I was cleaning...

[Elijah Gunn]

I was cleaning my CVA Tower pistol the other day. I clean by removing the barrel, putting a patch over a bore brush and then dunking it all  in a sink of warm soapy water.  After several patches the bore was clean. Then I did something different. I put the barrel in the oven on low for about a half hour to dry it out. Then I used some olive oil to season it. When I ran an olive oil patch down the bore on a jag it came out dirty! I thought it was rust but my daughter said it was a gray color. (I'm somewhat colorblind) Could it be lead? I thought with a patch between the ball and the bore that leading would not be a problem. If it is lead, I can only guess that by heating up the barrel it was soft enough to remove on the oiling patch. What do you think?
Regards, Mark

[John Traveler]

The after-oven-heating residue you described is quite normal.  After it is cleaned to bare steel, the low oven heat mildly oxidizes the steel and leaves the residue you described.  It's probably not leading, but powder and primer residue.

Barrel steel is porous, and firing residue is trapped in the steel.  Regular cleaning only removes most of it.  Repeated cleaning days after firing usually gets most of it out.

The military used to require daily cleaning of guns for three days after firing corrosive primed ammunition to get all the residue out.

[Elijah Gunn]

Thanks  John Traveler. Guess I should re-clean all my guns and see what I get.
Regards, Mark

[Dan Chamberlain]

Elija

Another thing, don't be too obsessive about the cleaning.  I don't clean my traditional muzzleloaders until I get absolutely no trace of darkness on my patches.  It's a waste of patches, time and effort.  I clean until the patches show ALMOST no color and then I lube and set it aside.  A couple days later I'll run another lube patch or two in the bore and put it away.  I get no rust.  The softer steels used in trad muzzleloaders seem to leech out mild gray discoloration on patches forever!  I quit trying to find an end to it. 

Now, I can't comment on modern muzzleloaders or how to clean them.  Excuse me if I'm not addressing your question or firearms.

Regards;

Dan