I'm looking for a homebrew folks! a real live make your own range cleaning solution. You know, for cleaning the bore after every shot.i have an inline traditionslightning. what did the pioneers use? what do you use?

Well, if you're using an inline, it probably has a fast twist, which means you're probably using plastic sabots, orconicals, etc.

The pioneers used patched round balls and real black powder, which can be wiped after just using a"spit patch" or patches dampened with plain water.

Sonot knowing what you're shooting it's hard to say what you might want to use

Your Tradition's Lightening inline rifle can be cleaned with a simple 50/50 mix of isopropyl alcohol and car windshield washer fluid. Work your patch down the muzzle in short strokes. I usually run 2" inches at a time, working all the way down the bore. After cleaning top to bottom, turn the damp patch over and do the other side in the same way. After that one or two dry patches worked through the bore much in the same way as the damp one will insure that your bore is swabbed and dry... You can then load as normal.

Pioneers used spit on patches, urine, water, about anything wet you could say to swab a bore. Also remember, they seldom had to swab between shots because of the type of rifles they shot and the kind of projectiles used..

You want a weak solution for swabbing at the range. Ther harsher the chemical, the increased chance you may breathe-in something that may affect you in the future. Use a water-base product like windex, windshield solution or alcohol. Or become a Mixologist like myself & do a 34-33-33% blend with all three.

At the range, I just use ammonia free windex for swabbing the barrel every third round.

Thank you guys for the homebrews. This forum is really priceless for those of us new to bp muzzys I suspected that there was a cheaper alternative than the $7 solutions at bass pro shops.

Actually a good solution for cleaning powder and fowling is simple hot water and some dish soap. While this will not remove lead and plastic fowling from a barrel, it will clean most powder fowling just fine. People with Traditional rifles have been using this for years to clean their rifles... Good luck.

The pioneers in the wilderness used to chew the patch (or "tow") get it all slobbery with saliva, then swab the bore with it, followed by a dry patch or tow. This is a "spit patch". I've done the same thing, and it works, saving me from having to drag a container of some fluid out to the range with me. You can even use Windex, rubbing alcohol, plain water, or water with a little Murphy's Oil Soap in it.....

If you use Pyrodex, APP, Pinnacle, or Black Mag3 powder, you should not have to do a lot of wiping between shots at the range. With BP, though, you might have to swab every shot. This all depends on the amount of powder you use. The bigger the charge, the cruddier the barrel gets each shot!

The oil soap caused me some Pyrodex, 777 problems, I think. Part proceedure on my part I am sure, but the soap was harder to get out of the crevaces in the breech plug between shots, I attributed to hang,miss fires. Oil soap went away so did problem.

Not good to use the oil soap any stronger than around 10-15% of the swabbing concoction. I only use the oil soap with roundball patching sometimes & that mix is...

6 parts water/alcohol
1 part oil (cutting or Ballistol)
1 part Murphy's Oil Soap.

I think that works-out to approximently 12-1/2% oil soap.