577 pinfire

[lar45]

Hello everyone,
I'm working on getting my wife's .577 pinfire double pistol to a shootable state.
I have tightened up everything that I could.
I converted some 28ga shotshells to pinfire and have them loaded with 20 grains of FFg, a fiber wad, and a round ball.
237988

I'm just waiting on the wife to get around to wanting to shoot it.
Bp is a little bit of a pain to clean up, so the random thought of using a substitute like 777 or ???
I know that I should probably just stick with Bp, but... Any thoughts?

[DaveM]

First of all, that is very cool.

Especially in a breechloader like that, BP won't be difficult to clean. Just use tepid water, or a water-based solvent, and it should get clean very quickly. I can shoot 100 rounds of black powder .44-40s in one of my rifles and because I use a BP-compatible solvent, I get the bore clean in under 10 minutes.

[country gent]

Ballistol and water mix at 10 parts water to 1 part ballistol will clean the BP fouling quickly and easily. I have it in a spray bottle and a squeeze bottle. I spritz / spray the bores down with the spray bottle. A couple sprays in the breech with muzzles down, Have a rag or can under them the fouling will be running out with the ballistol water. Ten brush a few strokes and spray again. let soak a few minutes and brush. Patch dry with a jag and tight fitting patch. Wet and patch to clean patches. Use spg bullet lube in a patch and coat bores this is a good preventative.

Fouling control is a big part of easy cleaning of black powder. In your load the addition of a thin grease cookie ( SPG or emmerts Improved) and another wad on top of the cookie will help keep fouling soft and manageable since you round ball has no grease grooves to carry lube. This will keep fouling soft and not let it get hard and crusty. A good range solvent for wiping is windex with vinegar. It removes fouling quickly. Wiping every 15-20 rounds Goes a long ways to making cleaning easier at the end of the day, it also improves accuracy.

I find BP fouling easier to clean than the substitutes fouling is. Give the above a try a see.

[elk hunter]

I use just plain old HOT soapy water to clean my BP guns and then oil them afterwards, it has worked for me for over 60 years.