eddie_v21

what is the proper way to clean a muzzleloader?

cayugad

There are many different ways to clean a muzzleloader depending on the make and model of the rifle. You might want to refer to your manual for the proper steps to clean it.

I personally use a good quality solvent, bore brushes, and lots of patches. I work that barrel and all parts over until they are spotless. Then I re-oil it all up, re-grease the breech plug, and re-assemble the rifle. After wiping it down again with oil it is set to go....

Mark whiz

I go about it pretty much like cayugad. I use 50/50 Simple Green & water for a solvent - but it's relatively simple. You just have to make sure you get ALL the fouling out and that you get the metal dry before oiling it.

gunsnbowses

I'm new to this muzzleloading thing myself. I've found some great info at this site. Here is another website that was recommeded by someone for cleaning MLs.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/clean_muzzleloader.htm

dead_eye

I simply use the hottest tap water i can get and use dish soap and run that through the barrell with the water. The water causes it to dry fast because the metal heats up and evaporates the water. Once the barrel is dry just put soome oil on it and reassemble the gun

cayugad

Hot soapy water is all fine and good but it will not remove plastic, copper or lead fowling found in some of the inline rifles. Inlines cause their own set of problems unlike the old traditional that shot a patched roundball that protected the lead from the barrel. Conicals will lead up the barrel and a good bore brush can take most of that out.

I personally like the use of a bore brush and solvents. I think I can get the barrel very clean. After I run some isopropyl alcohol patches down the barrel and make sure it is dry, then it is very important to run a quality gun oil in the bore of the barrel to protect it from rusting......

Buellhunter

What brand of solvent do you use?
I will need one that cleans out plastic from sabots.

Mark whiz

CVA makes their Advanced Sabot Shooter's solvent for plastic removal..................or you can just get a pint of acetone at the local hardware for about 1/2 the price. Either will remove plastic pretty well.

skeeter 7MM

For the powder I use hot water, follow with dry patches and if required solvents. I always oil the exterior run a oil patch in the bore let it stand and then a dry patch to remove excess. At the end of the season(for sure) and after hunting extremely wet conditions I do a complete tear down clean(removal of barrel/action from the stock), oil and reassemble. For long term storage I make sure the bore is oiled well like any CF and then prior to firing run a few dry patches to ensure excess oil is removed to prevent higher pressures in the bore.

For plastic fowling I use Acetone and for copper fowling I use the same as my CF's (Barnes CR10 or Sweets 7.62 CR).

goody523

I just finished up the first year with my Encore and I was wondering the same thing as the original poster - specifically I am wondering why all this messing around with hot soapy water. I would never consider dunking my center fire rifle barrel in water (I try to keep water away from my rifles) so I don't know why I would do it with my Encore. Is there some downside to just using my Shooter's Choice that I use in my center fires for powder and copper fouling with a brush and then dry patches? I guess after I was done with the dry patches I could use alchol (not sure why people do this with a ML - I've never done it with a center fire), then a few more dry pathces and finally some Rem Oil to store for the winter. Am I missing something here?