Is your barrel really clean?

[54bore]

I have been shooting every chance i get the last few weeks, i pick a gun and go with it. This evening i grabbed an old pre warning Renegade, pulled the barrel, Grabbed my little steam cleaner to go through the nipple/snail like i do and make sure to get all of the excess oil out, This one SURPRISED me!!

History of this rifle- I bought this gun from a Pawn shop, it was in really good shape, i could not see any rust, pitting, etc. i got it home, tore it apart, pulled the nipple, dunked the barrel in a bucket of good warm tap water and went to work on it, it wasnt to bad at all, i got color on the patches but it wasn't horrible by any means. With warm soapy water, patches, good new bronze bore brush, back to patches etc. etc. til i felt it was as good as i could get it, dried it out really good, then i added Montana Extreme bore polishing compound to a doubled up tight fitting patch and went to work polishing the bore, i even wrapped some steel wool on a worn bore brush til i got a good snug fit and worked that back n forth 40-50 Strokes, as it loosened i added more steel wool, back to the bore polishing, i made roughly 200 strokes with the polishing compound, as the patches wore i would replace and add more compound, when i was done i went back to a clean bucket of water and dish soap, i scrubbed it back out again thoroughly, after getting through the black patches (from the polishing compound) i was easily able to get COTTON WHITE patches, I HAD IT POLISHED AND AS CLEAN AS ONE COULD GET AN OLD BARREL! This is back before i knew anything about the Patented breech and Steam cleaner. So after getting this barrel SQUEEKY clean, and the bore polished, dried out thoroughly i oiled it up REALLY GOOD, i had the bore FULLY coated with oil, i use a patch or 2 folded up between the Hammer and nipple hole to soak up excess oil that seeps out.

So this evening i grab this rifle to ready it to shoot tomorrow if the weather permits, again my routine now days is to pull the barrel, and nipple, then take my little steam cleaner and go through the Snail/Breech, nipple hole, i do this with the muzzle down, and hammer it with steam for 10 seconds or so, enough to get 8-10 inches of the barrel hot, with the muzzle stil pointed down i lift the barrel and start a patch to dry the moisture out from the steam. This routine works like a DREAM! Zero hangfires from excess oil in the patented breech etc. to my surprise the patches were absolutely NASTY! And smelled of a grease type smell? Now remember this barrel was put away THOROUGHLY CLEAN, BORE WAS POLISHED, AND OILED REALLY REALLY GOOD before i put it away! I ran a patch down the barrel mid winter to check it, as i do all of my rifles, it came out nice and clean, i freshened up an oily patch and swabbed it back n forth a few times. But this is what i got when i steam cleaned a few minutes ago, i am 99% Confident this gunk was in the Patented breech and i dislodged it with the steam cleaner. Either that or it was Baked on Bore Butter in the grooves, or combination of both? I spent about 15 minutes with the steam cleaner, patches, and a new bore brush, She is clean now! This old barrel literally looks brand new, but this is what i removed!

193642

[Dryball]

I am really intrigued with using the steam cleaner. I will have to do more study on it as it would greatly simplify cleaning the ole smoke pole. Now that I think about it, the procedure would make and excellent sticky. Do you have any advice on adapters for a flintlock?

[54bore]

I am really intrigued with using the steam cleaner. I will have to do more study on it as it would greatly simplify cleaning the ole smoke pole. Now that I think about it, the procedure would make and excellent sticky. Do you have any advice on adapters for a flintlock?

I dont know anything about flintlocks? But i am sure you can just point the nossle of the cleaner into the side hole and steam it clean, here it is attatched to one of my TC Renegade Cap locks

193644

[Saxtonyoung]

Wow that's incredibly the amount of gunk you pulled out of that barrel.

[Boz330]

You can do this with boiling water as well. Clean the gun till you get clean patches. Dump a couple cups of boiling water down the barrel and then clean again. They will come out black as coal. That is how I clean all my ML since someone told me this procedure.

Bob

[DCP]

This sounds like a great idea.

[rfd]

looks like rust and not specifically some kinda 'gunk'. it'll be back, right after yer next shooting session, unless time is spent with a patch draped .32 brush into the ante-chamber. this why i'm not at all fond of patent breech plugs. bolsters need to be cleaned out as well, through its 'pressure relief' clean out screw. and y'all know about them nipples. anyhoo, good stuff lewis!

[54bore]

looks like rust and not specifically some kinda 'gunk'. it'll be back, right after yer next shooting session, unless time is spent with a patch draped .32 brush into the ante-chamber. this why i'm not at all fond of patent breech plugs. bolsters need to be cleaned out as well, through its 'pressure relief' clean out screw. and y'all know about them nipples. anyhoo, good stuff lewis!

Rob, there is DEFINITELY rust there, but this was an odd smelling grease stuff as well? After bombing it with the steam cleaner it smelled my house up like cooked grease of some sorts. I definitely gave the Ante chamber/patented breech a good going over with the .36 brush, then patch wrapped it and went back to it, i don't have a .32 Cal brush, but after a short while my .36 looks like one! :D

[johnson1942]

yes, it is really clean

[54bore]

The little steam cleaner is an invaluable little tool to me, I stil clean my barrels with my bucket of warm water and the slush pump method, but hooking up the little steam cleaner thru the nipple like i do DEFINITELY gets the Snail/bolster, when you unhook and look inside the nipple hole after 10-15 seconds of piping hot steam it looks like brand new shiny metal, this area is REALLY difficult to get super clean, NOT WITH A STEAM CLEANER!

Instead of removing just the hammer, it is just as easy for me to remove my locks, i lay them down on a towel and hammer the lock thoroughly with steam, the hammer, and hammer face really good, rinse, and then use my air compressor to blow away/dry up any moisture. Re oil everything up good and done. As cheap as these things are, i will ALWAYS have one

[725]

If it's been mentioned before, excuse me, but where did you get that steam cleaner. Cost?

[54bore]

If it's been mentioned before, excuse me, but where did you get that steam cleaner. Cost?

Mine is called a Gideon, i got it through Amazon. This one seemed to have the best reviews so i went with it. It was cheap, i can't remember exactly what i paid, but im pretty sure it was 40 bucks. This little cleaner does everything i could ask and then some, plenty for guns!

If i were to do it Over i would get this one tho, bigger, i could do other outside projects with it, etc. etc. this one is a McCulloch 1275 Heavy duty, i stil might get this one? My little one does everything i need for my guns though. Recovery time on mine is REALLY fast, but this bigger one would allow a lot longer run time before it needed to recover. This one would be an AWESOME machine for any and everything!

193656

[oldracer]

Dammmmm, I guess I'll have to get one of these especially for the rifles (5) that have a "patent breech" as I clean them as best I can with the 3 part cleaner then oil the interior with some CLP or Rem Oil and a few days later a patch put all the way into the bottom comes out looking like the black hole of Calcutta! The patches before were clean as a whistle. I save the picture of yours and blew it up 300% to get the name as Amazon sells lots of them (Gideon).

[54bore]

Dammmmm, I guess I'll have to get one of these especially for the rifles (5) that have a "patent breech" as I clean them as best I can with the 3 part cleaner then oil the interior with some CLP or Rem Oil and a few days later a patch put all the way into the bottom comes out looking like the black hole of Calcutta! The patches before were clean as a whistle. I save the picture of yours and blew it up 300% to get the name as Amazon sells lots of them (Gideon).

oldracer, i think all of these little cheaper steam cleaners will work equally as well? They make a bunch of different ones, but they all look very similar, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they are all made in the same little 'ying yang' chinese factory? I just went with the Gideon due to it getting good reviews at the time, i can say that mine works flawlessly! It heats up REALLY FAST, about 1-2 minutes and is at full operating temp.

Like i said earlier if i were to do it again i would go with the bigger McCulloch 1275 pictured above, just to have the extra volume and be able to do other chores with it. But My little Gideon does EVERYTHING i need for my Muzzleloaders with ease.

[GoexBlackhorn]

What storage oil are you coating that breech with? You want an oil that will continue to pull-up during storage..... something like Ballistol. It's not a product to store for multiple years without use. But for monitoring all that brown inside the bore, I'd stick with Ballistol for a while and run a patch down the bore 2-3 times in the next year.

Ballistol will continue to clean your bore during storage and offer the bore good protection.

[NoAngel]

That would be excellent for corrosive ammo.

[FrontierMuzzleloading]

Not a ballistol fan. Just mineral oil that gums up over time. The, cleans while in storage, story they came up with is also false. If its reddish brown, its not protecting, its rust! Found that out the hard way.

Use tight fitting patches for cleaning and oiling, along with a shot of alcohol to remove water/moisture from the breech and then oil your bore, you'll be set.

[Fly]

Ya I read you last post using the steam cleaner, & bought one, but different brand. It really works well.

Fly

[GoexBlackhorn]

Not a ballistol fan. Just mineral oil that gums up over time. The, cleans while in storage, story they came up with is also false. If its reddish brown, its not protecting, its rust! Found that out the hard way.

Use tight fitting patches for cleaning and oiling, along with a shot of alcohol to remove water/moisture from the breech and then oil your bore, you'll be set.


You think Ballistol is only mineral oil?....... not so. There's other additives in it. It's like the oil in your truck. There's base oil - then there are numerous additives.

I've never had Ballistol gum-up in a 4-6 month interval. Not even with centerfire actions (270 / 300WSM) that were in storage for a year.

Besides, we are discussing a barrel that's probably kept in a stable temperature and humidity level - probably in a gun safe. We aren't discussing taking this barrel/gun attached outside for a wide array of temps and humidity. We are talking storage.

I've never had Ballistol gum-up in my gun safe during storage.

[FrontierMuzzleloading]

ballistol is mineral oil, among other things. WW1 germans used it, even as something to clean wounds.

Spray it onto something and let it sit, it turns into a white gummy mess after time where it pools.

[54bore]

You think Ballistol is only mineral oil?....... not so. There's other additives in it. It's like the oil in your truck. There's base oil - then there are numerous additives.

I've never had Ballistol gum-up in a 4-6 month interval. Not even with centerfire actions (270 / 300WSM) that were in storage for a year.

Besides, we are discussing a barrel that's probably kept in a stable temperature and humidity level - probably in a gun safe. We aren't discussing taking this barrel/gun attached outside for a wide array of temps and humidity. We are talking storage.

I've never had Ballistol gum-up in my gun safe during storage.


Ballistol (meaning 'Ballistic Oil') is a mineral oil (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_oil)-based chemical which advertises that it has many uses. It was originally intended for cleaning, lubricating, and protecting firearms (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearms).

[54bore]

What storage oil are you coating that breech with? You want an oil that will continue to pull-up during storage..... something like Ballistol. It's not a product to store for multiple years without use. But for monitoring all that brown inside the bore, I'd stick with Ballistol for a while and run a patch down the bore 2-3 times in the next year.

Ballistol will continue to clean your bore during storage and offer the bore good protection.

I do not use ballistol, ive thought about it as a swab between shots mixture, but i have had GREAT luck using my 50/50 windex/92% Alcohol, Ballistol is one of the last oils i would use to protect stored away guns. If you are insinuating those rusty gunk patches are from my storage routine, REREAD my entire post. This rifle came from a Pawn shop, i had never cleaned the Patented Breech/Ante Chamber, My steam cleaner pulled this Gunk from it, there is definitely rust, but smelled VERY STRONG of a burnt grease smell, This was NOT FROM ME.

This is the one i use on my Muzzleloaders with STELLAR results. Not a hint of rust a year later

193722

[Bent Ramrod]

Another vote for Ballistol.

The problem with a muzzleloader is that there is only one opening in the barrel, and the barrel is long. So, unlike a revolver barrel, which has a chance for air to flow through it, or the chambers in the cylinder, which are short enough to exchange air from the outside, the air in a muzzleloader barrel (and any trace of residual moisture) just stays in there. And, of course, eventually promotes rusting.

My .32 caliber was very bad about this. Cleaning with hot water and detergent, rinsing with hot water, drying with alcohol or acetone, a final dry patch, and then coating the inside with RIG (at that time, supposed to be the ultimate rust inhibitor), I still had to wipe out the barrel the next day or two with fresh RIG, just to make sure. If I neglected this chore, in a few more days I would find those alarming brown stains on the cleaning patch.

Since using Ballistol, none of this has happened. Ballistol/water until the patches are a light gray, then Ballistol as a final wipe. Yes, the coating turns to a kind of gooey grease. It even turns to a brown liquid with a crystalline precipitate when kept in a small bottle in the shooting kit. I shake it up and use it anyway. Much pleasanter wiping gooey grease out of the barrel than RIG and orange rust.

[Greg S]

Any chance there was a ball stuck in the breech at one time and some tried to fish it out and the cork screw came off the rod. They took it to a smith who adapted a zirc fitting and pumped the ball out with grease.

[725]

Well, I think I'll start looking for a steam cleaner. Have used Ballistol with less than satisfactory results. Currently I clean with a water based something -- Windex, Sol-Green, hot / soapy water, etc., dry it out and do a full cleaning with a penetrating oil like PB-Blaster, WD-40, Kroil, etc. and leave it wet until I reclean it a day or two later. The second cleaning always produces more fouling.

[GoexBlackhorn]

54Bore
Never said those brown patches was from something you did. Re-read my post.
I've been using Ballistol off & on for decades. Works great for pulling more krappola out of bores while in storage. That's what I've been pushing in this thread. Allowing you to watch your TV and let Ballistol work while you're nowhere near that gun.

I use Lucas Gun Oil and Slip 2000 on pistols that I wear outdoors a-lot. I use Breakfree Collector on muzzleloader & centerfire barrels. I use Ballistol on moving actions of centerfires and never had it gum-up. There are a hand-ul of ingredients in Ballistol, other than the base oil. I get no gooey mess or gumminess in my action.

I operate the action, even before packing the gun for deer camp. Sometimes I add even more Ballistol, but never remove any because it turned to gooey mess inside my gun safe.

Never in over 30 years. It will pull more gunk out of your bore while sitting in your safe. It will lubricate your rifle action just fine in cold weather. Never had a bullet feeding problem using Ballistol. I have no complaints and continue to use it.

Now what Ballistol does to guns in the deep south, could be different than what I encounter here in Northern Country. I dont shoot rifles in hot climates. Never have - never will. If shooters are getting a gooey mess in Southern Arizona, then I don't blame them for using something else. I would too.

[54bore]

Anyone thinking about one, You wont Regret the little steam cleaner, i use mine everytime i clean. Locks, hammers, etc. Even the nipple, hold it with a pair of pliers and steam clean it. The power of steam cleaning is absolutely amazing!

Giving credit where credit is due, this was not my original idea, A good friend of mine is who turned me on to this. Buffalo Arms Sells a Steam Cleaner made by Pedersoli, 7 or 800 bucks!! I watched the Perdersoli videos of it work, it did an AMAZING job, but I wasn't about to shell out that kind of money for it! These cheap little Steam cleaners do everything The big high dollar Pedersoli does, My friend has used both, Steam is Steam! The Pedersoli comes with a Wand attachment that allows you to go up through the barrel, if i felt it was important enough i would fabricate one myself. Fact is i stil clean my barrels in a bucket of warm water with a tiny bit of dish soap on a patch, and bore brush. I use the Steam cleaner to go through the Snail/Bolster (nipple hole) To get the Patented breech/Ante Chamber, The exterior, Locks, hammers, nipples, etc. I would not be without a steam cleaner now that i have used one and seen the benefits.

[Saxtonyoung]

Lewis,
You made a believer out me. I placed my order with Amazon for the same unit you have. Thanks Jeff.