Cleaning a muzzleloader

[Buddy shelton]

Isopropyl alcohol works great.

I agree on the isopropyl alcohol. I Always run a lightly oiled patch last. And pop a couple caps before shooting

 

[eekjellander]

I agree on the isopropyl alcohol. I Always run a lightly oiled patch last. And pop a couple caps before shooting

I used to too, but now 1 is almost too many with scarce caps/Ed

 

[Squint]

I used to too, but now 1 is almost too many with scarce caps/Ed

I use to , but I store all rifles barrel down, don't seem to have any misfires.

 

[Battyboot]

We shoot pretty high volumes at rendezvous with it traditional rifles, and they get patches all weekend until we get home. At home, we pull the barrel (leave in the nipple), set the nipple side in a sink full of near boiling water that has some murphys oil soap in it. Let it soak for a couple minutes, then push patches through and draw hot water up the barrel until the barrel is full. Let it sit a couple more minutes. Run a few more patches until they come out clean clean. Dump them water out the barrel, dry off the outside with a rag. Run some drying patches through the bore. The hot water evaporates out of the little crevices quickly enough but help it where you can. Leave to dry for a half hour. Finally, liberally coat inside and out with Bore Butter and store. Pop a few caps before loading next time you shoot in case there’s a glob of bore butter against the touch hol

 

[Philgumbo]

I wonder if bore butter is one of the culprits of unknown misfires. A nipple pick would go right through it, and after the cap went off, it would melt, erasing evidence of the blockage.

I don't use bore butter, and I don't dry fire a cap before shooting. I haven't exactly been shooting a long time, but so far I've had no issues with grease clogs, using Ballistol or a liquid oil.

I doubt Bore Butter is the problem, if you are using it correctly. I only use use it to "season/protect" the barrel after cleaning, and only on my first sabot load. After that, I don't usually use it for quick reloads. Once I converted my rifle to take 209 primers, I have never had a misfire since.

 

[Battyboot]

Isopropyl alcohol works great.

It's not rocket science..Alcohol. soak plug, air dry/ it avapperates. No need what so ever. Same with barrel. (Nylon brush only. Again it's not rocket science. Clean cold bore now.1 drop of any kinda oil. Hell use a film/ light amount, Just coat the round your loading/ just a film, that's .You won't push last night's dinner down on top your powder / white hots etc. It's all about that one clean cold bore shot that feeds the family. Water ,soap, come on people. If ya store it with duck butter, clean it, you all trying to make chicken soup out of chicken ****. Clean cold bore. No more misfires. Think about it. Put a tea spoon of duck butter in the muzzle push powerbelt down muzzle, now ya got a grease gun. Save the grease for face camo

I wonder if bore butter is one of the culprits of unknown misfires. A nipple pick would go right through it, and after the cap went off, it would melt, erasing evidence of the blockage.

I don't use bore butter, and I don't dry fire a cap before shooting. I haven't exactly been shooting a long time, but so far I've had no issues with grease clogs, using Ballistol or a liquid oil.

 

[Battyboot]

It's not rocket science..Alcohol. soak plug, air dry/ it avapperates. No need what so ever. Same with barrel. (Nylon brush only. Again it's not rocket science. Clean cold bore now.1 drop of any kinda oil. Hell use a film/ light amount, Just coat the round your loading/ just a film, that's .You won't push last night's dinner down on top your powder / white hots etc. It's all about that one clean cold bore shot that feeds the family. Water ,soap, come on people. If ya store it with duck butter, clean it, you all trying to make chicken soup out of chicken ****. Clean cold bore. No more misfires. Think about it. Put a tea spoon of duck butter in the muzzle push powerbelt down muzzle, now ya got a grease gun. Save the grease for face camo

 

[Marksman1941]

I doubt Bore Butter is the problem, if you are using it correctly. I only use use it to "season/protect" the barrel after cleaning, and only on my first sabot load. After that, I don't usually use it for quick reloads. Once I converted my rifle to take 209 primers, I have never had a misfire since.

Even when you use it properly just to season and protect, often folks put too much on a patch when they run it through and will leave a chunk at the bottom of the barrel. This can certainly cause a misfire on the first shot of the day. After that’s is not a problem of course, but it’s been known to happen

 

[eekjellander]

I doubt Bore Butter is the problem, if you are using it correctly. I only use use it to "season/protect" the barrel after cleaning, and only on my first sabot load. After that, I don't usually use it for quick reloads. Once I converted my rifle to take 209 primers, I have never had a misfire since.

You do realize unless your shootin old originals there is no such thing as seasoning modern steel , that's right up there with Bore Butter /Ed

 

[Marksman1941]

You do realize unless your shootin old originals there is no such thing as seasoning modern steel , that's right up there with Bore Butter /Ed

All of our stuff is old school. Some actual originals, some repros built in the 50’ and 60’s using soft iron. There’s definitely a place for bore butter. Totally unneeded in a modern rifle though, you’re right

 

[SparkPlug]

I pull the barrels and nipples (breech plug on my in-line) and clean with scalding hot water and a tad of dawn. After a quick run through with a light brass brush I use an old bore mop to wash it. Then a final flush with clean hot water. The hot water doesn't clean any better (that I can tell), but it heats the barrel up making the water evap quicker.

After rinse I wipe the outside with a dry rag with the muzzle down. I then run a clean/dry bore mop through the barrel. Within 30 seconds the bore is dry and ready for a patch with a bit of olive oil. As long as the patch is clean (always has been) I will wipe the outside with the same patch.

I then take about 30 seconds to clean the nipples/breech plug.

Takes me about 5 minutes from pulling the wedge to replacing it. Takes a few minutes longer on the inline due to being careful with the scope.

As far as the lock and trigger assy, the old timer that showed me years ago used a small bit of chapstick (beeswax) around the plates. The only thing not sealed was the area around the trigger itself. He only pulled it once a year and it stayed clean.

 

[Bowanna]

Windex is my go to and a drop or two of Lucas gun oil on a patch.

 

[Squint]

To each his own.
Squint

 

[rangerod]

It's not rocket science..Alcohol. soak plug, air dry/ it avapperates. No need what so ever. Same with barrel. (Nylon brush only. Again it's not rocket science. Clean cold bore now.1 drop of any kinda oil. Hell use a film/ light amount, Just coat the round your loading/ just a film, that's .You won't push last night's dinner down on top your powder / white hots etc. It's all about that one clean cold bore shot that feeds the family. Water ,soap, come on people. If ya store it with duck butter, clean it, you all trying to make chicken soup out of chicken ****. Clean cold bore. No more misfires. Think about it. Put a tea spoon of duck butter in the muzzle push powerbelt down muzzle, now ya got a grease gun. Save the grease for face camo

Well said. A few years ago I bought two two ounce bottles of Wolf Oil. Great stuff. Unfortunately it's not made anymore. I have enough to last me forever.

 

[rangerod]

That's how I look at it but I about quit using boiling hot water. I do like to use hot tap water, however. It still heats up the barrel somewhat anyway.

The compressed air helps dry out the barrel as well.

Seems like I remember reading that boiling hot water can cause flash rusting. Never tried it myself. Water as hot as comes out of the fawcet for me.

 

[Wil]

Even really hot tap water can cause flash rusting. My hot water tank was cranked up to high one time and I noticed constant flash rust when I cleaned my barrel in the wash tub in the basement. So now, if the water is to hot to put over my hands, it's to hot to go in my bore.

 

[Blackrock]

After all cleaned up and barrel dry, I run a patch down with Gunzilla. -- Stuff is awesome!

 

[Felonious]

I doubt Bore Butter is the problem, if you are using it correctly. I only use use it to "season/protect" the barrel after cleaning, and only on my first sabot load. After that, I don't usually use it for quick reloads. Once I converted my rifle to take 209 primers, I have never had a misfire since.

I did the mag-spark 290 thing too. (Had to make sure I was here on MML, rather than MLF, speaking blasphemy like that).

It COMPLETELY eliminated misfires in my shotgun. With the 209's it goes off every time. The primers swell slightly, but I use a little bit of Teflon grease to keep them easy to remove.

 

[earlthegoat2]

Water and ballistol.

 

[BP Addict]

Seems like I remember reading that boiling hot water can cause flash rusting. Never tried it myself. Water as hot as comes out of the fawcet for me.

Even really hot tap water can cause flash rusting. My hot water tank was cranked up to high one time and I noticed constant flash rust when I cleaned my barrel in the wash tub in the basement. So now, if the water is to hot to put over my hands, it's to hot to go in my bore.

I stopped using HOT water a while ago. Too much "Flash Riusting"! WATER is the key ingredient. Even if it's cold, it will clean the inside of the barrel. The advantage of hot water is it was supposed to help dry the bore faster. Well, I have an air compressor and alcohol for that. My water is usually Luke Warm.

Walt