I am going to try shooting with real black powder instead of the Pyrodex I've been using. I understand that there will be more fouling, requiring cleaning every few shots. How do I proceed? Run a patch with solvent then follow with a dry patch or two? How do I know that the bore will be dry and not affect the black powder?
Cleaning between shots
- Thread starter jaybo43
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D. Buck Stopshere
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Here's one of many that will appear.
Black powder like Pyrodex breaks down in water, so the cheapest solvent is water mixed with a squirt of Dove dishwashing liquid.
If you are using a commercial solvent, make sure its designed for black powder.
For example, Hoppes #9 is for smokeless cartridge residue, and Hoppes #9-Plus is designed for black powder residue.
To start, take your solvent and wet a stack of patches. The patches should be moist to feeling-wet, but not dripping wet. Very wet patches can push solvent up into the breech passageway and possibly create misfires.
Set one on the muzzle and push it down with your range rod or cleaning rod. After going back in forth in sections of the barrel, flip the patch over and do the same thing.
Then, take a dry patch and do the same procedure using both sides to clean.
Clean at the same interval; after every shot, every other shot, etc.
Most serious target shooters agree that you should clean after each shot.
The cleaner the bore, the more accurate the shot will be.
Hope this helps.
Black powder like Pyrodex breaks down in water, so the cheapest solvent is water mixed with a squirt of Dove dishwashing liquid.
If you are using a commercial solvent, make sure its designed for black powder.
For example, Hoppes #9 is for smokeless cartridge residue, and Hoppes #9-Plus is designed for black powder residue.
To start, take your solvent and wet a stack of patches. The patches should be moist to feeling-wet, but not dripping wet. Very wet patches can push solvent up into the breech passageway and possibly create misfires.
Set one on the muzzle and push it down with your range rod or cleaning rod. After going back in forth in sections of the barrel, flip the patch over and do the same thing.
Then, take a dry patch and do the same procedure using both sides to clean.
Clean at the same interval; after every shot, every other shot, etc.
Most serious target shooters agree that you should clean after each shot.
The cleaner the bore, the more accurate the shot will be.
Hope this helps.
dagger dog
Member
Hey jaybo43,
What are you shooting patched round ball ,a minie conical in a rifle, a percussion revolver, or a modern inline with plastic sabot ?
What are you shooting patched round ball ,a minie conical in a rifle, a percussion revolver, or a modern inline with plastic sabot ?
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Today I cleaned after about ten shots. Since I have a brass range rod, it didn't feel particularly difficult to load, but still I did it anyway. I didn't have fancy solvents or event water. I used spit (it's all I had). It removed some of the fouling and kept me at the firing line until I ran out of powder and caps.
fineredmist
Member
I have used alcohol swabs which I buy at the drug store (they are used to clean the skin before an injection) for a long time and they work well. They are packaged in a foil wrap so you can carry a few in your pocket with no problem.
SC Shooter
Member
This is my recipe for cleaning my cap & ball revolvers. I break them down and remove the wooden grips. Then when my wife goes to get her hair done, I put them in the dish washer and run a complete cycle. I then remove the cleaned guns and load the dish washer with dirty dishes. This removes any possible evidence of my activities, plus I get points for cleaning the kitchen without being asked. If I ever get caught, I am screwed.
MCgunner
Member
I wet a 20 gauge brush and run it through the bore, then a dry patch several times in a jag goes down the bore. Reload. Accuracy will remain, but dry it and maybe blow out the nipple. On my inline, the nipple isn't problem as I pull the breech block and swab from the breech forward. 
MCgunner
Member
I don't put blued guns in my dish washer. I clean 'em up by hand, soap and water. WHY, you say? Well, I routinely load vinegar in my washer's dispenser to keep the hard water stains off the dishes. We are on a well and the water is kind of hard. BUT, I don't want ANY possibility of any of that residual vinegar getting on my blued guns. It would do BAD things to the finish.
Noz
Member
SC Shooter. I'm surprised someone hasn't jumped you case yet about washing dishes in the same machine you deal with lead from the guns.
BSA1
member
Some of you are making cleaning way too much work.
Wiping between shots is debatable. Old timers used all natural products. As Gary and tranders said wet spit patches are often all that is necessary between shots. A thinner patch will allow for more shots before wiping the bore.
As for cleaning the barrel after shooting frontier mens would use another natural product; their urine. The sightly acidic quality made for a good neutralizer of the salts left by black powder.
Today we have it much easier. The only word you need to know is Ballistol. A 10-1 mix with water in a spray bottle. A wet patch with a squirt of moose milk followed by a dry patch.
Complete disassembly of your gun for cleaning and dishwasher is unneeded and counterproductive. I have shot 5,000 rounds of b.p. in a lever action rifle with the only cleaning was with moose milk in the barrel and a squirt in the action. I totally disassembled the gun after 5,000 rounds and 10,000 rounds what crud that was in the action was soft with no traces of rust. (I sold the gun after 11,000 rds. to switch to a carbine).
Wiping between shots is debatable. Old timers used all natural products. As Gary and tranders said wet spit patches are often all that is necessary between shots. A thinner patch will allow for more shots before wiping the bore.
As for cleaning the barrel after shooting frontier mens would use another natural product; their urine. The sightly acidic quality made for a good neutralizer of the salts left by black powder.
Today we have it much easier. The only word you need to know is Ballistol. A 10-1 mix with water in a spray bottle. A wet patch with a squirt of moose milk followed by a dry patch.
Complete disassembly of your gun for cleaning and dishwasher is unneeded and counterproductive. I have shot 5,000 rounds of b.p. in a lever action rifle with the only cleaning was with moose milk in the barrel and a squirt in the action. I totally disassembled the gun after 5,000 rounds and 10,000 rounds what crud that was in the action was soft with no traces of rust. (I sold the gun after 11,000 rds. to switch to a carbine).
dagger dog
Member
I'm with you a 100%.
All that disassembly is not needed, my 2 cap and ball and my Ruger Blackhawk get the cylinders popped out clean the barrel and cylinders with 25% Ballistol mix with 75% water, about 3 patches, then use the last and cleanest patch to wipe down the frame and hammer area. Muzzleloader rifles even less work.
dagger dog
Member
Why don't you try lubing your patch with a natural-organic lube like Crisco, unsalted lard even Wesson vegetable oil, it will help on reloading as the lube keeps the fouling soft, you may get by with just a wipe with a dry patch when the fouling builds up.
I shoot a Hawken type and use a pillow ticking patch cut at the muzzle, I cut a strip of the ticking then rub the lube into both sides of the material so it's pretty well saturated when I start the ball, then I cut it and ram it down.
If you got enough lube you can tell when you dry patch it as it will come out greasy.
I tried saliva but it wasn't letting me use the thickest material and accuracy was going out the door when I had to go to a thinner patch.
That .32 cal should be good to go if you soak the patch in melted Crisco. I use 50% beeswax, 40% Crisco, 10% canola oil in the 50 cal.. You may not have to go with the beeswax.
I shoot a Hawken type and use a pillow ticking patch cut at the muzzle, I cut a strip of the ticking then rub the lube into both sides of the material so it's pretty well saturated when I start the ball, then I cut it and ram it down.
If you got enough lube you can tell when you dry patch it as it will come out greasy.
I tried saliva but it wasn't letting me use the thickest material and accuracy was going out the door when I had to go to a thinner patch.
That .32 cal should be good to go if you soak the patch in melted Crisco. I use 50% beeswax, 40% Crisco, 10% canola oil in the 50 cal.. You may not have to go with the beeswax.
Steel Horse Rider
Member
I'm in Gary's camp. I rarely swab before ten shots but I use Bore Butter saturated cotton patches and the residue when I am done shooting always releases immediately using a hot water bath with a little Dawn dishwashing detergent. This is with muzzle loading rifles, both flint and cap and a couple of muzzle loading pistols. I shoot BP in the flinters and sometimes Pyrodex in the percussion weapons and have not noticed any real difference in cleanup. I don't do revolvers except in smokeless so I cannot comment on that realm.
swathdiver
Member
If you want to shoot one hole groups with your smoke pole, wipe between shots and clean at the end of the day. Wiping between shots puts the barrel into the same condition as the previous shots.
BCRider
Member
If you use the right stuff on the ball patches it cleans the bore well enough when ramming home the ball for the next shot. No need for cleaning between shots at all once you find the right stuff.
