What is the best way to clean a muzzleloader mines a side lock. I'm a civil war reenactor and the guys I'm with says not to uses hot soapy water so I'm lost. I've done. what they said do thar is pour gun sovent in it and let it sit and tape up the nipple and swab it out and pour what's left and oil it down. Any advice i would appreciate it thanks
best way to clean a muzzleloader
- Thread starter jrbaker90
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If you can remove the barrel, immersion in a bucket of hot soapy water is the best method. Pump the water up with the ramrod with a patch on the jag and you will get all the black soot out of the barrel. Then dry the metal and put a new coat of oil on it inside with a patch and outside with a rag.
frankenstein406
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On my break action I just pour boiling water down it, other guys have told me they just take off the wood stock if it has one and chuck it in a hot bath tub.
ColtPythonElite
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That's how I do it.
Arkansas Paul
Member
Ballistol.
Crawdad1
Member
I don't know why people keep saying to stay away from hot soapy water. I've been using hot soapy water to clean my revolvers and rifles for decades now and never had a problem. Its cheap and effective.
I am a member of the North, South skirmish Association. There are many opinions on what to use. Basically, water with soap, (Murphy's oil soap is very popular), I use dollar store window cleaner. It has alcohol, ammonia, and soap. I have a home made rack to hold the gun level and just spray some cleaner down the barrel. If you place a short length of rubber tube on the nipple and hang that in a can of water the cleaning patch will move water back and forth in the barrel. Just dry the barrel out with clean patches until there is no more black. Ballistol is a good choice because it is water soluble.
Run a new patch through the barrel the next day to see whats going on.
Run a new patch through the barrel the next day to see whats going on.
I don't know either. It works for me. Water is the best.
rodinal220
Member
Soap and water is all you need.
wleggart
Member
"nothing but mutton or beef tallow ever!"
That is a quote from a very popular article in Backwoodsman magazine. It came from a W. Virginia mountain woman speaking about her .32 cal. flintlock that was passed down to her by her grandfather. I take issue with hydrocarbon based oil in the barrel. Nothing good can come from black powder and oil. The mountain men used "sweet oil" on their Hawkins. Sweet Oil is olive oil. That is what I use (used) in my .50 Traditions and never had rust in 40 years! I have moved to a break action and have stared using Bull Frog lube in the barrel after cleaning with ammonia/detergent based spray (Windex with Ammonia) So far, it seems to be fine for the two years of use. Easy to clean, and no buildup to retard easy sabot loading.
That is a quote from a very popular article in Backwoodsman magazine. It came from a W. Virginia mountain woman speaking about her .32 cal. flintlock that was passed down to her by her grandfather. I take issue with hydrocarbon based oil in the barrel. Nothing good can come from black powder and oil. The mountain men used "sweet oil" on their Hawkins. Sweet Oil is olive oil. That is what I use (used) in my .50 Traditions and never had rust in 40 years! I have moved to a break action and have stared using Bull Frog lube in the barrel after cleaning with ammonia/detergent based spray (Windex with Ammonia) So far, it seems to be fine for the two years of use. Easy to clean, and no buildup to retard easy sabot loading.
Pancho
Member
Hot water is a better solvent.
Pancho
Member
I use hot soapy water with my guns that can be separated from the stock. I'm nervous about using it with my pinned barrel rifles. I'm concerned about getting the water between the barrel and the stock. For the pinned barrels I use a Ballistol and water mix.....Just makes me feel better.
frontiergander
Member
hot water causes flash rust, use baby bath temp soapy water, one you dry patch the bore, use something like a Carb cleaner or straight alcohol and pour a little down the bore so it fills the bolster and removes any left over water/moisture, dry patch again, oil bore and you are good to go.
EljaySL
Member
If you use soap the water doesn't have to be as hot. The nice thing about hot water versus cold water is that it does a better job getting the lube out (melts it). The bad thing is flash rust - I have some guns that are prone to it. So I use warm water + soap.
That being said it's definitely possible to clean black powder with at least some modern gun solvents. Ballistol of course works. MPro-7 works great, and then you can follow it up with penetrating oil or olive oil. If I didn't have access to a decent amount of clean warm/hot water I'd just do that and eat the expense.
That being said it's definitely possible to clean black powder with at least some modern gun solvents. Ballistol of course works. MPro-7 works great, and then you can follow it up with penetrating oil or olive oil. If I didn't have access to a decent amount of clean warm/hot water I'd just do that and eat the expense.
BCRider
Member
Water is what takes away the salty fouling. Adding soap to the water simply makes the water clean a little better. Using HOT and soapy water just makes it easier for the soap to break up any residual oil and get under any buildups in the bore.
On a blank ended muzzle loader I like to remove the barrel from the stock. Often with side lock setups this takes little time and effort if the rifle uses keys to lock the barrel to the stock.
