of steel, negating the need for such witchcraft.
There was a posting at the top as we entered this site, giving information to this act.
I'm sure many others will chime in to give more information.
Welcome to great site, and a great bunch of fellows, and quiet ladies ( most of the time! )
Fred

 

[Treestalker]

Some BP gun cleaning products claim thier products 'season' a barrel so it resists rust, smoothes the bore, cures the common cold while reducing tooth decay. :bull: I have used the aforementioned products for patch lube and a final bore wipe to resist rust, which it does very well. The seasoning part is right up there with Tarot cards an Ouiji boards. :blah: Snakeoil. Tree

 

[Turtle Creek]

Thanks, the posting I read made no ref to an iron barrel which might of made some sense.
I was looking for some chicken bones to ward this off when I read your post.
Whew.

 

[bpd303]

The main reason for not using a bore brush is they are not needed and tend to get stuck in the breech area. One episode of a stuck brush will convince even the most stubborn user to cease using them. :cursing:

 

[Turtle Creek]

I use one but sparingly...can't see how it'd get stuck if you get one the proper size...and...use it after you've done some bore wiping.
I just make a few runs to loosen up any hard fowling.
They also make a great mustache comb....proper presentation being what it is.

 

[S.Kenton]

Agree.. no real reason for a bore brush.

 

[Turtle Creek]

Good points.
Mom told me to brush twice a day and I'll keep at it...she didn't say nothiin about seasoning though.

 

[gwalker]

Bore brushes are not necessary. All I use is water-dampened patches to clean the bore of my rifle while shooting and after a shooting/hunting session. I do use a fouling scraper to clean the face of the breech plug, too, as fouling will accumulate there over time and eventually form a barrier for the gun powder to get into your flash channel. I also use a dampened pipe cleaner to clean out the flash hole in the vent after a shooting session. To protect the bore from rusting, I use olive oil on a patch, but then I shoot my rifle two to three times a week or more. Longer storage of the rifle may require some type of gun oil to protect against rust. For this, I use Wonder Lube; but clean it out well before shooting your rifle, as it does build up hard, caked-on fouling in the bore. Here in the interior west, relative humidity levels are low, in the 20 to 40% range and bore rust is not the problem as it is in more humid areas of the country.

 

[kaintuck]

Only if it's made from cast iron.....

:shocked2:

Marc

 

[LRB]

Use a nylon bristle brush. They will get crud in the groove corners out much easier and better than cloth.

 

[dikman]

I use a slightly undersize brass (bronze?) brush, wrapped with a thin patch. It doesn't seem to matter how much I scrub using cleaning patches, whether with hot soapy water or cold water, if I run this brush/patch combo down it will always loosen up more black stuff!!!

 

[gwalker]

That 'black stuff' is simply carbon. It will not harm the bore of your rifle nor will it cause your rifle to rust. Some shooters use some pretty intense thought-out concoctions to clean their rifles to remove that lingering carbon but water is all you need to remove the salts formed from burning black powder. I believe the whole idea of barrels becoming seasoned over time is borne from the fact that when seasoning cast iron cookware, it is the carbon from the animal fat (lard) that builds up in the pores of the cast iron. This carbon forms a barrier to water reaching the iron, as well as prevents whatever your cooking from sticking to the iron. I don't worry or try to remove all that black stuff from the bore when cleaning my rifle, nor do I believe that back in the day the old timers did either.

By the way, I should have mentioned in my post yesterday that I use pig tallow (lard) as my patch lubricant. I rend the tallow myself from pig fat (easy to do). The commercial lard you can purchase in the bakery section of the grocery stores has water (hydrogenated) added to it. It works ok at the range but don't use if for hunting, etc., as it will cause your rifle bore to rust in a short time.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Isn't this a 'no-no' subject here? :shocked2: :shake:

 

[Pete G]

I always season my barrels.

Squirrel season, Deer season, Turkey season......

 

[Turtle Creek]

Good point.
I do have the right kind but I did get it unknowingly.
Sorry if posted in the wrong AO...just naturally come to the flint section as everyone knows flinters have higher IQ's.

 

[MSW]

running close to what you would call an "old wives' tale" or "urban legend" ... there is no real reason to do this, just as there is no logical reason not to eat canned peaches on board a tank ... but woe be unto those who open a can of peaches, much less consume them, on or in a tank!

you can engage in such machinations if that makes you feel better, but it won't make any difference one way or another...

as regards the bore brush issue, I've been lucky and never had a brass or bronze brush fail in a bore, but I did quit using them a while ago in favor of the stiff plastic brushes, and only then on rare occasions ... I've found that warm soapy water works well for me ...

make good smoke!

 

[hawkeye2]

Talk about thread drift! ff The title of this thread is "Seasoning your barrel?". Nine of 18 posts here are devoted to bore brushes which have been thoroughly discussed recently in another thread. Would it be possible to please get back to the topic? :v

At one time I believe Claude had an excellent sticky post regarding seasoning of muzzleloader barrels but I couldn't find it when I looked. I personally don't believe that a barrel is seasoned or can be by the lube and/or cleaning products used but if anyone feels otherwise that's OK with me. The important thing is that an individual take care of their firearm by using an effective lube, cleaning thoroughly and protecting it while in storage. Over the years there have been excellence products marketed that claim to season the bore. I have used some of them with very good results and also with a total disregard of the hoopla surrounding the seasoning claims which I feel are nothing more than marketing ploys. The first one that comes to mind is that yellow product with a name linking to a dairy product. My wife and I used it for years and found it worked quite well but we were not concerned with seasoning the metal and no, I didn't try it on my morning toast. :haha:

In one past life I worked in the lab testing materials for one of the world's largest manufacturers of jet engines and I have my opinion of seasoning metals but for right now I'm remaining open-minded. I would welcome an in depth discussion of the subject, pro or con. :hmm: Let's hear about the possibility of actually seasoning the metal, the procedures to do so, the possible effects such as rust prevention, extended bore life. etc.. Are there any measurable effects on internal and external ballistics or accuracy? I believe other bore coatings/treatments or platings, Teflon, chrome to name a couple, are a separate issue and should be excluded. I for one would enjoy hearing your personal experiences and value your input, try to sell me on it or turn me against it. :stir:

 

[Billnpatti]

Your suspicions are correct. You cannot "season" the bore of your rifle. What you can do is smooth your bore through either use or by lapping it with a fine abrasive. A new barrel has machine marks in it that need to be polished out before you will begin to get the maximum accuracy from it. I am of the opinion that this polishing is what many people mistake for seasoning.

Some years back, the makers of Bore Butter tried to sell the idea of "seasoning" your bore with their product. When they were taken to task for making this false claim, they deleted these claims from their product. Bore Butter is a good patch lubricant but that is all. It cannot season your bore, nor will any other product, and it is not the correct product for protecting your bore or outside of your gun from rust. For that, you need something like Birchwood-Casey's Barricade.

Just my opinion, nothing that has been handed down by God on stone tablets. It's free and damned well worth just that. So, if anyone disagrees with me, that's okay. That's the beauty of living in a free country.