doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com How to Clean Shotgun Barrels the English Way

Mercury was fun to play with and I doubt small exposures cause us any more harm than suppressing our 51 other modern woke natural genders. Kind of good to not be too confused. In times past, they used Calomel, which was Hg2Cl2, a mercury type salt, to purge bowels when constipated. Now we have a gallon jugs of liquid which does the same thing without mercury exposure. Mercury and mercury salts were used in treatment of STDs and all types if illness and mental conditions. Almost all were not effective in a positive way.

Funny how many chemicals and elements, which were commonly used, are today consider toxic and dangerous. Think of the Radium Girls for those who need a perfect example. Uranium was used in pottery because it gave a great purple color when fired. How would you like drinking tea or coffee from a cup which is still, and will always be, radioactive?

Thanks everyone. I've learned a lot about tow. Now, a question---how was it used. Was it put on a split jag and pulled up and down the barrel? I read somewhere that a worm was used to push the tow from the breech end.
Bill

Jon, the uranium pottery glaze is a distinctive orange-red color, not purple. The brand in question would be Fiestaware and I would be perfectly fine drinking from such a cup provided the glazing was unchipped and otherwise intact. Uranium and its decay daughters are primarily alpha emitters, ergo they are completely safe to use in a glaze as long as you aren't ingesting pieces of it (from chips). It is somewhat less suitable for plates because those get damaged by silverware more readily.

That's a new one on me, lagopus. Never heard it before.

I once cleaned a ML target gun that was badly leaded. It worked but cleaning up all the amalgam was difficult and messy.....maybe that's why my wife says I'm as mad as a hatter.

You are right Kip in Fiestaware but there was a purple color as well. I do not know what the formula used was but it has a very distinctive purple color that looks metalic and like blue and purple iridescent glaze. Very unique for the period.

[img]https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0...icVessel_Purple_480x480.jpg?v=1659615234[/img]

What’s wrong with mercury? Back in the 40’s we kids would buy vials of the stuff at the five and dime and take it home for play. You could pour it out on a table top and punch the stuff and it would explode into a hundred tiny balls rolling all over the place. (Reckon that’s why so many old folks have Alzheimer’s? Naw…..

Nothing's wrong with m(M ) ercury, except that they quit making two-strokes. This is my 240 hp 2 stroke. (Also got a 260 and a 300 Drag. Hey, they ain't making 'em anymore)

Stanton, maybe it's a saying that has not crossed the pond yet. Someone who is making easy money would term it as 'Money for old rope'.

Tow would be wrapped around a 'worm jag' something a bit like a cork screw end put into the end of the ram rod. I have one or two old examples of various types in my box of bits and bobs. Lagopus.....

I have a couple of those corkscrew looking affairs myself. We called them patch pullets when shooting m/l rifles. Quite different from a ball puller, which employs a tapered screw mounted in a brass disc to keep it centered.

I'll try to remember to use that phrase next time the topic of easy money arises. Thanks.