leehop

Pioneer2, I also shoot a T/C Hawkin 50. I us .490RB's and striped pillow ticking or cotten patches. Shoots well with 50 to 70 grs. DuPont 3F. I don't find cleaning so messy. I remove the barrel and nipple, stick it in a bucket of hot soapy water and using a tight patch, scrub with the ramrod. This acts like a piston pump. Using a tooth brush, scrub around the nipple area. After the third patch, it is clean. Change the water to clean hot water, just as hot as you can get. Pump it a few times to rince the soap out and heat up the barrel. Wipe any moisture off and run clean patches down th barrel 'till they come out dry. I use T/C's bore butter, Natural 2000 I think they call it, and put a thin coat of this in the bore. I also put it on the threads if the nipple after cleaning it. This bore butter (yellow) has no petrolium products in it. It seasons the barrel kind of like a cast iron pan. It also makes the cleaning a little easier net time. All this done properly, I have run a patch down the barrel a couple of weeks later and it comes out spotless. As for your rust problem, Wipe down all the metal work after cleaning with a patch soaked with this lube. I also lube a number of patches with it and keep them in a empty film canister for loading. Good lube and keeps off rust, and seems to reduce fouling while you are shooting.