The bore will tell you when it's getting a buildup by the resistance on the ram rod. When I find the patched ball is getting harder to seat I up the amount of stuff I'm using on the patch so it cleans more of the fouling.
My usual patch lube of choice is the Ballistol and water "Moose Milk" mentioned above. On my .45 and .50 ball patches I short start the ball so the ruffle on the patch is right at the crown. I then dribble 4 to 6 drops of the MM onto the ball which soaks into the patch fibers. Then I long start and ram home the ball. If I do all this right the ball rams home with the same easy and consistent feel along the whole length of the bore each time. I've shot between 25 to 40 rounds in a row without any separate cleaning with this method. And for the free style shooting being done I can't say I notice the accuracy going down any from the first to the last shot.
If you're shooting from a bag rest on a bench for accuracy then this might not be enough. I don't shoot from bag rests often enough to say one way or the other. But for casual plinking I'd say that the right patch liquid will avoid the need for any actual cleaning after some number of shots.
Another popular patch lube for the ball patches is Murphy's oil soap cut with a bit of water. And some folks use a measure of hydrogen peroxide as well. Around here Murphy's is rather rare so I went with the Ballistol and water Moose Milk.
Recently I found I'd left the little squeeze bottle of MM in the car. So I just went with soaking the patch on my tongue. I actually found that spit patches seemed to do, if anything, an even BETTER job of keeping the bore clean and easy to load than the MM mix! ! ! And best of all outside of the groceries it costs to keep me alive the spit for the lube was FREE!
The bore will tell you when it's getting a buildup by the resistance on the ram rod. When I find the patched ball is getting harder to seat I up the amount of stuff I'm using on the patch so it cleans more of the fouling.
My usual patch lube of choice is the Ballistol and water "Moose Milk" mentioned above. On my .45 and .50 ball patches I short start the ball so the ruffle on the patch is right at the crown. I then dribble 4 to 6 drops of the MM onto the ball which soaks into the patch fibers. Then I long start and ram home the ball. If I do all this right the ball rams home with the same easy and consistent feel along the whole length of the bore each time. I've shot between 25 to 40 rounds in a row without any separate cleaning with this method. And for the free style shooting being done I can't say I notice the accuracy going down any from the first to the last shot.
If you're shooting from a bag rest on a bench for accuracy then this might not be enough. I don't shoot from bag rests often enough to say one way or the other. But for casual plinking I'd say that the right patch liquid will avoid the need for any actual cleaning after some number of shots.
Another popular patch lube for the ball patches is Murphy's oil soap cut with a bit of water. And some folks use a measure of hydrogen peroxide as well. Around here Murphy's is rather rare so I went with the Ballistol and water Moose Milk.
Recently I found I'd left the little squeeze bottle of MM in the car. So I just went with soaking the patch on my tongue. I actually found that spit patches seemed to do, if anything, an even BETTER job of keeping the bore clean and easy to load than the MM mix! ! ! And best of all outside of the groceries it costs to keep me alive the spit for the lube was FREE!
Pete D.
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neutral
I am pretty sure that when urine, which is mostly water, is used what it does is dissolve the salts and allow for easy removal whether they are acidic or basic.
Water is the universal solvent.
Are you sure about the chemistry of that? I have understood that some salts left from BP combustion were "acidic"....being hydroscopic the sulfur salts combine with moisture and form a weak sulfuric acid. The solution would have to be alkaline to neutralize them. On the other hand, some of the salts (sulfides) are alkaline.
I am pretty sure that when urine, which is mostly water, is used what it does is dissolve the salts and allow for easy removal whether they are acidic or basic.
Water is the universal solvent.
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frontiergander
Member
my 58cal cva hawken from 100 yards shooting real black powder. Yes, I wipe between shots with it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S12L8F5uPg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S12L8F5uPg
Match shooting we always cleaned between shots, except in speed matches. One patch damp with moose mile, one dry, using both side of each. Bore is in same condition for each shot. One fouling shot first, then clean, shoot, clean shoot. Takes less time to do than to tell about it.
Moose milk, the way we made it, 16 oz water, one oz peroxide, one oz lestoil, one oz soluble oil (we used water pump lube).
Moose milk, the way we made it, 16 oz water, one oz peroxide, one oz lestoil, one oz soluble oil (we used water pump lube).
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