Cleaning
- Thread starter Buck Fever
- Start date
I give mine a hot bath with soapy water first then some Ballistol mixed with water. I use a brass brush for some scrubbing then some patches with a ballistol mix, then brush some more, and so on till it comes clean. I used to use WD40, and it worked well too. I shoot only patched round balls now and find my rifle cleans up much faster [15 min] than when I used bullets, or the pastic sabots that really mess up the barrel.
I am a big believer in swabbing with a patch dampened with windex between shots, and running two of three of these down the barrel as you are packing up from the range. Depending on the style of muzzleloader, give a quick wipe to the areas that are subject to primer spray as well.
You could also explore clean-shooting powder substitutes (777, American Powder. etc Jim shockley's stuff), all of which make bold claims about easy clean up. Not cheap though.
If you want any muzzleloader to last you any length of time, you should still throughly clean and treat the metal surfaces.
Hakx
You could also explore clean-shooting powder substitutes (777, American Powder. etc Jim shockley's stuff), all of which make bold claims about easy clean up. Not cheap though.
If you want any muzzleloader to last you any length of time, you should still throughly clean and treat the metal surfaces.
Hakx
cleaning
what are you treating the surface with?
I find on my Hawken I have to put a bit of Hoppes on it once a week to keep the pitting at bay! Is that because of the black powder or living in the rainforest. I use hot water but no soap. What kind of soap?
I am a newbie too and absoulutely love it. Just got a 1858 replica from a member on this site it is scads of fun.
Thanks
Fester
hakx said:
what are you treating the surface with?
I find on my Hawken I have to put a bit of Hoppes on it once a week to keep the pitting at bay! Is that because of the black powder or living in the rainforest. I use hot water but no soap. What kind of soap?
I am a newbie too and absoulutely love it. Just got a 1858 replica from a member on this site it is scads of fun.
Thanks
Fester
i use whatever dish soap my wife buys one gallon hot water squirt of dish soap,take the barrel off your gun and remove the nipple, put nipple end of the barrel in hot water,brass brush,thencloth patch and jag, pump the water through with jag and patch till clean, barrel will get hot thats fine helps the water left from cleaning evaporate, wipe with dry patches then oil, i use 3in1 oil for years works for me, you should check the next day for rust, if you have cleaned it right there will not be any, wade
fester said:
Cleaning, a couple of options...........
Ordinary dish soap, will work. You want the water really hot so it evap's off the metal right away. Some guys even flush and swap the barrel using cheap summer blend windshield fluid diluted with water.
You local sporting goods store will have isle's of brand name marketed muzzleloader cleaner. It all does the same thing. It just costs more.
True blackpowder is very corrosive, and many of it's sub's are to a point. They will diefinitley contribute to you pitting prob. Humidity is also the devil. What you are doing now is about the only way to combat it.
Personally, I use just a light wiping of CLP - only because I have access to gallons of it. Hoppes does the same thing.
I've tried a lot of the different solutions such as the one using alcohol, peroxide and murphy's soap,windshield washer, different soaps.The one that I settled on is a solution of Natursolv or citrusolv (bilge cleaner)
One of our club members was having problems with the flash hole silting up in his rifle, he's never had a problem since he started usinig natursolv,it comes concentrated,just add a capful to the cleaning bucket full of boiling water.Use a wet patch to siphon it in the barrel a few times and you are done.
An important note; whenever you use any soap product which is an alkali and hot water, your barrel will flash rust if you allow it to dry on uis own,always dry the barrel with patches,then followed with the oily ones.
that's why your barrel will have a slight rust after a few days after cleaning it.
One of our club members was having problems with the flash hole silting up in his rifle, he's never had a problem since he started usinig natursolv,it comes concentrated,just add a capful to the cleaning bucket full of boiling water.Use a wet patch to siphon it in the barrel a few times and you are done.
An important note; whenever you use any soap product which is an alkali and hot water, your barrel will flash rust if you allow it to dry on uis own,always dry the barrel with patches,then followed with the oily ones.
that's why your barrel will have a slight rust after a few days after cleaning it.
