cleaning cartridge guns

[Preacher Curt]

im sure this has been went thru but would some of you experts give a new comer some advise on how to clean your BP cartridge pistols and a 1869 henry .i have been shooting smokeless in them but want to switch to BP . been shooting muzzloaders since 1977 and can stand not shooting inthis irons what they used in the old days .thanks a heap for ahy help

preacher curt

[Adirondack Jack]

Do yourself a BIG favor and prepare em for use with BP BEFORE ya use any.  You really want to get em as clean and free of any petroleum based oil as possible first.  Get all that hard lube and gun oil residue outta there.  Then slobber em up real good with non-dinosaur oil, maybe ballistol (lotta padrs use it) or some sweet oil (olive oil), and don't be afraid to slobber em up nice and juicy like.  The oil will help keep your fouling soft an in many cases help it float on top oil so it washes off easily. I use a LOT of hot water and a very little bit of dish soap and wash em up, rinse with HOTTTTTT water from the Tea kettle, run a dry patch through, then oil em up again.

[Ransom Gaer]

Prepping them for BP is important.  When I got my guns new I thoroughly cleaned them with either HOT water with dish detergent that has some kind of grease remover or Windex with vinegar.  Stay away from the Windex with Ammonia.  It is hard on charcoal bluing.  Once it is really clean of the oil I coat the parts in the action and the exterior surface and cylinder chambers with Ballistol.  The bore I coat with Bore Butter.  As a muzzleloader you have probably at least heard of it if you haven't used it.  I also coat the cylinder pin with Bore Butter.  After awhile of doing this after use the metal appears to season just like a cast iron frying pan.  Cleaning is a breeze once a gun is set up this way.

Ransom Gaer

[Black Powder]

I'm also new and wasn't up to snuff on this topic.  Thanks for asking and thanks for these answers.

I have a new gun I haven't fired yet and was considering at least testing it with smokeless although I intend to shoot bp.  Believe I'll not do that.  Hadn't considered prepping it before shooting bp.  All I've done thus far is take it apart and thoroughly cleaned out all the excess oil in it from the factory.  Now I just learned some very useful (and perhpas obvious  ) advice that tells me I'm still not ready for the first time firing it.

No such thing as a silly question.  Somethin's always new to somebody.

Thanks again.

BP

[Dick Dastardly]

Water cleans, lube is your friend, smoke is good, flames and smoke are better.

Ballistol mixes with water to make a colloidal suspension that looks like milk.  Ten parts water to one part Ballistol and it's called Moosemilk.  In a spritz bottle it does most of your bp cleaning chores and leaves a protective film behind.  Straight Ballistol is a good lube/rust protective/cleaner.  The bore snake makes a pass thru a Moosemilk wet barrel and leaves it sparkling. 

Getting your gun ready isn't a big deal.  Any petro products should get cleaned out and all traces of copper fouling have to go.  Once your guns get used to bp they will love it as much as you already do.

Welcome to the Darkside, even though you have already dabbled.  Soon you'll be one of us.

DD-DLoS

[44caliberkid]

   There is a nasty rumor out there that BP fouling is hard to clean and it scares a lot of guys away from it.  This is totally urban legend.   BP fouling is actually easier to clean, as it is water soluble and cleans out simply with soap and water.  I use hot water and Dawn dish detergent.   Then I lube with my home made BP lube, which is similar to Borebutter.  I have several varieties of the same formula and by varying the wax content, I can have a buttery lube for moving parts and chamber lube (C&B pistols) or a stiff lube for lead bullets in BP cartridges.
   I also use lots of Ballistol, which is great stuff, the BP shooters friend, although your wife will hate the smell of it in the house.   Our kitchen reeks most of the year from burnt sulfur and Ballistol, but it's ambrosia to me.
   I am most reluctant to shoot smokeless powder arms anymore, but have a collection of surplus rifles and a few modern handguns that require it, but it takes 20 -30 patches to get the bore clean, compared to 2-4 patches for my BP guns.
   One more thing, and not to be a smart ass, but on any chat forum you really need to learn to try the "search" function first.  This subject has been discussed endlessly on this forum and if you search "cleaning BP guns" you will get enough reading and advise to keep you busy for half a day.   Whenever I find a forum on subjects about which I'm curious, I always try the search function about my questions and find they've usually been answered numerous times before.  Saves me waiting for an answer and keeps regular posters from getting pi**ed off.
   Welcome to the dark side.

[litl rooster]

reminds me I haven't finished cleaning my guns from last Sunday, ......Oh well the moosemilk will cut it

[RattlesnakeJack]

Here's a "trick" that you may already be aware of from your past black powder experience, which I find extremely helpful for the initial bore cleanup on a cartridge rifle that can't be cleaned from the breech (which includes pretty much all lever guns).  Close the action on an empty case (you must have some fouled ones already, if you need to clean your rifle!) then scrub most of the gunk from the bore with the case in place.  Keeps most - if not all - of that gunk from having any chance of getting into the action.  Finish up as you might otherwise clean the rifle (i.e. with the action open) to get the chamber clean as well.  It is of course best to have the rifle in a cradle with the action on top .... so any gunk runs or drops out onto the work surface, not into the action ...

A word of caution howsomever: the "case in chamber" trick is not a good idea with bottlenecked cases!  (Think about it .....  )