Bore Rust Colrain Barrels

[rfcbuf]

I shoot 3 flint rifles all with Colrain barrels and after cleaning and drying end up with a light rusty bore issue. It's odd that the last drying patch comes out dry and pitch black streaks.

All shooting is with Goex powder and a water/Murphy's oil wet patched ball.

I clean as follows:
1.Clean with a Windex first pass using a plastic bristle brush.

2.Four passes of plain water using cloth patches

3.Numerous flushes of warm,not hot,water until last flush is clear.

4. Dry barrel with patches ..notice black streaks

5. Final patch is coated with 3in1 brand light oil.

Following all of the above and with a clean barrel running a dry patch on the bore will always show a light brown rust. What am I doing wrong? Could it be the use of the initial wash with Windex (alcohol base)?

I am considering using an initial wash with a great cleaning product called SIMPLE GREEN a biodegradable liquid spray. Has anyone used it when cleaning black powder rifles? Sorry for long story.

 

[kh0456]

I've never used 3in1 oil as a last protectant so I cant comment on that. I have used simple green which works great, but so does soap and warm water. I've also tried Windex.
What has me puzzled is the black streaks you have at the end of your cleaning session.

I don't have any and I don't think that's normal. When I'm done cleaning, my patches are for the most part clean. Possibly a bit on the light gray to white maybe?
I usually start with putting a tooth pick in the touch hole and filling the bore with warm water and let it sit for a couple minutes. Then dump that out and start swabbing with a little soap and warm water or some simple green until the patch comes out clean. Shouldn't take more than a few patches. Then I will swab it with bore butter although I've used a good gun oil too. After a couple days I'll check the bore by running another patch with bore butter just to make sure its still clean. So far no rust for me.

 

[bigted]

the black streaks sound like carbon. it sounds to me like you need to get some smokeless bore cleaner and work your "clean" barrel over till no black nor any color comes out on a nice tight dry patch.

from then on I would leave the Windex and other foreign sluggery out of my muzzleloader.

use a small container of warm or cold water with just a drop or two of dish washing soap. using your cleaning stick I would then just pump back n forth till there is no color coming out of the barrel ... that is if you can remove the barrel easily from the stock. if not;

then do as above with the toothpick to seal off the barrel and fill with warm water/dish soap and allow to set and soak for 5 to 10 minutes or while you clean up the rest of your stuff.

then dump out the water/soap mix and begin to swab the bore with nice tight clean and damp patch's with just warm water. do so till the damp patch comes out nice n clean as when you put it into the barrel.

next use dry patch's till there is NO moisture on any portion of the dry patch and it is as dry coming out as when it went in ... and clean as well

now use barricade or ballistol straight on nice tight clean patch's till absolutely sure that every molecule in the inside of the barrel is nice n covered with the straight rust preventing oil.

three days later do a dry patch to ensure there is no color on the patch.

 

[wattlebuster]

The black streaks is simply the graphite used on the powder. It will not hurt a thing but a lot of folks cant stand it being there an will scrub till its gone. Do so if you like but in my 30 plus yrs at this game it has not hurt a single firearm of mine an I learned a long time ago not to worry about it :idunno:

 

[bob1961]

I have just used the hot water flush through the touch hole and patch until clean....while hot I run one patch to collect any heavier water drops, then let heat from water kinda dry the barrel....in a few minutes i'll run dry patches to see anything, if nothing I use a gun oil to run a patch down and back....done until I go to shoot again, then a few dry patches to lift any oil residual, run a ball and BOOM....

 

[smo]

I clean with windshield washer fluid then denatured alcohol to dry . Then a wet Barricade patch up & down the bore a couple times and no black streaks or rust in the bore :hatsoff:

 

[kh0456]

I appreciate and respect what you're saying, but I've never had any black on my patches after cleaning. I don't scrub the bore with anything than a few patches, soap and water. Honestly I like cleaning my ML rifles more than my smokeless ones. Easier and quicker.
The OP mentioned rust, so to me if he is still seeing black, that tells me there is more cleaning to do or use another type of oil in the bore after cleaning.

 

[don hepler]

Colrain barrels, with the deep round bottom rifling are difficult to clean, as far as getting to the bottom of the rifling. I use a steel range rod with a muzzle guide, so I can use a tight patch. However, I almost got the patch stuck, just yesterday. I use Remington oil, in all my rifles. I clean my guns, then check them each day, for a few days, then each week, and then each month. I go to a lot of work, to make sure, the bores stay in perfect shape.

 

[mooman76]

Are you sure it's rust. Sometimes oils will turn brown after sitting in the barrel and appear to be light rust.

 

[Eric Krewson]

After the water and the dry patches I shoot a little WD-40 down the bore to absorb any water, a couple more dry patches and finish up with Barricade.

 

[Dean2]

After the water and the dry patches I shoot a little WD-40 down the bore to absorb any water, a couple more dry patches and finish up with Barricade.

Bingo - we have a winner. WD40 is not a great protector but it is GREAT at getting rid of water. Flushing with WD40 is the only change I would make to your cleaning routine, except I would probably go with something other than 3/1 oil for rust protection. I like Mobile 1 15-40 Synthetic or Dexron Tranny fluid. A lot of folks like Barricade but it is hard to come by up here so I have never tried it.

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Are you getting the face of the breech plug clean? Might pick up some rust from there. Just asking. As others said soaking for a few minutes is good idea. Dan.

 

[bob1961]

I like Mobile 1 15-40 Synthetic or Dexron Tranny fluid.

I use ATF on my drill press's bare metal parts to keep rust away, yeah why not in gun barrels :hmm: ....I even use it when I thread metal :v ....

 

[MacRob46]

Colrain barrels, with the deep round bottom rifling are difficult to clean, as far as getting to the bottom of the rifling.

Not sure why that would be the case since using the proper patch and cleaning solvent would certainly get to the bottom of the grooves and get out the fouling. I have one, un-fired Colerain barrel on a rifle and will have to check to see if I have that problem as well.

 

[don hepler]

I have a Colrain barrel with round bottom rifling. The rifling is at bore size, but the gooves are much deeper, than a TC barrel, or even a Douglas barrel. They are built, especially for round ball, and allows for fowling to accumulate in the round part of the rifling, and makes it easier to load, after several shots. A TC barrel for example, has very shallow rifling, maybe .005 or .006 thousandths. A loose fitting patch, in a Colrain barrel, will clean the top of the rifling, but my personal opinion is, it will not get to the bottom of the rifling. A thicker patch will allow it to compress into the radius of the round bottom.

 

[Leatherbark]

My shooting buddy uses 3-in-1 oil after cleaning and the next month at the matches when he runs a patch down the barrel it comes out completely orange. He says "I swear I cleaned it". He doesn't use WD 40 so he is probably not getting his barrel dry after cleaning. I tell him try my regimen but he is too hard headed. The 3 in 1 just doesn't cut it.

My Colerain .50 I'll swear I can run a patch down it right now and it will look like I just put new oil on the patch. I always use WD40 after cleaning and Mobil 1 motor oil or Barricade after.

Bob

 

[azmntman]

My shooting buddy uses 3-in-1 oil after cleaning and the next month at the matches when he runs a patch down the barrel it comes out completely orange. He says "I swear I cleaned it". He doesn't use WD 40 so he is probably not getting his barrel dry after cleaning. I tell him try my regimen but he is too hard headed. The 3 in 1 just doesn't cut it.

My Colerain .50 I'll swear I can run a patch down it right now and it will look like I just put new oil on the patch. I always use WD40 after cleaning and Mobil 1 motor oil or Barricade after.

Bob

If he isn't getting the barrel dry we cannot damn 3-1? With a damp barrel would your Mobile 1 or
Barricade do well enough?

I use 3-1 many times with never an issue :idunno:

 

[MacRob46]

I have a Colrain barrel with round bottom rifling. The rifling is at bore size, but the gooves are much deeper, than a TC barrel, or even a Douglas barrel. They are built, especially for round ball, and allows for fowling to accumulate in the round part of the rifling, and makes it easier to load, after several shots. A TC barrel for example, has very shallow rifling, maybe .005 or .006 thousandths. A loose fitting patch, in a Colrain barrel, will clean the top of the rifling, but my personal opinion is, it will not get to the bottom of the rifling. A thicker patch will allow it to compress into the radius of the round bottom.

I have always, when using a patch, used the tightest fitting patch I could get down the bore and still pump the solution in and out effciently with the cleaning rod. For quite some time I have been using a cleaning solution containing peroxide. Since I started using the peroxide solution I have not needed to ram the patches down to clean, although of course I do to dry and oil the bore. There have been no problems with rust with any of my guns - I have six rifles, one fouler and one musket. But before using it, I did not have any problems either. It is time to shoot the gun with the Colerain barrel anyway so I will keep the comments in mind when it comes time to clean.

 

[don hepler]

Ran upon a bore scope at the flea market yesterday. I looked down all my muzzleloader barrels and found some alarming things. First, it confirmed that I still have rust in the deep grooves of the Colrain barrel. I did not see any in TC barrels. Second, I found out that my touch hole liner in my flintlock pistol, is protruding into the bore. This has prevented me from getting the cleaning jag all the way to the bottom of the bore, and I can see rust there also.

My patches come out clean in the Colrain barrel, but the bore scope shows spots of rust, in the deep grooves. I bought some brushes and bore mops, and plan to do some extensive cleaning today.

 

[nhmoose]

User problem NOT the makers IMHO