New member long time shooter

Modern Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Modern Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

idiggplants

Active Member
*
Joined
Aug 21, 2019
Messages
31
Reaction score
1
hey folks... so ive been using inlines for about 6 or 10 years now.. i cant remember. and ive shot flintlocks for about 30 years. i recently upgraded from a cva optima v1 to a cva accura v2, and at the same time i switched from triple7even pellets to blackhorn 209(im using the bh209 breech plug from cva). after cleaning the 209 for the first time last night, i figured i should probably start learning more about inlines rather than just adapting what i know from the flintlocks.

for one.. im having a hell of a time cleaning the bh209. i read last night that you need traditional smokeless cleaner as opposed to blackpowder solvents. i tried ballistol and hoppes, and they got the barrel shiny as heck, and got most of the forward end of the breech plug clean... but the primer side.. or shooter side.. or rear side of the breech plug is not coming clean. idk if i can post pics or links with such a new account, but ill get them up whenever i can. regardless, even a plastic toothpick wont get the stuff to budge after soaking with cleaner overnight. any recommendations would be great.

ill have many more questions in the future as far as going over my current practices and letting you all critique the process to make sure im not doing things wrong. or if there is a better option that im missing..

looking forward to both learning and contributing around here!
 
Welcome aboard Modern Muzzleloader!

My Accura has never seen anything but 209 powder. Evidently when I thought I had the entire barrel clean the first round of shooting I did there must have been some wd40, a petroleum product, residue in the lower end of the barreI from the initial cleaning I did to get the factory coating out of the tube. Shooting the gun the next day without running a couple patches thru it probably cooked the residue in pretty good as I had the same issue and I had to really brush the mutton out of the barrel on that end to get it out. Now I have some JB bore paste and if I run into something like this again just use the jb on a tight patch and a few strokes has the problem area gone.
 
First you want to minimize blowby around the primer to keep the breach cleaner. A longer primer such as a Win209 or Nobel/NSI 209/686 will help with that. Some people use a oring in the primer pocket. There are numerous discussions about the topic.

Plain old Windex will help with carbon on/in the plug or the frame. The correct sized bronze brush will scrub the powder pocket side of the plug nearly spotless. The other side of the plug needs a 1/8" drill bit. I use hex head bits in a nut driver handle. Birchwood Casey gun scrubber foaming aerosol gets good reviews for this type of cleaning too. Automotive carb or EFI cleaners are also very effective on carbon on things you can soak such as a plug. Use caution with them around plastic stocks ect.
ejGIRDN.jpg


Qtips and pipe cleaners are nearly useless for cleaning carbon even if its been soaked first. You need a good brush made for the job.
 
First you want to minimize blowby around the primer to keep the breach cleaner. A longer primer such as a Win209 or Nobel/NSI 209/686 will help with that. Some people use a oring in the primer pocket. There are numerous discussions about the topic.

i have about 1000 cci primers that i got on sale that will last a lifetime, so hopefully i can get away with those. the o ring thing looks promising. they say in order to do the o ring, you might have to drill the breech plug a bit deeper, which is a bit nerve racking, but within my abilities.

i was planning on trying out the drillbit to clean out the flash channel and getting one to keep in my inline range bag. ive heard that there's some sort of tool that welders use to clean their mig tips that work well for cleaning out the flash hole too?

assuming i could get a good seal at the primer, it would solve most of the cleaning issues though. i always assumed it was just part of the game. with my old optima after a few years the blowback into the trigger/hammer/etc eventually caused issues. the break action started sticking real bad, and the trigger started getting gummy.

windex, aye? i guess it cant hurt. need to try something!
 
Last edited:
To clean my 209 fired gun I remove the breech plug and drop it in a container of Windex with ammonia and let it soak. I run 2 or 3 wet patch's of 10-1 distilled water and Napa cutting oil and then brush it a few times. I follow up with a few wet patch's of the Windex and then dry patch until dry. Scrub the breech plug clean , smear a little grease on it and install. I fire a couple primers thru it to make sure its dry and that's it.
 
.....windex, aye? i guess it cant hurt. need to try something!

A little vinegar put with the windex does wonders loosening the carbon.

The blow by around the primer needs to be stopped. If your rifle is the same as it was, when you purchased it, you may find this metric o-ring placed in the primer socket to be an easy solution. The primers you have, may work too. Probably you will have to 'snap' the action shut on the primer/o-ring, to make it so the rifle can be cocked.
 
A little vinegar put with the windex does wonders loosening the carbon.

The blow by around the primer needs to be stopped. If your rifle is the same as it was, when you purchased it, you may find this metric o-ring placed in the primer socket to be an easy solution. The primers you have, may work too. Probably you will have to 'snap' the action shut on the primer/o-ring, to make it so the rifle can be cocked.

thanks. ill try soaking in some windex and vinegar tonight. assuming these o rings will work the same? ill get them in time to shoot this weekend.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00595IU1M/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

ive read up on a lot of the o-ring solution for blowback. everyone talks about being able to cock the rifle. im curious to see how a primer spaced too far out will interfere with cocking the hammer back. im just hoping i dont have to drill out the hole at all where the primer sits.
 
My solution to your exact same problem is the rubber O-Ring in the primer pocket which prevents the blowback. Blowback can foul the firing pin asm plus is wasted hot gas that is intended to ignite the powder charge. Here is the info on the O-Ring and if your fired primers are less than squeaky clean you need to use them. https://www.mcmaster.com/9262k611

Remove, clean, lube & re-assemble the firing pin components and make sure that the firing pin bushing is FLUSH with the face of the receiver. Push the O-Ring into the primer pocket using a primer. Point the action down and close with a firm snap. Easy peasy.

We use this method on our Accuras with no problem.

The black soot of the blowback is NOT from the BH209 but is from the ignited primer powder.

One O-Ring will last 10/15 shots and you get 100 for about $5. Remove the old O-Ring with a spring hook or use a hook bent piece of stiff wire.

Once you use the O-Ring you will never fire your CVA again without it.

I also suggest that you do NOT do any drilling on the BP what-so-ever as it is unnecessary.
 
Last edited:
My solution to your exact same problem is the rubber O-Ring in the primer pocket which prevents the blowback. Blowback can foul the firing pin asm plus is wasted hot gas that is intended to ignite the powder charge. Here is the info on the O-Ring and if your fired primers are less than squeaky clean you need to use them. https://www.mcmaster.com/9262k611

Remove, clean, lube & re-assemble the firing pin components and make sure that the firing pin bushing is FLUSH with the face of the receiver. Push the O-Ring into the primer pocket using a primer. Point the action down and close with a firm snap. Easy peasy.

We use this method on our Accuras with no problem.

The black soot of the blowback is NOT from the BH209 but is from the ignited primer powder.

One O-Ring will last 10/15 shots and you get 100 for about $5. Remove the old O-Ring with a spring hook or use a hook bent piece of stiff wire.

Once you use the O-Ring you will never fire your CVA again without it.

I also suggest that you do NOT do any drilling on the BP what-so-ever as it is unnecessary.

see this is killing me. wish i would have came to these forums a long long time ago! haha. good to hear that i wont have to drill. already placed an order at mcmaster. was weird that they dont show you the shipping charge till after the order. mine came out to under $10 for the 100 o-rings. will be showing my father this trick too for his optima 50cal pistol. ive been the guinea pig to see if the bh209 was the way to go(he is an "if it aint broke dont fix it" type, and has had good success with whitetail and his pistol).

many thanks to all!
 
Last edited:
OK, i missed that. Your CCI primers are somewhat shorter than a Win209. Probably a better choice if you choose to go the oring route. I prefer the more permanent solution but the orings do work and CVA is still out of the firing pin bushing shims.
 
OK, i missed that. Your CCI primers are somewhat shorter than a Win209. Probably a better choice if you choose to go the oring route. I prefer the more permanent solution but the orings do work and CVA is still out of the firing pin bushing shims.

in all the reading i did over the past few days, i was considering doing the shimming, but the whole thing about the gun possibly firing when it wasnt supposed to had me worried. i dont mind tossing an o ring in there a few times a year.
 
Shimming is plenty safe when done correctly. You just have to stick with the same primer. If you change primers you need to check headspace (crush) again. Thats why you use a Win209 or Nobel when using shims. You wont have to worry about over crushing other brands when setup for a Win209/Nobel.

Even the tiniest crush on a 209 is a massive improvement in blowby. Around .002-.003 is good for a break action.
 
For your flash channel, I suggest a set of welder’s files which were alluded to early. The set is just a set of wire sections that have file type abrasive surfaces.
 
Whoa, Whoa, bob, using those tip cleaners to ream the flash hole is just about the worst thing a body can do....... to their breech plug. Flash holes grow larger with each, and every every shot; reaming them isn't at all necessary.

My opinion..........recommending tip cleaners is awful advice for the longevity of one's breech plug................just my opinion.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top