raven45

It is possible your having a chemical reaction from using straight alcohol with the jag or the solvent your using. But I am leaning more to a reaction with the solvents. After the hot water and soap and the cleaning with solvent, that barrel should be clean. Like to hear what solvent you where using.In my opinion you do not need to be using the step with the straight alcohol during a end of the day range shooting or hunting,like you have been. I do belive in using a 50/50 mix at the range in between shots and use it at after my last shot to help remove as much fowling before i load every thing in to the car and head for home. Then at home I clean with just solvents, I have a knight rev. inlineso after cleaning and with the breech plug out I can tell in clean. I understand your is a side lock BUt using a bore light you should be able to see that it is cleaned.

Campo

Yeah, I am totally leaning towards some wierdo reactions, who knows what elements are effecting it though, but today I plan to shoot a bunch and I will post my results with my new solvent. This time I plan on swabbin between shots with 90% alki solution (Cant find 100%, they probably think these damn kids would drink it or something) and will be ising Birchwood Casey Black Powder solvent as a solvent. I will be lubin with prelubed wonderlube patches.
Ill post results later in the day.
Anyone in the Northest who doesnt have to work should shoot today.....beauuuutiful day for it.

cayugad

Campo I re-read your posts again and realized I have used the Track of the Wolf - Black Powder Cleaning Solvent. (Tall white bottle with fancy brown lettering on it) As I remember, I was not an overly impressive cleaner. In fact I bought it when I got my .58 caliber Green Mountain Barrel from them because they recommended it so highly. After I started using it, that's when I went to the 50/50 alcohol and car windshield washer fluid as a solvent because their stuff was nothing more then some chemicals, water, and soap. (AsI remember.. and I figured I could make that stuff at home if I wanted). I checked all my journals and no where does it mention a blue tint to the cleaning patches from it. I have a notebook for every rifle and any time I shoot it, the journal is updated with the date, load used, results, and anything out of the ordinary I find.

As for the alcohol,the main reason I use pure alcohol as a swab with my traditional rifles is, its easy to over wet a swab. If you put too much of the wrong kind of moisture on that swab and then work that through the barrel to remove the fowling, you can sometimes soak the breech and it plugs things up down there. Alcohol on the other had does not seem to do that. Alcohol starts to evaporate the second you start to use it. It of course will also burn unlike a water based cleaner. I just have less hang fires and misfires with it. When I use pure alcohol as a swab I will often times go to the cheaper 70% isopropyl alcohol figuring the other 30% is probably water but will not hurt too much. On my inlines which throw a much larger spark into the breech I use my mixed swabbing solution and have great luck with it.

I'm sure you're right about the chemical reaction to the swab.. so I would not get concerned if after you change solvents it stops. The main thing is you're getting the rifle clean and oiled and ready for the next time. And it sounds like your having a lot of fun shooting the rifle.

It's supposed to snow more here today, so I guess I will use an inline or traditional rifle when I go shoot today. Last time it snowed and I was playing with a flintlock, I had a heck of a bad day on the range with that rifle... But it was a great learning experience. Besides, it will give me a chance today to see if the APP is moisture sensative. Sitting out in the cold and snow with a new powder is a good test for the powder as well. Now I just have to decided what rifle I want to play with.

Good shooting to you.

Mike AR

Cayugad-
You mentioned Rusty Duck. I bought some Rusty Duck Pre-soaked patches and a jug of that stuff really cheap at Wal-Mart but haven't used any yet. Do you like it? The patches seem too wet to swab between shots without squeezing them out.And, it really stinks like ether. Does itdry quickly like alcohol? Just curious. What part of your cleaning process do you use the stuff for?

cayugad

I also got some of the pre-soaked patches as well as several jugs of the stuff. Yes, ring them out back into the container and then use the patch. They work real good and will really pull fowling. You still need to run about two dry patches after them. And the smell is strange for sure.

I use the pre soaked right after I use the cheap stuff to knock the major crud out of the rifle when cleaning them. They will pull fowling out of the barrel it seems even when patches show the rifle is clean. This is especally true in the traditional rifles. Aftera water bath the patch comes out nice and white. Put a Rusty Duck patch down there and watch the black stuff come out of the "clean" barrel. It will amaze you.

Good product. I really like it, and they were selling the pint jugs for under $2.00 each so I bought all they had... They only had one of the pre-soaked patches left so I got that too.

Campo

Just thought I would update everyone on my cleaning issues.
After shooting today (decent shooting session, and some absolutley beautiful weather), I followed the following cleaning procedure
I swabbed out with 4 90% alki patches, till they came out clean.
Then a hot soapy water bath, many swabs, good torque, removed nipple and repeated.
Hot water rinse.
Bore brush with Birchwood Casey Solvent, really let the barrel have it, maybe 40 strokes.
Then patches with solvent, five to be exact, till they came out clean.
Alki patches again, three of them, after the first one they all came out clean.
Alkied the outside of the barrel, cleaned all the other parts with solvent then alki.
Ran 4 dry patches down, all coming out totally clean, so I set her aside to dry on my baseboard heater (nifty trick I thought of).
Let her sit for two hours, then Birchwood Casey Sheath all over.
No wierd oxidation with this cleaning procedure, so I think it was just a wierd reaction with that Track of the Wolf solvent.
The Birchwood Casey solutions work great, and my gun looks great, so I think I will stick with them.
Thanks all.
Shoot straight.