Drying after cleaning

[kflach]

Looking at all the cleaning threads, I've noted that a lot of people use soap and water. However, I've seen very little on how the gun is dried afterwards. I've seen a few references to using 'compressed air,' which I assume refers to those cans of compressed air you can buy to clean out your computer. I've also read of heating up an oven to it's lowest setting and placing the freshly washed parts on a tray inside it for 20-30 minutes.

Using dry patches seems like it would be ineffective for a large portion of the gun due to tight corners etc. within the gun (although it might work great for the barrel).

I've wondered about using a hair dryer but I haven't seen anyone mention that.

These are the options I've considered, and I've settled on using the oven method, but I'm a bit concerned about that - the last time I did that I thought I saw some rust in my cylinder chambers afterwards (I quickly scrubbed the area with a number of Ballistol-soaked patches to clear that up).

Has anyone experimented and tested and found a good method that really works?

What did the guys back in the 19th century do?

[Hedley Lamarr]

It may not be perfect but what I do is dry them as best I can with towels and patches, using an air compressor to blast water out of the innards, and then hose 'em down until they drip Ballistol from every orifice.
Let 'em sit on a towel for a day or two and wipe 'em down again.
If you use canned air it'll get real expensive.

[44caliberkid]

The compressed air references mean an air compressor  and a blow gun attachement.   I wash with soap and water, wipe dry as thouroughly as possible with paper towel, then put them in the oven at 200 degrees for the final dry.   Only takes about 10 minutes in the heat.   A blow dryer would probably work pretty well, but I never tried it.   After I wipe off the nipples I blow through them to remove excess water, then put them in a Pyrex pudding cup in the oven.   Just get everything as dry as you can before the oven.

[James Hunt]

What are you guy's doing? Taking the gun into the shower with you? 

I use water - no soap. I use a wet patch in the bore (if the barrel has any pitting I will brush it but if in good shape I just use several wet patches), use a wet patch around the frame. I shove a dry patch thru the bore once and use the same patch to rub around the frame. Then I smear some tallow on a patch and run it several times thru the bore, use the same patch to rub all over the frame and grips. Done with gun.

In the field I either use a wet patch to clean the cylinder or dump it in a small boiler with water in it, pull it out and dry with whatever rag I have laying around. Then I put some sweet oil on the patch and apply to all areas of cylinder. If at home I simply hose the cylinder down unter the tap, then dump into a small tub of sweet oil I keep for that purpose which thouroughly displaces any water. I do remove nipples before cleaning.

This worked great in the 19th century - nothing has changed. Rust is no more virulent today than it was then.

On the rare, rare day (an anuual event at best? - sometimes much longer) I dissassemble a gun, I clean the inards with 90% isopropyl -OH and put either a very lite coat of sweet oil or (I admit to using 20th century inventions here) Type II tramsission fluid. Done.

Compressed air, oven treatments? What we have here is an excessive fear of the oxidative process!!!! You guy's need some professional help!!!!!!!!!!

[Dick Dastardly]

Moosemilk, 1 part Ballistol to 10 parts water, cleans bp guns very well.  Any that remains behind after the boresnake and rags evaporates when the guns are stored with actions open.  When Moosemilk evaporates the water leaves and the Ballistol remains to form a protective shield.

This is the procedure I've been using for years and I have NO problem with rust or corrosion.

Yes, I do use gun grease at the hardest used wear points.

DD-DLoS

[Wolfgang]

Drying ie easy . . . use HOT WATER.  The steel is heated up and so will dry thouroughly. 

[kflach]

I'm pretty sure it would be overkill to get professional help drying my gun. I don't think I need professional help for trying to take good care of a prized possession, either. However, I suppose the fact that I enjoy dressing up in a cowboy costume and playing with guns might be symptomatic that I could need professional help. I am, after all, a grown man, a product of the nuclear age, a master of computers and digital technology who lives in the 21st century! I guess I'll have to start researching "Black Powder Addiction" and see if there's a support group...



...but not until after the Texas Ten Horns match this weekend!

;-)

[Noz]

The addiction is real. There is no cure. The only thing that relieves symptoms is buying another gun or heavy doses of black powder smoke. Both items are short term helps. It needs to be done at least weekly if not more often.

[August]

I took my pistols down all the way for the first time in two years.  Put the frame and barrel under hot water and scrubbed.  Used a little dawn in there. 

Then, I sprayed 'em with a water displacing lube.  Immediately dried them with patches and q-tips.

Sprayed 'em with Hornady One Shot Cleaner-lube and reassembled.

They are clean, clean, clean, I tell ya'.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I don't dry my guns after I clean them. That is one of the beauties of Murphy's Mix.

After cleaning with Murphy's Mix, I lightly swab out the bore and chambers with a dry patch, and the outside of the gun with a shop towel. I do not go overboard and attempt to dry out every nook and cranny. That is one of the beauties of Murphy's Mix. When the water in it evaporates, it leaves behind an oily residue. Black Powder fouling cannot suck any more moisture out of the air if it is infused with oil. It's like a sponge that is already full of water, it cannot absorb any more. So the oily residue protects the metal. I also squirt some Ballistol down into the mechanism for good measure when I am done cleaning. But I do not attemp to dry out every nook and cranny in my guns.

I used to do all that stuff when I shot BP in my C&B revolver as a kid. Heating up the water caused flash rust when the steel dried. And it was still a chore to get all the water out of the nooks and crannies of the chambers; chambers are not bored straight through in a C&B gun, they have several different diameters. Tried the over route too. More rust.

The other beauty of Murphy's Mix is you can use it at room temperature, you don't have to heat it.

It is really unbelievably simple.

[Jefro]

That's why I like Murphy's Mix, it is really unbelievably simple. I've tried moose milk and a couple of others, but always came back to Murphy's, because it's simple and it works. With moose milk I did get just a tiny bit of flash rust under the ejector rod housing. I don't have an air compressor, which may be needed with moose milk. I have used a hair dryer to speed up drying with both methods, but it's not necessary with Murphy's. Always finish up with Ballistol of course, never had a problem.

Jefro

[Adirondack Jack]

Drying ie easy . . . use HOT WATER.  The steel is heated up and so will dry thouroughly. 

Whut he sed!

When I shoot BP, my primary cleaning kit consists of a tea kettle of HOT water, an oven mitt to hold the gun with, and a funnel.  It dries almost before ya can run a mop down the bore.