RE: cleaned my barrel with a steam cleaner
andrewjoseph said: "I took the barrel off and held it with a thick leather glove on and shot steam through it for a few minutes. Then I cleaned the barrell and threads to the breach - this worked amazing. It got so hot you couldnt touch it even for a split second."
My wife suggested I try her steam cleaner to clean my muzzleloader, and I laughed at her. Maybe she'll have the last laugh. Andrewjoseph: when you said you "shot steam through it for a few minutes", just how long did you shoot the steam through? A couple minutes? five?