What's Easiest for Cleaning BP?

[Texas Trail Boss]

I have started using BP in my six-shooters in the last six months & I find it very hard to clean out of my guns.  What is the most effective & easiest way to clean my six-shooters?  Thanks a bunch!

[hellgate]

Any water based cleaner will do. There are dozens of secret formulas and they all work. Basically a detergent or soap in water will do it. You will hear of all kinds of "best" formulations. It's a free country, you can do what you want. I use a "moose milk" of soluble oil and Murphy's Oil soap but auto windshield squirter formulas (20/10 bug formula) are cheap and effective. So is Simple Green. A lot of folks use Windex (regular and vinegar flavored). You name it, it's been tried.

[litl rooster]

Any water based cleaner will do. There are dozens of secret formulas and they all work. Basically a detergent or soap in water will do it. You will hear of all kinds of "best" formulations. It's a free country, you can do what you want. I use a "moose milk" of soluble oil and Murphy's Oil soap but auto windshield squirter formulas (20/10 bug formula) are cheap and effective. So is Simple Green. A lot of folks use Windex (regular and vinegar flavored). You name it, it's been tried.

word for word DITTO

[fourfingersofdeath]

I've been thinking about making a soak tank for each handgun out of some GI ammo tins with internal padding (rubber conveyor belt cut to fit) to soak the guns in after they have had the handgrips removed and then removed and rinsed in solvent and dried off with compressed air. Good idea or wanky idea?

[Texas Trail Boss]

Well, I have heard about these water based concoctions but always worried about the rust factor if you don't get all of the water out.  I have been using a regular gun cleaning kit with the solvents they provide & it just doesn't seem to do the trick properly.  Maybe I'm looking at it all wrong & taking all that time to clean the guns is part of the fun but... it sure doesn't seem like fun to me! 

[Doc Neeley]

I use Three Rivers from the Gunworks, a waterbased cleaner. Of course I 'decant' it into something more appropriate.

[Ransom Gaer]

Texas Trail Boss,

What others have said is absolutely true.  Any water based concoction works.  What helps prevent rust is using very hot water.  As hot as you can stand it.  The water evaporates, so rust isn't a problem.  And of course be sure to oil it good with ballistol or something like it.  Bore butter also works.  The only time I've ever had rust problems is after a match like Winter Range 2006 or Hell On Wheels 2006 where it rained.

I've actually found that using a water solution to clean my black powder guns is quicker than cleaning smokeless.  Also you don't necessarily have to clean the action each and every time.  Despite the old stories actual blackpowder isn't nearly as corrosive as most people think.  I thoroughly clean the actions of my guns about twice a year and have no problems with that.  Especially if some lube gets in the action.

Ransom Gaer

[E.R.Beaumont]

Howdy Pards and Pardettes.

I vote for Hot Soapy water, followed by a rinse and a lube.  Of Course it is easier with a Smith cause the barrel comes off.  When I was young and dumb I tried to campaign a pair of Navy Arms Russians in .44 Russian.

After each match I would wash the barrel in the bath tub with hot water and Murphys.  After that I would rinse them in a pan of boiling water and Ballistol, then I would lay them out on a towel and dry them off.  I would apply more Ballistol while they were still hot and then wipe them down again.  It was all for naught, they still wouldn't shoot a whole match.

Yes yes I know there is no gas ring on the cylinder, but mine were some of the first Russians in country.  We found things out eventualy.  Any way, I still vote for hot soapy water, rinse with real hot water, and lube while its still hot.

That is all I think I know.
Regards, Beaumont

[Bristow Kid]

The best suggestion I can make is check out the Darksider's Den here in CASCity.  Thats where I got most of the tips I use.  I use soap & water and them a moosemilk bath when I get home.  Blow out with compressed air and lube with Ballistol.  Works for me.

[Howdy Doody]

Well, you know me, I like to buck the tide. I use on Windex with vinigar. I spray and if needed use a toothbrush for the nooks and crannies. I only take my shooters completely apart for cleaning if I am repairing or modifying something. I further buck the tide in that I use only Breakfree CLP to lube parts and barrels, except I do shoot a shot silicone lube spray into shotgun chambers after cleaning to assist in shucking the empties. 

[Ransom Gaer]

Howdy Doody,

I've been known to use Windex too.  It works real well also.  I take a spray bottle of the stuff to the matches all the time to help my '58 Remington's.  The weak link on them is the cylinder pin starts tightening up pretty quickly whether I have shot percussion or cartridges in them.  Windex makes a pretty good short term lube.

Ransom Gaer

[hellgate]

Hey Ransom,
For my Remmies that gum up I put a single drop of Ballistol (from a small plastic squeeze bottle) onto the front of the cylinder where it contacts the frame under the barrel (right over the cylinder pin). Then just jiggle & twirl the cylinder for a couple of seconds to work it down onto the cylinder pin. I hold the gun upwards so the oil runs down into the pin area. It takes just a few seconds between stages. I do the oil drop thing right after charging the 5 chambers & greasing the tops of the balls. Works like a charm and keeps the Remmies whirling. Likely a drop of just about any oil or maybe a solvent will do as much good but I haven't tried them.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Conventional Smokeless cleaning solutions do not work well on Black Powder. Anything waterbased works fine. You are correct, you have to get all the water out when you are done.

