OK, let me try this one more time.
First, I determine that a revolver (or rifle, or shotgun) will only be fired with ammunition loaded with Black Powder.
I then take it completely apart, like this Colt.
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Or I take it mostly apart, like this antique S&W Top Break New Model Number Three.
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The mechanism of a Winchester Model 1873 is easily accessed by removing the side plates.
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My old Stevens SXS hammer gun is also easy to take down, one screw and both side plates come off, exposing the mechanism.
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Then, everything; inside of the frame, mechanism parts, inside the cylinder, everything, gets thoroughly degreased with alcohol.
Next I liberally coat everything with Ballistol. Everything. I slop on a nice heavy coat.
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At this point the firearm is ready to be fired with ammunition loaded with Black Powder.
All my metallic ammo is loaded with Schuetzen FFg. I like Schuetzen because it burns a little bit cleaner than Goex for about the same price.
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Here is a photo of the actual components that go into one of my 45 Colt rounds. A Big Lube 250 grain bullet, about 33 grains of Schuetzen FFg, Starline brass, and Federal Large Pistol primers.
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Here is the selection of Big Lube bullets I use. Left to right, the 180 grain bullet for 38-40, 200 grain Mav-Dutchman for 44-40 and 44 Russian, 200 grain J/P 200 (I designed this one) for 45 Schofield, and the 250 grain PRS for 45 Colt. The large bullet shown is not a Big Lube bullet, it is a 405 grain Montana Precison Swaging bullet I use for 45-70. The bullet all the way on the right is one of my old pan lubed bullets I used to use for 45 Colt. Why the Big Lube bullets? Because the huge lube groove holds enough soft BP compatible bullet lube to keep even a 24 inch rifle barrel coated with soft, BP compatible bullet lube.
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Here is a photo of my completed Black Powder rounds. Left to right, 44 Russian, 45 Schofield, 38-40, 44-40, 45 Colt, and 45-70.
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I actually load all my 'pistol caliber' metallic cartridges on a Hornady Lock and Load AP progressive press. This is a batch of 45 Colt being loaded.
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I load my shotgun shells with 4.3 CCs (about 65 grains) of Scheutzen FFg, a Circle Fly over powder wad, a Circle Fly cushion wad, 1 1/8 ounces of #8 shot, a Circle Fly over shot card, all stuffed into a 12 gauge Remington STS hull.
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I load all my BP shotgun shells on my old MEC Jr.
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I use a 24" drop tube to trickle 70 grains of Schuetzen FFg into my 45-70 shells. The Colt is only in the photo to give a sense of scale.
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I finish loading my 45-70 cartridges on my old Lyman Spartan single stage press.
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After a day of shooting CAS I am too tired to clean two revolvers, a rifle and a shotgun. They go directly into the safe with absolutely no further cleaning. No squirt of Moose Milk down the bore, no squirt of Ballistol anywhere.
Directly into the safe without any further cleaning.
I try to clean them within a week, but like I said before, I have gone much, much longer than a week without cleaning them.
Yes, you got the state correct, although you did not get the town right. It does not matter, we have plenty of 90% humidity days all summer long.
When I clean my guns, I use my favorite water based Black Powder solvent. It is called Murphy's Mix. Murphy's Mix consists of equal parts Murphy's Oil Soap (hence the name), rubbing alcohol or isopropyl alcohol, it does not matter, and drug store Hydrogen Per Oxide. The 3 quart jug is what I mix them together in.
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This is when all the red flags will go up. I can hear them now. Why not just use hot water, it was good enough during the Civil War? Several reasons. When Murphy's Mix dries, it leaves behind an oily residue from the oil soap. This is what I am talking about when I say that BP fouling saturated with oil cannot absorb any more water from the atmosphere. The oily residue saturates any specs of fouling that may have been left behind and prevents it from absorbing any atmospheric moisture. The alcohol aids in drying quickly, and the H2O2 provides a little bit of fizz to help lift stubborn fouling off the parts. Also, this stuff can be used at room temperature. It can be used at the club before I leave, or it can be used cold in the basement a week later. Does not need heating. Hot water requires heating. Last, let's not worry about the fact that the Nazis used Hydrogen Per Oxide as rocket propellant in the V2 rockets in WWII. Drug store H2O2 is only about 3% H2O2, the rest is water. Once diluted with the other two ingredients the percentage goes down to about 1%. 1% H2O2 is not going to rust anything, many years ago I left a piece of carbon steel soaking in Murphy's Mix for about a week. There was no corrosion. In fact, most of Murphy's Mix is actually water, about 20% of the alcohol and about 97% of the H2O2. It is the water that does the actual cleaning, the other stuff just helps and leaves behind a coating of oil.
Cleaning a cartridge revolver is very simple. A bore brush soaked with M Mix is twirled down the bore and all of the chambers of the cylinder. Done a couple of times to wash away all the fouling. Followed up by a patch soaked in M Mix down the bore and chambers to mop up anything that is left. Then a patch soaked in Ballistol goes down the bore and chambers, followed by a dry patch to soak up the excess. This is what I am talking about when I say that any fouling left in a pitted bore will be soaked with oil so it cannot absorb any moisture out of the air. Then, a couple of Q-Tips soaked in Ballistol are worked into the hole in the frame where the hand pokes through, and some more is squirted down near the hammer. This renews the Ballistol I left inside when I reassembled the revolver in the first place. Fianlly, a light wipe of Ballistol on the outside of the frame and cylinder, to keep that pesky atmospheric moisture away.
A rifle is easier. Black Powder 44-40 seals the bore of a rifle so well that hardly any fouling works its way into the mechanism. A spent cartridge is inserted into the chamber and the action is closed. Holding the rifle vertically, a bore brush soaked with M Mix goes down the bore, followed by a few patches soaked in M Mix. When a patch comes out dirty gray without any crusty fouling on it, the fouling has all been washed into the spent shell in the chamber. The rifle is flipped upside down and the empty brass is ejected onto the ground followed by a spray of dirty solvent. The same treatment of a patch soaked in Ballistol down the bore followed by a dry one to mop up the excess, This leaves that nice coating of oil on any fouling that may remain in the pits of an old rifle. A little bit of wiping on the exposed parts of the action; the bolt, the carrier, and anywhere else I can reach, followed by a Q-Tip of Ballistol squirted down inside the action to renew the old Ballistol inside.
The shotgun is messy,
so many times I don't clean it at all. When I do clean the shotgun, it involves lots of paper towels and hot water. This gets real messy, so I don't like to do it very often. When done, everything gets some Ballistol to prevent atmospheric moisture from causing any corrosion on what ever tiny amounts of fouling may remain in the old, pitted bore.
That's it. Absolutely no cleaning or preparation done on even the hottest, most humid days of the summer. Everything goes into the safe dirty. I know there are those of you who still have a drill sergeant whispering in your ear that no gun should ever be put away dirty. I stopped listening to him a long time ago. He was just trying to keep you busy.