Even though I shoot a TC Z5, I bought a Remington cleaning tube that screws into the breech plug threads. It allows me to draw that hot soapy water right up through the breech area without worrying about spilling any dirty water in the trigger area. I then bore butter the barrel up before putting it away. Everyone has their own unique way it seems. Whatever works for you is best.
You did not say whether it was an inline or a traditional. I have a T/C Omega and I will take a 50cal Bore Snake, soke the brush area with cleaner and the end with a bit of Remoil, and pule it through a couple times. The tricky thing here is that it is a really tight fit; I usually tie the cord end to a 2x4, stand on the 2x4, and pull on the stock to get it to work properly. While I am doing this, I put a bit of the cleaner in a jar and soke the breechplug; I scrub it after I am done cleaning the barrel. By the time I am done, it takes 10 minutes and she is squeaky clean.
cleaning revisited
I am having problems here, I am cleaning both my cap and ball and Hawken once a week and there is still light pitting developing that quickly. What can I do I am using hot water, no. 13 and bore butter plus hoppes to oil the heck out of it.
thanks
I am having problems here, I am cleaning both my cap and ball and Hawken once a week and there is still light pitting developing that quickly. What can I do I am using hot water, no. 13 and bore butter plus hoppes to oil the heck out of it.
thanks
- Location
- Kamloops,BC
I do the hot water and dish soap thing with a little degreaser such as "Spray Nine" which I got at Cdn Tire, and then rinse with boiling water, run a dry patch through and then spray down the barrel with WD 40, wipe again and then wipe a patch with Transmission Fluid after, and then a dry Patch again and wipe a light coat of Trany on the barrel and then store it either til the next shoot or even over the off season with out any problems of rusting or pitting at all.
Good Shootin
Good Shootin
I would be careful and avoid using Transmission Fluid "hollerinharold", When T-Fluid(which is basically has the same properties as hydraulic oil) becomes vapour it in turn becomes veryvolitile.
Personally,I use the same concept as "hakx" when cleaning plus CLP and Bore Butter.
Personally,I use the same concept as "hakx" when cleaning plus CLP and Bore Butter.
- Location
- Kamloops,BC
cleaning
Been using trany fluid for 18 years now and it has done a great job.
Why change now?
When you put powder in the barrel, it becomes very volatile also.
Besides it is a light final wipe.
Been using trany fluid for 18 years now and it has done a great job.
Why change now?
When you put powder in the barrel, it becomes very volatile also.
Besides it is a light final wipe.
Last edited:
My choice for bore protection is a light spray grease called Fluid Film. Just spray it on the final patch. It is non volatile (does not evaporate away) and does not migrate down the barrel of a gun stored standing.
cheers mooncoon
cheers mooncoon
fester, your barrel may be finished, some of the cheaper quality barrels that have not been looked after properly from the start will get pitted and once the pits are there you cant take them out they are there and the problems that go with them, the good quality barrels ,green river , getz, rice, etc are very easy to clean and care for,i have a rice .62 and a.54 green river, very good stuff,
thanks
Good info thanks, mine is a TC Hawken so I imagine it is not a good quality as you have mentioned, it is doing its job getting me hooked on muzzleloading though, and that is what counts
what is CLP?
wade said:
Good info thanks, mine is a TC Hawken so I imagine it is not a good quality as you have mentioned, it is doing its job getting me hooked on muzzleloading though, and that is what counts
what is CLP?
- Location
- Kamloops,BC
cleaning
I had a TC Hawken for 15 of the 18 years and what I have said before worked very well and I had no pitting or rust.
With the transmission fluid and a dry Patch after, I have stored it in my closet over the winter, for four or five months with no rust or any pitting at all.
I now have a green river barrel and treat it the same way.
As I have stated before, I used a dry patch after the wipe with a light trany fluid patch and it has worked just fine.
I had a TC Hawken for 15 of the 18 years and what I have said before worked very well and I had no pitting or rust.
With the transmission fluid and a dry Patch after, I have stored it in my closet over the winter, for four or five months with no rust or any pitting at all.
I now have a green river barrel and treat it the same way.
As I have stated before, I used a dry patch after the wipe with a light trany fluid patch and it has worked just fine.
