Cleaning/preservation advice.

[hornet7288]

Hello all!

I have a few questions regarding cleaning/preserving a couple of reproduction percussion lock rifled muskets I have.

I have an armi sport reproduction 1861 springfield .58 cal rifled musket and a brand new (never been fired) armi sport reproduction 1853 3 band british enfield rifled musket.

I am a civil war reenactor and use both weapons for reenacting. Usually out at reenactments I pour hot water down and barrel and use cleaning jags and cotton patches to swab the barrel clean. When I get home I use a 3 part solution of murphys oil soap, hydrogen peroxide and rubbing alcohol to flush the barrel out. After that I swab it clean. My main concern is that once all of the black powder residue is out I still get a fair amount of rust which comes out of the bore of the springfield. I am worried that over time this rust will break the barrel down and possibly affect the accuracy of the musket negatively.

After cleaning the springfield out and getting MOST of the rust out of the barrel I would take a cotton patch heavily lubricated with 3&1 oil and coat the bore in hopes that it would protect from rust. After reading a little online I have come to understand that 3&1 may evaporate very quickly and may be causing my rust problem.

Is my way of cleaning this rifle fitting AND what is a good way to keep rust from building up in the barrel when it is in storage for any extended period of time? As I mentioned I have a brand new unused 1853 repro Enfield and I would like to keep it in like new condition over time.

As far as the cosmetics of the gun if it has rained at an event I use high grit (1000-1500 grit) sandpaper to smooth the finish on the barrel back to a shiny look. Eventually I would like to get a dremel tool and a polishing wheel for the purpose of polishing up the outside of the rifle.

I have never live fired the 1861 springfield. I would like to in the future but I would like to be comfortable with cleaning it and caring for it properly.

Any and all advice and tips are welcome! Thanks for the help!

I have been reenacting for quite awhile but after purchasing a second brand new condition musket I would like to become more aware of the best way to clean and maintain my firearms.

 

[ryoung14]

The rusty discoloration you're seeing is 'flash rust'. I see it everytime I clean a non-stainless barrel with hot water. It's a very thin coating that forms quickly on a hot damp steel surface. In my experience, it has little depth and wipes away leaving a clean shiny surface. I've never had it leave pits or alter the appearance of the surface, so the 'rust layer' is probably only a few molecules thick.

Managed to get away from it by cleaning with cool water, but the cleaning job wasn't as thorough. Instead of rusty discoloration on the cleaning patch, I saw traces of patch lube and gray streaks. So, pick your poison; either way you end up having doubts.

I have been using Bore Butter for long term preservation. After drying the hot barrel ( hot from boiling water rinse), I swab it with a patch saturated with BB. When the barrel cools, everything is coated. I've had no trouble with barrels so treated, even when stored for several years. I know some here have had problems using BB; I'm not one of them.

When the barrel is cool and needs protection, I use either Birchwood Casey Sheath or Ballistol. Sheath is probably best for long-term. I've heard Ballistol is only good as a protectant for a couple of years. CLP might be another good choice.

Whatever protectant is used, it must be thoroughly removed before firing. 90% rubbing alcohol has worked for me as has a patch or two saturated with Gun Scrubber.

Don't know about 3-in-1 oil evaporating. I doubt very much that it goes away completely; more likely it leaves some kind of film. If you've been using it for awhile with good results, I'd say it's probably OK.

One thing that doesn't work is Olive Oil. Ruined a good barrel with that stuff when I was new to muzzleloading. Didn't take long either.

 

an old guy a long time ago told me
Plain hot water
Or hot water with any liquid soap
or just plain rubbing alcohol
would clean it just fine
I have used plain rubbing alcohol ever since,
because it works and dries fast.
Never had any "flash" "surface" rust during cleaning or even days afterward. But then I'm in a relatively dry climate in Wyoming.
Try just the alcohol for a while. After it's clean, run a couple dry white cotton patches down the barrel.
Then plain old sewing machine (3 in 1) oil. Light VERY light in the bore.
See if this helps you out.

 

[54ball]

Hydrogen PerOXIDE.

You do not want to clean metal with an oxidizer. So forget about the peroxide.

If it will bleach hair most likely it will rust a barrel.

After cleaning oil real well. Some say the new synthetic motor oils are really close to the old whale oil.

 

[William O.]

Plain water with or without a drop or two of liquid dish soap is all you need for cleaning, then after drying the barrel inside and out I use Birchwood-Casey Barricade for rust prevention. The small 4.5 ounce can has a small spout that allows me to place just a drop or two on a cleaning patch to coat the bore with so it lasts a long time, unlike the spray cans of lube which always seems to get everywhere except where I want it. For swabbing between shots I use an cleaning patch dampened with 91% rubbing alcohol, which seems to work pretty good because it dries quickly but a couple of drops of water on the patch will do the trick too, just be careful of how much you use.

 

[George T.]

Follow up a good soap and water cleaning with oil and again in a day or two followed by a good grease. I swab the bore several strokes with the grease so that it coveres the intire inner barrel! Good Luck! Geo. T.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Hydrogen PerOXIDE.

You do not want to clean metal with an oxidizer. So forget about the peroxide.

If it will bleach hair most likely it will rust a barrel.

After cleaning oil real well. Some say the new synthetic motor oils are really close to the old whale oil.

Just a good cleaning with soap and water is just fine. H202 will not harm your barrel and will get rid of any gunk hiding in the breech. Leave it in only about one or two minutes.
Rust can be prevented using several products. RIG is excellent. Many use plain ole Vaseline but there are others. For short term (under 6 months) WD-40 has served me well for decades.