I accomplish this by cleaning with a mix of Murphy's Oil Soap, Hydrogen Per Oxide, and Denatured Alcohol, commonly known as Murphy's Mix. All available in one stop at the super market.

Basically, the Per Oxide is almost completely water, the alcohol is about 20% water, so it is the water that does the actual cleaning. The Murphy's Oil soap dries to leave an oily surface behind, the alcohol is a drying agent that speeds up evaporation of the water, and the Per Oxide provides a little bit of fizz.

I clean my guns at room temperature in the kitchen sink. I drop the cylinder into a cup full of Murphy's Mix, then wipe out the chambers with a bronze brush, clean the bore with a brush and brush of the frame. I make sure to squirt some extra solvent down into the opening in the frame where the hand pokes through. Then I follow up with a quick light coat of Ballistol, also squirting some down into the frame.

You DO NOT have to totally dissasemble a revolver that has been fired with BP. Takes me about 10 minutes to clean one. Any fouling that has worked its way down into the lockwork will be deactivated and rendered harmless by the Murphy's Mix and/or the Ballistol. REALLY!

Cleaning BP is easier than cleaning Smokeless, not harder. But it is messier.

Also, what kind of lube are you using on your bullets? Using Smokeless lube with BP is not good, and will make the guns much harder to clean. Soft BP compatible lube is a must.

fourfingersofdeath: forget the soaking tank. Much too much overkill. Just dump the cylinder into a cup of solvent like I do. Clean everything else with conventional patches. Should take about 10 minutes.

[Dick Dastardly]

Water does the work.  A water/oil mix leaves oil behind to protect.  Ballistol is a great product that makes a colloidal suspension that looks like milk.  The 1 part Ballistol to 7 parts water mix is called Moosemilk.  I use it for all my bp cleaning chores.  Quick, easy and never any rust.

DD-DLoS

[Flinch Morningwood]

Guess I'm just repeating what's been said above but here goes:

Pistols
For my 58 Remmies, I just take off the grips, seperate the cylinder and dump into the kithen sink which I have filled halfway with (a) as hot a water as will come out of the tap and (b) about a half a cup of simple green. I then work a bore brush up a down the tube a bout 10 times and best as I can in the cylynder chambers...then let them soak for 15 minutes.  The soak disolves most of the BP fowling and heats up the gun, assuring it will dry better.  I pull them wipe them down as much as possible and coat liberally with Ballistol.

Rifle/Shotgun
Spray barrels with water/simple green and mount in homemade gun clamp.  Run a bore brush up and down a few times followed by a patch.  Wet patch with mixture, bruch dry patch, repeat as neccesary until clean...finish up with Ballistol.  Having the weapon secured makes this a lot easier.

Attached is a crude drawing of the homemade Gun cleaning clamp I made...if anybody would like photos, let me know...total cost to build - $9.

Hope this helps...

[Singing Bear]

I fill a small plastic tub with hot water and Murphy's.  The Murphy's is only to leave behind an oily film on the gun after cleaning.  The hot water heats the gun enough to aid in the drying.  Despite all that's been said against it, I still use WD 40 after all is cleaned and reassembled.  Have never had said problems with gumming and such. 

[Texas Trail Boss]

Well, looks like I need to get me some of this Ballistol.  I sure do appreciate all the input pards.  It will make this cleaning idea a lot easier & a bit more fun! 

[hellgate]

When I couldn't find Ballistol I got some water soluble machining oil at an automotive parts supply and used it as my lube/oil in the moose milk. I also add a little detergent to help cut the fouling better. Straight Ballistol and water (I can never seem to get more that a 1:10 mix, any greater amount of the oil seems to separate quickly) doesn't cut hard fouling as quickly. I may just be impatient as a little time & soaking would certainly loosen the hard stuff up.

[Noz]

I shot the Missouri Shoot Out right in front of White River Ike. Both of us were shooting 44 Remingtons. I went thru the dance of pull the cylinder, grease the base pin, clean the face of the cylinder, load, put a drop of Ballistol on the cylinder/base pin junction and had a gummed up gun in five rounds. He shot the stage, reloaded the cylinder, pulled the base pin forward and squirted a little water on it. Pushed it back into the cylinder and was ready to go. Minimal binding.
Once I got ALL of the grease, oil and Ballistol off of my guns, they worked the same way. WALMART sells a small (purse sized) spray bottle of glasses cleaner for $1.97. I threw the glass cleaner away and filled the bottle with water and I'm good to go.
Get home I run warm water thru barrel, cylinder and frame. Wipe inside of barrel and cylinder with a couple of patches. Spray everything with moose milk, wipe and blow dry with a compressor. Go get a beer.

As far as cleaners go, you could use what the mountain used. Urine. Not real cool to do it in the kitchen tho.

[Ransom Gaer]

NozzleRag,

I use Windex just like you use water at the matches. Spray the cylinder pin on my Remingtons.  It works like a champ.  Windex is a very good short term lubricant.  I discovered this at a match once where my Remingtons were binding up.  I needed something quick to free up the cylinder.  I had the Windex with me to clean the bore of my '66 between stages and gave it a try.  Fixed them right up.  BP is amazing stuff.  It makes you think and learn to improvise.

Ransom Gaer