My tough to clean 50 cal GM barrel

[Harnic]

I was lamenting in a patch lube thread a couple weeks ago that I was having a lot of trouble getting all the black fouling out of my barrel.  Often the last of it didn't come out until after drying the bore then wiping with several patches soaked with WD-40.  Last Thursday & went shooting with a buddy, fired 50 or 60 shots (without the need to wipe between shots) then before heading home & mopped out the bore well with my patch lube, Hoppes #9+, leaving it damp with said lube.  When I got around to cleaning it later in the day at home the job was a snap!  A couple strokes with a cotton mop & hot soapy water then a few more strokes with the same rinsed mop in hot tap water to remove the soap, followed by a dry patch, then a patch wetted with WD-40.  All the patches were clean!  No signs of the black streaks I've always encountered in this barrel.  A few others here mentioned they had the same trouble getting their rifle bore clean too, give this a try!  It worked really well for me. 

[Kingsman06]

Harry,

Do you oil with anything else after the final wipe with WD40?  I have always been told to never trust WD as an anti-rust oil. 

Does using WD40 affect the bore?  I have always tried to avoid petroleum based lubes and oils. 

Dave Z

[Harnic]

Hi Dave,

I have used WD-40 exclusively for rust protection for over 30 years & it works great on all my guns.  I used it on customer guns for 20+ years when I gunsmithed professionally & had no complaints.  I've never felt the need for anything else, even when I lived at the coast in a much more humid environment.  What I get in my bore is definitely a by-product of black powder burning, I never get rust & even after hanging on the wall of my office all winter, when I wiped the bore on my flintlock before the first shot of this spring, there was no sign of rust & the WD-40 was apparent on the dry patch.  This trick of pre-cleaning with Hoppes 9+ seem to be the ticket for getting all the fouling out.

[Kingsman06]

Harry,

Thanks for the information.  I will have to give that a try.  Sounds like a good system.

Dave Z

[northmn]

There are now better rust preventative oils than WD 40 sold just for firearms.  Sorry I cannot think of any of the top but they are sold in both bottles and aerosols in gun depts.  Several brands and I have used them on tools as well with good results.

DP

[Harnic]

What are you shooting Dave?  I built a Track fullstock flint Hawken a couple years ago.  Here's a pic:



DP, I know there are other, possibly better rust preventatives, but when ever it's made special for guns, it's always drastically over-priced & I steer clear.   WD-40 has served me very well.

[Kingsman06]

I have a few flint guns, but my primary shooter is a Virginia style rifle built for me by Mike Brooks.  Getz barrel with several thousand rounds through it. 



Nice looking Hawken.

[Herb]

Harnic, that is a very nice fullstock flint Hawken you built.  And the Virginia - style rifle by Brooks is great.

[William Worth]

I am currently experimenting with "Tetra-Gun" bore conditioner as a corrosion inhibitor in my .54 cal. Lyman flint GPR barrel.  Heck, if it's good enough for the folks at Kimber I thought I would give it a try.  So far it seems promising.  First shot (the most important one) after wiping it out is into a 3" dot at 100 yds.

I have been using "Eez-Ox" but wanted to find something a little more user friendly since this is getting applied in the confined space that is my man cave basement.  The "Eez-Ox" works as promised on rust, but does contain solvents that can cause bane damage or other wise attack the central nervous system.

[Photog]

Yeah, you have to watch out for "bane damage".

[William Worth]

I meant.... dane bamage....

[Harnic]

I have a few flint guns, but my primary shooter is a Virginia style rifle built for me by Mike Brooks.  Getz barrel with several thousand rounds through it. 



Nice looking Hawken.

Thanks Dave, that's a sweet looking Mike Brooks rifle too!  He does a pretty fair job by all the pix I've seen!  We have a fascinating hobby for sure!  I take a newby out a couple times a month.  I talk about my flintlock to most of my customers & about 1 in 10 is interested enough to come give it a try.

[Kingsman06]

I have been trying to get someone around here to shoot flintlocks but no luck so far.  Most are surprised they shoot well but around here the prefer Ar-15s. 

You are correct this is a fun hobby.  Here are a couple of my other toys.



