I am visiting my parents and we shot my muzzleloading rifle. Since I moved away, I do not plan to shoot it again for at least a year, possibly many years.
I shoot black powder and patched round balls. My system involves using liberal amounts of Bore Butter bullet lube which lets me shoot forever without needing to clean the bore. Cleaning the bore with petroleum solvent ruins everything, so I never do. At the end of the season, I will scrub the bore with hot water and a brush. Then I will use a patch or two of the water-based TC No. 13 bore cleaner. I do not swab the bore till the patches come out clean, just use one or two. Then I rinse the bore again with very hot water and let it evaporate dry. Then I coat the bore as well as I can with liberal amounts of Bore Butter; I lube the outer metal surfaces with CLP.
This system has worked well for season-to-season storage, but if the gun is going to sit for many years I'm wondering if I should clean the bore down to the metal with petroleum solvents and use gun grease or something.
I shoot black powder and patched round balls. My system involves using liberal amounts of Bore Butter bullet lube which lets me shoot forever without needing to clean the bore. Cleaning the bore with petroleum solvent ruins everything, so I never do. At the end of the season, I will scrub the bore with hot water and a brush. Then I will use a patch or two of the water-based TC No. 13 bore cleaner. I do not swab the bore till the patches come out clean, just use one or two. Then I rinse the bore again with very hot water and let it evaporate dry. Then I coat the bore as well as I can with liberal amounts of Bore Butter; I lube the outer metal surfaces with CLP.
This system has worked well for season-to-season storage, but if the gun is going to sit for many years I'm wondering if I should clean the bore down to the metal with petroleum solvents and use gun grease or something.