From there I stand it muzzle end up in the sink and pour cups of hot soapy water down the bore and let it drain out the touch hole. Or nipple if you have a percussion setup.
A bore brush sent down the bore and given a twist at the end to feather the bristles to the sides and allow for pulling back scours the bore. A conventional rod swivels to let the brush turn. It's tough to twist such a rod so I use a rigid shotgun cleaning kit for the muzzle loading barrels. I even had to drill and pin the handle to let me put the torque onto the rod to get the brush to twist and feather. But it works like a charm once you get used to it. I just follow the turning handle as it goes down the bore and back out.
Following the soapy water/bore brush/more soapy water treatment I rinse well with a batch of two of hot clear water then patch dry. I then spray Ballistol through the touch hole and blow some air through it to clear any excess oil. Nothing fancy, just a short length of flex tube to my mouth. I also patch the bore with a Ballistol wet patch.
I don't run a dry patch at that time. I leave it "wet" with the Ballistol from that wet patch until I take it out to go shooting the next time. At that point I run a quick dry patch down the bore and shove a pipe cleaner through the touch hole. With percussion guns just run the dry patch quickly and when you get to the range clear the nipple and firing passage with a cap or two.
On a blank ended muzzle loader I like to remove the barrel from the stock. Often with side lock setups this takes little time and effort if the rifle uses keys to lock the barrel to the stock.
From there I stand it muzzle end up in the sink and pour cups of hot soapy water down the bore and let it drain out the touch hole. Or nipple if you have a percussion setup.
A bore brush sent down the bore and given a twist at the end to feather the bristles to the sides and allow for pulling back scours the bore. A conventional rod swivels to let the brush turn. It's tough to twist such a rod so I use a rigid shotgun cleaning kit for the muzzle loading barrels. I even had to drill and pin the handle to let me put the torque onto the rod to get the brush to twist and feather. But it works like a charm once you get used to it. I just follow the turning handle as it goes down the bore and back out.
Following the soapy water/bore brush/more soapy water treatment I rinse well with a batch of two of hot clear water then patch dry. I then spray Ballistol through the touch hole and blow some air through it to clear any excess oil. Nothing fancy, just a short length of flex tube to my mouth. I also patch the bore with a Ballistol wet patch.
I don't run a dry patch at that time. I leave it "wet" with the Ballistol from that wet patch until I take it out to go shooting the next time. At that point I run a quick dry patch down the bore and shove a pipe cleaner through the touch hole. With percussion guns just run the dry patch quickly and when you get to the range clear the nipple and firing passage with a cap or two.
Steel Horse Rider
Member
Soap in the water keeps the stuff you have removed in suspension in the water, very hot water heats the steel so that the remaining water evaporates quickly once removed from the water bath and wiped down. The only time I have ever witnessed flash rust on steel was with freshly ground mild steel exposed to cold water. I think that if a weapon has been wiped down with any type of lube that flash rust will not occur. If you get it wet, lay it aside and not dry or wipe it with any type of preservative you will probably get oxidation.
Jim Watson
Member
So the problem NOW is the end of the ramrod broken off and stuck in the barrel?
Post #5
Post #5
frontiergander
Member
Add some powder under the nipple, seat the broken jag, cap, fire it off in a safe direction.
Was it a TC jag?
Was it a TC jag?
I use hot soapy water with a few sprays of balastol into the bucket.
The soap foams up the water when the balastol hits the suds disapear and the water turns white.
The best part the balastol has an oil in it so when the water evaporates the balastol leaves a oil behind and it doesnt rust at all.
Ive tried cold water and it doesnt seem to cut the fouling like the hot water does.
I still use bore butter and it leaves a greasy sludge behind. The borebutter mixes in with the fouling.
Im thinking about skipping the bore butter as well. I just use a little on the corners of the chambers. I dont completly seal the chamber over the ball
The soap foams up the water when the balastol hits the suds disapear and the water turns white.
The best part the balastol has an oil in it so when the water evaporates the balastol leaves a oil behind and it doesnt rust at all.
Ive tried cold water and it doesnt seem to cut the fouling like the hot water does.
I still use bore butter and it leaves a greasy sludge behind. The borebutter mixes in with the fouling.
Im thinking about skipping the bore butter as well. I just use a little on the corners of the chambers. I dont completly seal the chamber over the ball
frontiergander
Member
Ballistol MIXES with water, so its not the greatest thing to use to keep rust away.
BCRider
Member
Yes it mixes with water but it doesn't suck it out of the air. And in fact if you clean a black powder gun with "moose milk" made from Ballistol in water the water content does a fine job of removing the fouling and afterwards the water in the MM dries away and leave ONLY the oil behind. Which then protects the steel just fine.
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