Warm water and dish soap?

[toot]

What kind of cigar? Opus X?

Opus #1, means constant music.

 

[Slip6]

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,

What oil do you use/recommend?

 

[Codger Craig Wilcox]

One of the beauties of our ML world is both the variety of methods in loading, cleaning, etc., as well as the acceptance of those methods. I see plenty of folk here using different things for cleaning, in this example. And no one is standing on his or her soapbox saying, "Your way is all wrong, none are right but my way."
Back in the early 1960's when I was learning the "trade", so to speak, we would come back home, put a couple 5-gallon pots of water on to boil while we stripped down our original Springfields and put the parts-pieces in the bathtub. Then, when the water was boiling, it got dumped into the tub, and the scrubbing would begin. Wound up with a whole lot of parts (and barrels) that were spanking clean, but subject to flash rust. One of the fellows worked at the Naval gun "factory" there in DC, and he would supply some sort of oil/preservative stuff with which we coated all the parts, inside and out.
A LOT of work!
Now, for me it is room temp water, little bit of Dove dish soap, and a goodly bunch of cleaning patches. When done, some WD-40 or other water-displacing oily stuff, let it stand upside down in a corner for a few hours, then a light coat of preservative, such as Boe-shield. Takes about 10-15 minutes per firearm, and leaves it ready for the next outing.
Almost invariably, though, before going shooting, I will put a bit of light oil on a patch, and run it up and down the barrel a few times. I have found a few insects from time to time, but no mammals whatsoever.
So, use whatever cleaning method you chose, it's your decision and your rifle or smoothbore. But please DO use some method!

 

[Griz44Mag]

Ps, in a pinch, baby wipes work too.

That's one I have not tried.
However - even my grandkids are now beyond the stage where baby wipes are a staple of everyday life. Good idea though!
I have done a complete cleaning with Windex and an old T-shirt, with good results.
(I keep a small bottle of Windex in my range box - works great for swabbing.)

 

[Sergio Natali]

I've always soaked the barrel in warm water with washing-up liquid.
Then I clean the inside of the barrel with a nylon brush while I rinse it with warm water; then I dry it with clean cotton patches.
In Summer I leave the barrel in the sun to dry properly, otherwise I put it in the owen until I'm sure it's dry inside.
At the end I still use one last patch with a bit of BALLISTOL on it.

It seems to work.

 

[nkbj]

The flash rust issue seems to depend on the source of the water. Some of the purified and treated water supplies have additives such as chlorine and fluorine for purification. Some well systems have other trace minerals that can lead to the appearance of flash rust. Distilled water or rain water will have the least chemicals. Some steels in the gun barrels react to the chemicals in the water. Be aware of what happens when you clean your firearm and always finish with a good rust inhibiting lubricant.

There are many cleaning solutions and methods out there. Whichever one you use that ends up with a clean patch and you lubricate the steel before storing is the one that works.

The use of boiling water for cleaning indeed works. In theory the higher heat will loosen the burnt powder and oils better than warm water and a bit of any grease cutting soap. Dry the barrel after the washing to get rid of residual water and salts that may still be in the barrel. Use some form of water displacement to remove traces that dry patches don't reach. Finally use a rust inhibitor for storage.

Spot on. Water chemistry that a person has can make the difference.

 

[n3wyu]

I've had flash rust from very hot water. I figured it was from iron in my water and when the metal gets hot and the water evaporates rapidly it leaves behind iron deposits. But a good coat of oil takes care of it.

 

[nhmoose]

1. Flash rust has never ever been a problem until internet forums.
After hot rust bluing over 100,000+ barrels, I can say all of those commercial barrels have serious flash rust till oiled. Absolutely no harm done by it. Get over it is is nothing when oiled down even with non-blued bores.

2. Over 39+ years I have cleaned with MAP Murphy's oil soap alcohol denatured and Drug store 3% Hydrogen peroxide. I clean at the range takes about 15 minutes dry bore WD_40 water displace and wipe dry then Rig grease.

That works for overnight, till next weeks match or next month's or next years season.

The hydrogen haters will flame but what have they mattered to me my way works for me.

3. Plain old water will clean the salts out as well as any other method hot or cold little soap gets rid of the graphite. Hot gives flash rust that hurts Nothing BWAHAHAHA.

4. Use a real rust preventive for the last patches.

 

[Woody Morgan]

Was at the range and got asked how to clean a muzzleloader. I pulled the barrel off the Deerhunter, walked over to the hose and squirted it out. A wet patch, a little more squirt, dump, dry, reinstall, load, shoot.
Didn't say a word the whole time of what...5 minutes? Hehe

wm

 

[JCKelly]

When I moved to Mich about 1972 I spoke with a couple of people whose cars had just broken in half from rust. A lot of salt is used on Michigan roads.
They don't believe that salt rusts steel, either.

