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Barrel Cleaning

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Terry Jack

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I am guessing that this subject has been addressed before but I have not been able to locate anything on it. Forgive me is I am incorrect.

I have been shooting black since the 1970s and have always been extremely meticulous about cleaning my muzzle loaders and cap and ball revolvers. I am beginning to think I am over doing things.

I clean until my patch comes out for all practical purposes, completely clean.

Am I wasting time and resources. Open to hearing your thoughts!

Terry
 
You only over do cleaning if you use a harmful chemical. Like something that removes bluing. Getting the corrosive properties out is paramount as is the light oiling to protect. Always treat any black powder or the substitutes as corrosive. Never wait till later to thoroughly clean. Clean all parts. Check and protect stored guns periodically. Maintenance equals longevity. I have a 46 years old Rogers and Spencer. Because of the maintenance it still shoots today.
 
Terry,
I'm a newer MLF member than you. I'm posting here in order to track this thread for further comments about cleaning.

I've just started in BP. Shot my .50 CAL pistol once, and have cleaned it twice now...before and after the ML shoot I went to. By following the experienced folks' discussions here, the biggie for me this past week is that I learned how strongly corrosive black powder is, and will easily damage brass and steel. New shooting adventures for me, new stuff to learn.
 
I would say cleaning until the patch comes out white may be a bit of overkill but if that is what it takes to meet your criteria then nothing wrong with that.

In my younger days I was way more anal regarding cleaning guns, washing my vehicles, etc. These days not so much. But they're still clean.
 
Terry,
I'm a newer MLF member than you. I'm posting here in order to track this thread for further comments about cleaning.

I've just started in BP. Shot my .50 CAL pistol once, and have cleaned it twice now...before and after the ML shoot I went to. By following the experienced folks' discussions here, the biggie for me this past week is that I learned how strongly corrosive black powder is, and will easily damage brass and steel. New shooting adventures for me, new stuff to learn.

Welcome wiksmo, There are a lot of people in this that are in the expert class for BP knowledge. I am not one of them. I've been shooting BP since the mid 70's and I am still from this forum. So have fun, start a thread and enjoy the conversations.
Thanks.
 
I clean with tap water, dry and use Barricade in the bore. Patches may not always come out lily white but they should come out with limited staining; that way you know it's time to dry and oil. And black powder is not corrosive at all. The fouling from the firing of black powder IS corrosive but is easily removed with water.
 
I would say cleaning until the patch comes out white may be a bit of overkill but if that is what it takes to meet your criteria then nothing wrong with that.

In my younger days I was way more anal regarding cleaning guns, washing my vehicles, etc. These days not so much. But they're still clean.
Actually I am only interested in getting them to the point that they do not rust. If I am over killing to much, I'd rather not.
 
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