 

[morehops]

I used hot water for years and after reading here about the 'flash over" , I switched to cold water and no more thin brown rust.
I look at storage in two ways: short term and long term. Short term is during hunting or shooting season & gets good gun oil or ballistol on all outside metal and bore.
Long term I swab the bore first with my regular gun oil, then dry patch it. Finally I use a heavy grease on all metal and bore. Then I wipe it down to a very thin layer. I've left rifles that way for 10 years storage with no problems.
Also, while I know some folks use 3 in 1 and WD40 for storage, it does not work well in the humid north east for long term storage. JMO.

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

When I was young, my mentor gave me a hand built .45 Pa. rifle which I still have. I was instructed to never take it apart but clean it by swabing with soapy water, then, grease the bore liberally with Crisco. The Crisco was the saving grace because it blended with the remaining gook and kept it from rotting out the breech end of the barrel. On all my guns, I have used everything from Crisco to Bore butter to G96, Ballistol, and Break Free CLP. All will work. I now use just plain old blue windshield washer fluid in a plastic pail, enough to cover the nipple, a jag and flannel patches. Couple of swabs to knock out the most fouling then change the patch and the WWF to fresh. Now I go to pumping that rod in the bore. The volume of fluid going through the nipple hole cleans the threads and all real well. No need to even use a breech scraper and I never get any flash rust. Ever. There is no oder to it and is pefectly safe for the stock finish. I do this 2 or 3 times and I just wipe down good with a towel and let her sit to dry out well. For the past couple of years I just swab the bore with Ballistol or G96 and then wipe the metal with the same patch. Ballistol is non petrolium and even works well on thr stock.
Loading is never an issue as I always swab the barrel after every few shots anyway. Seems pretty problem free.

 

[Little Wattsy]

I like plain WARM water not Hot.. followed by alcohol followed by gun oil. no problems.

 

[GaCop]

What about acetone? Any problems with using it?

Tom

 

[Rifleman1776]

What about acetone? Any problems with using it?

Tom

It is a powerful solvent but I don't see any point to using it. Would play heck with your finish if you spill.

 

[hornet7288]

Yes I live in VERY humid Savannah, GA right now so that could be the reason I get rust in the bore so quickly. It is good to know that this is "flash rust" or a very thin layer of rust which is not damaging to the accuracy of the bore.

I may try a more simple method that many people have mentioned here...warm water with dish soap. After that some type of oil that will coat the barrel and protect it.

I generally only do 1 reenactment a year because I am so busy with work so besides taking the muskets out and oiling them once a month or every other month they only see use about once a year. So they are stored for a fairly long period of time.

 

[hanshi]

You can't beat tap water, with or without a drop of dish detergent; that's all you need. Dry thoroughly and use the preservative of your choice. I prefer Barricade but even 3 in 1 oil works wonders. Just get that bore super dry. I don't often get flash rust but I don't use hot water, either.

 

[54ball]

What about acetone? Any problems with using it?

Tom

As said acetone is a powerful solvent.

Being a polar solvent it may have no affect at all on BP fouling but as Rifleman said it will harm the finish.

Plain water will do and really is ideal as water actually breaks down the BP fouling.

 

[cynthialee]

cold water, a dash of soap, scrub it well, rinse in clean cold water, wipe it down and put a couple of clean patches down the bore, is the patch clean? no: go back to step one yes: put an ounce of 90% or better alcohol down the barrel, swish it around, dump the alcohol, then patch dry it
(I use my hair dryer to help dry out the nipple port and fire chanel before I patch dry.)

After it is dry, use any number of bore protectants listed. (No bore butter. It works for patches, it is lousy for protecting.)

also if you play music, dance to the beat and sing with the songs as you scrub, the cleaning chases off demons and hex proofs the barrel

 

[hornet7288]

Well I have been working on my Springfield for a couple hours to pretty much 0 success. I've tried a little rubbing alcohol, rem oil and patching it and I am constantly getting dark brown patches that come out of the barrel and when it dries I get light brown patches that aren't as thick. I am using a cleaning jag that's slightly smaller that the bore so when I put a patch on it, it fits very tightly into the bore.

I feel like my problem is beyond cleaner and patches. What is the next step I should take in trying to remove this rust?

 

[morehops]

I think you said that you haven't live fired that rifle. It may be that it came packed with a tough coating in the bore like the Lymans do. You might consider using brake cleaner fluid next. That's what gets often recommended here to clean those factory coated Lyman bores.

 

[hornet7288]

So brake cleaner along with patches or something like fine steel wool?

Yes it's true I have never live fired the rifle. And it has pretty much always had this rust problem as long as I have owned it. I just now finally decided to try to get rid of it.

 

[Billnpatti]

A good scrub with soap and water to remove all of the fouling. Keep changing the soapy water and scrubbing the bore until the water comes out clean. Now, you have the fouling out and it is time to rinse with clear water. A couple flushes should have all of the soapy water out. Now you need to use some dry patches to dry the bore thoroughly. If you have an air compressor, you can use it to blow out your bore. Spray your bore with WD-40 to remove any residual water. Now, swab your bore with dry patches to remove all of the WD-40. It will have done its job of removing any moisture and it is time to get rid of it so you can swab your bore with a good rust preventive. I prefer to use Birchwood Casey's Barricade. Wet some patches with the Barricade and swab the bore thoroughly. Use a similar method to clean the rest of your gun. You can then put it away for a few days. After a few days, run another Barricade patch through the bore to be sure that you have done a good job and there is no rust. Done properly, you should have no rust problems.