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pleasant cleaning surprise

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As you know from another thread, I recently shot my Little Fella rifle for the first time. This session also involved three variations in the way I do things with an ml rifle. First, I used Swiss 3Fg powder. I have had a supply on the shelf for years but never used any in a rifle before. For cleaning, I used a little bit of Dawn dishwasher liquid in water. Very amazing, after only two swabs with wet, but not dripping, patches the bore was clean. I really dreaded the possibility of accidentally using too much water and damaging the finish on the stock. Third, when finished I used Barricade inside the bore and wiped the lock and surrounding area with it also. I don't know if the Swiss contributed to a less than muddy, yuckky bore or if the Dawn just did an exceptional job of cleaning. But....what the hey....Swiss and Dawn, if it works I'm not going to argue. That is now my new routine.
 
I've used Swiss powder before, and I noticed that there was much less fouling in the bore. Maybe it burns cleaner?
 
:thumbs up: Just for your information, Dawn is what we call a surfactant, which is great for cleaning any thing that has carbon based. Also one of the best products is Simple Green. Remember Dawn is used to clean birds that are covered in oil from spills.
 
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IMHO Swiss does burn cleaner that Goex. I am told it is because they use Alder wood as the carbon portion of the black powder formula and Alder burns clean with little ash. The same goes for Old Enysford powder by Goex. They also use Alder wood in their formula. Standard Goex uses Poplar or Cottonwood in their formula which burns smokey and with more residue, thus the thicker fouling.
 
What is the big attraction with Dawn Detergant? Is it really the best? I've been seeing its merits praised on several differant forums for some time and frankly I'm a little puzzled. Is the word Dawn interchangeable with most generic dishsoaps? Dont get me wrong I think its a great product but is it really any better than other dishsoaps or just easier to spell?
 
Its what she buys my friend
That was my thought on the reason Dawn is used above other products. Its what was found under the counter. The wife buys because its pretty good stuff and the guy uses it because its readilly available. It is known for its grease cutting ability right?
 
Yes it is ...now. But how was this "miracle in a bottle" discovered? Were other dishsoaps tried?Aphabetically maybe?And the results then shouted out to other shooters. Someone had to have stumbled upon this amazing product. I'm merely asking how was it done.
 
I did not want to believe Dawn was any better than other Dish detergents but finally made the move about 3 years ago. It works better at loosening up grease and you need much less than other economy brands. One of the best shooters in our territory uses Dawn and water exclusively for lube. I now use it at the range. It totally eliminates the need for any between shot swabbing. Add just enough dawn to cold water till it feels slippery, it does not take much. I use a small spray bottle and give it a short spritz. As with any liquid lube, you just want it damp.
 
IMHO Swiss does burn cleaner that Goex. I am told it is because they use Alder wood as the carbon portion of the black powder formula and Alder burns clean with little ash. The same goes for Old Enysford powder by Goex. They also use Alder wood in their formula. Standard Goex uses Poplar or Cottonwood in their formula which burns smokey and with more residue, thus the thicker fouling.


Goex told me directly they use the same wood/charcoal in the Old Eynsford and the red can- they just spend extra time on the processing of O.E.

My experience is that Swiss does burn cleaner, followed by O.Eynsford, but the Swiss fouling is much harder than the O.E. Velocities are pretty similar between the two.

I doubt adding Dawn had anything to do with it.
 
I also use Dawn for gun cleaning.

It's H/C I'm pretty sure. :rolleyes:
Well, that depends on the time period and place your talking about.

George Washington didn't have any DAWN at Fort Necessity because it wasn't invented at that time (and he lost the battle.)

The British at Bunker Hill used DAWN exclusively (and won), so, any time during and after Bunker Hill DAWN would be Period Correct but you've got to know which side of the battle your on.
(The British kept the formula for DAWN a closely guarded secret and it wasn't 'till later in the war for Independence that the Patriots found out how to make it and started using it.
By the time of the battle at Trenton happened, the Patriots had found the formula and they won that battle. The Hessians at Trenton were still using plain lye soap and water at the time.)
:D;):D;)
 
Many years ago, one of the businesses I owned was a pet grooming facility. Occasionally we would get a dog in the shop that had been sprayed by a skunk. We would wash the dog several times using Dawn, as it cuts through oil and grease better than other soaps...and skunk scent has a definite oily base to it. We could never completely remove the scent..as we couldn't wash a dogs face with it for fear of harming their eyes...but we did better with Dawn than any other thing we tried. Some folks still use tomato juice as the acid in it has some effect on skunk oils, but nothing like Dawn.
I personally don't use it on my muzzleloaders, but it should work just fine.
 
Many years ago, one of the businesses I owned was a pet grooming facility. Occasionally we would get a dog in the shop that had been sprayed by a skunk. We would wash the dog several times using Dawn, as it cuts through oil and grease better than other soaps...and skunk scent has a definite oily base to it. We could never completely remove the scent..as we couldn't wash a dogs face with it for fear of harming their eyes...but we did better with Dawn than any other thing we tried. Some folks still use tomato juice as the acid in it has some effect on skunk oils, but nothing like Dawn.
I personally don't use it on my muzzleloaders, but it should work just fine.

Dawn is right up there with WD-40, works on everything.
 
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