Drying barrel after cleaning

[peter hawbaker]

I am with you, Fergetful Jones. I use HOT water for cleaning so it evaporates quickly, then run a dry patch down barrel with worm to get any water that may be laying in breech area. Then I use Bore Butter on a patch to coat the bore to prevent rust. I dont use WD-40 or alcohol in a barrel. Not saying that it is wrong to use those, just don't personally.

 

[brubincam]

-----MANY RUST PROBLEMS--

 

[Billnpatti]

Bore Butter and the T/C stuff both used to use the word "seasons" in their literature but have since stopped using it. There was some question about whether the bore of a rifle could be seasoned like an iron skillet. If I remember correctly, they decided that the steel was sufficiently different that no actual seasoning could take place inside a rifle bore by using the yellow stuff or any other bore dressing. Having used Bore Butter for several years I was of the opinion that my bore did actualy become seasoned. Now I am not so sure. Since the manufacturers were sufficiently sure that their product does not actually season a bore, I will assume that they are correct but I will not argue on either side.

 

[pa woods roamer]

Never had a problem using WD-40. I give the lock a good scrubbin` with an old Toothbrush and Wd-40. Then let it drain then blow it out with my air compresser. Do the same with the Barrel. As a final step, I saturate a patch with WD and push it down to the Breech and let it there. Quick and easy....

 

[roundball]

Never had a problem using WD-40.

Amen...used it on every firearm I've ever owned for the past 30 some odd years...find it particularly good for locks.
After cleaning and blowing off a lock with an air compressor, the aerosol cans of WD40 let me power flush the lock internals to drive off any remaining moisture.
The past few years I've bought WD40 aerosol cans by ordering it by the case from an online place

 

[smo]

IMHO Denatured alcohol, It works for me. :thumbsup:

 

[MikeChapin]

Can you use 91% Isopyropl alcohol from the drugstore.

You can but the denatured ethanol is better. Actually I very rarely use alcohol when cleaning. I run two patches with a Ballistol and water mix down the barrel after soap and water cleaning. This catches any graphite the soap and water can't get and kills any soap left in the barrel. Moose milk will also work for this step. I follow that with two or three dry patches and a Ballistol soaked patch to protect the barrel.

 

[Swampman]

Ditto on WD-40. The alcohol will ruin your stock finish so be very careful with it. I live less than 1/2 mile from the Gulf of Mexico and I have no rust problems. Mostly I use Break Free CLP but Olive Oil works well too. I patch my barrels once a day for a few days after cleaning.

I don't use hot water. IMO it promotes rust, but I've only been at this 35 years and still have lots to learn.

 

[jderrick]

Fish Aquarium pump? Interesting -- I always just progressed from warm soapy patches to dry patches to RemOil CLP patches and rubbed everything metal down with CLP....

 

[Quigley]

Fish Aquarium pump? Interesting -- I always just progressed from warm soapy patches to dry patches to RemOil CLP patches and rubbed everything metal down with CLP....

Yea, I shot my new GPR yesterday and used hot soapy water, followed by boiling water to rinse, followed by WD-40, followed by dry patches and CLP. I dont think the air pump is such a good idea.
Side note: Those Great Plains Rifles are shooters. I had a 10 shot ragged hole at 35 yards. That may change on out to 75 yards, but so far I like it.

 

[Tarzan]

I have used the following technique to clean my smoke pole for over 20 years.
I take the nipple off, fill a bucket with warm soapy water and use the ramrod, with cleaning jag and patch to pump the soapy water up and through the bore. After I am no longer squirting black goo out the nipple hole, I remove the barrel from the bucket. Using a funnel and a tea kettle full of steaming hot water, I pour the boiling water down the bore and allow a good portion to pour out the nipple hole (probably not the proper term, but you get the drift)
I need to mention, use an oven mitt for this as the barrel will become too hot to touch.
After I have allowed the boiling water to pour out. I take a clean patch and run it through the bore. It always comes out dry as the boiling water evaporates immediately. Then I take a very heavily oiled patch and run it through the bore.
I have never had any rust in my barrel and the bore looks as good as the day I first got the gun.

 

[hanshi]

Yeah, but everything is already saturated with oil down there. :rotf:

 

[smoothshooter]

Try 70%/30% isopropyl alcohol for cleaning.The 30% water content is enough to cut all of the fouling residue, and the 70% alcohol part helps the water part to evaporate within a couple of minutes or so on it's own. No dry patch necessary. Follow with whatever oil you like. I use the isopropyl on the outside of the gun also, but try to keep it off of the wood as I think it may remove some of the finish and stain over time. -Smoothshooter

 

[Billnpatti]

Only thirty-five years of muzzleloading?? Why, son, you're just a pup. :grin: I've been at this for over 40 years. :haha:

I, too, recommend WD-40 over the alcohol for removing residual water from your bore. :v Although, I must admit that I have used denatured alcohol for this purpose. It works but as you say, it can damage your stock and WD-40 is cheaper in the long run. Where we differ is that ever since I cleaned my first muzzleloader back in the late 60s, I have been rinsing with boiling water. As soon as the water has drained out, I follow with a couple dry patches and then a really good spray of WD-40. after the WD-40, I run a few patches throgh the bore to remove any of the WD-40 and then a patch with a good rust preventing oil. I have used several different things in my bore to protect it and all seem to work just fine. I used to use 3 in 1 oil, then I switched to Baricade. Now, I am using CLP. All work fine and no rust problems. I would not use any natural product such as bear fat, olive oil, Bore Butter, etc. because they are oils but have no rust inhibitors in them. I've never had a rust problem. I still have that first muzzleloader and it looks as good as the day I brought it home from the gun show.

My first rifle was a T/C Hawken with a removable barrel. I do not use the boiling water treatment on longrifles, though. For them, I simply rinse by pouring clean water down the bore, placing my finger over the muzzle and tipping the gun up and down several times. I do this a couple times and then run dry patches through a couple times followed by the WD-40 and a few dry patches followed by the oil patch.

I wipe all of my stocks down with soapy water and then wipe them with clear water. When everything is nice and cean and dry, I wipe the barrel and stock down with a light coat of Renaissance wax and buff them with a soft cloth. Except for a little light wear and a few inevidable small dings, they are all like new. :thumbsup:

These are just the musings of an old fart so take them for what they are worth. :idunno: :haha: