Windex Cleans "right now"

[kyron4]

Oh my goodness, will this ever end???

and.................

 

[snakebit]

I use windex when shooting corrosive ammo in milsurplus rifles. With BP I use 91% alcohol at the range when I need to swab due to the fact it dries quickly .

Yep, me too. I keep a small pump spray bottle in the range box when the fouling starts to get bad.

 

[Butch Martin]

I have said this before: Bore cleaning is the last frontier.

 

[pacanis]

And it's more than a five year mission.

 

[Rob M.]

Interesting posts . Today I was sighting in the new N.W. gun . Got the windage set .... 19 patches dipped in water , and one one oil patch to clean it . Took 8 minutes . Easy peezy ...

 

[X62503]

I have a newbie question about method: when you run a patch down a bore that's fouled, does all of the fouling and crud just get pushed to the breech end of the barrel? Or, into the touchhole? Or, does it dissolve and soak into the patch as the patch is being pushed down? Thanks!

 

[ETipp]

I have a newbie question about method: when you run a patch down a bore that's fouled, does all of the fouling and crud just get pushed to the breech end of the barrel? Or, into the touchhole? Or, does it dissolve and soak into the patch as the patch is being pushed down? Thanks!

No doubt a little bit of fouling can be pushed down into the flash cannel. However, If the cleaning patch is at least moist, "most" of the fouling will stick to the patch. Windex works very well for this. More can be removed by following up with a dry patch before reloading.

During the final cleaning phase is where one concentrates on removing all the fouling from the entire rifle. Focusing on the flash hole during the final cleaning is very important IMO, as fouling can be a cumulative thing. It is for that reason why I prefer to remove the nipple and spray some sort of cleaner through the flash channel. I follow up by spraying compressed air from an air compressor then running clean patches down the barrel afterwards. By doing so, its amazing how much more fouling comes out on a clean patch after you "think" the flash channel was clean from a good cleaning.

In addition, I think it be note worthy to mention that a small steamer is suppose to be ideal for cleaning fouling from the flash channel.

 

[LME]

The Col. is right. People been using plain old uncomplicated water for hundreds of years successfully for hundreds of years. It's what I use to clean then I lube after the cleaning step.

Water is a universal solvent ! it should surfice to clean a B.P. rifle?

 

[French Colonial]

Search for posts by Grenadier1758, he uses a method using an undersized jag which allows the patch to slide over the crud on the way down and the patch bunches up and pulls the crud out on the way up.

He can explain it better than I can.

 

[#blackpowderbill]

A friend called me Thursday and mentioned this thread.
I commented , those guys will argue using only non-petro base lube. Say Sub powders don't work.

Yet will try & pour everything know to chemical science down the bore to clean with.
SMH

 

[IanH]

those guys will argue using only non-petro base lube.

.....and then immediately state that their favorite patch lube is Ballistol/water and don't know why anyone would use anything else.

When I was young I used wheel bearing grease on MZ patches because that's what my Dad used. Other than smelling like a tire fire, it worked just fine. Yes, I was using GOEX.

 

[ETipp]

A friend called me Thursday and mentioned this thread.
I commented , those guys will argue using only non-petro base lube. Say Sub powders don't work.

Yet will try & pour everything know to chemical science down the bore to clean with.
SMH

In terms of lubes, as you posted, my guess is most folks that advocate using only non-petro lubes for patches or conical, will not use anything but water and soap to clean there ML's.

There's a reason the old frontiersman used animal fat (mostly bear grease) for lube and rust prevention.............its all they had to use. Those same frontiersman used water to clean their ML's.

To keep this on track, Windex does, in fact, work very well when applied to a cleaning patch and running it down the bore between shots at the range. It also cleans a nipples well.

 

[Rob M.]

I have a newbie question about method: when you run a patch down a bore that's fouled, does all of the fouling and crud just get pushed to the breech end of the barrel? Or, into the touchhole? Or, does it dissolve and soak into the patch as the patch is being pushed down? Thanks!

Some gets I to the corners at the breech , some on the breech face ( good to have a Breech face scraper , I gotta get one ) but the most Important part is when I'm in the act of. Cleaning the bore I can here the air , and see some water , coming out that touch hole , its cleaning it self out . Swab till clean , patch till dry , fast scrub pan frizzen and immediate area , oil pat h down bore that that same patch wipe barrel length , pan and frizzen .....done. 8-12 minutes ...Not one slow ignition , or misfire either

 

[Rob M.]

Water is a universal solvent ! it should surfice to clean a B.P. rifle?

It does .... Been universally used for well over 300 years

 

[BS]

Been using Windex for over 30 years . [for cleaning muzzleloaders]
Been 40 years, how time flies!

 

[Britsmoothy]

If you DO put oil in the barrel, you will need an emulsifier (soap), a detergent (dispersant/surfacant), or a solvent (alcohol, paint thinner, acetone, etc.) to remove it along with the powder fouling that is mixed in.

Or, just HOT water!

 

[Britsmoothy]

I get heavy water from a pal who works at the nuke plant

 

[NorthFork]

I started using Zep window cleaner I get from tractor supply. They now ask for ID to buy it. Works great on other stuff also.

Huh? Why the need for ID??

 

[NorthFork]

blackpowder fouling is not acidic--a common confusion. It is highly basic. This is easily confirmed with a litmus paper test of the first water-wipe fouling patch. It generally reads pH of 11 - 12.0, due the presence of pitassium carbonate, potassium hydroxide and especially potassium thiosulfate. This caustic environment is why it can result in pitting corrosion, a more serious and harder to detect form of corrosion than simple surface rusting.

Thanks. I did not know that. Learn sumptin' new every day.

 

[hawkeye2]

I prefer Di-Hydrogen Oxide, cold, but still in liquid form, for cleaning my barrels.

LD

I use dehydrated Di-Hydrogen Monoxide. It's real easy to mix in the field and it's much easier to carry than the heavy water Britsmoothy uses.