Dave

[Willy]

 Hello,
   I guess I'm too old-fashioned,but I don't use anything but tap water for cleaning.BP and it's residues appear to be totally soluble in just palin water.The main object is to clean right away.Letting a dirty gun sit just makes the job more prolonged.
After the clean,I hit it with some Ballistol.No petroleum products.By the way,WD-40 is mineral oil in dry cleaning solvent,nothing more.Its cheap and probably is OK,but I prefer traditional products.
                      Regards,
                            Willy

[Roger Fisher]

Sometimes a quick field cleaning after the shoot.  Then dry then wet oily patch then sit til I feel more human by monday night then do a complete job.  Point is the sloppy oil in the bore and breech softens that crud in the breech and makes the final job much easier.  Then balistol in the bore (but not in the lock) And she's good to go next shootin session.   

[Mike R]

Hello,
   I guess I'm too old-fashioned,but I don't use anything but tap water for cleaning.BP and it's residues appear to be totally soluble in just palin water.The main object is to clean right away.Letting a dirty gun sit just makes the job more prolonged.
After the clean,I hit it with some Ballistol.No petroleum products.By the way,WD-40 is mineral oil in dry cleaning solvent,nothing more.Its cheap and probably is OK,but I prefer traditional products.
                      Regards,
                            Willy

I thought Ballistol was the mineral oil product and that WD40 was petro based.

[Harnic]

There are more theories about what's in WD-40 than there are ants on an ant hill.  I don't really care what it's made of, I use it on guns & it works extremely well!   Roger is on track, a pre-cleaning wipe or 2 with almost anything wet that prevents rust right after shooting makes a huge difference in how much time the full cleaning takes back home.

[Kingsman06]

Like Willy I have been using traditional style products for cleaning.  My practice for the past thirty plus years is I usually clean several hours after shooting, without a lube wipedown. 

I use hot water and Murphy's Oil Soap followed by an application of Bore Butter or salt free lard.  I have never encountered any of the issues some have with the oil soap leaving residue. 

I will try some different combinations of the methods we have discussed here, they all seem to have great merit.  Thanks for all the information. 

Dave

[Harnic]

I never tried cleaning the bore with Murphy's Dave, but I did try it mixed with several other odd components as suggested by a few members of this forum who shall remain un-named.  I got a pile of brown goop in the bore that was miserable to remove.  As a cleaning agent I imagine it would be fine.  When I started shooting black powder 31 years ago I used a Crisco & beeswax mix as it seemed to be the "in" thing back then.  Now I don't hunt, so I don't need lube that won't contaminate the powder over time so I switched to Hoppes #9+ & will never switch back!  If I need to carry my rifle loaded for any length of time I'll put a cork wad on top of the powder to protect it from the Hoppes.  It's such a great lube I sure hope I go out of "business" before they quit making it!

[northmn]

I used to use Murphys but never saw any advantage to the stuff.  Been playing with antifreeze as suggsted by Matthews in his BPC books, but don't know if it has any advantages over plain water.   When I have been chronographing, I have used Crisco and spit as lubes and have not found any special residues.  Still like the rust protector oils.

DP

[rallen]

I don't want to highjack your thread Dave, but nice toys! The 2nd pic looks like the bottom rifle is a nice interpretation of RCA 20? The carving, the fluted buttplate and the lock panel give it away?
Ryan

[Willy]

Howdy,
 There isn't really any secret about WD-40 as the msds sheet is posted publicly as required:
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/bicycles-faq/part2/section-34.html
 Its just a solvent,Stoddard's (dry-cleaning fluid),and a propellent,with mineral oil.I use it on my lawn mower. It also very flammable.There are many good products designed for firearms.
                  Willy

[Kingsman06]

Ryan,

The bottom gun is a David Dodds and it is nice, thanks!

[don getz]

Dave......I recognized that top gun right away......you just won't let me rest, will ya?   That's still one of my favorite guns,
and I hope everyone else will look at it....a BARN gun, built by that notorious Jud Brennan.  Glad I could look at it again
at the CLA..........Don

[Kingsman06]

Don,

I was wondering if you would see that!  Take care.