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[Seth Hawkins]

 

[Steel Horse Bailey]

I'm still a new Ballistol user.  For the last 30 years I've been using Hoppes #9 Plus Black Powder cleaner.  It's no longer available, but I think that a new product from Hoppes is out.

So far, I've mixed mine at 70% H2O/30% Ballistol.  It worked OK.  I still (nor I believe EVER) can't get myself to like the smell.

[Remington Kid]

In the old days we used 50% water to 50% Machinest oil and some times a little dish soap added in. For cleaning I think Windex is ahrd to beat. A large bottle is $1.50 at the Dollar store.
I used brake cleaner or carb cleaner but found that the windex does a great job on the bore too and a whole lot cheaper.
I know some guy's don't like WD-40 but I love the stuff and have used it for years with no ill effect. I spray down the Remingtons inside and out and then blow it out with my compessor. Rub a little lube in the cylinder pin holes, ram hole, cylinder hole and all around the inside of the frame. Then a patch of the lube down the barrel and then a dry patch. A little lube on the star of the cylinder. The whole process takes me about 15 minutes to have a gun that's clean as a whistle and ready to go.

[Dick Dastardly]

The Ballistol people have a web site.  It is www.ballistol.com.

I mix one part Ballistol to seven parts water and put it in a spritz bottle.  After shooting a match, I simply spritz my guns inside and out, pull a bore snake thru, wipe 'em down with a clean rag that's damp with straight Ballistol and put 'em away.

I've won many a Twelve pack of my favorite fermented malt beverage on the bet that I could clean all my main match guns in under Fifteen minutes using this method.  It's never failed me.  Of course, I  shoot only Big Lube^tm boolits pushed by Holy Black.

DD-DLoS

[Ol Gabe]

FWIW, I concur with D.D.
After a lengthy 45-70 relay, I simply drop the weighted end of the Bore Snake through the bbl, spill some Moosemilk (1 part B to 7 H2O) down on the exposed part of the snake at the open breech, pull it through and Viola'! Used this method last year and had several guys marvel at how clean it got the bbl, even used it on an original TD and the bbl looked better than it had before, go figure! Anyway, my Pard who is verrrrrrry picky about cleaning his guns now lets, or rather begs me to do the Moosemilk and Snake routine on his Roller, makes me smile when he 'buys' later!
Best regards and good Snaking!
'Ol Gabe

[Dick Dastardly]

So many years ago, our military selected Ballistol as their  standard issue cleaner/lube/anti-rust gun maintainence product.  Then, we promptly went to war with the country that exported it.  You go figure.  Anyway, the stuff goes back before WWI and has well stood the test of time.

It has so many uses that my wife now keeps a small oil can of it around the house.  She likes it because it doesn't discolor stuff, cleans up with water and doesn't get gummy.  Also, it's not as dangerous as petrolium distillates around food.  She does not, however, like the fragrence.

I purchase a one gallon can and find that it lasts nearly forever.

"Moosemilk"  looks like milk but isn't a true solution at all, but a colloidal suspension.  When it is used and allowed to evaporate it leaves the Ballistol behind as a thin protective film.

DD-DLoS

[Lars]

FWIW, I concur with D.D.
After a lengthy 45-70 relay, I simply drop the weighted end of the Bore Snake through the bbl, spill some Moosemilk (1 part B to 7 H2O) down on the exposed part of the snake at the open breech, pull it through and Viola'! Used this method last year and had several guys marvel at how clean it got the bbl, even used it on an original TD and the bbl looked better than it had before, go figure! Anyway, my Pard who is verrrrrrry picky about cleaning his guns now lets, or rather begs me to do the Moosemilk and Snake routine on his Roller, makes me smile when he 'buys' later!
Best regards and good Snaking!
'Ol Gabe

Ol Gabe,

One gets the same result by spraying some Windex down the bore and then running a tight patch. The key really is to put something with lots of water down there first. Of course, if the bore has a bunch of cheap BP fouling in the front end of the barrel then much more effort is requires.

Works even better if there is not excessive grease in the barrel.

Lars

[Paladin UK]

I use a 1part ballistol - 6part water solution, the water in the south of England is mainly hard as it filters through chalk.

since DD `put me on to it` I have used nothing else!!! Annie `O`is sloooooooooooooooooowly gettin used ta the smell 
Its something like a cross between smelly socks n cat pee

Its Ballistol all the way

Paladin (What Lurvs that Holy Black ) UK

[Lars]

Seth,

So far as I can determine, Windex of any kind, as well as its cheaper fraternal twin glass cleaner, prevent "flash" rust because the "dryiers" in them cause rapid evaporation. IF the Windex cannot evaporate (is in a closed area of gun) you may see some rust. I routinely leave the bores and cylinders/chambers of my modern guns (Rugers, Rossi, Piettas) dry after the Windex rinse. I have never had any rust at normal humidity levels (that is, 70% -- shudder --- max).

My advice would be to just use regular water, hot and with soap if using lots of lube, for the initial cleaning of powder fouling and any lube, followed by Windex or glass cleaner, plus anything else you want/need to do to get ALL surfaces dry. Then use your choise of rust preventive and lube.

Lars

[Delmonico]

I use windshield washer fluid, it evaporats fast also, just another type of window cleaner. 

I keep two small jars in my box, one with dry white flannel patches and one with wet ones.  I can have the bore clean with 2 wet and one dry and it takes about as much time to do it as to say it.

I use the 6 oz yeast jars for mine, but any would work.

[Paladin UK]

Seth said........

After my second BP match, I used a mix of Ballistol and water to clean them.  I let the guns sit for a few hours with the Ballistol/water mix on them.  When I disassembled the revolvers, I found a little flash rust inside.  I didn't find any flash rust spots when I used the Windex.

That's really strange  sometimes all I gots time ta do is give my BP guns a squirt of moosemilk n a wipe with a cloth soaked in same if I aint got `nuf time ta clean em that day,  n they're jest fine the next day when I clean em proper like

Paladin (What swears by MOOSEMILK ) UK

[Cactus Cris]

I use Cabela's BP solvent.  It is a citrius base & smells like lemons.  In my ultra sonic I put in a dash of B. with the solvent.  So far it has shown me that anything else is not better.  Might be a little more $$ than other stuff but the end results are worth the $$.

[Cuts Crooked]

Seth,

My "super juice" is ballistol & windex mixed 7-1. I ain't seen NUTHIN that gets out the crud better 'n this stuff duz!

[Ol Gabe]

Lars suggested "...put something with lots of water down there first. Of course, if the bore has a bunch of cheap BP fouling in the front end of the barrel then much more effort is require(d)..."
Out of simple curiousity Lars, which BP are you putting in the "...cheap..." category and for what specific reasons? I know your answer will help us all out in one way or another.
Best results and good shooting!
'Ol Gabe

[Lars]

Ol Gabe,

I have long found that you can readily lump the BPs into two categories, those that create lots of powder fouling (Goex, Dupont, Elefant, etc.) and those that create much less (Swiss, Pyrodex, 777, apparently also Schutzen (limited personal experience, many excellent results reported). With the cheap ones -- Goex, etc. -- the excellent old BP bullets often don't carry enough lube to counter all the powder fouling from these cheap powders. With Swiss, Pyrodex, 777, etc. the amount of powder fouling is so much less that these bullets work really well, just as they did well over a hundred years ago, also then with widely available premium BPs.

The same nice old BP bullets that shoot for many, many tens for shots with no group-opening accumulation of powder fouling with Swiss, Pyrodex, 777 etc. will all too soon be giving unacceptable groups when used with Goex, etc. for the simple reason that there has arisen 10-20+ cm of hard, difficult to remove BP fouling in the muzzle end of the barrel. That totally unnecessary accumulation of BP powder fouling is the "hard-to-clean" mess I was referring to. With one brand of 44-40 BP ammo using Goex, the crud buildup is so rapid and severe that withing 10 shots the group at 25 yards was in the 8-10 inch range -- totally unacceptable and totally typical for normally adequate 2-lube groove bullets.

One of the things seemingly not widely recognized is that Swiss BP leaves about as little powder fouling as Pyrodex and 777. That is one of the essential features leading to its well deserved reputation. I now shoot either Swiss FFG or 777 FFG in my CAS BP loads. It is rather difficult to tell the difference in performance, cleaning, amount of powder fouling, etc. SO, IF someone wants to use "Real BP" AND also wants premium performance with proper, authentic, time-tested BP bullets and excellent lubes, they should pay the few extra dollars for Swiss. IF, instead, they want to use gobs and gobs of grease, or, take other measures to counter all the BP powder fouling, they should use Goex, Elefant (also KIK?).

Modern duplicates of the really excellent, premium BP loads of the late 1800s provide really excellent performance. Performance essentially totally free of the usually adverse aspects of BP loads. Aside from the sometimes bothersome aspects of BP smoke, these loads give up absolutely nothing to modern nitro loadings in the old BP cartridges.

Lars

[Arcey]

For those I've bored with this before ------- sorry.

All I do with BP is CAS.  Use Goex these days.  Cheaper.

Went I went back to Frontier Cartridge, damn, been almost a year now, loaded up some 'n took 'em to the range.  Ain't shot but ten or twenty of 'em before I couldn't hit a bowling pin at twenty five yards.

I use Marlins.  Pulled the bolt, grabbed the cleanin' rod 'n about four inches from the muzzle the rod flat stopped - fouled to smooth bore.  Every groove in the bullet (Lyman 358665), including the crimp groove had been lubed.  The bullets were seated past the crimp grooves and crimped just above those grooves using a Lee factory crimp die.  Lube was Lyman Black Gold.  I agree the bullets weren't carrying enough lube.

Bought some over powder wads, little disc thingys of gasket material, 'n tried again.  Shot ten, patch wetted with Ballistol, went right thru.  Did twenty, same result.

Switched to Pyrodex, no difference.  Switched to SPG, maybe clean up is a little easier.  Switched back to Goex, no difference.

Around here most shoots are five or six stages, eight to ten rounds rifle per stage.  I suffer no loss of accuracy at the distances we shoot.

Worried about the CS with shallow rifling.  Fouling hasn't been a problem.  If I miss, it's my fault.

Squirt five to one water/Ballistol down the bores after the shoot.  Clean them the next day.  Cleaning consists of six or eight patches.  Just kindah push the crud out until the last patch comes out clean.

I'm a believer in the wads.

The thread hi-jack....  yeah, I'm sorry, too............

[Dick Dastardly]

Howdy Arcey,

Sent ya an emule.  Hope this helps your fouling problem.

DD-DLoS

[Arcey]

Thankee, sir.  Ya got a reply.

..

[Lars]

Arcy,

Never used any of the 36 caliber cartridges in a rifle with any kind of BP. However, some of my BP shooting buddies tried it and went back to 44-40 or 38-40. Excellent BP bullets were developed long, long ago for 44-40 and 38-40. Never heard of any for use in a 36 caliber rifle -- there were no such rifles any way.

I do hear a few reports of folks using various modern 36 caliber bullets with 777 FFG in 357 Mag chambered rifles and finding acceptable performance. None of these are first-hand reports, so, I only offer them as possibly accurate information.

Lars

[Arcey]

Naw, Lars.  From what they tell me, they weren't around then.  I'm older'n water but even that predates me.  Having been prohibited from using anything other by an employer of thirty plus years, I never saw a reason to mess with any other caliber.  In the modern day CAS game, they're as real as anything else in the pot.

To add to the data base.  There are a couple boys 'round here using 777 and cheap hard cast bullets in .36.  It's working well for them.  All things considered, 'specially money, I'm better off with what I'm using.  I enjoy casting and reloading for me is quiet time on a single stage press.  The wads ain't a problem.  That's working well for me.

Seth.  There's a wealth of information here.  Gottah thank M'ette 'n her husband for the forum.  I do believe that ranges from info willingly given by folks from a historical perspective to folks going a more modern route.  Lots of real fine folks here.  Your mileage may vary.

You and I share a common boarder.  Perhaps we'll run into one 'nother someday.