Black Powder Cleaner

I picked up some Hornady One Shot cleaner when I sorted out all my muzzleloader stuff, I was told this stuff was awesome.

Well, I soaked a patch, ran it down the bore, let it sit and then proceeded to use dry patches until the bore came out clean, great, then I wet a patch with bore butter and put that in to season the bore, did what I was supposed to, put it in the cabinet and left it.

Well, I was cleaning a cartridge BP gun yesterday and thought, since I had the BP cleaning gear out I would check the muzzleloader, well, specs of rust in the bore, WTF. I ran another soaked patch down the bore and it came out rust red, let it sit and used dry patches again until they came out clean.

What do others use for cleaning theirs?

I am asking for a cleaner because the hot water trick is a giant pain for my general BP cleaning applications, it may work fine for a 50 cal but a 25 bolt action is a lot tougher to manage.

Thanks

I use TC 's T-17 pre saturated patches,but used same in T-13 as well in the past.
Sometimes the patch is so juicy,i squeeze some out ,to waste.......
Always drying out very carefully the bore before protecting/lubing it with TC Bore Butter patch .
So far so good.

For temporary storage I follow up the cleaning with a patch soaking in Remington Gun Oil, for long term storage I follow up cleaning with a patch lightly coated with breech plug/nipple grease. It has worked well so far but I store my guns in a dry location so that's not a real world test.

I stopped using hot water a few years ago. Hot water opens up the pores in the metal and lets oxidants in. The time it takes between the hot water and the "seasoning" has just caused the seasoning to seal in the oxidants. It is all on a molecular scale but trust me, the rust will happen. No more hot water OR Bore Butter for me. If I have serious fouling I will use Hoppes #9 Black Powder solvent, then cool water with a small amount of Dawn dish soap and rinse with cool water and lots of dry patches and finally some quality gun oil or even WD40. Always store yer BP gun muzzle down to keep any lubricant from gathering in yer touch hole or nipple. ........My .02 on this not gospel......................Daniel

I make my own: 3/4 water, 1/4 ballistol, a few drops of Dawn dish soap. Works for me. Due to its slight alkalinity, Ballistol neutralizes and dissolves black powder and corrosive ammo residue. I fill the barrel with this mixture and let it sit for say 1/2 hour. Then use a brush and flush barrel. After cleaning and then lots of dry patches....I use some good gun oil in the barrel...then in a day or two...dry patches again and check to see there is no rust or white salt stains. I use real black powder (percussion/flintlocks) and this method works for me.

I wonder who ever thought putting Bore butter in a barrel for storage was a good idea ?

I have always use a CLP on ANY barrel I put away for the season, that's what it's for.

Last year I used the 'Long Term Corrosion Inhibitor' from WD40 'Specialist' product line. Worked great no rust and easy clean prior to putting the barrel back into service.

This year I'm testing "Krown's Rust Protection and Lubricant"....see how it does. Just a quick spray down the barrel after they were cleaned. Still have a couple more to do during the holidays.

Have been shooting Black Powder M.L,s for over 40 years, [45 and 54 cal. Hawken type rifles , factory built and kits that I have built ] I have always used the extremely "Hot water and Dish Soap " method followed by a good drying and coating with Rem. Gun Oil, I have not ever found any rust in my barrel using this method to clean.
Simple easy and it works.

I had ez clean foaming bore cleaner recommended by a friend but haven't got to try it as I didn't get out with bp gun. Plug the end, fill barrel with foam and let it soak for an hour. He cleaned it out with a cordless drill on a brush and cleaning rod. A little oil and put it away.

I checked it tonight, again, a bit of frost and a rusty colour, I did some googling and it looks like this has happened to others too. I hit it with a wet patch of CLP.

MikePal, when we shot this gun the first time at your place the cleaner we used was all I used, this residue did not occur in that case. What was that stuff? Do they sell it locally? I think the Hornady stuff will be removed from the BP cleaning kit.

My 25 does not show the same rusty colour, will be watching close.

[QUOTE=MikePal;1075673]I wonder who ever thought putting Bore butter in a barrel for storage was a good idea ?

Hi MikePal-not challenging You,but what is wrong with Bore Butter?
I use it on my TC Omega for 10 years or so for yearly storage....so far ,so good?

