Cleaning My Old Army

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rodwha

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I shot my ROA today using Pyrodex.

I've read many accounts of being able to run it through the dishwasher (SS model). I tried that. It did nothing as far as I could tell.

I've also read accounts of easily using nothing but water. I used Dawn Power Clean.

I had a problem getting into the nipple recesses, the hammer notch, and the area between the top strap and top of barrel. And how do you clean the channel inside the nipple? I used a nylon bristle (.45) and the toothbrush like cleaning utensil that comes in the Hoppe's basic cleaning kit.

I went over it and over it and over it all again, and it's still not perfect. I've run it back through the drying cycle for now.

What do you use?

I never took out the nipples when I got it, and have no idea what that area looked like prior, and never looked down in the hammer notch.

What else should I do?
 
Your making a easy job way too hard. Use a pipe cleaner for the nipples.
I spend about 5 min. after a all day's shooting and clean at the range. I do
take out the nipples. Q-Tips and pipe cleaners are your friend. And water
and WD-40.
 
It seems the bristle brush should have made easy work of the nipple recesses.

I wouldn't have thought a q-tip would have worked well...no scrubbing power. I'll give it a try.
 
I'm assuming your using Black Powder. It dissolves in water. Use don't have
To scrub. Now if you are using something else, I can't help you. I don't know
About anything else as I have only used black powder in the past 52 years.
 
For nooks and crannies, I wrap different shaped pieces of wood with a patch, or even a piece of hard plastic. Either flat, round or pointy, whatever shape suits the purpose. Use elbow grease, extra patches and rub.
For the nozzle [nipple] channel, I'll soak it in solvent or alcohol and then try to swab it out with a round tooth pick. Then wipe the toothpick off and repeat as necessary.
There's commercial powder solvents that can be more effective at removing baked on Pyrodex residue, or try some stronger household cleaners like Pine Sol or Formula 409.
Maybe the citrus cleaning solvents will work too since some commercial BP solvents now include it as an ingredient.
Or switch to APP 3F powder which the residue is quite easy to remove using soapy water and a wet patch.
Ballistol offers good rust protection.
Apply some and go back after a time and see if any more residue loosens up.
Mineral oil or CLP can also be liberally applied, and the gun can be left in a plastic bag with the grips removed until you can follow up with it some more.
 
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SWMBO just so happened to have had some pipe cleaners. Wow! Much better. Still not perfect, but so much better!

How do you clean out the channel (inside) of the nipples?
 
So BP is really that easy to clean up?

How about 777? I intended on using it because I don't have to reduce the load (max) as I'd like to hunt with it and potentially use it to track a wounded hog, and because I read it is much less fouling.

I was given 2 lbs of Pyrodex P and 1 lb of RS. So for our getting acquainted period I'll finish those off, but I had full intentions of buying 777 while I was picking up more caps and wads, and a new capping tool.
 
Each powder is different including the different brands of black powders.
Even the Pyrodex RS is different than P because the RS burns dirtier.
 
No.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this. There are two different types of 'fouling' that you are attempting to remove.

First, the fouling from black powder combustion - and the unburned powder residue, if any - is easily and thoroughly removed by water. It doesn't hurt anything but the wallet to add any of a number of detergents or soaps to the water. And scrubbing is not necessary; occasionally wiping the surface may be necessary, but not scrubbing. Black powder combustion fouling will be present in the bore and chambers, of course, and externally on the cylinder face, the outside of the cylinder near the front, the back of the barrel assembly and the frame around the forcing cone area.

Next is the fouling from combustion of the percussion cap materials. This is a horse of a whole different color. While the majority of it responds to water there is often some scale that needs a little brushing or scrubbing. Soap/detergent does help here but it's no magic formula. Q-tips, pipe cleaners, sabots made from wood, brushes, etc. all can be useful. But, once you've washed it down with water (with or without soap) you've removed the corrosive materials and what remains is a cosmetic issue. This fouling is, of course, in the nipple area, hammer face and the frame slot where the hammer rests.
 
It was the crud from the caps that gave me so much of a problem then. Grrr! Using pipe cleaners I was able to get most of it. I was surprised that the bristle brush couldn't get in there well enough as that area is round.

I thought I had some sort of oil in the goodies bag my father gave me with the revolver, but alas, I was wrong. I used WD-40.

I'm surprised that Q-tips work as there's nothing scrubby about them. I used them last night mostly to help spread WD-40 around. I had to pull off lots of strands of cotton...
 
