doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Black powder shooter question

I use my own mix of 1/3 water, 1/3 hydrogen peroxide, 1/3 dish soap. I run patch between shots followed by dry patch.

Happy shooting

Rich

We're talking shotguns not rifles.

... But if we were talking about black powder rifles, I certainly would not use dish detergent to clean my bore. Once upon a time, before I knew better, I used detergents and hot water to clean my barrels. Then I dried them thoroughly and wiped them with good gun oil. And if I didn't use the gun for several months, I always had after-rusting in my bores.

Then I learned that petroleum based lubes are bad to use with black powder guns. I switched to Thompson Center Natural Lube, which works on the same principle as seasoning a cast iron skillet. After working to get a cast iron skillet properly seasoned, the last thing you want to do is remove that seasoning with strong detergents. Ditto for brass brushes. Now I do a good cleaning with cotton patches and hot water, dry thoroughly, and lube my bore with the same Thompson Center Natural Lube that I use for a patch and bullet lube. I haven't seen a trace of after-rusting in the approximately 20 years since I switched.

I wouldn't use it either I just figured since he was talking about running it between shots that he was talking about a rifle...as big as a shotgun bore is I never saw the need to run anything down the bore between shots.

Wet wipes, baby-wipes, etc, the pre-wetted, soapy towelettes in a can work spectacularly well for cleaning blackpowder guns. I use the Chlorox brand usually. The individual wipes are actually a plastic I believe, but that makes them tough. Pushing one through on a brush works very well when cleaning a BP rifle or shotgun. I typically will run one or two between rounds of trap, for instance or at the end of a day of hunting before heading home.

But most of the time for final cleaning, I simply use normal patches and water. Detergents or soaps are unnecessary. They won't hurt a thing, but just one more thing to clean out before oiling.

The, dry well and lube with normal gun oils. Works every time.

I like to take baby wipes in a zip lock bag with me hunting....they work great if you get some blood on yer hands or some crap on yer arse.

Have no intentions of ever using them or Clorox wipes on a firearm.

I have some rendered bear grease that I am planning on using to season a blackpowder rifle, if I can ever squeeze some time in to actually do it.

Save the seasoning for your steaks. Seasoning rifle barrels is one of the great myths of the internet.

I don't believe its a myth that black powder and petroleum based oils don't go well together.

Believe what you want Frank.

Personally, I and all the other serious, international long-range muzzleloader competitors could not care less what you believe.

In the meantime all of us will continue to use what works best.