Barrel Seasoning

[GregLaROCHE]

I admit I am relatively new to muzzle loading, but I have never heard about barrel seasoning. What’s the real story on it? Can you really let a BP gun go for a week without cleaning it?

https://youtu.be/xTTOkUjmijs

[AntiqueSledMan]

Hello Greg,

I use TC Bore Butter.
As for leaving your BP Gun without cleaning, my answer is NO!
I haven't used Real Black Powder for years.
Nobody around home carries it, so we've been using Triple Seven.
Most of my rifles are hooked breech, so I tear down for cleaning.
After a shooting session, I still use Dreft Baby Soap for cleaning, in Hot Water.
After scrubbing, I flush with clear hot water & fresh patch,
then I place a small funnel in the muzzle and run fresh hot water through it.
I like the barrel hot then run a single dry patch through and place the barrel muzzle down and allow it to dry.
After it's been sitting for half an hour I run a couple patches of Bore butter through it.
I even take the used patch and smear a coat over the external parts.
A lot of people say to use cool water, but when you heat up the barrel it evaporates faster.

That's how I do it, AntiqueSledMan.

[indian joe]

I admit I am relatively new to muzzle loading, but I have never heard about barrel seasoning. What’s the real story on it? Can you really let a BP gun go for a week without cleaning it?

https://youtu.be/xTTOkUjmijs

He says in the video dont leave your guns (like I do) clean them straight after you shoot - the best bit of advice in the video.

I have a different take on seasoning.
Some barrels you can and some not - if you get it - seasoning comes from cleaning with cold water - (not above room temperature) - and leave the harsh detergents out of it - look at the science - blackpowder cleaning is mainly about getting enough water through the barrel to neutralise the salts left in the residue - these set up for rusting your barrel by taking moisture out of the air and that activates the corrosion
a cold water clean (and dry after) will neutralise the corrosive residue, flush out most of the soot, and leave a coating of oils and fats embedded in the pores of the metal as a semi protective coating - this helps the gun shoot better, load easier, but while it may slow the process a little it does not stop it rusting .

Clean your guns !!!! its not that big of a deal - you dont need to buy anything fancy bottle cleaners to do it - dont need to use hot water, thats just another un necessary complication that some fellers like to do - its no harm but no gain - scour the protective coating out with boiling hot water, flash rust the barrel while you getting the dry patch on the jag, then replace the protective coating with stuff you bought in a bottle

- so I can "get away with" not cleaning my guns for maybe ten days because I live in a low humidity environment - it takes some time for the powder residue in a barrel here to soak up enough moisture from the air to initiate rust - also takes a little time to forget that the gun you put back in the rack went back dirty not clean - life happens - you come back three or six months later and a perfectly good barrel is ruined

[sharps4590]

I clean mine exactly as Antique describes except for the Deft soap. I use what's under the sink in our second, downstairs kitchen...usually Dawn. Everything else is the same.

Joe brings up a good point about location. Here that could include the time of year as well. Ordinarily 10 days here without cleaning would leave a barrel at least pitted. But the last month humidity has been pretty low. Next week it goes up. Winter is usually dry, summer sucks for humidity.

[RU shooter]

If I let my barrel go 10 days without cleaning it would be rather rusty ! I just use regular old room temp tap water . Plug the flash hole fill it up let it sit while I clean the lock , dump it out patch it a few times with sloppy wet patches . A few patches with wd40 dry it and then oil patch I'm done i don't scrub it till the patches come out Snow White either but never had rust .

[toot]

very good thanks for showing it.

[charlie b]

'Seasoning' was advertising hype.

After cleaning the bore put some type of rust preventive in there, especially the chamber area. You can use your bullet lube or some other chemical, but, it needs something in there to protect the steel from moisture.

[pietro]

I admit I am relatively new to muzzle loading, but I have never heard about barrel seasoning.

What’s the real story on I t?

Can you really let a BP gun go for a week without cleaning it ?

Even a BP gun with a seasoned barrel will need some attention after a day's shooting.

The idea for seasoning came (IIRC) about when T/C introduced Ox-Yoke Bore Butter and stated the barrel would be good for 1,000 shots.

Their instructions were to first meticulously clean the bore, then heat it until the metal was very warm to the touch - then immediately heavily lube the bore with the BB.

(I also wipe down all the exterior metal surfaces with BB, until the next time I take the gun shooting)

The gun is then set aside to "season" the bore.

I have a gun I seasoned as above in 1985, still use it hunting today - and there's zero rust anywhere in/on the gun (in fact, it's still pristine).