I'm assuming your using Black Powder. It dissolves in water. Use don't have
To scrub. Now if you are using something else, I can't help you. I don't know
About anything else as I have only used black powder in the past 52 years.
Click to expand...

Pyrodex cleans just like BP. It is BP, just has some sort of flame retardant to keep it from being a low explosive, way I understand it. I do know, I don't scrub my guns inside and out, just flush 'em after a good soaping and brushing with hot water from the tap. That gets the sulfur salts or whatever out. Might be a little goo around the nipple, never ever had a problem with that. I follow up the flush with WD40 after drying as I can with paper towels.

I'm not a perfectionist, am one of those "good 'nuf for gubment work" types, but I have no problems with rusty guns.
 
Pyrodex is NOT 'bp with a flame retardant'. It's a very different material. However, you are correct in that it, or rather the combustion by-products from burning it, will clean up with plain water like bp.
 
I'm kind of a perfectionist as long as it doesn't take a lifetime to achieve the results. More like somewhere in between I suppose good and perfect as I realize that perfect is hard to obtain and has been quite frustrating. It caused me to quit my art work.

As mykeal pointed out to me it was mostly the cap crud that was giving me grief.
 
I've found the toughest places on my 1860 Army to get clean are the back of the chambers. That's the only spot I've found a little rust (not sure how I'm going to get that rust off...).

Maybe I just haven't found the right bore brush for the job.
 
mykeal said:
Pyrodex is NOT 'bp with a flame retardant'. It's a very different material. However, you are correct in that it, or rather the combustion by-products from burning it, will clean up with plain water like bp.
Click to expand...

I'm not so sure about how water soluble all of the Pyrodex by-products are. Some of the Pyrodex residue that builds up around the drum of a side lock is really tarry and can get baked on. It can take a lot of elbow grease, solvent or a brush to get it all off.
Using water only could take a very long time.
Even if the area is coated with Bore Butter it can still get caked on, and in short order it begins to harden.
It comes off but I don't know how easy it would be using water only.
It would almost be like trying to remove oil paint using plain water.
If the residue contains or produces creosote then it could contain some kind of tar oils, whether natural or not. It's a thick and wax-like substance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creosote

The build up is similar to fishblade2's black powder derringer photo except much thicker. The residue escapes through the nipple and gets deposited on the barrel flat around the drum.


http://www.thehighroad.org/showpost.php?p=8263640&postcount=9
 
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I have found one of the best cleaning "tools" to be bamboo skewers. Much stronger, longer, and can be shaped to fit the job at hand, i.e. pointed or flat.
dragon-6
 
Methinks that some of you who are able to "clean" your BP revolver in 5 to 15 minutes would not pass the ClemBert test. Like rodwha I'm picky. I don't go to perfection with cleaning but it might take me an hour+ to completely strip and clean a revolver. Probably 99% of you would approve of a ClemBert cleaned firearm. However, rodwha might give it the thumbs down. :scrutiny:

BTW, I don't always strip the firearm down completely to screws-n-springs (clockworks) as I might only break it down to the major components. In this instance I'll spray the clockworks with WD-40 to blast out any remaining water/moisture after an oven bake. However, when I do a complete strip I've never found any gummy residue of WD-40 that some claim will build up in the clockworks.
 
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I want mine cleaned to perfection also. I guess I'm just fast. Been, timed shooting my 45 Colt SAA 5 shots in 1.5 seconds. When I turn the light out
I can be in bed before the room gets dark!
 
My theory is THIS:
If you want to shoot black powder, be prepared for some cleaning chores IF you value your weapon.
When I shoot my ROA I clean in a dishpan of HOT water, first removing the nipples and then scrubbing the cylinder and the barrel with a bronze brush and cleaning patches.
I follow up with a thorough OILING and my 30+years old "Blued" ROA is none the worst for wear.
An occasional "wipe down" with a "RIG" enhanced sheepskin helps.
 
I tried the dishwasher trick to no avail. Who wouldn't prefer that?!? It's as good as having your buddy clean it for ya!

My main concern was having it sparkle so as not to worry about rusting due to powder fouling. Now that I understand that that junk in the nippler recesses is not powder reissue, but build up from the caps, which shouldn't really hurt it I figure the little hard to get spots will make for now. Hopefully they'll eventually be gone.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not Mr Clean, but I'm far from a dirt devil. So I doubt I'd have given you the thumbs down Clem.

"When I turn the light out
I can be in bed before the room gets dark!"

Now that's fast!
 
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