So what's good to clean my muzzle loader with if I can't use water?
So I normally use boiling hot soapy water. Works great. However, I think I'm going to go shoot a little with some friends the day before our hunting season starts. Since I wont be at home that night I wont be able to boil water to use plus I usually make a mess with that which I don't want to do. So what's the next best thing to use? I use rubbing alcohol to swab between shots. Should I just keep using alcohol on patches until they start coming clean? Or would I use something to clean a regular gun like Hoppes 9 or Wipe Out brushless bore cleaner? I want to have it clean to hunt with the next morning.
It depends on the kind of powder you shoot and what you treat your bore with.
If your shooting Blackhorn209 then you have to use solvent. So alcohol would work real well.
If you are shooting Pyrodex RS or Triple Seven, why not take a small bottle of soap and water with you and a bottle of alcohol. You could use the soap and water patches to take the majority of the fouling out of the barrel and the alcohol as a finishing touch to be sure it is clean and to help dry the barrel. After that some dry patching and then oil the barrel again.
If you are a bore butter shooter, use the soap and water, then dry patch the barrel and be sure to pop some caps or primers through it for the next day hunt, before you load. Do it the night before and you do not have to do it in the morning and risk spooking game.
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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, a total wreck, screaming Yahoo, with a big smile on your face."
It depends on the kind of powder you shoot and what you treat your bore with.
If your shooting Blackhorn209 then you have to use solvent. So alcohol would work real well.
If you are shooting Pyrodex RS or Triple Seven, why not take a small bottle of soap and water with you and a bottle of alcohol. You could use the soap and water patches to take the majority of the fouling out of the barrel and the alcohol as a finishing touch to be sure it is clean and to help dry the barrel. After that some dry patching and then oil the barrel again.
If you are a bore butter shooter, use the soap and water, then dry patch the barrel and be sure to pop some caps or primers through it for the next day hunt, before you load. Do it the night before and you do not have to do it in the morning and risk spooking game.
is there sumthin other than butter i can use?
__________________ _ _ _Death Comes Out the End of This Thing _ _ _
I'm shooting Pyrodex pellets btw with 295 Grain Powerbelt Hollow Points. This gun likes that combo so I'm going to stick with it.
As far as treating the barrel I've never done anything much in that department. After I finish cleaning I usually just run a patch of Remington Oil through it. Is there anything wrong with this method?
Pyrodex pellets are easy... simple dish soap. The other day on the range I was getting my gear all ready to shoot. I went in the kitchen to leave a coffee cup (I can not live without my coffee) and saw the old dishwater sitting there. So I scooped out a cup, and took that to the range for swab solution. After shooting I cleaned the rifle with the same dishwater. It worked great.
For a Bore Butter person, I am not going to try and talk anyone out of using it. Some people claim great luck with it. To clean the rifle, again dishwater works great. Then dry patch it.
If you want to remove bore butter, take the barrel off if possible and lean it against a tree. Plug the nipple with a tooth pick. Then fill the barrel with boiling water. That will melt the wax and float it out of the muzzle end of the barrel as you continue to pour your boiling water into it. After your done with that put on some thick leather gloves. Dampen a patch with isopropyl alcohol and swab that hot bore. Then some dry patches.
Now you can decided if you want to put more bore butter down it, or change to a quality gun oil. When your positive the water is out of that hot barrel, apply the bore butter. Again the hot barrel will melt that wax and help you spread it around better. Be sure and patch out excess bore butter.
If you oil that hot barrel, as it cools it will pull that oil into the metal. This will also protect the bore. Then before you shoot next time, take an alcohol patch and swab the oil out of the bore. A dry patch or two. Then pop a couple caps and your ready to load.
__________________
"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, a total wreck, screaming Yahoo, with a big smile on your face."
Pyrodex pellets are easy... simple dish soap. The other day on the range I was getting my gear all ready to shoot. I went in the kitchen to leave a coffee cup (I can not live without my coffee) and saw the old dishwater sitting there. So I scooped out a cup, and took that to the range for swab solution. After shooting I cleaned the rifle with the same dishwater. It worked great.
For a Bore Butter person, I am not going to try and talk anyone out of using it. Some people claim great luck with it. To clean the rifle, again dishwater works great. Then dry patch it.
If you want to remove bore butter, take the barrel off if possible and lean it against a tree. Plug the nipple with a tooth pick. Then fill the barrel with boiling water. That will melt the wax and float it out of the muzzle end of the barrel as you continue to pour your boiling water into it. After your done with that put on some thick leather gloves. Dampen a patch with isopropyl alcohol and swab that hot bore. Then some dry patches.
Now you can decided if you want to put more bore butter down it, or change to a quality gun oil. When your positive the water is out of that hot barrel, apply the bore butter. Again the hot barrel will melt that wax and help you spread it around better. Be sure and patch out excess bore butter.
If you oil that hot barrel, as it cools it will pull that oil into the metal. This will also protect the bore. Then before you shoot next time, take an alcohol patch and swab the oil out of the bore. A dry patch or two. Then pop a couple caps and your ready to load.
what do ya mean by poping caps...and will oil replace the butter?
__________________ _ _ _Death Comes Out the End of This Thing _ _ _
So what's good to clean my muzzle loader with if I can't use water?
_ _ _Death Comes Out the End of This Thing _ _ _
