BP SOLVENT

[doc623]

I know this has probably been hashed over many times and I do not want to open a can or worms but.
Other than hot soapy water - and I just read a post on another board saying to never use hot soapy water on muzzleloaders - what have you found that best removes black powder or bp substitutes residue and does no harm to the metal or finish?

[wls]

I have three muzzleloaders and have used hot soapy water to clean them since 1981.  No adverse effects.

[Swampman]

Nothing beats Windex or windshield washer fluid.  I've found that hot water causes rust and since I quit using it, I no longer have rust issues.  Even tepid water is better than hot.

[Ladobe]

Nothing wrong with soapy water as long as you get it all the way dry inside and out before you put the firearm away.   Have used it for decades with no ill effects (I only shoot real powder, not the subs).

[Dances with Geoducks]

If you use hot enough water, it will dry itself out in a minute.

[uno676]

I have used soap and hot water with no problems. I agree that hot water drys faster. I have also used TC cleaning pads they work well in the field.

[mechanic]

Windex for me.  I prefer the vinegar based.  Whatever works and floats ya' boat!

[Swampman]

The hot water cooks all the oil out of the metal and causes flash rust.

[Forestclimber]

I do the final rinse with clean water as hot as I can stand it then dry the barrel as quickly as possible.  If it's a barrel you can take out of the stock, I just stick it right in the bucket of water and pump it out.  Same for shotgun barrels.

[Glanceblamm]

Hot soapy water then a flush with hot water.

If you have just a barrel in the bucket the siphoning action is going to spill water over the top and down the outside. Even though that water will (flash off) I like to wipe the outside down with the solvent patch plus a few down the bore. Sometimes I will put a brush on the rod after the hot soapy and then solvent patches till clean.

[Graybeard]

I use hot soapy water and then rinse with clean water as hot as possible. As stated due to the heat the barrel will dry within seconds. What you do next is quite important and determines if you get rust or not. I immediately use an oil soaked patch to coat the barrel inside and out.

Once I failed to do it immediately due to Faye calling me to lunch and I had flash rust on that barrel. It came off easily and left no trace but it proved to me the need to oil immediately in the future.

I think if you've really gotten all the salts removed it wouldn't happen but just in case you left some it's best in my opinion to oil immediately after cleaning.

[Hopalong7]

     Back when I shot real black, I used hot soapy water and TC Bore Butter.  Ever since I've been shooting substitutes, I've been using denatured alcohol and Ballistol and it's been working real well.
     Now I'm going back to real black(at least in the rifles we disscuss on this forum) and I'm not sure what I'm going to use.  I'm leaning toward at least trying to stay with the alcohol.  I can carry it in the field, range or where ever and it's just a lot more convienient.  Hard to get hot water in the woods.
Walt

[DennyRoark]

I use hot soapy water and then rinse with clean water as hot as possible. As stated due to the heat the barrel will dry within seconds. What you do next is quite important and determines if you get rust or not. I immediately use an oil soaked patch to coat the barrel inside and out.

X2 for me...back in 1974, Uncle Sam sent me to small arms repair school and that's how they taught us to clean his very expensive weapons.  Only thing I can add is that I give mine a second oiling after it is cool to the touch and ready for the gun cabinet then thoroughly clean the bore with windex before next shooting round. 30 years and no problems.  As for the flash rust, it is very fine, doesn't cause pitting and over time, naturally browns (and seals) the metal.  My VERY old (made in St' Louis) A-5 has the most beautiful brown patina you could imagine with no pitting.

As for the hot water cooking out all of the "oils" from the metal, what happens when you shoot every weekend for years and many times the barrel gets too hot to hold?

[Swampman]

Corrosive ammo is nothing like blackpowder.

[hunt-m-up]

deleted, my comments applied to in-line cleaning

[Bubber]

Ive always used soap and hot water just like my dad taught me. In the last few years when I go to shoots and am going to camp out overnight I will often have a couple guns that need cleaned at the end of the day and have always just heated up the water and clean them on the tailgate then dirty them up again the next day. Last year I tried somthing different. At the end of the day I poured a bunch of simple green in the barrel and let it sit and swabbed it out. Repeat untill whatever I forced out the nipple or touchhole was clean, then oil it hard. The next day I would shoot again and give them a proper cleaning at home that night. For field cleaning it works well but there is still no replacment for soap and water.

[flintlock]

I've used anything from hot soapy water to MAP to differnent oil and water and vineger and windshield washing fluids to even plain water...The past 10 years or so I simply plug the touch hole with a tooth pick and pour a few ounces of rubbing alcohol down the barrel...I then slosh it around a time or to and pour it out...

When you shoot black powder over 50% does not burn, it's residue...By pouring fluid down the barrel and pouring it out you just removed much of the residue...

After pouring out the alcohol, I dry with 2-3 patches, then spray WD-40 down the barrel to displace the water in the alcohol...I then dry with a couple more patches then put a good gun oil on a patch and run this down the barrel...

