What's your favorite "cleanup"

[shufigo]

Who's using what to scrub out their muzzle loader? I'm particularly interested in what you've found best to clean out Pyrodex. Thanks.

 

[Richard McCullough]

Well here is what I do. With my inlines I take the breech plug out, and run a couple soaked patches down, followd by some dry, then run a couple soaked with Ballistol, followed by one dry patch.

Withmy side locks, I use a barel blast cleaner, and run a patch up and down the barrel around 5 or 6 times, followed be dry patches 4 or 5, then the ballistol treatment. then wipe the exterior down and put away. Not rust at all.

The cleaner I use is called Ole' Thunder made by October Country.

 

[THBailey]

For quick cleaning I use Windex and patches until the patch runs through clean. Before putting the gun up I boil soapy water and do it the old fashioned way. I wipe the gun down with natural lube.

 

[AMMOe]

I treat all my guns with T/C "Bore Butter" so I stay away from anything petroleum. I used T/C #13 bore cleaner which is compatible with the Bore Butter. I wet the bore, brush, wet patch it again, then dry patch it until dry. I then run a patch with Bore Butter unti the patch is only showing light grey. Then I quit. Never a hint of rust or corrosion. For what it's worth, I believe Ox Yoke's Wonder Lube to be the same fornula as "Bore butter" and use it interchangably. ~Andy

 

[RLB]

I do the exact same thing as AMMOe. That T/C #13 will remove pyrodex with ease.

 

[FTTPOW]

I've tried lots of store-boughts, but now mix up my own. I use it for patch lube as well as cleaning after done shooting. I used to oil it down with Marvel Mistery Oil, but now use GI light weapons oil. It's cheap and works as well as anything else. Here's my solution for what our gun club calls Hawg Wash.
1 Ounce of water soluable oil
1 Ounce of Lestoil
16 Ounces of peroxide
16 Ounces of water
Make sure you oil it down good because the peroxide really "dries" it out.

 

[bradj]

I use boiling water and soap, then rub it down with bore butter, inside and out.

 

[DannoBoone]

I use CVA Advanced Sabot Shooter's Solvent. It works so well that no brushing is needed.
Just run a wet patch down the barrel, let sit for a couple of minutes and run a few patches
through the inline barrel til they are clean. Sometimes after a lot of shooting, I run one
more wet patch down the barrel, followed by a couple more dry patches with the last one
always coming out clean. This is followed by a patch oiled with Break-free which does a
great job of rust prevention.

As far as problems associated with Pyrodex, I now follow preventive maintenance by not
using that fowling, stinking, rust attracting junk anymore. Got five pounds of Clear Shot
before the factory burned down, and also use Hodgdon's apology for Pyrodex, H777!!!

 

[BelchFire]

One habit that my dad taught me has served me well. Run a wet patch down the barrel between shots and your accuracy improves while cleaning gets easier. This is true with ANY brand of cleaner, ANY brand or make of powder, and ANY gun. Personally, I use about a "squeeze" of dishwashing liquid in an empty squeeze bottle filled with water. This produces a mild soapy solution that I can apply straight out of the dripper on the end of an old dishwashing liquid bottle. I wet a patch, run it up and down, turn it over, and run it through again. Then do the same with a dry patch (turning it over once). This also eliminates the possibility of a flash off from fresh powder poured in over a smoldering ember! YIKES

Once back home, I use hot water as hot as my tap will produce along with whatever dishwashing soap "Mama" buys (usually Dawn). I remove the barrel from the stock of my side-lock, and place the end down in a measuring cup filled with this hot soapy water. Then I use a patch on a tight fitting jag to "piston" the solution up and down the barrel - in and out the flash hole. Then I remove the nipple and do all that again a few times. Then I wipe down all the small creases and crevases around the snail, and I'm through scrubbing. I rinse with clean HOT water from the tap, (so hot I can't hold the barrel for long). I rinse several times, and wipe all metal surfaces with your favorite brand of light gun oil (I like REM oil). My buddies still say my Lyman looks brand new, and it's 12-15 years old!