(I also have newer guns that I treated likewise)

The only "cleaning" I've done after a day's shooting is to flood the bore and ignition channel with T/C #10 Bore Cleaner ( aka: moosemilk), dry the bore with multiple passes with new/clean patches until the patches emerge with only a slight tint - then run a patch loaded with BB downbore (I clean remove & clean the nipple separately)

[waksupi]

You can not season a modern steel barrel. Only the old iron barrels would season. Just clean your gun after shooting, especially if using the fake powder. It can ruin a barrel in short order.

[arcticap]

I admit I am relatively new to muzzle loading, but I have never heard about barrel seasoning. What’s the real story on it? Can you really let a BP gun go for a week without cleaning it?

The newest ML gun barrel finish is a space age nitride coating inside the bore and on the exterior.
The nitride process creates a thin layer of super hardened steel that helps to prevent rust by forming a barrier that rust can't penetrate.
There's really nothing else quite like it.
However it does't mean that a person shouldn't clean their gun because it would still accumulate fouling residue.

Here's a 1:00 video about the CVA nitride coating.

https://youtu.be/xTTOkUjmijs

The nitride coating is not limited to inline guns.
Although the only traditional gun that I know of that has it is the Traditions PA Pellet Ultralite flintlock rifle. --->>> https://www.traditionsfirearms.com/c...let-Ultralight
However a barrel can be sent out to have the coating applied.
And Uberti also made a Remington C&B revolver that was totally nitride coated.
It was sold by Taylor's and was called the Black Rock. --->>> https://taylorsfirearms.com/hand-gun...lack-rock.html

A nitride coated barrel is the closest there is to barrel seasoning.
Factory nitride coated barrels probably cost an extra $75 to $100 more than one without the coating.
The nitride coating is similar to the Tenifer finish that is found on Glock pistols.
There may be slight technical differences with some nitride processes but the resulting finish is very similar.

General info. can be found here. --->>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitriding

[OverMax]

My way of doing is all.
Its all about oil saturation. Detergent eliminates a oils ability to saturate or cling too..
My preference for a barrel cleaner is: Dawn Detergent Dish Soap. Scrub my wet soapy barrels with a bronze bristle brush. Pump my barrels with hot hot water afterwards. Water that hasn't evaporated dry. With a fresh cleaning patch its plunged up & down the bore to near being too taught to pull out. Then liberally apply to a fresh cleaning patch a good amount of OX/Yoke Wonder Lube and plunge one last time.. Wipe dry its nipple threads than lightly coat its nipple threading with Never Seize. After a light application of Barricade to the barrels exterior. I than stand the barrel on its Tang in a corner overnight without its nipple. Following day: completely assemble rifle and store rifle for a (long or short) term in a horizontal position. Done!

[pietro]

You can not season a modern steel barrel.

That may be...…….. It also may be that the "seasoning" is what prevented any rust in my frontstuffer for the last 35 years.


.

[Edward]

You can not season a modern steel barrel. Only the old iron barrels would season. Just clean your gun after shooting, especially if using the fake powder. It can ruin a barrel in short order.

That is a fact for sure ,if you need (do the research as in this computer age )it's easy to bury the old wives tale and get educated! Ed

[megasupermagnum]

I've got three things to add. First, seasoning a muzzleloader barrel is a joke. I'm sure there are those out there who honestly believe it, as this guy in the video does. It isn't true.

The second thing is how long you can go without cleaning. Ideally you shoot and clean soon. It seems it depends on the weather as well. What type of powder you are using is also a factor. A guy in Louisiana shooting Pyrodex would not be smart to let a dirty gun sit around for more a few hours without a cleaning. On the other hand, I don't doubt someone in Montana could let a gun fired with Blackhorn 209 sit a week or two. Most people are somewhere in between. I've hunted with fouled barrels before, as that is the only way I could guarantee accuracy. 2-3 days should not be harmful with real blackpowder. I would foul the barrel, swab it, and load it. I've never seen harm after a weekend of being loaded this way. I've always subscribed the the order of "game then gear then yourself" as an order of how to do things when hunting. Lots of times it takes into the night, and then into the next day to get the meat ready to transport home. I know some would say, just spend the 10 minutes to clean your rifle before bed. It sounds good now, but after hunting all day, hauling an animal out, and cutting it up, it's nearing midnight, the only thing you want to do is go to bed. An overnight sit is no problem unless it was raining, and the rifle got wet. If you have a long drive home, it would be a good idea to clean the next morning, or at least run a wet patch through it. In short, a semi-clean, spit patched and loaded rifle should be ok for a long weekend. A fully fouled rifle should be ok overnight. Sometimes you could go longer, but why take the chance.

The third thing is the idea that cold water doesn't clean black powder. That is false. I used to do as many did, warm or hot water with dish soap. I've even tried other cleaners. Then I started to wonder why, so I tested them. I took away the Dawn dishsoap. Straight hot water did every bit as good of a job. It didn't slow me down, and it certainly didn't get less fouling out. Then I took away the heat. Not only did it do every bit as good of a job, it did even better, and does not flash rust. People tend to think of cleaning modern rifles, with strong chemicals. The real issue is modern smokeless doesn't really foul a barrel. When we clean a modern barrel, we aren't cleaning the powder so much as we are the lead or copper, plastic, etc. fouling. Powder fouling is not hard to remove. It isn't hard to remove smokeless powder residue, and it is not hard to remove black powder residue. The water both dissolves/softens the caked on stuff, as well as dissolves the salts. I have guns I cleaned with nothing but cold well water, and have not shot in a year. There is not a spec of rust on them.

[indian joe]

I've got three things to add. First, seasoning a muzzleloader barrel is a joke. I'm sure there are those out there who honestly believe it, as this guy in the video does. It isn't true.

The second thing is how long you can go without cleaning. Ideally you shoot and clean soon. It seems it depends on the weather as well. What type of powder you are using is also a factor. A guy in Louisiana shooting Pyrodex would not be smart to let a dirty gun sit around for more a few hours without a cleaning. On the other hand, I don't doubt someone in Montana could let a gun fired with Blackhorn 209 sit a week or two. Most people are somewhere in between. I've hunted with fouled barrels before, as that is the only way I could guarantee accuracy. 2-3 days should not be harmful with real blackpowder. I would foul the barrel, swab it, and load it. I've never seen harm after a weekend of being loaded this way. I've always subscribed the the order of "game then gear then yourself" as an order of how to do things when hunting. Lots of times it takes into the night, and then into the next day to get the meat ready to transport home. I know some would say, just spend the 10 minutes to clean your rifle before bed. It sounds good now, but after hunting all day, hauling an animal out, and cutting it up, it's nearing midnight, the only thing you want to do is go to bed. An overnight sit is no problem unless it was raining, and the rifle got wet. If you have a long drive home, it would be a good idea to clean the next morning, or at least run a wet patch through it. In short, a semi-clean, spit patched and loaded rifle should be ok for a long weekend. A fully fouled rifle should be ok overnight. Sometimes you could go longer, but why take the chance.

The third thing is the idea that cold water doesn't clean black powder. That is false. I used to do as many did, warm or hot water with dish soap. I've even tried other cleaners. Then I started to wonder why, so I tested them. I took away the Dawn dishsoap. Straight hot water did every bit as good of a job. It didn't slow me down, and it certainly didn't get less fouling out. Then I took away the heat. Not only did it do every bit as good of a job, it did even better, and does not flash rust. People tend to think of cleaning modern rifles, with strong chemicals. The real issue is modern smokeless doesn't really foul a barrel. When we clean a modern barrel, we aren't cleaning the powder so much as we are the lead or copper, plastic, etc. fouling. Powder fouling is not hard to remove. It isn't hard to remove smokeless powder residue, and it is not hard to remove black powder residue. The water both dissolves/softens the caked on stuff, as well as dissolves the salts. I have guns I cleaned with nothing but cold well water, and have not shot in a year. There is not a spec of rust on them.

thank you for that last paragraph !!!!!!

[Good Cheer]

Years ago, pre-thousand-mile-move to the north, I had made up a long tube with a garden hose fitting on it.
I'd put it down the barrel to the breech and crank her up. Did really well flushing out the ignition path. Think I'll fab up a replacement, another project to busy myself with during the long dark nights on the corn tundra.

[sghart3578]

Cold water to clean followed by Hoppe's Blackpowder Lube for storage. Done in 5 minutes.


Steve in N CA

[Maven]

Yes to posts 14 -17! Btw, I once owned a book that described the cleaning procedure for U.S. Army Springfield rifles and muskets during the Civil War: Just plain tepid water was recommended, followed by some kind of oily swab (mutton tallow?) once the bore was dry.

[KCSO]

First you char the inside of the barrel and then you coay iy with good Kentucky Bourbon and let it sit for a year... Sorry wrong barrel see Waksupi above>

[waksupi]

I found hot water actually sets the fouling harder, making it take longer to clean.