Thanx

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gbk

Hi MikePal-not challenging You,but what is wrong with Bore Butter?
I use it on my TC Omega for 10 years or so for yearly storage....so far ,so good?

Thanx

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Just experience...I used it the first year I had side lock (closed end bore) and come spring put a pull thru and it came Orange. It took most of the morning to get it cleaned out and barrel polished back up.

Maybe it works better in the in-lines with the breach plug removed and air can circulate.

Bore butter, especially the biodegradable natural stuff is nowhere near comparable to a CLP product like Breakfree for storage/presevation. Why not just use it, like you do on all your other barrels ?

take a read thru these comments on the issue;

https://www.shootersforum.com/muzzle...ased-oils.html

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fox

MikePal, when we shot this gun the first time at your place the cleaner we used was all I used, this residue did not occur in that case. What was that stuff? Do they sell it locally? I think the Hornady stuff will be removed from the BP cleaning kit.

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I think we cleaned the barrel with Birchwood Casey "Muzzle Magic Cleaner'..stuff works great to get you to a clean patch. I see it occasionally at different stores (Old Joe's had some) .....basically it's main ingredient is isopropyl alcohol. The Hornady stuff probably works fine to clean just not preserve.

If I remember correctly, we then ran a swap of Breakfree down the pipe to lube/preserve the barrel.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MikePal

I think we cleaned the barrel with Birchwood Casey "Muzzle Magic Cleaner'..stuff works great to get you to a clean patch. I see it occasionally at different stores (Old Joe's had some) .....basically it's main ingredient is isopropyl alcohol. The Hornady stuff probably works fine to clean just not preserve.

If I remember correctly, we then ran a swap of Breakfree down the pipe to lube/preserve the barrel.

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I do not remember doing that, I will check it tonight and see if things are frosty again after running CLP through it last night.

With my savage 10MLii smokeless.
Hoppes #9 Black Powder solvent to clean the sabot residue.
Then coat the entire gun in CLP.
:)

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Originally Posted by bellerivercrossbowhunter

With my savage 10MLii smokeless.
Hoppes #9 Black Powder solvent to clean the sabot residue.
Then coat the entire gun in CLP.
:)

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Why are you bothering with a BP solvent? Any shotgun cleaner will clean out the sabot residue, smokeless does not have the same issues as BP.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bellerivercrossbowhunter

Hoppes #9 Black Powder solvent to clean the sabot residue

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When I first saw that product, the word 'solvent' made me think it was specifically for cleaning up BH209. Never gave it a second glance as I was still using T7.

Maybe I'll take another look at it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fox

Why are you bothering with a BP solvent? Any shotgun cleaner will clean out the sabot residue, smokeless does not have the same issues as BP.

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Good point!

After my sighting in session & ML hunting week the bore was spotless and didn't need to be cleaned:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bellerivercrossbowhunter

Good point!

After my sighting in session & ML hunting week the bore was spotless and didn't need to be cleaned:)

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I have never noticed a plastic residue from sabots in a rifled shotgun, with a tighter choke on a shotgun I have noticed the plastic residue but never on sabot slugs, although I am sure there is some.

Black powder is nasty to clean up, I give you that, budget and age dictate its use though, or substitutes.

The cool project is not the round ball gun but the rimfire loads, making ammo for a 25 Stevens with BP as it is the only known powder burn rate for this gun.

I have been using BB for years on my Thompson ML.
I never had rust issues maybe because the barrel is stainless.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MikePal

I think we cleaned the barrel with Birchwood Casey "Muzzle Magic Cleaner'..stuff works great to get you to a clean patch. I see it occasionally at different stores (Old Joe's had some) .....basically it's main ingredient is isopropyl alcohol. The Hornady stuff probably works fine to clean just not preserve.

If I remember correctly, we then ran a swap of Breakfree down the pipe to lube/preserve the barrel.

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Thank You MikePal interesting read

I took a look tonight, ran a dry patch down the bore and it came out with a little colour but nothing like the other night. I coated another patch with Gunzilla CLP and swabbed the bore, will check again.

I never seemed to have the same issue with the centerfires when using Hoppes #9, I will make sure to swab with the CLP for sure moving forward and keep my eyes on things, still new to the BP game.