Sometimes material can come off of thick pipe cleaners so one must be careful to not clog the flash channel that way.
I still use them anyway with some guns, but I'll also use bare copper wire along with some patch material.
Sometimes material can come off of thick pipe cleaners so one must be careful to not clog the flash channel that way.
I still use them anyway with some guns, but I'll also use bare copper wire along with some patch material.
I am always sure to hit it with the air gun to dry things out, that should clear any other little bits. I wouldn't have air if I was field cleaning, but I wouldn't use pipe cleaners either. I'm always afraid to loose patches down in the gun. Again, air usually blows them out, but I had one heck of a time once trying to fish one out. Not fun.
The reason I've never got the Black Powder bug. There is only one way sure, water and soap. I like
boiling water, it dryers fast. Put breech end in bucket and pump it until water comes out clear. Make sure there is no water hiding under places like tenon on TC. I have 2 T/C Hawkens bought
when they were first out. Only bought for ML deer season. At the end of season I take them clear
apart. Lock, Stock and barrel. Clean it until you can eat of it, then oil bore and hope you shoot
your deer in gun season next year. That way you don't have to dirty a Muzzel loader.
I always freaked out about cleaning guns with water until I went in service. We had to take rifles
into shower with us. They had cleaning station set up in the Head and water was so hot you could
watch it evaporate off rifle.
I have had a new englander since early 90s so has my father and a uncle , have shot black powder since the mid 70s hot water soap rinse with hot run dry patches down then oily patches simple same all the time no rust no problems
It's not that hard, but it's not that fun. Plus the whole thing with hunting. You can either leave it loaded and cross your fingers, shoot it and swab your bore like normal and hope rust doesn't become a problem, or shoot it and clean it, which you have to sight in to an oiled bore. I generally shoot and swab, but I can not remember muzzle loader hunting more than 3 days in a row before.
Last edited by megasupermagnum; 08-19-2018 at 06:06 PM.
megasupermagnm -- I use Windex first because it is water based. Whatever you use, you HAVE to use a water based / plain water to first clean the gun. It breaks down & neutralizes the corrosive elements. Nothing else will do. First clean with something water and follow up with your cleaners / oils etc. A great cleaning with anything else won't do.
725
The nipple should be removed no more than once a year for inspection and relubrication. Repeatedly removing it wears the threads, and will eventually cause dangerous failure.
Plain old luke warm water is all you need to clean with. Hot water causes flash rusting, and will actually set fouling a bit harder, taking more time to clean. Dry barrel with pieces of paper towel, then use a good oil in the bore.
The solid soft lead bullet is undoubtably the best and most satisfactory expanding bullet that has ever been designed. It invariably mushrooms perfectly, and never breaks up. With the metal base that is essential for velocities of 2000 f.s. and upwards to protect the naked base, these metal-based soft lead bullets are splendid.
John Taylor - "African Rifles and Cartridges"
Forget everything you know about loading jacketed bullets. This is a whole new ball game!
what Ed said, NO hot water.
i'll go a step further - tepid water only and NO soap or other cr@p. there is no need to add chemicals of any kind other than H2O down the tube. plug the ignition hole and let the water stand in the bbl.
cleanup will always be easier/easiest if you do some aforethought thinking and prepping. after shooting at the range or afield, and ya know it'll be some time before proper cleaning can be accomplished, clear the chamber (fire the load or pull it) and run a patch down the tube that's sloppy wet with some water mixed with water soluble oil ("moose milk" = water and some ballistol or NAPA). i leave the rod and wet patch in the barrel. i keep a 1:6 mix of ballistol:water in a small spray bottle and besides using it to wet the patch i spritz the lock and it's related ignition device (flint or percussion). this will keep the bp residue soft in those components 'til yer back at the ranch and can do a proper cleaning ASAP. this is all a good routine to get into and saves a heckuva lotta future issues and work. has done so for me for well over 5 decades. ymmv.
