Cleaning recommendations

[MrChristopher]

Just wondering if anyone out there had any cleaning advice for me.

I have a cleaner called 'Gunzilla'. Seemed to work great for swabbing between shots and cleaning in general. What it doesn't really get rid of are the final remnants of the crud ring.

What I ended up using was boiling water on a patch for the final bit of fouling near the breech. It only took a couple passes. I was amazed. I scrubbed and scrubbed with the gunzilla and it seemed like it would have taken all night!

Is there any cleaner out there that works really well for the crud ring or is hot water really my best bet?

This was after I had put 10 rounds through it lining up. I imagine there'd be a lot less fouling if only taking a shot or 2 after a day of hunting.

I'm using 2 pellets of White Hots. They seem to have decent accuracy but they are not as clean as they advertise. I definitely had to swab between shots.

 

[rangerod]

Some use windex mixed with alcohol. Why not avoid the problem altogether and go to black horn 209? Better accuracy greater velocity less cleanup.

 

[MrChristopher]

Some use windex mixed with alcohol. Why not avoid the problem altogether and go to black horn 209? Better accuracy greater velocity less cleanup.

I think I've already decided that I will make the switch for next year. Even though I have some White Hots leftover.

Is there no crud ring with blackhorn? Are you really able to load shot after shot?

 

[rangerod]

No crud ring ever. I've shot as many as fifteen rounds and never once touched the barrel with no affect on accuracy.

 

[MrChristopher]

Sounds like really good stuff then. I've read only a couple posts about people having accuracy issues with it.

I have a CVA Wolf and need to buy the extra breech plug for it so I wanted to make sure it was worth the cost of the plug.

I wish I would have known about needing an extra plug before buying or I might have gotten something else.

 

[rangerod]

Buying the bh breach plug isn't imo a big deal. It would be money well spent. I bought an Optima last summer and purchased the bh breach plug at the same time. I also had the original bp machined for a vent liner. The Wolf muzzleloader from what I've read from other forum members is a good gun.

 

[WV Hunter]

BH209 is good powder, I really like it in my Knight DISC rifles. But truthfully, its not needed to have a very accurate and capable ML.
Many folks use pyrodex or triple 7 and love it. It ignites every time, nothing special you need to do...and will work fine with your current plug. I use pyrodex in a bunch of my rifles still. BH209 is also more expensive by a good bit than the other powders, if that matters. For the occasional shooter, its a moot point.

Not trying to tell you not to use it, but you certainly don't have to. If you are a couple times a year shooter / hunter, you'd be just fine with anything you choose. I would switch to loose powder though at some point.

No swabbing needed with BH, all other powders typically do better if you swab between shots. Cuts down on fouling, makes loading alot easier.

 

[rangerod]

One thing about powders or pellets other than bh is they can suck up some moisture. You will want to be a little careful about that. If something goes wrong such as loss of accuracy or hang fires you may want to replace powder with some new. A friend of mine had accuracy issues with some old white hots but problem was solved with new ones.

 

[MrChristopher]

Buying the bh breach plug isn't imo a big deal. It would be money well spent. I bought an Optima last summer and purchased the bh breach plug at the same time. I also had the original bp machined for a vent liner. The Wolf muzzleloader from what I've read from other forum members is a good gun.

I'll be grabbing the breech plug. I only found it in one store so far and it was $50. Gonna shop around a bit. Lol

The wolf seems great so far, I just got it. The only problem(which doesn't bother me) is that the finish on the barrel seems to mark up real easy. This is my first outing with it and there's lots of little scratches and blemished. I even noticed a few 'rust pimples' right out of the box! Those seem to clean up good enough tho.

I couldn't warrant the extra cost for the optima for the amount it would get used.

 

[MrChristopher]

One thing about powders or pellets other than bh is they can suck up some moisture. You will want to be a little careful about that. If something goes wrong such as loss of accuracy or hang fires you may want to replace powder with some new. A friend of mine had accuracy issues with some old white hots but problem was solved with new ones.

I've read about this happening. I was wrestling with the idea of keeping my gun loaded for the season. It's been loaded for a few days now. We have real dry weather right now here so I'm not too worried. I've also been trying to avoid drastic temperature changes.

I think to take all that worry(and maintenance) away tho I'll just switch to BH209. Sounds like such a good product.

 

[rangerod]

If you live in the states muzzleloader.com sells the Black Horn bp I think for around $28.00

 

[MrChristopher]

If you live in the states muzzleloader.com sells the Black Horn bp I think for around $28.00

I'm in Canada. Cabelas has it for around that price but I don't have one near me. The place I bought my gun(Sail) had it for $50. I couldn't believe it. I'm going to try a few smaller gun shops around me and see if I can find it.

 

[rangerod]

Can you order from Cabelas and have them ship it to you?

 

[MrChristopher]

I can yes but they want around $10 shipping. So after tax and shipping I'm almost at the price of the other store.

I'm going to shop around. I likely won't take it out again until the summer after the season is over. Tomorrow is the last day.

 

[rangerod]

Looks like you have plenty of time. Maybe over time you will find a good deal. Good luck.

 

[MrChristopher]

Thanks,

From what I gather BH209 is a bit pricey in Canada but works out to be cheaper per shot than White Hots. That and the idea of not having to swab between shots or have a mess to clean at the end of the sounds great.

 

[WV Hunter]

Keep in mind, just because you use BH209 doesn't mean you treat the rifle any different. You still need to clean your gun after shooting just as with any powder you would use. The properties of BH allow for no swabbing between shots, but as some here have shown...the bore can still rust up rather quickly if you leave the gun uncleaned for long after shooting it.

 

[Dave C]

I know the BH209 was developed for use with primers but what happens if you use it with #11 caps? Has anyone tried it? Will it not ignite consistently?

 

[MrChristopher]

Keep in mind, just because you use BH209 doesn't mean you treat the rifle any different. You still need to clean your gun after shooting just as with any powder you would use. The properties of BH allow for no swabbing between shots, but as some here have shown...the bore can still rust up rather quickly if you leave the gun uncleaned for long after shooting it.

Good to know, thanks. I'll remember that for the future. Regardless of what I do in season I always give my guns a good cleaning before storage.

Now what about the breech plug? Would soaking it in some hoppes #9 be good? I can't find any of those 'parts soakers' some companies advertise anywhere.

 

[rangerod]

That's exactly how I clean my breach plugs. I use prescription pill bottles. If you're bp has an o-ring take it off before soaking.