"Brown Stuff" in My Barrel

[Smyrnagc]

I have been cleaning a muzzleloader that I bought and I keep getting brown patches.

Here is what I have done"

1. Scrubbed the bore with a copper brush soaked in Hoppes #9 (2 times)
2. Ran the ram rod in and out at least 20 times each time
3. Ran dry patches

I have run twenty patches down the barrel and each one comes out a dark/reddish brown. The first patches had more on it than the last but the last ones still have a fair amount of brown on them. It doesn't appear to be rust though.

So...what is this "brown" stuff that keeps coming out and what can I clean the barrel with that might clean it better?

Thanks

 

[fliowa]

Is the gun new? What's is the make and model of the muzzleloader?

 

[Smyrnagc]

It is used but in overall outstanding condition. It is a Knight DISC Extreme. The bolt, bolt area and majority of the bore is clean. I took the breech plug out to install a Lehigh conversion kit/breech plug and the threaded area was a little dirty with this brown stuff. It appears to me that it might be in the rifling groves.

 

[fliowa]

Could it be old grease on the breach plug threads and in the breach area? If it is and you try to remove it with hoppes # 9 it makes a brown mess.

 

[cayuga]

Some solvents react to a brass brush. One reason I use nylon brushes. But this could be just a rust spot. When you look through the bore, what do you see? Do you see pitting, or scratches, even rust laying in there. If it will not go away, I wonder if a soap and water bath would flush that out. I really can't say, but I do have one rifle with a bad bore that does the same thing for some reason.

 

[fliowa]

Some solvents react to a brass brush. One reason I use nylon brushes. But this could be just a rust spot. When you look through the bore, what do you see? Do you see pitting, or scratches, even rust laying in there. If it will not go away, I wonder if a soap and water bath would flush that out. I really can't say, but I do have one rifle with a bad bore that does the same thing for some reason.

My thoughts would be to try a nylon bore brush, hot water and Dawn dish washing soap. If it is oil base stain that should get it out. If is a rust based stain it will still be there after doing above.

 

[Smyrnagc]

Breech plug grease reacting with Hoppes makes sense. There was quite a bit of BP grease in the threaded area. I will give it a hot dish washing liquid bath tomorrow and see what happens. and report back.

Thanks guys!

 

[jsteurrys]

Kroil the bore if your other attempts to remove the stuff fail. If it is rust, it will loosen it up.

 

[Widude]

I'm more leery than ever of buying a used muzzle-loader. Some guys say they clean well, but then never give it a good take-down dis-assembly. I'd say it's a fair chance you have rust in the barrel. I'd give it a good 'JB Bore cleaner' & Kroil treatment to get it as clean as possible. The JB is a mild abrasive & the Kroil will soak into any rust present.

Next how about the bolt? I know a guy who said he cleaned his Knight well, but he never took the bolt apart? It was all cruddy inside. So many M-Ls meet an early demise due to poor care. Maybe that will help the industry a bit.

 

[Batchief909]

If the previous owner used Bore Butter,,,,this will cause the brown patches also.

 

[Smyrnagc]

Muskrat30:

The bolt is the older version, c-tool bolt. Can you explain how I would take it apart to clean it?

 

[Smyrnagc]

Is this the Kroil treatment you are talking about?

http://www.amazon.com/Kano-Kroil-Penetr ... d_sim_sg_1

 

[jsteurrys]

Is this the Kroil treatment you are talking about?

http://www.amazon.com/Kano-Kroil-Penetr ... d_sim_sg_1

Yes, that is the stuff. If there is any rust in there this stuff will loosen it up.

 

[Widude]

My regimen with a cruddy(some rust) bore is an alternating JB / Kroil treatment. That is a patched dampened with Kroil run through a few times. Then a tight fitting patch with a good about of JB bore cleaner run back & forth a few times. I just keep alternating this until the bore is as clean as it's going to get.

The Knight bolt is normally taken apart with a "C" tool provided. If you don't have a C tool you can do the same with a common open end wrench. I think it is a 7/16" size, but may be 1/2" or so. There should be a picture somewhere, but basically you position the wrench to allow the firing pin spring to compress as you screw in the secondary safety. Once in you can unscrew the firing pin from the bolt body. If it has never been taken apart & cleaned you will have some crud inside the bolt body.

 

[Smyrnagc]

Thanks muskrat...

OK...I did a thorough cleaning this morning with hot soapy water and got it out and finally got clean patches. It is rust and the barrel is pitted pretty much 75% of the way up. I have ordered JB Bore cleaner and Kroll and will tackle that when it gets here and report back.

This is a new learning experience for me, I have never done this before so any advice on the process would be appreciated.

I love this place!

 

[Widude]

JB & Kroil will get it as clean as it's gonna get, you'll still have the issues with some pitting etc. My routine is to clean well after shooting, then leave a light coat of oil inside the bore. I then dry well before the next time I load up, whether it be one week or 8 months. My M-Ls that are in some sort of 'storage' also get a light coat of 'RIG' grease while stored.

I have an 'Original' orange disc Knight M-L that I've used in the past. The bore is still mirror bright & clean. I plan to try out one of my Elites this Fall though.

 

[jsteurrys]

Thanks muskrat...

OK...I did a thorough cleaning this morning with hot soapy water and got it out and finally got clean patches. It is rust and the barrel is pitted pretty much 75% of the way up. I have ordered JB Bore cleaner and Kroll and will tackle that when it gets here and report back.

This is a new learning experience for me, I have never done this before so any advice on the process would be appreciated.

I love this place!

Sorry to hear you have a rusty gun. Kroil and JBs will make it as good as it is going to get as muskrat30 stated. It may surprise you and still shoot fine.

 

[JStanley]

The JB is a mild abrasive & the Kroil will soak into any rust present.

Here's a dumb question: Do you think Mother's Mag Polish would work like JB Bore Conditioner? I khow how great JB is and it's available through Brownell's etc. I just happen to have a jar of the Mother's and it seems like it has a mild abrasive in it too (very mild) and was wondering if it would work the same way. If anyone has any thoughts on this it would be interesting. I have a brand new GM barrel that I'm working on for a project gun and was thinking about buying a jar of the JB's but I have the Mother's in hand. Would the Mother's hurt/help anything?

Thanks & be blessed

 

[Smyrnagc]

OK...Got the Kroll and JB Bore Cleaner in and went to work. I ran a patch saturated with Kroll down the bore a couple times and then on the final one I let it sit for around 20 minutes.

I then did five patches with JB cleaner on it (also a little Krolls), 20 strokes each for a total of 100 strokes. The initial clean patches I ran down the bore came out gray which is the color of the JB cleaner, then the patches started coming out cleaner but still had a little of the brown, rust color on the patches. I could definitely feel the rough areas in the bottom third of the barrel as the patch moved across it.

After 8 patches it started to get a little cleaner (see below pic; patch #1 is top left and they run left to right, 1-4 and then 2nd row left to right, 5 - 8).

However, the bore is pitted in the last third of the barrel and it winds around the rifling, and the JB cleaner didn't appear to make a huge difference...just got the rust out. I tried to take pics of the bore but didn't have any luck with my cell phone camera or digital camera (what is the trick to that?).

Will this pitting effect accuracy>

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[flounder]

I read someplace or other that the last few inches at the muzzle end are what makes the most difference. Shoot that thing and you will know for sure how it shoots. The pitting will make cleanup more of a chore and I would think you would have more fouling down there.