Cleaning solution

[Noz]

I'm a sucker for "new" things. I've been reading about the miracle gun cleaning solution of Murphy's oil soap, peroxide and alcohol. Mixed me up a batch.  Cleaned the 1860s, Marlin and Spartan after the last two shoots with it. Finished off with the spray Rem Oil.
Noticed during the third shoot that my 1860s were binding. Must have done something wrong.

I spent two hours with Balistol and water trying to clean the hardest fouling I have ever seen out of my guns.

Brass brush on a cordless drill and the miracle cleaner and not touching it. 

Finally soaked it down with the ballistol and water and let them set for about an hour. Most of the fouling came out.

OK, OK. I understand. Black powder is to be cleaned with soap and water. Black powder is to be cleaned with soap and water. Black powder is to be cleaned with soap and water. Black powder is to be cleaned with soap and water. Black powder is to be cleaned with soap and water. Black powder is to be cleaned with soap and water. Black powder is to be cleaned with soap and water. Black powder is to be cleaned with soap and water. Black powder is to be cleaned with soap and water. Black powder is to be cleaned with soap and water. Black powder is to be cleaned with soap and water. Black powder is to be cleaned with soap and water.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

There is nothing new about Murphy's Oil Soap, Rubbing Alcohol, and Peroxide as a BP cleaning solution. It is Soap and Water. It is all I have been using for the past 4 or 5 years. An old Cap & Ball shooter introduced me to it. I mix them in equal proportions. When you get right down to it, the Per Oxide is 97% water, and the Alcohol is 20% water. That's what does the cleaning, the water. The Oil Soap leaves a nice oily residue which prevents rust, the Alcohol makes it dry faster, and the 3% Per Oxide provides a little bit of fizz for some detergent action.

I suspect your problem was the Rem Oil, not the Murphy's Mix. Like I say, I have been using nothing but Murphy's Mix to clean my BP guns for a bunch of years now. My rifle is usually clean with 3 or 4 patches down the barrel, and the fouling melts right off my pistols with no scrubbing at all.

After my guns are clean I give them a very light coating of Ballistol, not Rem Oil. No problems, works like a charm.

[Fox Creek Kid]

I'd leave out the peroxide out of the mix as it's an oxidizer and can cause rust, plus it adds nothing to the cleaning capability. I use MOS/rubbing alcohol/water and it works good, almost as good as Windex w/ Vinegar diluted 10 or 12 to 1 with water. You can now only find Windex w/ Vinegar at large stores like Lowes or Home Depot. It's the best mix yet that I've found. 99% of BP fouling is water soluble, but when you throw in mechanical action (brushing) it's a cinch. FWIW, Bill Knight, the infamous "Mad Monk" and foremost BP expert in the U.S., uses apple cider to clean his muzzleloaders.    Someday I will try it.

[Dick Dastardly]

Ho the cleaning fire,

My pistols live a life of luxury.  I found a nice plastic closable box at the big box store and it has a carrying handle and the lid locks up pretty good.  I mixed up a batch of Moosemilk and filled it so it will nicely cover two revolvers.

After a match, my pistols go into the moosemilk spa.  I leave 'em in there till I finish with my long guns (about 5 minutes).  Then I pull out the pistols, one by each, and pull boresnakes thru the holes.  Wipe 'em down and I'm done.

It's the water that does the work.  The Ballistol in the Moosemilk remains behind after the water evaporates.  It leaves a nice rust protective lubricating film.

My guns are pretty.  They look good and shoot good.  I like 'em that way.

DD-DLoS

[Wills Point Pete]

 I use Windex with vinegar on my shotgun tubes, they are modern so I use plastic shotcaps for nicer patterns. The plastic and blackpowder fouling comes right out, looking like a shed snakeskin. Then I wipe everything down with moosemilk.

The revolvers and the rifles get moosemilk. I can clean all four of my match guns in less time that it took to get my service revolver ready for the weekly inspections. And that was on the odd week that I didn't get any practice shooting in,

[Arcey]

Shot Saturday.  After six stages I sprayed the things with a six to one water/Ballistol solution – Moosemilk. One patch thru each bore.  The shotgun, a wadded up paper towel shoved thru each barrel.  Sprayed them again and packed them for the ride home wet.  During the ball games Sunday I patched the bores clean, no metal brush, wiped down the exterior surfaces, lubed them and put them away.  Both revolvers were clean before the first half of the Redskins/Jets game was over and I wasn't in a hurry. They'll be ready to go for the next shoot in three weeks.  No rust.  No binding.  No latent fouling. No need to look at them two days later.

I worried about shooting Black Powder and corrosion until I listened to some people I trust to tell me straight then I did it myself.  Plenty of lube in the cartridges and Ballistol to wipe off the crud and preserve.  That's all there is to it.

Try to get by on soap and water, furniture cleaners and the like – your choice.  Ballistol isn't that hard to come by.  There's no good reason to make Black Powder use mysterious or difficult.

[Dick Dastardly]

Ho Arcey,

There's the clarity of wisdom in your words.  Cleanup after shooting bp isn't hard or mysterious.  Knowing what we know, we can relax and take our good natured time keeping our guns in top condition.

Loading black powder ammo isn't any harder.  Shooting bp is a true joy.  It's a wonder that the heathen fad smokeyless stuff still survives.  Surely it's a passing fad, like sliced bread and canned beer.  You see, I like bread I can break and beer that needs a tool to open it.

Or, am I just a throwback?

DD-DLoS

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

When i was introduced to the murphy's mix, about 15 years ago, it was called "30-30-30", meaning it was equal parts.  I still have some stuff to make it up, but usually go with the G96, T-C or similar BP cleaners, at least until I found Ballistol.

I have been advised not to trust Ballistol for long term storage!

[Arcey]

Ho Arcey,

There's the clarity of wisdom in your words.  Cleanup after shooting bp isn't hard or mysterious.  Knowing what we know, we can relax and take our good natured time keeping our guns in top condition.

Loading black powder ammo isn't any harder.  Shooting bp is a true joy.  It's a wonder that the heathen fad smokeyless stuff still survives.  Surely it's a passing fad, like sliced bread and canned beer.  You see, I like bread I can break and beer that needs a tool to open it.

Or, am I just a throwback?

DD-DLoS

Hell, Dick.  Let's go.  Shoot ya some of EPP's stuff, rest 'im, 'n I'll shoot sum Heap Bad Medicines.  Have us a snicker er two.  I'll bring some good brew in bottles 'n a screw driver ta knock the caps off.  Maybe some brats for that bread.  Talk o'er good times what ain't here yet.  What say?

Smell the smok....  Ballistol.

[Delmonico]

You guys bring me some good beans for the hand cranked grinder and I'll bake ya that bread ya want.

"Who ever first said, "The greatest thing since sliced bread" was a durn fool.

[Arcey]

Whoever said ya need soap 'n water ta clean a gun in this day 'n age is his brother.

Let's eat......

[Delmonico]

Let's eat......

Sounds good, hope ya like rye.



BTW just for information since my black is shot in 45-70 out of a Sharps, I use window washer solvent.  I keep two yeast jars, one with wet patches and one with dry, two of each and there is nothing left of fouling.

[Fingers McGee]

Straight Balistol from an aerosol can for cleaning the pistols, rifle and shotgun - Birchwood Casey BP solvent to soak the nipples in while cleaning the pistols (i've found it gets the cap residue off better).  After a match, I spray the barrel, frame, and cylinder of my Navies with Balistol & let them sit for a few days.  Fouling pretty much wipes off with minimal scrubbing around the hammer and frame notch with a stiff toothbrush.  Balistol soaked patches down the bore of rifle and shotgun cleans out fouling, dirt, grime and leaves the bore shiney clean.  I shoot 44-40 so nothing gets into the actions of my rifles.

I got turned off to the MOS, Peroxide, Accohol mix a bunch of years ago when some soft steel rusted pretty bad on an old muzzleloader of mine.  Also had some OEM revolver nipples rust up by soaking in the mix for only a couple hours.  Hydrogen peroxide is an oxidizer and will rust metal if given the chance.  I choose not to.

[The Avocado Kid]

Simple Green.....works great for BP or Smokeless.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Hydrogen peroxide is an oxidizer and will rust metal if given the chance.  I choose not to.

I don't know what you guys are doing to your guns to cause rust. Drugstore Hydrogen Peroxide is 3% Per Oxide, the other 97% is water. Mix the H2O2 with the Alcohol and the Oil Soap in equal proportions and you have diluted the total H2O2 content of the mix down to 1%. A 1% mix of H2O2 should not rust anything. I have been cleaning my guns with Murphy's Mix for 3 or 4 years now. I do not clean them right away, they often sit a couple of weeks before I get around to cleaning them. There is never any rust on them before or after I clean them. My shotgun HAS NOT BEEN CLEANED SINCE THE SPRING! THERE IS NO RUST ON IT! Yes, it is inexcusable that I am that lazy, but there you have it.

I dunno what you guys are doing to create rust, but 1% of H2O2 is not the cause.

[Dick Dastardly]

Onlyist rust I ever had came from leaving guns in a damp gun case overnight.  Got rust, cleaned it up, re-blued some spots and learned a lesson.  Happened at an annual shoot camped inside a wet tent.  Guns left wet will rust pronto and it's not the powder residue causin' it.

DD-DLoS

[Noz]

Might be the Rem Oil. The fouling was a very thin hard black residue. Very noticable in the central hole of the cylinder. I had used Wonder Lube on the base pin. Fouling was also evident in the barrel. About an inch in from muzzle and an inch in from the forcing cone.

All this is moot because it won't happen again. I've learned my lesson on cleaning(Yes, I'll use Ballistol and water) so now I'll go and do something dumb in another direction.

[Fox Creek Kid]

Driftwood, liquids that cause rust must have a supply of oxygen ions in the liquid. A common one is water (H2O). If you add salt to it the dissolved salt accelerates the rate at which the Iron and Oxygen reaction occurs. Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) has more free oxygen ions than pure water does.

Here's a good test site for BP protectants. http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_experiments/corrosion/corrosion2.html

P.S. Consider yourself lucky for not getting rust with the formula. Perhaps you live somewhere very dry(?).

[Driftwood Johnson]

Nope, I don't live anywhere drier than anybody else. I don't live in a desert, and it's raining cats and dogs outside right now, just like it does any other time of the spring, summer, or fall. I keep my guns in the basement, which is just as damp as anybody else's basement. My experience is a solution of 1% H2O2 just don't cause rust. And just to be sure, before I started using it to clean my guns a few years ago I left a puddle of Murphy's Mix on a chunk of low carbon steel for a few days until the Mix evaporated completely. There was no rust on the steel. Just the oily residue left over from the Oil Soap. That is half of the point. The oily residue of the oil soap coats any BP fouling left behind and prevents it from sucking moisture out of the air. If BP fouling can be made oily and gooey it will not suck moisture, in the form of water vapor, out of the air and the steel will not rust. Ergo you don't have to tear your guns apart to clean them very often. Just leave the oily goo inside and clean it out once a year. No rust. Did I not say that plainly? NO RUST!

I've been repeating this for years now and there always seem to be naysayers. Just can't be true. Black Powder causes rust. You have to clean it right away. Per Oxide is dangerous because the Germans used it for rocket fuel. Per Oxide causes rust.

My experience is a 1% solution just don't cause rust.

[Howdy Doody]

That is why I like to shoot BP. There has to be as many ways to obtain a final outcome with BP
either shooting or cleaning, as there is BP shootin' cowboys.
I like the Windex with vinager stuff. My guns are spotless when done, but done might not be
immediately, maybe a day or two after a match. I do use an air compressor to blow out and
dry them though. I lube with a well known lube that most steer away from, because it is
not a natural kind of product.
One thing that I use on pistols is use a toothbrush. I get a build up from percussion
caps and that takes a little brushing. I also rinse my brass with a little Kaboom and water before
drying and that works really well. Like near everyone else I have a personal system and it goes
real well for me. I think that since I started shooting BP, I have tried just about everything I
have heard mentioned, well except that bit about calvary soldiers whizzing down their barrel
to clean and lubing with bear fat.