powder solvent

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Milkmaster

Milkmaster

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I have a question that may be simple to some and not to others. I have been around guns all my life, but no one ever asked me this until today.

"Is there any difference between powder solvent used for BP and powder solvent used for smokless gun powder?"

I never really considered the question. Maybe you guys will chime in on thoughts about it.
 
I've got a bottle of some brand of black powder solvent that came in a box of other stuff. It looked and smelled suspiciously like automotive windshield washer liquid. I just poured it out and I've stuck with hot water with a small dollop of laundry detergent.

For a field mop if needed I'll use a bit of Windex and a patch.
 
[email protected] said:
Just water. I wouldn't want "Soap" in any of my barrels. You all know what's
in soap?
Click to expand...

Agreed. Plain water gets it just as clean as can be all by itself. I don't see any advantage in using soap and think it would actually make cleaning harder as now you have to rinse all the suds out.

Water, patches, Ballistol. Nothing further needed.
 
Your choice.

But since oils and other fatty greases are used as over ball sealants in revolvers and most use some sort of patch lube for front loaders I'm guessing that the fouling is some combination of both the fouling and the lubricants. As such the soap helps to break up and saponify the lube and any fouling held by it much more quickly and effectively.
 
OK please let me clarify my question further...

I too use hot soapy water for cleaning up my BP guns. However, that doesn't keep an individual from buying a bottle of "powder solvent" and using it even if it wastes his money. So that being said, if one does such a thing, does the same powder solvent work for burned on BP residue like it does for smokless powder? I am not trying to make this complicated. I just got asked a question and am trying to drill it down if the same solvent will actually work for both.
 
Gun solvent degreases the parts and takes smokeless residue,grease, and oils with them but can react poorly with BP residue, it will actually turn them into a hard tar that's really hard to clean off.

Water, with and without soap, with and without heat, will clean BP residue. It will clean regular gunpowder residue and is actually recommended after you shoot corrosive ammo.

I'm going to assume that commercial BP solvents aren't petrobased and their bottles or web sites should say if they were safe to use on regular guns.

Ballistol and Breakfree CLP are safe for both because of their base.
 
Solvents like HOPPES used to clean smokeless well remember smokeless is nitrocelullose based. different chemical reaction that takes a bit more cleaning. though it does not build up black powder sludge it still needs to be cleaned with the correct cleaner. Black powder can naturally be cleaned up with hot water or just plain water. Cleaners like soap or dawn need to be used sometimes to take out the lube witch acts like a grease. thats why hot water is often preferred as it will loosen up the grease and make it run out easily so that you can get all the junk out. i would not mix them up. i have both and used hoppes for smokeless and warm soapy water for black powder.
 
Commercial black powder solvents are made with all kinds of different ingredients and not all of them contain water.
For instance, Rusty Duck Black Off black powder solvent contains Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether which readily evaporates.
I suppose that some of them may dissolve smokeless powder residue too.
But since each BP solvent is different they would need to be individually tested.
The same would apply to smokeless solvents being used for black powder residue. They work to remove carbon surface grime but I wouldn't know if any would be 100% effective at removing stubborn, crusty muzzle loading powder deposits. But generally they're not very thorough.
 
Windex works well as does our old original "moosemilk" formula from way back in the sixties: 16 oz water (note that it is the main component), 1 oz peroxide, 1 oz Lestoil, and 1 to 2 oz water soluble oil (stuff in water pump lube--turns milky in water). You can clean with it, lube patches with it and also use it to soak your shotgun filler wads for shooting trap, just be sure to put a couple good card wads on the powder and then squeeze out the excess solvent before pushing them down the bore...you can shoot all day without cleaning. Til you're done, that is.
 
OK, I've been shooting black powder now for over 35 years, and I've yet to ruin a barrel or find a hint of rust. I'm talking 1858 Remingtons, Flint Locks, percussion rifles, 1873 Winchesters, Sharps, Springfield Trapdoors, as well as .45 Peacemakers, all with black powder, Now I mean real black powder. I got a recipe about 35 or so years ago using 1/3 Murphy's Soap oil, 1/3 Hydrogen Peroxide, And 1/3 water, all mixed together and used like any other cleaning solution. When I'm done cleaning the gun/s I use a small amount of TC Bore Butter thru the bore and around the the moving parts. It make cleaning a whole lot easier, believe me.
 
Plain old H2o is the best solvent for guns fired with BP and corrosive ammo. Nothing else even comes close to the universal solvent, AKA water.
 
Please note that TC bore butter is a patch lube not a rust preventive.

Maybe for very short time storage but long time storage there are much better products for protecting the lock work and barrel bore's.
 
I said hydrogen peroxide, Murphy's soal oil, and water, not water but rubbing alcohol, I don't know why I said water. Also TC bore butter does work as a rust preventative, as after using the above solution it takes it down to bare metal, and it coats and protects the steel.I used a SXS exposed hammer shotgun, 2 Remington 1858's and a 1873 Winchester during Cowboy Action shooting a few years ago, as well as a Sharps !874 model or a Springfield Trapdoor using mil spec ammo for the long range side shoot; and just checked them after being in storage for a number of years and there was no hint of rust on any of the guns. Perhaps living in a dry climate may have some thing to do with that.:D
 
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said hydrogen peroxide, Murphy's soal oil, and water, not water but rubbing alcohol, I don't know why I said water. Also TC bore butter does work as a rust preventative, as after using the above solution it takes it down to bare metal, and it coats and protects the steel.I used a SXS exposed hammer shotgun, 2 Remington 1858's and a 1873 Winchester during Cowboy Action shooting a few years ago, as well as a Sharps !874 model or a Springfield Trapdoor using mil spec ammo for the long range side shoot; and just checked them after being in storage for a number of years and there was no hint of rust on any of the guns. Perhaps living in a dry climate may have some thing to do with that.
Click to expand...

Howdy

I use the exact same solution, but I have only been using it about ten years. I use it in C&B revolvers, as well as cartridge revolvers, lever rifles, single shot rifles, and 12 gauge shotgun. I follow up with Ballistol rather than TC Bore Butter.
 
Living in a dry climate has a lot to do with storing guns. I live in Michigan with the great lakes. Summer time a dehumidifier runs 24/7 in the storage area.
 
The magic of the formula presented by Gatefep is that it gives room for improvement due to Climate conditrions of the shoot. For instance If you opt for Bore butter. It might work well in the midsates but can be messy in the southern clines but nearly impossible to use in the colder climes.
 
M-Pro 7 Spray Cleaner

Milkmaster said:
"Is there any difference between powder solvent used for BP and powder solvent used for smokless gun powder?"
Click to expand...

M-Pro 7 spray cleaner is a military proven gun cleaner that was reported by 45-70 Ranger to work on any powder fouling including black powder, 777, Pyrodex and smokeless.

http://www.mpro7.com/index.html

45-70 Ranger said:
So, in closing, I can safely say that the M-Pro 7 cleaner/LPX products do work well on BP weapons as they do on smokeless firearms.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=618186&highlight=carbon
Click to expand...
 
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