Wiping down my favorite muzzloaders.

[Adam Helmer]

Yesterday I finally found some free time and wiped out the bores and wiped the exterior metal of 8 treasured muzzleloaders. I have Hawken flintlock and caplock rifles in .45, .50 and .54 caliber that I use for hunting and targets and an M1857, .577 Enfield rifle I carry as a Civil War reenactor. All arms are 30+ years old that I shoot often here on the farm. I clean the bores with hot, soapy water, per the Old Army Manual. I dry the bores, oil and check daily for a few days after to ensure all is ok. In the off season, I wipe the bores and exteriors monthly.

My effors were amply rewarded recently at my nearby gun club. A fellow club member came to my bench, looked at my arms and asked, "Did you just get these?" I said, "No, I have had them for 30 or 40 years." The guy was stunned and said, "Why they would pass for new." Amen.

Adam

[pietro]

.

I've done the same for decades myself, Adam - only, after cleaning/drying I run a very loose patch loaded with Bore Butter down bore and leave the BB in there until the next time I want to fire the gun, albeit weeks or months.

Then I use that same patch, reloaded with BB, to wipe a coat of it onto all the outsides of the metal parts of the gun - where it also stays on until the next use.

Like yours, mine still look pristine after all these years.

.

[725]

I follow a similar protocol and get similar results. Wish I could make my friends understand it.

[pietro]

Wish I could make my friends understand it.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink........

.

[Adam Helmer]

I follow a similar protocol and get similar results. Wish I could make my friends understand it.

725,

Sir, you have a keen way of figuring, and I concur. At my local gun shop, which I visit weekly, there are always used muzzleloaders on the gun rack. About 80% have bores rusted about like the tailpipe on my truck! One day a new used ML showed up while I was present. The dealer is my friend and neighbor and he let me check out a very rusted Hawken being considered from the customer. I asked him about the rusted bore. "Bubba" said, "I had no Windex or Alcohol to clean the bore after range day." I asked him how much Windex or Alcohol was on hand at Valley Forge or Gettysburg? I then advised him both things work because they are WATER Based; "Don't you have water?" Duh?

Nobody reads the Old Army Manual these days. Hot, soapy water, dry patches and oil and daily check-ups for a few days. The Army has owned many more BP arms than I ever will and understood bore preservation. Amen.

Adam

[Dakota Jim]

Can't beat the BB, use it extensively on my Renegade. Does the trick inside and out.

[indian joe]

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink........

.

nobody gonna make this ole hoss drink the hot water bit ----room temperature to tepid only for my guns ---- been doin it as long as most fellers here .......hot water makes flash rust every time I tried it.
Lot of experts decry the use of WD40 too - that stuff has served me well for over 30 years. I dont like bore butter - stuff stinks like liniment and reminds me of pain
Black powder gun cleaning can be a simple easy deal or you can choose to make it as complicated as you like - dont matter - one thing we all should agree on - ya gotta do it! shortly after firing one shot or a hundred - in dry climates maybe can wait a week to ten days and get away with it but thats a great way to "forget"

[Gtek]

In Florida, wipe a quick few before ride home and get after it good when you get home. It has always baffled me how easy and really how little time to clean one rifle. Somehow the majority of ones inspected on used rack are wasted!

[indian joe]

In Florida, wipe a quick few before ride home and get after it good when you get home. It has always baffled me how easy and really how little time to clean one rifle. Somehow the majority of ones inspected on used rack are wasted!

anywhere near any coast anyplace that would be required procedure - inland too if its humid

[Somebody]

725,
At my local gun shop, which I visit weekly, there are always used muzzleloaders on the gun rack. About 80% have bores rusted about like the tailpipe on my truck!

Adam

And the other 20% are still loaded!

Rusty muzzleloader bores on the used rack are my default expectation for a pretty straightforward reason - Most of them are estate guns.
Even when estate beneficiaries sell them to the gun shop immediately, their last maintenance was probably done by the deceased when they were still in good health, and their good health days were years, if not decades, ago.

[Adam Helmer]

Somebody,

I have encountered LOADED muzzleloaders at the LGC and at a few museums nearby! Watch the muzzle, ALWAYS! Be well.

Adam

[Somebody]

nobody gonna make this ole hoss drink the hot water bit ----room temperature to tepid only for my guns ---- been doin it as long as most fellers here .......hot water makes flash rust every time I tried it.

Curiosity Joe, where does your water come from?
I am fortunate to have very good flavorless well and spring water.
When I was out in coal country, I had well water that was tolerable tasting when cold, but distinctly sulfurous when hot.
Other areas that rely on surface water or reclaimed water can be so heavily chlorinated that it's like drinking from a shocked pool, hot or cold.
It wouldn't surprise me if the treatment of the water affects the likeliness of flash rust.

[Gtek]

That is why when your at the grocery store you put a couple gallons of de-ionized water in the buggy, removes issues.