 

[Juniata]

Warm water and simple green for all my cleaning then wiped down with WD40 as well as a swab a WD40 down the bore, and 1 dry patch for the last pass.

 

[hunter thompson]

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.

The same here..I hear of flash rust on here..yeah..then after the boiling water i let it evaporate..thats why i use boiling water.Then moose milk it after completly cool then add bore butter..guns sit for years ..nothing but clean

 

[Britsmoothy]

Flash rust most get all upset about is so thin it is of no concern. By the time flash rust deteriorates a rifle barrel you'll all be dead anyway!
No one worries about rust browning on the outside of a barrel or even the corrosive nature of blueing but oh heck, the blasted hot water is destroying my barrel! Oh look, it has wonderfully dried it self! Yeah but I burnt myself! Ware a glove then dummy. Oh yeah, derrrr .
Oh my, just look how the heat has lifted the greasy lube out. Yeah but it's destroying my barrel, look at the .001micron thick rust! I can't sleep at night!! Doctor Doctor.....

 

[OhioHawkeye]

That's one I have not tried.
However - even my grandkids are now beyond the stage where baby wipes are a staple of everyday life. Good idea though!....

Thanks. I found it quite by chance. I will be 59 in a couple weeks. I use baby wipes a lot. Most are used in camp since we have to haul our own water usually, and I like being clean. Too, I'm alergic to a lot of perfumes (always thought it was the soaps) all the adult cleaning towels I've tried I react to. I stay with the Huggies unscented.
This past year, I've found if they dry out and where I would normally add morecwater....I just add everclear grain alcohol to make them into cleaning wipes for use in the truck. I wipe down my hands and credit card before putting back in my wallet. (Everclear is illegal in my state so I have to preplan to purchase several gallons for the year in an adjacent state. I use it to degrease my arms also)

 

[Crow-Feather]

Sorta makes you wonder how much soap, alcohol, and WD40 they brought with them to the mountains. I am not making jest, just writing that there had to be an easier way when all you had was water, cloth, and whale/bear oil.

 

[Henry Miles]

Everclear has lots of uses, just keep away from flames!

 

[tdoyka]

i use very hot(almost boiled) water and sliver of dove soap or dove/dawn liquid detergent. then i'll use ballistol. i have been doing this for 30+ years, Keep It Simple Stupid, is what i always say.

 

[Britsmoothy]

i use very hot(almost boiled) water and sliver of dove soap or dove/dawn liquid detergent. then i'll use ballistol. i have been doing this for 30+ years, Keep It Simple Stupid, is what i always say.

Me too, no soap though.

 

[Griz44Mag]

Sorta makes you wonder how much soap, alcohol, and WD40 they brought with them to the mountains. I am not making jest, just writing that there had to be an easier way when all you had was water, cloth, and whale/bear oil.

I can remember when I was a child when grandmother ran short on commercial soap she sent us out to pull leaves out of the yucca plants - pull them out so we got the white tender stuff from the bottom -
She would use those pulverized mixed with ashes from the fireplace and drippings from the bacon grease to make what she called Indian Soap.
It did just fine until the next monthly trip into town for supplies. I actually liked that better than the store bought stuff.
I wish I had paid more attention to how she did it.

 

[M. De Land]

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.

Well soap makes water wetter and is the reason it will de-solve more and faster than water alone. Warm water heats metal and causes it to expand which in turn enlarges the pores in the steel. So warm soapy water does translate to a deeper cleaning power than water alone.
Barrel steel warms up from the combustion of burning powder which again expands metal (opens pores) and the pressure drives the fouling into them.
Warm soapy water gets in and desolves fouling better than clear water alone. Clear warm water cleans better than clean cold water and when soap is added it results in a force multiplier.
I believe when the pores in the barrel steel are opened by warm water than a good water displacing oil such as WD-40 or Kroil should be used to get the rinse moisture out of the steel pores and then wiped dry with a clean patching. The final step is a good preservative left in the bore. I believe a good natural oil not petroleum base product is the best way to go about this. Bear grease was touted by Ned Roberts of percussion era fame to be one of the best along with Sperm oil which is not available now days.
I have found a product made of plant oils which is both and excellent cleaner and very good bore preservative know as Gunzilla. It is the best lead and carbon remover I have ever incountered to date when applied by a tight cloth patch on a jag.