REALLY DIRTY bore!!!

Just picked up a Traditions hawkens woodsmen for next to nothing. The gun has sat 2years without being cleaned. He said it was shot using pyrodex and maxi hunters. I have cleaned for over an hour and the wipes are still coming out dirty. I woun ild love to get this clean so I can see just how bad it is. Any tricks or suggestions to save some man hours???

"to save some man hours???"

Disgard the bore and go to E-Bay and find one. After 2 years wth Pyrodex residue I would not even atteempt to "clean" the barrel. I proved myself wrong once though, recd simiar as a gift and I cleaned it (like 30 min max) and it shot great and now has a new home with a new shooter who is happy. Yours apperently was much worse. Could also send for rebore up a caliber or as a really cool smoothbore?

Try overnight soking with the 5K plus suggestions that will follow and maybe add in an alkaseltzer or efferdent to help break up the thinck crud? Get a bore brush slightly undersized (so it wont put you back yer asking how to get it out) and use a drill and bore brush? If you have rust as an issue 9-1 water/mollases (like from the feed store for 5-7 bucks a gallon) and soak 2-3 days (will get the rust out for sure, will take the blue off for sure).

Let us know. Hope my pessimesim is proved wrong again.

Clean yer guns folks.

Cleaning is always the biggest issue with BP and for the life of me I just don't understand why shooters don't get it!

A patch of green scotch bright pad wrapped around an undersized jag, then some steel wool wrapped around bore sized jag. This is best accomplished by putting the barrel in a padded vise so you can use both hands on the rod to minimize fatigue. Soap and water or gun cleaning oil to lubricate the scrubbing jags.
I picked up an old CVA Frontier in similar condition, got it cleaned but the barrel was pitted. It shot just fine but the pitting would hold more fouling than a smooth barrel. That necessitated Swabbing after every 5th shot. Sold it to a guy wanting a hunting rifle who said he wouldn't be shooting it more than 5 shots a day anyway.

I know this is a BP Muzzle loading site, but a barrel is a barrel. I acquired a few years back a Great Plains Indian Tac Trapdoor 45-70 carbine. It hasn't been cleaned or shot for eons and was told it was a wall hanger because the barrel was severely clogged with BP crud over decades, the rest of the carbine was in decent shape. (Trapdoors were the last black powder issued Military rifles and they also shot non BP rounds.) Same type used by Custard's men and also used by Indians during those Indians wars in the mid 1800's. Anyway to the point.

I carefully removed the barrel and could not even get a .22cal brass brush halfway before it was getting stuck, yet a bore scope and light showed no complete obstruction. So I basically did the same on all the above posts. First boiling hot water and dawn a few times. Then used Blaster Buster in liquid form (any good crud breakdown solution should do well) I plugged the barrel up left for a day or so. Flushed out with Boiling soapy water a fee times. I was then able to get that .22 brass brush thru. Carefully used green Scotch Brite too and just kept going slowly with washing out with a mix of hot soapy and Ballistol (again any cleaner should do) slowly moved up to a .45 cal brass brush repeating everything. In went the scope and noticed some of the rifling showing and the barrel finally free of all crud and most all pitting, went back using only the Scotch Brite. Bottom line take your time with patience. Once cleaned out completely I inspected inside the barrel for any cracks etc. noticed at the breach it showed some carbon escaping which was the trap door at the breach was worn. So I use only non BP low pressure reloads. It is safe to shoot. Now I have been able to shoot it without any issue. I brought it back to life.

Personally I would try to clean yours out first, last resort find another barrel. Sorry no pics on mine. I would get hung by my short hairs on posting photos of a non muzzle loader lololol.

I have been told that to increase the effectiveness of a cleaning solution, it helps heap invectives and vile curses on the perpetrator and to swear on holy relics to never ever use pyrodex.

Call Bobby Hoyt

I’ve used PB Blaster and a scotch bright copper scrubber to good effect on cruddy barrels. I take the scrubber and tear off a wad and wrap it round an under bore size wire bore brush and have at it. Make sure the bore brush is a good one and not the cheapies. You may have enough decent rifling that the gun will shoot well. As mentioned it may require more wiping and care in cleanup.

Steel wool wrapped around an undersized brush. Draw the steel wool out and wind around the jag until bore size is achieved. Scrub away. Repeat as needed.

Zzmudd58 said:

Just picked up a Traditions hawkens woodsmen for next to nothing. The gun has sat 2years without being cleaned. He said it was shot using pyrodex and maxi hunters. I have cleaned for over an hour and the wipes are still coming out dirty. I woun ild love to get this clean so I can see just how bad it is. Any tricks or suggestions to save some man hours???

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I have a great barrel for that rifle.

Frontier's said:

I have a great barrel for that rifle.

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I'm going to give it a try cleaning it. If that doesn't work, I certainly would be interested in a replacement.

boiling water!

Soak them in a PVC pipe tube, kerosine works well or any penetrating oil. Fine steel wool woven into a copper brush and sprayed or dipped in lube is what I use when I discover these finds or someone brings one in. Always worth a try.

Zzmudd58 said:

Any tricks or suggestions to save some man hours???

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Go to the local auto parts store and buy a small container of Evapo Rust.

Plug the nipple, stand the barrel breech down and pour Evapo Rust into the bore being careful to not get the stuff on the blued barrel.

Let stand for 12-15 hours, pour the Evapo Rust into the can and clean the bore with tap water.

i've cleaned up a bunch of barrels using Evapo Rust. Some cleaned up nicely, some were discarded. Recently cleaned a very nice CVA rifle that had been fired using Pyrodex a couple years ago, the bore looked awful. The bore cleaned up nice and shiny with a few shallow pits.

What is it about Traditions Hawken Woodsman rifles? Nobody seems to want to clean them. I picked one up for $100 about 4 years ago. Was quite dirty with some rust. Couldn’t turn it down for the price. Did some cleaning then just shot it. Actually shot pretty well. Seemed to clean easier the more I shot it.

Zzmudd58 said:

Just picked up a Traditions hawkens woodsmen for next to nothing. The gun has sat 2years without being cleaned. He said it was shot using pyrodex and maxi hunters. I have cleaned for over an hour and the wipes are still coming out dirty. I woun ild love to get this clean so I can see just how bad it is. Any tricks or suggestions to save some man hours???

Click to expand...

Soak it in transmission fluid…plug the nipple fill it up and let soak for however long you want or it takes….

Okie Hog said:

Go to the local auto parts store and buy a small container of Evapo Rust.

Plug the nipple, stand the barrel breech down and pour Evapo Rust into the bore being careful to not get the stuff on the blued barrel.

Let stand for 12-15 hours, pour the Evapo Rust into the can and clean the bore with tap water.

i've cleaned up a bunch of barrels using Evapo Rust. Some cleaned up nicely, some were discarded. Recently cleaned a very nice CVA rifle that had been fired using Pyrodex a couple years ago, the bore looked awful. The bore cleaned up nice and shiny with a few shallow pits.

Click to expand...

A product like EvapoRust will chemically dissolve all the active rust in the bore without damaging any of the steel. May take more than one application, but it does work. Once done, you can see what you left in the bore. Or you can scrub, soak, brush, swab, wipe with patches and get things stuck in the bore until you give up.

I use the old stand by hydrogen peroxxide/murphy's oil soap/ alcohol mixture to clean crudded barrels. Plug and let set for a few hours, dump out and repeat a few times followed by either lapping or schotch brite.

Interesting. I'm just about to start a thread on a related topic. In my experience, putting a hundred patches though a barrel that keep coming out black means your barrel is leaded, from shooting lead bullets.

After you use the scotch Brite and steel wool, use this 400 Grit on a tight fitting patch. Be sure to use a muzzle protector on the rod. Run it 100 times, turn patch over, more grit and 100 more. Repeat until satisfied. Works best with a rod that swivels so the patch follows the lands and grooves.
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