Recurrent barrel rust?

[DaveC]

I used to shoot my .50 Kentucky rifle about once a month. I spend a long time at the range using 20-ga. shotgun patches with Blue Thunder black powder solvent before I head back home after shooting. When I get home, I use hot water and more patches to swab the bore. Because it is a Kentucky rifle I cannot dismount the barrel, and so I just use hot water without being able to immerse the barrel in the pail of water. I had a little hose that screwed into the nipple bolster, but it springs loose all the time and is vexing to use. Once I get a clean patch, I run several dry patches down the barrel, and once everything is dry, I then use Ballistol to preserve the metal.

Anyway, I've been on the road a lot this summer, and about once a month, I come back, take down my Kentucky rifle from the wall, and find rust under the Ballistol. It is a fine line of rust on either side of each of the lands inside the barrel. What am i doing wrong? Does anyone here have any recommendations about recurring barrel rust? :shocked2:

 

[trigrcreep]

Thats scary,do you use a brush?

 

[Vaino]

Wire brushing might clean out the corners....Fred

 

[William O.]

Try using more Ballistol in the barrel as well as saturating a dry cleaning patch with it then running it down the bore a couple of times. The cleaning jag should push the saturated patch into the grooves for even protection. You might also think about spraying WD-40 down the barrel to remove any remaining water, then using Ballistol. If that doesn't do the trick then you may want to switch to another rust preventative.

 

[necchi]

Seem's once a little rust gets started it just keeps cropping up it's head.
Likley the HOT water and a little flash rust at some point,,,
Anyways, step'er up to a full gun oil in the bore. many use Ballistol but at this point you need a little more protection.
For long term storage I use LPS 2,,even regular season I use a gun oil,, Hoppes #9 is a favorite. It's not a big deal to use real oil instead of the "Hydrolized Mineral Oil" that's "Water Soluble". Just clean the oil out with brake cleaner or Isopropyl Alchohol or Denatured alchohl before you shoot and all is fine.

 

[Rat Trapper]

I always use a thin gun oil in the bore once I have cleaned it. I clean it out before I load the gun. The use of bore butter is not a good way to prevent rust in the boe.

 

[ohio ramrod]

I like to dry my barrels with several patches after cleaning then put a dry patch into the breech powder chamber, and then heavily oil the barrel with good old fashioned G.I. gun oil. When ready to shot I pull the patch from the breech and swab with a couple of alcohol patches before loading.My target barrel is over thirty years old and several thousands rounds through it and is still in like new condition in the bore. :hmm:

 

[LeeinVA]

Pyramid air sells MP-5 Oil which is the best damn stuff i have every used. Once made by Beeman for spring air rifles that are always handled and prone to rust. One drop pretty much does the whole gun. The last bottle i had lasted 12 years..

Been shooting field target for years and this stuff works..

 

[Billnpatti]

I recommend soapy water and a bore brush to get out all of the crud and then rinse with clear water. Dry with several dry patches and then spray with WD-40 to get out the last tiny bit of moisture. Wipe out the WD-40 with several dry patches and then run a patch saturated with Birchwood-Casey's "Barricade". Lastly, store your rifle in a bore down position for at least a few days to keep the Barricade from pooling in the breach. I think this technique will solve your rust problem. :thumbsup:

 

[Dphar]

I used to shoot my .50 Kentucky rifle about once a month. I spend a long time at the range using 20-ga. shotgun patches with Blue Thunder black powder solvent before I head back home after shooting. When I get home, I use hot water and more patches to swab the bore. Because it is a Kentucky rifle I cannot dismount the barrel, and so I just use hot water without being able to immerse the barrel in the pail of water. I had a little hose that screwed into the nipple bolster, but it springs loose all the time and is vexing to use. Once I get a clean patch, I run several dry patches down the barrel, and once everything is dry, I then use Ballistol to preserve the metal.

Anyway, I've been on the road a lot this summer, and about once a month, I come back, take down my Kentucky rifle from the wall, and find rust under the Ballistol. It is a fine line of rust on either side of each of the lands inside the barrel. What am i doing wrong? Does anyone here have any recommendations about recurring barrel rust? :shocked2:

Ballistol has alcohol in it. Alcohol invariably has some water in it.
I would find something that was an actual rust preventative.
If the solvent you are using has water in it you are doing more harm that good putting it in the barrel unless cleaning completely. So letting it wet soak simply activates the fouling.
Excessively hot water also causes flash rusting.
Unless using pyrodex hot water is not needed.
Nor is soap.

Plug the vent with a toothpick at the range and pour in some water and slosh do this a couple of times patch a time or two and repeat the slosh then wipe dry. When most of the water is out pull the toothpick so air can circulate as you wipe.
"BP Cleaning solvents" with petroleum distillate often fail to completely remove the fouling.
Use water to clean then protect with a good rust preventative when dry.
Then wipe it out again the next day.
If its been really rusted and has a pit or "tooth" in the bore it will be very hard to clean.
Dan

 

[DaveC]

Thanks for the recommendations. Much obliged. I'll get to shoot it some in August and when I clean it I'll do a more thorough regimen and rinse things out after each stage. No pitting that i can see. It is a 1:66 twist, but on either side of the lands a little orange is visible when I check things out.

