These little Handheld Steam Cleaners are Flat out AWESOME for Cleaning Blackpowder Fowling
I got the idea long ago from Pedersoli, They Market and Sell a Steam Cleaner, But I wasn’t about to pay 700-800 Dollars for their unit, I bought a Cheap Little Handheld from Amazon.
A few examples of how well they Work. This was my Lehigh Breech Plug out of my Old Knight Mountaineer. I shot Real Blackpowder, after 12-15 Shots the Breech Plug was NASTY DIRTY. My little Steam Cleaner made it look Brand New in just a Few minutes. My Knight Mountaineer would EASILY have passed as New unfired the Day i sold it I found a scrapper tool on Ebay for my Hawkens.
Breech Plug and Vent liner literally looked Brand New within a Few minutes with the little Steam Cleaner
Here is another Set of Tools that i found INVALUABLE for inlines, Especially the Plunger Guns. The Action was a Pain to get in, These Brushes made QUICK, Short Work of that Job! Forum member ENCORE50A pointed these out to me
I ONLY use the Nylon Brushes, Make sure and NOT use the Stainless Brushes, They would Scratch.
Another Example of how effective the Little Steam Cleaner is. This came from a Thompson Center Renegade that i had CLEAN, as Clean as i could Possibly get it. This CRUD came from the Snail, Patented Breech/Fire Channel, You just can’t get in these Sidelock Breech Plugs Fire Channels with ANYTHING, And EFFECTIVELY Clean this Area (Pipe cleaners are a Joke at best) Steam MOST DEFINITELY Gets in here, And gets the Job Done
Here is a Session of Pics that should Make Sense to what I’m talking about
Pull the nipple and Point the Steamer inside the Hole, HAMMER IT With Hot Steam! This is an Old pic, I don’t use the Tubing, and Cleanout/Flush Nipple anymore, I Just Point The Steamer Nozzle in the Hole. But this setup did work STELLAR
Just a Simple 1/4-28 Flush Nipple, These can EASILY be made by Drilling out an Old Worn Nipple
Here is my Cut Away Thompson Center Renegade Breech, Here you can see what you are up against. A pipe cleaner would be lucky to Scratch the Surface of the Crud that Build up in here over time. You can clearly see where your Cleaning Jag Stops
Thompson Center made a “Scraper Tool” for their Patented Breeches, you can see how it fits inside the U Shape.
As you can CLEARLY see above you cannot get inside the Fire Channel, BUT STEAM CAN AND MOST DEFINITELY WILL!! Remember, this is from a Rifle that i had SPOTLESS Clean, The Bore that was, I had no idea that this Crud was living in the Patented Breech/Fire Channel? That was Until My Little Steam Cleaner UNEARTHED It