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Best Moose Milk

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I gather if there are 50 BPML shooters in a room there would be 75+ recipes for 'Moose Milk'. I have looked over/thru a bunch of them and pretty much have my formula/mix finished. The one thing I have not yet decided upon is whether to add Pinesol or Murphy's Oil soap... Any suggestions one way or another or leave it out all together??
Advice greatly appreciated
 
. The one thing I have not yet decided upon is whether to add Pinesol or Murphy's Oil soap...
Geez, Really? The 3 recipes I have don't use either of those!
One uses Toad sweat, (warm weather) the other uses cat snot (cold weather),
The 3rd uses Possum squezzins, but there has been so much controversy about "how to squeeze" and which gender is best that I stopped trying that one,,
 
I gather if there are 50 BPML shooters in a room there would be 75+ recipes for 'Moose Milk'. I have looked over/thru a bunch of them and pretty much have my formula/mix finished. The one thing I have not yet decided upon is whether to add Pinesol or Murphy's Oil soap... Any suggestions one way or another or leave it out all together??
Advice greatly appreciated
I've always used Murphys, hydrogen peroxide, and 70% rubbing alcohol.

BUT I've not used the stuff for years. We used to use it on severely fouled muskets after shooting 30-40 blank rounds out of them. It was just to reduce the time of cleanup, not actually superior to water, because there were times when we had none of the milk, and it just took longer to clean the gun. Windshield washer fluid with a bit of ammonia works to neutralize the acidic compounds in the black powder ash too, and some guys swear by that stuff.

I use cold water, with a drop of Dawn dishwashing liquid, per quart of water. Works fine, and is very cheap. When dried the metal gets a rust preventative.

LD
 
Anytime I see a thread with "what's the best _______?", I expect it to be long and turn snarky before it dies.

I hadn't fooled with a ML in close to 30 years until this year, so take this with for what it cost you. For cleaning I use a 1-1-1/2 mix of hydrogen peroxide, isopropyl alcohol and Murphy's oil soap. It seems (in my opinion) to work better than the hot soapy water I used all those years ago.

Now, to fix some popcorn. :ghostly:
 
I gather if there are 50 BPML shooters in a room there would be 75+ recipes for 'Moose Milk'. I have looked over/thru a bunch of them and pretty much have my formula/mix finished. The one thing I have not yet decided upon is whether to add Pinesol or Murphy's Oil soap... Any suggestions one way or another or leave it out all together??
Advice greatly appreciated
As a patch lube, I just use Murphys neat. It’s a good lube and keeps any fouling soft, making cleaning much easier
 
I gather if there are 50 BPML shooters in a room there would be 75+ recipes for 'Moose Milk'. I have looked over/thru a bunch of them and pretty much have my formula/mix finished. The one thing I have not yet decided upon is whether to add Pinesol or Murphy's Oil soap... Any suggestions one way or another or leave it out all together??
Advice greatly appreciated
Most of us know of 5 or more recipes for "Moose Milk" or any of the variants of cleaners and lubricants. At the gathering of the 50 shooters, many of the differing formulas would be very similar. Certainly, all of these "Moose Milk" formulas work as the main ingredient is water and black powder fouling is water soluble. You do need a detergent to dissolve the greases and oils. Whether the soap is Murphy's or Pine Sol really doesn't matter. Whatever you have immediately at hand will work just fine even Dawn dish soap or Awesome from the Dollar Store and what you have sitting at your kitchen sink to clean dishes or under the sink to clean floors.

So, regardless of what I may use in the form of "Moose Milk", if what you are using is working for you and the results are satisfactory, then that formula is "the best".
 
If you don’t go out and milk a moose, it won’t work. If you aren’t in the north, I can sell ya some!
 
Appreciate ALL your answers. I guess my 50 BPML shooters/Moose Milk recipes ratio was a bit on the short side...But I thank you all-- for the advice, wisdom, and humor... In the end I will try both Pineso and Murphy's and see which hides the puke smell of Ballistrol the best!!!
A shot of Jim Beam Honey Whiskey, A slug of Beer to wash it down, and then swab the barrel in a bucket of hot water with Dawn dish soap. Repeat as necessary......
I like JB Honey but confess I use Old Crow which is 3 year old bourbon. If aged another year to 4 years it becomes Jim Beam!! My standby for an Old Fashion -- unless I can score some Blanton's which is always neat in a snifter
 
Any suggestions one way or another or leave it out all together??
In all honesty, after the teasing,,
It doesn't matter,, both are a "surfactant" aka; soap. One has a pine sent the other citrus.
It's all about having something slippery that helps the bad stuff float away as you scrub/clean,


What Are Surfactants and How Does Soap Work?

The word ‘surfactant’ is a blend of the words ‘surface-active agent.’ But what do surfactants do? Surfactants are compounds that lower the surface tension (also known as interfacial tension) between two liquids, a liquid and a solid, or a liquid and a gas. Surfactants can act as detergents, emulsifiers, foaming or wetting agents, and more.

Soap is a surfactant, as soap reduces surface tension between molecules and contains molecules that can bond to oil and water simultaneously. Soap is made up of pin-shaped molecules. Each molecule has a hydrophilic head that bonds with water and a hydrophilic tail that bonds with oil and fat and rejects water. This hybrid structure enables soap to kill several different types of bacteria and viruses—often with just a single drop diluted in water.
 
Geez, Really? The 3 recipes I have don't use either of those!
One uses Toad sweat, (warm weather) the other uses cat snot (cold weather),
The 3rd uses Possum squezzins, but there has been so much controversy about "how to squeeze" and which gender is best that I stopped trying that one,,
Always a comedian and 5 or 6 who promote him.
 
Well I found how you get it.....
 

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