What's Easiest for Cleaning BP?

[Driftwood Johnson]

Texas Trail Boss:

Perhaps you did not notice the question buried in the text of my last post.

What kind of lube are you using on your bullets?

If you are using regular Smokeless lube as supplied on most hardcast bullets, that is probably your problem. You must use a soft lube specifically formulated for Black Powder when shooting with BP. Using normal Smokeless lubes will result in hard crusted fouling that is diffucult to remove no matter what you use as a solvent. If you are using regular Smokeless lube, Ballistol will not help. If you are using a BP compatible lube, like SPG or Bore Butter, then any water based concoction will disolve Black Powder fouling just as well, if not better than Ballistol will.

[Dick Dastardly]

Ok, here's flat easy. . . . .

I have a Tupperware™ tub that my RVs fit into.  I have about Three inches of Moosemilk in the tub.  After a match I pull the grip panels and drop the RVs, one at a time, into the bath.  I brush out the cylinder(s), pull a Bore Snake thru the barrel and blow everything out with compressed air and put the grip panels back on. Presto, very clean and well lubericated guns.

The rifle(s) and scattergun(s) are even easier.  I break down the shotguns (311s), spritz the bores and pull a Bore Snake thru.  Done.  For the rifle(s) I spritz the barrels with an empty case in battery, slosh the moosemilk back and forth and dump it out and then pull a Bore Snake thru.  Done.

I've won many a 12 pack by claiming I could clean my bp guns faster than some pard could do his heathen fad smokeyless guns.  I never lost.  I guess I'm getting too well known around my home stomping grounds.  Can't get the heathen shooters to bet anymore. . .

DD-DLoS

P.S. I was trying to be flamboyant with the red.  How'd I do?

[Noz]

Driftwood, When I went from fad powder to holy black I still had several hundred bullets made up with a homemade lube of beeswax, paraffin and STP. I use these only in my Marlin. They formed a ring of hard fouling about 14" from the chamber. I added a dacron felt (Walmart) wad soaked in the lube under the bullet and now I get a nice lube star and no fouling ring. Squirt with water or moosemilk and two passes with the boresnake and I'm good to go. Before I put it away I blow everything out with a compressor and run a Bore Butter patch thru it.
I think my point if that enough soft lube will work, no matter the composition.  That said, my next batch of the bullets will wear a more traditional BP lube.
I can't go to the big lube type of bullet because no one make them in .411.


Dick, you get about a 6.5 for flamboyance.