Well !! Thats four of us in a row agree on the flash rusting from hot water - been there done that years ago and didnt like it at all. Room temperature water in Aus is probably "tepid" for you fellers that live where it gets cold. Something else going on here too I reckon (cant prove it tho) with cold, no detergent cleaning I think we get a certtain amount of seasoning of the bore from the residue of oils / grease in our lube - hot water and /or detergent strips all that out and we back to bare unseasoned metal that needs more protection.
I wanna disagree with Waksupi on wearing the threads out from removing the nipple - we both been doin this a long time - I dont reckon you will wear the threads out BUT if you in the habit (most blokes are) of screwing it down tight each time then maybe over time you stretch the threads so they cause a problem - two fingers on the nipple wrench when doing it up is plenty - finger and thumb is enough .
While we on the subject of nipples I'll digress for a bit - we had a walker colt here (sons repro gun) it had had the wrong nipples fitted - or had been tapped out to wrong size - either way a set of 12x28 nipples were where 1/4x 28 should have fitted - there was erosion most of the way along the threads of the nipples - they were screwed in tight but clearance in the threads - it takes a keen eye or good measuring gear to spot the difference --same thing can get you with 32 thread stuff (this is a special doozie for Aussies) there is 10x32 unc , 3/16th whitworth, and M5x 0.8, all in the same space and a tad bit different diameters - common confusion with cleaning gear is 10x32 and 8x32 - more than one cleaning brush stuck down a muzzle loader because of that!!!
*IF* there is a need to remove threaded barrel components, it's best to have first properly lubed component threads. actually, grease is the way to go, not an oil lube. building a gun from scratch or kit, or acquiring a new pre-built gun, i make sure that the breech, touch hole or bolster & nipple, lock and trigger screws, etc, are greased with "nikal" - trade name for an extreme high temp grease that's sparingly applied. using that goop makes component removal - specially those that have been compromised with bp residue, and they ALL will get compromised sooner than later - and all become an easy removal.
Cleaning a barrel and stock exterior.
Just a suggestion.
Smell of products used for the cleaning & lubrication purpose is a important factor to be aware of. Especially if intending to take that firearm afield {big game} hunting. A nasty smelling firearm toted is little different than a nasty smelling hunter.
The only purpose I found for Mrs. Murphy soap other than for a laundry room purpose . ~~~none!
I myself prefer the use of unscented Dawn Detergent soap for my barrels cleaning. Stock & as a exterior bluing conditioner. Tracks: Trapper's Mink Oil patching grease for that purpose.
As for plunging water temperature. Hotter the better. A heated barrel drys out quicker with less dry swabbing being required. And since I used a unscented patch lube for my barrels bore lubricator. My experience. A heated barrel helps to disperse my bore lube more evenly. How ever I do respect everyone's way of doing to a point. i.e. The use of smokeless powder removers is wrong for a bore fouled from Black Powder use.
Two differences of opinion here (and opinion is all it is either way)
1)Just curious what part of black powder residue you need dishwash for ? powder residue comes away fine with water in my guns
2) hot water - been there done it - by time I get a dry patch on the jag and down bore it comes out red with flash rust. Dont like that - maybe different barrel steels behave different but I am happy to trade the slower dry out for no rust .
I wonder what I'm doing different? In all my years of shooting blackpowder and cleaning with hot water, I have never had the slightest bit of rusting. I am aware that steel, heated will attract moisture and rust is on it's way. Perhaps it has something to do with mass, my machine tools will rust before my very eyes if the dehumidifier poops out. I'm pretty pathological about my muzzleloaders too. I guess I'm making this into a conundrum.
“Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.”
― Mark Twain
W8SOB
What do you use for lube ? maybe thats the difference ? I shoot moose milk in my mloaders and thats where I got the red patches - at home I blow em out with the air compressor to dry before I oil em and again to clear the oil before I shoot - just clean everything with room temperature water now - the cartridge guns are so easy its funny to read guys dodging blackpowder because of the cleaning hassle - ahh I only ever shot proper blackpowder too - think those subs take a lot more effort to clean.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |