Blackpowder vs Smokeless: Which is easier to clean

Gone Hiking · Jul 18, 2022

Cleaning BP guns is not only time sensitive, it's a mess to pour and swab with water that runs and drips everywhere, especially in the house. I always have to be careful not to ding my ceiling with a ramrod when cleaning rifles and muskets. Then there's the game of running dry patches and waiting for the lock and barrel to be perfectly dry before oiling. Cleaning smokeless powder is far less messy, involving just a little solvent or oil on patches. I'll caveat that this goes for non-corrosive ammo. Hosing down a modern gun in the house after shooting corrosive ammo is no fun, either.

I'm diligent about keeping my guns clean, but prefer to do it at my leisure, not the moment I get back from the range. I'd rather clean smokeless powder (again, from non-corrorsive ammo) any day.

MEHavey · Jul 18, 2022

Cleaning BP guns is not only time sensitive, it's a mess to pour and swab
with water that runs and drips everywhere, especially in the house....

SOLUTION: Don't do it in the house. :rofl:

...waiting for the lock and barrel to be perfectly dry....

SOLUTION: Hot/Boiling water... It'll be dry before you can say Rumpelstiltskin three times... :neener:

.

Mike OTDP · Jul 18, 2022

Hmm...I've been shooting and cleaning muzzle-loaders for 44 years. I'd rate smokeless as easier to clean. A patch or two soaked in Hoppes, an oiled patch, wipe out the action, and you're done.

Having said that, there are a slew of tricks to speed up cleaning a muzzle-loading firearm. With the exception of a rifle-musket...I loathe those things precisely because it takes me a good half-hour to get the gun clean, dry, and oiled. A breechloading carbine I have clean in under ten minutes. Ditto for a pistol with a hooked breech. Revolvers...fifteen minutes, unless I'm doing the twice-a-year detail strip and scrub.

For what it's worth, you can leave a gun shot with black powder overnight. I routinely do this, if I plan to shoot that gun the next day. Might run a patch or two down the barrel to get the worst of the fouling out. This won't work with the substitute powders, or if you are using corrosive caps.

My field cleaning kit is a pack of Ballistol-soaked patches. At home, I prefer Simple Green as a cleaner, Ballistol as a preservative lube.

tark · Jul 19, 2022

They're both easy to clean...it's just that B/P usually takes longer and it is mandatory after each shooting session.

lysanderxiii · Jul 19, 2022

JohnKSa said:
Not really an apples to apples argument.

1. Blackpowder guns tend to get cleaned more often. That is, fewer rounds go through the barrel between cleanings. Generally speaking, a LOT fewer.

2. Blackpowder guns need to be cleaned after every time they are fired. There are folks who feel obligated to clean a smokeless powder gun any time they shoot it, but in general that's not necessary. A smokeless powder gun can generally go hundreds of rounds between cleaning without any ill effects, and that can even encompass a number of range trips with significant amounts of time elapsed between each one. Try that with black powder gun and the results will be really unpleasant.

What I think is probably happening is you have a blackpowder gun with maybe 30-40 rounds fired through it being cleaned because it's necessary to clean it to restore function or prevent corrosion and that's either being compared to a smokeless powder gun that's had a similar number of rounds through it and is being cleaned even though it's not at all necessary, or to a smokeless powder gun that has had several hundred rounds through it and needs cleaning.

Either way, it's not really a good comparison.

An apples to apples comparison would be as follows:

Shoot 500 rounds through a blackpowder gun over a period of however many range trips it takes to accomplish the task. Clean the gun ONLY when necessary to maintain function and/or prevent damage. Do exactly the same thing with a roughly comparable smokeless powder gun.

Compare the amount of time spent cleaning each gun and also assess the ill effects to each gun, if any.

Muzzle/paper cartridge loading or metallic cartridge blackpowder? This makes a huge difference.

Shoot an 1859 or 1863 Sharps carbine, and see if you can even get 50-60 rounds through it before you need to clean it.

Shoot an 1874 Sharps carbine with BP cartridges and see how long before fouling takes hold.

wesmonster · Jul 19, 2022

I used to shoot a lot of black powder way back and currently still shoot a lot of corrosive surplus Yugo m67 & 7n6. All were cleaned the same, with lots of hot soapy water, then lubed with Ballistol. So if you have a garage or back yard, yea, it’s an easy process. If you live in an apartment, you’re probably only option is the bath tub.

But as mentioned, the cleaning has to be done even if only firing a few rounds. With smokeless, you can go quite a while before cleaning. Even longer with just a few drops of CLP in the right places.

If I were going hunting in the woods for a few days I’d rather have smokeless and just not have to boil water for cleaning...

Blackpowder vs Smokeless: Which is easier to clean

Gone Hiking

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MEHavey

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Mike OTDP

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tark

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lysanderxiii

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wesmonster

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