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Care & cleaning question

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bchannell

40 Cal.
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I just got my hands on a custom long gun, .36 flinter, and it is a dandy. Just a simple question about lube and storage question. What do you guys recommend to use as a patch lube, and what do you protect the bore with between outings?
 
Wonder Lube for patch lube (or TC's pre-lubed patches or East Maine products - all same stuff). Ballistol for cleaning and bore protection.
 
All you need is Lehigh Valley lube. It works great as a patch lube and rust inhibitor.
 
I use spit at the range for patch lube, Wonder Lube for hunting, Ballistol for protection.
 
I use Bore Butter, Track's Mink Oil, or spit for patch lube. I run a bore butter patch down the barrel after it's clean and that seems to be fine as a rust inhibitor. I don't think I'd recommend it for long storage. None of my rifles sit idle for long without being checked. I swab out and reapply bore butter if they do sit for more than a month or two.
 
Just keep in mind you really don't need anything special. It's all in the kitchen already.

Windex (or water) & olive oil will do it all.
 
Everyone has their favorite. Another thing to try for cleaning and patch lube is equal amounts of hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alchol, and Murphys Oil Soap. This is good on the range if you cut yourself. 3 in One oil works for me. Additional note, store the gun muzzle down so any excess oil in the barrel will not settle in the powder chamber. Have fun.
JL
 
I use Track of the Wolf's Mink Oil for patch lube. A mix of equal parts Murphy's Oil Soap, hydrogen peroxide, and rubbing alcohol for cleaning (works great). Also just pump the barrel out with soapy water. WD40 or Brake Free for gun lube.
 
i ued a lube patchs with hot water and then TOTW "bore clean" and the run a bore mop with rubbing alcohal then another mop soaked gun oil
i going to try murphys oil soap next time but i live in the high desert so its dry hear 90% of the time
 
Well one member of our club swears by FLITZ metal
polish, he lubes his bore up for storeage, so when i got home i looked at a tube i had and it did say ( plus corrosion protection ) so i am going to give it a try. :idunno:
 
I remember reading somewhere to avoid petroleum based products with blackpowder---to stick with animal or plant based greases and oils. Does anyone know if there is any chemistry to support this or do you think it is just part of shooting traditional?
 
Petro based rust protectors will make the barrel hard to clean unless you swab it all out prior to shooting. That's simple to do and they do protect the bore splendidly. Such oils leave a bit of a brownish residue from the fired bp. Clean the bore out prior to shooting and it's a minor stain on the cleaning patches.
 
Oils burn at different temperatures depending on their source, and composition. Not all oils are the same. With petroleum based oils, there are additives that do not normally burn well at the chamber temperatures created by Black Powder burning in your gun.

The result is a tar-like residue- not too different than the Tars left in pipes after burning some tobaccos-- that can only be removed by dissolving them with alcohol. Soap and Water only work if they sit in the barrel for many hours, and that can risk rusting the barrel under some conditions.

Hot, or "magnum" or " musket" percussion caps won't burn out this residue, either. The only way to avoid these tars is to not use petroleum based oils in the gun. If you use them for storage, then flush them out with a thorough soaking of alcohol before taking the gun to the range or field to shoot. To prevent rust during a short travel trip, simply put a bit of Olive Oil, or any vegetable oil on a cleaning patch and run the patch down the barrel to put a very THIN layer of oil on the lands and grooves. On humid days, I have been known to put the patch on my ramrod and run it down the barrel leaving the RR in place in the barrel, with the patch down at the breech end, inside my gun case, until I got to the range. I then highly recommend using several dry cleaning patches to remove all the oil possible from the barrel BEFORE pouring powder down for that first shot.

Some oil MAY remain in the pores of the metal inside the barrel. This often makes it much easier to load our PRB down the barrel, and keeps BP residue from Sticking against the walls of the bore after that first shot. That makes cleaning the barrel between shots much easier. I "Load to the mark" on my range rod, and having that clean bore allows me to run the PRB down the barrel to the mark much easier, while still giving me very good accuracy. The lube in the patch around the ball is enough to grease the bore as I seat the PRB in my .50. However, in larger bore rifles, I find that putting a greased cleaning patch in front of my loading jag, when I drive the PRB down to the powder puts more lube on the bore, in front of the PRB, so that there are no "bare" spots in the barrel where the grease in my patch did not lube the barrel. The greased cleaning patch comes out when I withdraw the loading rod. This is particularly helpful when shooting rifles, but also works in smoothbores, too.

When shooting BP rifles, the "secret" to achieving good accuracy is " consistency" in how you load, AND, how you clean, the gun each time. :thumbsup:
 
For a writeup (with pictures) about petroleum oils and black powder, follow this link:
OIL FOULING

I should add that these tests were done by burning the powder directly on the oil to simulate what is happening in the barrel when the gun is fired.

None of the tests represent what happens when some black powder or Pyrodex smoke is blown towards the pile which is the case with oil applied to the bearing surfaces down inside a lock.

I have used regular petroleum oils, Sheath and Barricade as a lock lubricant without any buildup of hard deposits from fouling for years.

This basically confirms that one should Not use petroleum oils for patch lubes but using them for lubrication of a locks moving parts works quite well as long as the oiled surface is not "wet" and directly exposed to the powder while its burning.
 
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