 

[runnin lead]

After cleaning & running a couple dry patches I pour a little denatured alcohol down the barrel & runa couple patches with alcohol down the barrel.
After the alcohol I let the barrel sit a few minutes , then oil.
After cleaning my lock on my flint lock I also give the lock a little alcohol to rid it of any water before oiling.
When I am getting ready to go shooting I run a patch with denatured alcohol down the bore to get the oil out, I then take the patch & wipe the pan & frizzen if it is a flint lock.
No rust problems, A quart of denatured alcohol last a long time.
I also keep a small bottle in my shooting box along with other misc solvents & oils.

 

[Bill Hall]

Seem's once a little rust gets started it just keeps cropping up it's head.
Likley the HOT water and a little flash rust at some point,,,
Anyways, step'er up to a full gun oil in the bore. many use Ballistol but at this point you need a little more protection.
For long term storage I use LPS 2,,even regular season I use a gun oil,, Hoppes #9 is a favorite. It's not a big deal to use real oil instead of the "Hydrolized Mineral Oil" that's "Water Soluble". Just clean the oil out with brake cleaner or Isopropyl Alchohol or Denatured alchohl before you shoot and all is fine.

In my experience, Necchi has some good advice and info. Once that rust gets started, it's like a bad habit, it just keeps coming back. But you can get rid of it.

I think your biggest problem is using hot water. No need for it and it has been guilty of causing some superficial rust. Warm, or room temp water works just as well.

I would like to add one more thing along with getting some good quality gun oil. After your whole cleaning routine is finished, check the bore the next day for rust. If any rust exists, run an oily patch down the bore until the rust is gone. Do this every day, or every other day or so, until you see no rust on a clean patch. This will help get rid of the reaccuring rust problem. For long term storage, check it now and then to see how it's doing. Good luck, Bill.

 

[StewartLeach]

It's hard to get every last little bit of fouling out of a barrel. So, we do our best, then protect the rest.

Clean well, much as you have described. Then protect the bore by swabbing with a patch well wetted with an anti-rust compound. Ballistol is okay, but it is a water miscible oil, and may well pick up moisture from the atmosphere. I began using the Birchwood Casey product now called Barricade a couple of years ago, and am very pleased with the results. After drying with several patches, the oil patch goes in and out several times, wipes down the outside, and then back in the bore on the end of the ramrod. The rifle stands nose down on the rod in the corner for a few days; I run the the patch in and out a couple of times a day.

I found the advice I got here about clearing the oil out with alcohol before firing to be worthwhile. A small bottle of 100% alcohol from the paint counter at Home Depot is part of my kit. Two nice soppy wet alcohol patches, then a dry one, let it dry while setting out the rest of the paraphernalia. If the oil isn't swabbed out, I get a tarry hard to remove deposit in the barrel.

White Fox

 

[Paulussie0]

Ballistol Is hygroscopic this means it takes up water ,(you can add water to use it as a milk for your patche's) so it is no surprise your barrel gets rusty after a while.

 

[brubincam]

WD 40---used it for Y-E-A-R-S no rust

 

[nhmoose]

Hi! I have shot line competition for years; I cleaned my barrels every night after the days competition. I used the old known cleaner of 1/3 Murphy's oil soap, 1/3 denatured alcohol, 1/3 peroxide from the drug store. I also used this as a wipe between shots.

I mixed a gallon of the alcohol and Murphy's 1/2 and half and then added the peroxide in 1-3 amounts in my cleaner bottle every day fresh.

I would plug the touchholes and soak the bore in this mix for about 10 minutes then dump it out and wipe with dry patches till the bore was dry, then a couple of WD-40 soaked patches were run down the bore followed by a dry patch.

The next secret to keep the bore in excellent condition was two patches of RIG grease up and down the bore. To clean for the next day’s competition a wet patch of denatured alcohol followed by a dry patch was all needed to clear the bore of grease.

My self and my twin nephews used this system for years and had no problems with rust or any problems of the bores being stored from the fall Ticonderoga shoot till the next season of the First Congress of New England affiliated club shoots.

We still use this system of cleaning today. Note: one of the twins has worked for Green Mountain Barrels since 1985 and still does today.

 

[trigrcreep]

I am going to try that. I bought one of those gm interchangeable barrels,when I got it I ran several patches thru it before shooting and came up with a nasty rusty grease. The barrel shoots fine but I cant help but wonder if thats why its difficult to get really clean :idunno:

 

[trigrcreep]

I fired the rifle today ,we had murphys oil soap and peroxide. I subsituted some oxy clean and water with alittle ballistol for the balance . That stuff cleaned great thanks for the tip! :bow: