SavageT- I haven't actually started to use the Cider Vinegar yet (it's below zero here at the moment) I will start using it in the spring, my friend Bill Knight (The Mad Monk) has been using it and reports it works great, he told me he used the Cider vinegar because it's cheaper and he finds the smell less offensive than regular vinegar, Bill is the BP consultant that got Elephant up to rifle rate of burn despite it's limitation's involving a jungle species of wood to make the charcoal, and he's also the consulting engineer that tailored the WANO into the new Schuetzen BP they're now importing, he knows more about the history, chemistry, and behaviour of BP than any man alive in IMHO. This solvent thing isn't rocket science, the most important part of any BP solvent is the water, plain and simple, plain cold water is a fine BP solvent which is dramatically safer than the typical Hot water and detergent BS, the 5% acetic acid just makes the water work a little better as BP residue is quite alkaline, And if it's 5% acetic acid it's probably close to 95% water, TC #13 is simply 90% plain old water 10% Silicone so it can also be used as a patch lube. The British army was known for using urine as a battlefield expedient BP solvent and it was reputed to be a fine solvent, and I'd imagine that's 99% water with minute amounts of albumin and ammonia and some dead white blood cells, You really don't need to resort to running a full blown spectral analysis of your solvent to effectively clean your barrel, it's pretty much just the water the other stuff is just window dressing. An old BP bench rest slug gun shooter I knew who had numerous American as well as Canadian National championships under his belt and had shot just about every type of BP competition in his 40+ years of BP shooting, his solvent of choice was you guessed it, cold water.
and unless you're shooting Pyrodrek or any of the other faux BP's that contain Perchlorate to supress the flash point so it can be sold as a flammable solid, you can get by just fine with water. I understand even the 777 contains Perchlorate just a good bit less than the pyrodrek. So with those you need some type of solvent to break down the Perchlorate
as water alone can't do it. I think most of us are so used to being screwed by all the marketing and bean counter types we find anything simple or cheap literaly inconsievable, I have a friend who served in the Welsh Regiment of Foot I should probably buy him lots of beer bottle the effluent and market it as limey tech miracle BP solvent at $12.50 a bottle :lol:
Regards fredj
