Warm water and dish soap?

[JohnCanadian]

Anyone have any input on this(for cleaning) over boiling water?

 

[GoodRabbitPilgrim]

Boiling water in my experience equals flash rust, warm water with or without dish soap seems to do the trick at cleaning.

 

[TreeMan]

The temp of the water makes zero difference in how it cleans. Boiling water will evaporate fast and at times cause a flash rust depending on the chemistry of your particular barrel steel. Otherwise water is water. You don’t need soap or any additives unless it makes ya happy. Windex, windshield wiper fluid, moose milk, and 1000 other concoctions all have one thing in common. They are all 95% water.

 

[Henry Miles]

Water alone will not cut oil or grease patch lube. Dawn is your friend!

 

[Daveboone]

Having tried a number of different agents, I always fall back to hot water with a drop or two of dish detergent. I prefer hot as possible, preferably boiing to heat the barrel and assist drying. I immediatly swab dry, squirt with wd-40 and reswab. Never have a problem with rust, flash or otherwise. I prefer to stick the breech in a bowl of hot water and plunger it, flushing the flash channel or nipple. Otherwise (most flintlocks) I partially fill the barrel after plugging the flash hole, shake the barrel around a bit, and drain. then swab thoroughly and do the same finish process.

 

[tenngun]

A little soap don’t hurt, I lean with hot but not boiling

 

[PathfinderNC]

I had always used boiling water until reading something in this forum that boiled water isn’t necessary to do the trick. So I tried room temperature water with dish soap and was happily surprised that it worked so well. Made for a much easier cleaning session.
Now I use Windex and it takes even more hassle out, with just three to five cleaning patches and it’s done. But oil well afterwards on course!

 

[Zutt-man]

Warm water with dawn dish soap has been my main cleaning solvent for 20 years.

 

[Okie Hog]

Before leaving the range i swab the bore with a patch wet with Windex with vinegar. At home i use plain tap water followed by dry patches, and a patch moist with WD-40. My guns don't rust.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

A little soap don’t hurt, I lean with hot but not boiling

Yes as a matter of fact, a drop, or two, just a drop or two, of dish washing liquid soap, messes up the surface tension of plain water, so it is absorbed by the fouling faster. It actually does reduce and simplify your cleaning.

LD

 

[tom_in_vt]

Boiling water in my experience equals flash rust, warm water with or without dish soap seems to do the trick at cleaning.

Yup, warm works well

 

[Sidney Smith]

I've used boiling water with a cap full of Murphys oil soap. Have used this method for as long as I've been shooting muzzle loaders and am not changing. Flash rust is a myth using boiling water. I've never seen it happen.

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

The only thing boiling water ever did for me was burn my fingers and cause flash rust. I will never use it and neither will any of my acquaintances who shoot BPML.
I don't use any dish soap either. I use a bit of Murphy's Oil Soap mixed with blue windshield washer fluid 2oz to the quart. That, or just plain lukewarm tap water. Dry well and oil with Fluid Film or G96, whatever is closer to hand.

 

[toot]

Water alone will not cut oil or grease patch lube. Dawn is your friend!

that is why it is used on dirty / greasy pot's & pans.

 

[CaptainKirk]

Warm is fine, with a scant few drops of dish soap, Dawn preferred. As others mentioned, I've had boiling (or close to boiling) water flash rust. Warm does the trick for me.

 

[JCKelly]

Soap mfg since the 1960's all contains salt, (sodium chloride, table salt, the stuff Northerners love to spread on the roads).

Salt rusts steel.
Helps make that flash rust after cleaning with water.
Plain, room temperature tap water is good.
Windex and the various oils are probably just fine if you wanna pay for them. Or have dirty grease to remove.

P.I.T.A. metallurgist, with some corrosion experience (like, at producers of Food I used to like)

 

[muzzlediscipline]

couple of squirts of Windex at the range followed by couple of drops of dish detergent in warm water at home and cleaning is a non event

 

[Doc]

Reading replies I see a difference in opinion and most likely experience. Some apparently need a drop or two of dawn, others not, some get flash rust others not. Perhaps it has more to do with your patch lube and/or your storage oil. Using a certain grease patch could cause a buildup after a few shots, perhaps needing dawn and/or boiling water.
Your storage oil, does it fill and stay in the valleys of your BP guns. As you know the steel is quite a bit from the modern gun barrels, modern gun barrels don’t rust nearly as much, the valleys are closed. Some modern oils will penetrate the valleys and some will stay in them better than others. It’s not how much oil you put on, it’s which kind.
Doc,

 

[Griz44Mag]

I've used boiling water with a cap full of Murphys oil soap. Have used this method for as long as I've been shooting muzzle loaders and am not changing. Flash rust is a myth using boiling water. I've never seen it happen.

I think you are myth-ing the point. It does not happen to all barrels.
I have one that will flash rust - that one I clean with MAP - the rest get warm tap water and get well oiled, stood on the muzzle for a few days, re-wiped before going back in the safe.

 

[Sparkitoff]

I've used quite a variety of "stuff" but recently started to use Windex/Murphy's Soap 50/50 followed with some 93% Isopropyl Alcohol, and another Windex/Murphy's patch. It gets the barrel clean without using any water. I use a WD40 patch when the others come clean. Clean barrels, no rust - an no water.....