Black powder is charcoal, potassium nitrate and sulfur...Once you burn it the left over sulfer will absorb moisture from the atmosphere and form sulfuric acid in your barrel...That's why black powder is considered so corrosive once shot...It's the sulfur that stinks after you shoot and the sulfur that you need to clean out of the barrel so it doesn't rust...

[Swampman]

Alcohol will ruin your stock finish and it doesn't disolve the corrosive salts that turn into sulphuric acid when they get damp.

[flintlock]

Funny...Hasn't bother mine in the past 10 years or so...

[Bigeasy]

Tried several of the BP specialty cleaning fluids over the years (I use BP and Pyrodex), but have found they never do as good a job as hot soapy water.  I always lube the barrel with a patch soaked in Bore Butter, or Natural Lube afterword, and have never had a rusting or fouling problem.

Larry

[Ron T.]

I use liquid Barrel Blaster in a spray bottle on the inside/outside of my lock and foaming Barrel Blaster in my flinter's bore, filling the barrel and letting the foam run out the flash-hole  Once the foam fills the flash-channel and runs out the flash-hole, I then plug the flash-hole with a toothpick and let the rifle sit in an up-right position for an hour or three, giving the barrel another short "shot" of foaming Barrel Blaster in a hour or so.

Then... using a nylon bore brush, I scrub out the barrel thoroughly.  Once that's done, I tip the rifle's muzzle into the plastic garbage bag filled kitchen trash can and let all the debris and liquid run out into the plastic bag lined trash can.

Then I crank up my small, twin-tanked portable air-compressor (max. = 100 lbs pressure) and let the air pressure build up until the compressor shuts off and I blow out any remaining liquid & debris into the trash bag by putting a nicely-fitting nozzle extension into the flash-hole thus cleaning out not only the flash-channel, but the barrel as well.

Then I run a clean patch or two up and down in the barrel to totally dry it out and insure it's completely clean.  If I'm gonna shoot the rifle again within a week or less (which is usually the case since I'm retired), I spray a little WD40 down the barrel and run a clean patch up and down in the barrel several times to insure the bore has a thin coat of WD40 all over it.  I also spray a little WD40 into the flash-hole to insure the flash-channel is coated.

If there's a possibility that I may not shoot the rifle for a while (usually this only happens when I put the rifle away in the Winter until Spring arrives), I skip the WD40 action and use Ballistol instead... insuring I give the bore and inside/outside of the steel parts (lock, etc.) a decent coat of Ballistol.

To be reasonably sure I won't have a "puddle" of liquid (either WD40 or Ballistol) in the flash-channel or at the bottom of the barrel, I crank up the ol' air compressor just before going to the range to shoot and put 100 lbs of air-pressure into the flash-hole, through the flash-channel and out the barrel (which is aimed down into the trash can's plastic trash bag)... and blow out any remaining oil or WD40 leaving a relatively "dry" flash-channel and bore.

Then, at the Club's rifle range, I load about 20 grains of FFFg with NO rifle ball, add a measure of FFFFg to the frizzen pan and light off the "clearing load" to insure everything is dry and "ready-to-load" before getting down to some serious shooting.

This "cycle" works for me with a minimum of fuss and time expended... it sounds like more "work" than it actually is.  It involves very little of my time, but I'll be the first to admit that foaming Barrel Blaster is considerably more expensive than soap & water.   


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.   

[Swampman]

It amazing the old timers were able to shoot at all.  They used tepid water and a hank of tow.

[Dances with Geoducks]

The hot water cooks all the oil out of the metal and causes flash rust.

Don't use petroleum based oil, so don't have to worry about it. a swipe with bore butter, and its seasoned

[necchi]

It amazing the old timers were able to shoot at all.  They used tepid water and a hank of tow.

  you got that right! How could they have possibly done it! Won a couple of wars, concourd the great northwest, tamed the wild west, with nothin but spit and what they had ta hand.

[mechanic]

I'm told they used a lot of bear grease...course it's hard to get the bear to give that up willingly.....

[Hopalong7]

     You got to remember, the ol' timers had there rifle in their hands all day, every day....where it belongs!
Walt

[gcrank1]

Coffee. Hot, warm or cold works fine too. Maybe the 'acids' in it help cut the crud, I dont know, but it works. Ive used lots of commercial products and home made solutions and this just plain works. There is always some around close by.
BTW, if you have a cup full sitting there dont dip your patches, just pour a little on them and you still have a good sip for you (dont ask how I know).
Ive also used a lot of liquids and goos afterward. Always return to WD-40. I, too, will swab another patch though for the next couple of days. They store very well for me with this care.
I wont use this for the gun (too corrosive) but it cleans the BP fouling off your hands nicely. Keep a little spray bottle of common hydrogen peroxide along to sprits and rub when youre done and you are more socially acceptable.

[Swampman]

I've used coffee myself

[Anduril]

It amazing the old timers were able to shoot at all.  They used tepid water and a hank of tow.

  you got that right! How could they have possibly done it! Won a couple of wars, concourd the great northwest, tamed the wild west, with nothin but spit and what they had ta hand.

the guys that lost them wars were shooting black powder too 

but you're right, the old ways are still pretty good.

it's warm soapy water for me.
..

[Swampman]

Warm is better than hot.