doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com What a mess! People really shoot blackpowder?

I needed to pattern a 2-1/2" gun so I grabbed a box of #7 loads on my shelf and ran out to the range.

Well I grabbed too fast and was quite surprised at the loud boom and cloud of smoke, (not too mention the stink) at the first shot.

I mistakenly grabbed a box of Gamebore Blackpowder loads I got at the Vintagers for a Lefever G damascus gun.

I fired 3 rounds in each barrel. What a damned mess to clean afterwards. Hot soap and water didn't to it all, the kitchen sink was a horrorshow. Finally resorted to steel wool to get the residue out then blow with compressed air, had remove the extractor to clean the water out, then some bore cleaner and oil.

Anyone shoot this stuff regularly? I was told that Gamebore BP is particualrly dirty and some of the other stuff is cleaner?

No wonder so many old guns have pitted bores.

RR
I had an old Crescent that I shot a few hundred rounds of modern Winchester AA loads through, then I shot a box of black powder loads through it. The bp was hot enough that it partially melted off a bunch of plastic residue left behind by the Winchester AAs. It took me 45 minutes with my cleaning rod and brush chucked to a power drill to get all that burned plastic residue out of those barrels. I have several muzzle loaders that have never been exposed to plastic wads and have never had any problems cleaning them with just soap and water.
Steve

I shoot BP shotgun ctgs all the time. In the older guns with frosty or pitted bores cleanup takes a little while, but with new shiny bores it's just a quart of cold water down each tube followed by a couple of patches, a little heat to dry things out (putting the barrels in the sun a few minutes works well) then a swipe with Ballistol. I keep plastic away from those barrels, that does make a mess!

First, blackpowder residue by itself is quite soluble in just cold water. If you have hot water, save that until the barrels are cleaned and use it to heat them up so any residual evaporates. If you put the muzzle 2 inches in a pan of water and pump a rod with tight patch up and down a bit it will dissolve the crud quite readily.

Most of your problem is related to the petroleum product in the bore when you started shooting. Blackpowder and petroleum products do make the nasty mess you described. And plastic wads/cases will make it semi permanant. Next time use a little alcohol to swab the bore free of petroleum and then dry it well before shooting. Steve's suggestion regarding Ballistol is very good as it is not a petroleum product and does a good job mixed with 1 part Ballistol to 5 parts water as a cleaning solvent for blackpowder. My blackpowder firearms are lubricated with Ballistol unless I am storing them for really long term. Guns so treated clean as fast as guns used with smokeless powders. Isn't a bad practice to wipe the oil from smokeless powder bores before shooting either.

And every blackpowder shooter learns very early you don't clean blackpowder guns in the house! The smell of hydrogen sulfide has been shown to arouse the sweetest of wives to attempt violent emasculation. Women just over react to the smell - I think it reminds them Eve helped us find the road to hell where H2S is reportedly the only fragrance.

Many, Many of the old guns with pitted bores did not get that way from shooting with BP. They were pitted from shooting early smokeless loads with corrosive powders, while under the false impression through cleaning was un-necessary due to the lack of residue. The corrosive primers had not been a problem when BP was used as the water for cleaning dissolved the primer salts.

Black Powder = great great fun....

especially on a driven pheasant shoot, drop a few in an appropriate friends bag,

bang bang BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

To clean I just fire a couple of normal fibre wad cartridges and clean as normal... never had a problem even in a Super.

I know I will get some flack over this, but here are a few guidlines :-

1). make sure your friend has a good sense of humour
2). Is not about to drop dead from heart failure
3). you are a safe distance away from him - in case he chucks a dead pheasant at you.
4). His gun is modern and ok for black powder...i.e. any recent O/U will do!
5). even though BP is OK for virtually any gun, he will not be impressed if they don't know what BP is and he has just had one go off in his vintage Boss!!!!!!!!!!!

Jonty

Whenever possible I shoot a round or two with low pressure smokeless loads after the BP round. This leaves my bores almost clean of the BP residue. A quick spin with my drill powered rod and brush gets out the rest. Shooter's Choice Shotgun and Choke Tube Cleaner is my favorite. Plain water is fine for the black powder cleanup.

I think I'm going to market a shell with a wad with abrasive petals, a fiber crush section and an oil impregnated skirt. I'll use a clean burning powder like Clays and keep the pressure below 5000 psi.

It could be the last 2 shells in every box of BP loads. Just pull the trigger, clean bore.

Jeff

'Tis a stinkin' job to be sure!
...but I miss my old damascus Jos. Lang and the Gamebores I shot in it.
Got some boxes left - now I need the right gun to shoot the rest of 'em.

Jeff
I understand people used to shoot a load of sand every so often to cleanup their bores.
Steve