cleaning problem

[deepcreekdale]

Interesting Dan, I have never had any flash rusting at all in over 40 years of shooting. I live in Florida, I wonder if the humidity has something to do with that? (on some summer days it is so hot at cleaning time, I think the boiling water cools the barrel!) I learned to use boiling water from Ned Roberts book, The Muzzleloading Caplock Rifle. He knew a thing or 2 about shooting and cleaning muzzleloaders so I tried his way and it worked great. Before that I had used soap and water and got all sorts of rusting several days after cleaning no matter how much oil I used. Like I said, there are all sorts of ways that people swear by, I know people that swear by soap and water and it seems to work fine for them. You get flash rusting, and I don't, I bet if we each looked at each others barrels, both would be spotless and our techniques work for us.

[Dphariss]

Another thing people really need to consider is excessive petroleum in the bore. Aside from it running out the vent or nipple and damaging the stock and finish if we have oil or grease in the bore (breech especially) and BP is put in the bore and fired the petroleum and BP fouling mix can form something akin to asphaltic  concrete with repeated firings and incomplete cleaning it will continue to build up. This can build up in places like patent breeches or the fouling traps that seem to be common in some barrels. Its impossible to remove short of debreeching nd breaking it out. So use water or water based solvents. Dry carefully. Oil the bore with a modern rust preventative oil then stand muzzle down over night to let any excess to drain out. A surprisingly light film will still pool in the breech, or run out vent or the muzzle.... For long term storage the original Break Free CLP works very well since it tends to form a stiff film as the solvents evaporate. But it will tend to gum things up if used on lock internals. So clean with enough water to flush out all the fouling dry well and then oil. If you have significant oil in the bore use something like denatured alcohol to remove it before loading.
Breech scrapers are over rated.


Dan

[hanshi]

I use to "try" and use hot water for cleaning; but by the time I got it in the bore it was merely tepid.  Never had "flash rust" and for years I've just used tap water, frequently with a drop of Dawn.

[Dphariss]

Interesting Dan, I have never had any flash rusting at all in over 40 years of shooting. I live in Florida, I wonder if the humidity has something to do with that? (on some summer days it is so hot at cleaning time, I think the boiling water cools the barrel!) I learned to use boiling water from Ned Roberts book, The Muzzleloading Caplock Rifle. He knew a thing or 2 about shooting and cleaning muzzleloaders so I tried his way and it worked great. Before that I had used soap and water and got all sorts of rusting several days after cleaning no matter how much oil I used. Like I said, there are all sorts of ways that people swear by, I know people that swear by soap and water and it seems to work fine for them. You get flash rusting, and I don't, I bet if we each looked at each others barrels, both would be spotless and our techniques work for us.

I started in the mid-60s and have heard of almost every possible way to clean BP fouling in MLs and breechloaders. Flash rusting does not build up or better not. Its just brown, or sometimes black on the patch. Boiling water turns red iron oxide to black iron oxide after all... In Florida I am amazed the fouling ever solidifies being so hygroscopic. Where I grew up in Iowa it was a viscous liquid in most cases... Out here it will turn white and cake pretty hard on exterior surfaces since humidity is so low.  But BP fouling it will still suck up water like a sponge and wash away regardless. The dry fouling is not really corrosive until it turns back to black and get soft. In Iowa I would have to wipe the wet fouling away to prevent wetting the priming.


Dan

[deepcreekdale]

Dan, you are 100% correct, the fouling here in the summer, when the humidity is the highest is gooey, like wet tar and does require constant wiping around the pan, flint and frizzen. The club I used to shoot with used to shoot early in the morning so the temperature and humidity were often intimidating to say the least. The guys that shot caplocks often had more trouble in matches due to fouling and that damp buildup in the drum and breech area than us flinters since we pick our vent holes every shot. I have only gotten that white caking you show in your photo in cooler, drier weather. Other times, it is usually black and damp appearing. Another big problem here in the summer is that your perspiration rusts everything even more than the powder residue. I am not kidding about that. I often finish rifles in the white, and when I had to go to a range to shoot, after a long match or shooting session, by the time I got home, there was  an area of rust already forming on the areas of the barrel where the barrel was handled the most. That required rapid removal and oiling to stop or it would be hard to handle later. Some of the other guys I shot with, that had commercial guns with factory blue finishes would get that as well, although obviously not as badly. I finally caved and started browning almost all of my barrels and avoided that.