I use the same soapy solution in my in-line, but I just do the patch trick from the breech end to the muzzle end using both sides of the patch. I run wet patches through until they come out clean (usually 4-5), then I run dry ones through until I'm satisfied with the condition of the patch. Really MUCH easier than a side-lock (but not near as satisfying to shoot!) Then, of course, I use the REM oil on that too. The Knight in much easier to clean, but then it's not a traditional style gun.

I only shoot Pyrodex, but the intermediate patch is a trick from Dad's "pure soot" days. It's even more important with the dirtier powders. Pay your money; make your choice, but I wouldn't spend a dime on a cleaner when dish soap works so well!

Just one more opinion................

 

[passgas55]

Hot water and a tad of dish soap. After it dries , I use bore butter. I do this to my blue steel and stainless steel front loaders.

 

[Hook]

That reminds me, I need to clean mine.

I hope it is not too late.

 

[shufigo]

Thanks to all! Exactly what I was looking for. Shuf.

 

[MrRee]

My wife hates me when I clean my BP guns

Says it smells like me after drinking beer & eating boiled eggs!!

 

[AMMOe]

One nice thing about the Bore-butter and T/C #13 combo it that it's so effective at killing the corrosive salts that a cleanup at the range
-read without hot water, sink, or angry spouse- is entirely feasible. I clean my muzzleloaders at the bench before I leave. It takes about ten minutes per rifle. I remove the nipple, run a sloppy wet #13 patch, a brush, another wet patch, then I patch until dry. Then apply Bore butter. I then attend to the nipple area, removing moisture and residue with pipecleaners. I clean the nipple and install after swabbing the residue from the lock area and lightly lubing the nipple threads with Bore Butter. Because I shoot side-locks, I also use a breech scraper on the end of my rod. Looks like a big, brass screwdriver blade and is used to scrape residue from the breech face. This step is before the second wet patch. I verify the cleanliness of my rifles with a 30" fibre-optic bore light. Not a speck of rust and squeaky clean.

I like Bore Butter more than I can say, but you lose one of it's greatest benefits when you use a detergent or petrolium -based cleaner. The bore butter gets washed out of the pores of the metal. The claims of high numbers of rounds without cleaning are true, and the shooting and cleaning properties seem to improve with BB use and water-based solvents for cleaning. I remember when I switched to Ox-Yoke Wonder-lube/ TC Bore Butter (I believe they are the same animal). They were running ads showing a filthy T/C side locker that they fired 1100 + consecutive shots with out cleaning or decrease in accuracy. It got me sold in a hurry! ~Andy

 

[jmabbott888]

I used to use the old soapy water in the sink trick but now have a CVA Barrell Blaster so thats what I use. I'll run a brush through thte barrell then the blaster & then to dry it I use a dry patch to get most of it then BG Brake clean shot down the bore with a patch behind it then a LIGHTLY oiled patch. ipe down the rest of the gun & put it away till next time. Not sure how you do an inline but thats how I do traditional & the revolvers are still the soapy water in the sink then the BG treatment followed by the oil. Good luck

 

[Rick]

Simple Green and hot water. Rinse with clear hot water, then wipe and run dry patches down the bore.

 

[BelchFire]

Hook, how bad is it? Is it green yet?

 

[pappybill]

i like to keep it simple. hot soapy water with mild detergent. and no petroleun products. after barrel is rinse
and dryed add a little bore butter :xmas hat: pappybill

 

[MIBowhunter]

I use the good old soapy water and then bore butter. Has steered me wrong yet.

 

[Arrowhead]

Outside of gun gets wiped down with Windex.

Remove nipple and breach plug and throw in a bucket of super hot soapy water. Stick muzzle into same bucket
and scrub inside of bore, hot soapy water gets sucked up into bore and cleans great.

Run patches through bore to dry and remove soapy residue. Barrel is very hot and dry's itself quickly.

Run a bore butter swab down barrel to lightly coat.

Clean nipple and breach plug, grease both and re-assemble.

It will wait in safe until next year.