seasoning

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Anybody use alcohol Ive been using it, it seems to do good and you dont have to worry about moisture. Talked to a old timer today. He gave me his secret recipe said he used 1 part denatured alcohol 1 part hydrogen peroxide 1 part Murphys oil soap Havent tried it yet. I just lube with 3 in 1 after cleaning ,haven't had any problems yet. Used to lube my nipple {on my muzzle loader not me] with vaseline. Seem to work fine.
 
Black powder is best removed without any petro-based products because of the nasty fowling that can arise if you have a micro-thin layer of a modern cleaner in the bore.
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IMO even though there may be some truth about how to best remove black powder fouling, the blanket statement above seems to be reaching a bit too far.
Maybe residual petroleum based gun oils will cause a problem interacting with black powder when fired, but I really can't think of one modern cleaning solvent that has been said to cause any problem.
Hoppe's Number 9 Plus BP Solvent & Patch Lube, Ballistol and Rusty Duck Black Off contain petroleum distillates which to my knowledge won't cause any fouling problem when used for swabbing between shots or as a patch lube. Quite the opposite actually since they effectively remove BP fouling.
The problem described above is primarily with petroleum based [gun] oils and other lubes like some mink oils that may contain oil as a hidden ingredient. However these are generally not considered to be modern cleaning solvents.
 
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I have no doubt that a three part mixture of alcohol, hydrogen peroxide and Murphy's will do a fine job of cleaning. So will plain water. And it costs less.

WD-40 does not lay on top of ambient water. It displaces it. You can prove that with a simple test - just put a few drops in a dish, spray on some WD-40 and watch carefully.

I believe the issue with petroleum distillates is how they react to the heat of combustion in the bore. Low distillates like gun oil, motor oil, 3-in-1 oil, etc. do not burn completely when exposed to the heat of combustion of black powder. The result of this incomplete burning is a tar-like substance. Higher distillates like mineral oil (the main ingredient of Hoppe's No. 9 Plus, Break Free, Ballistol, TC No. 13, etc.) burn completely in the black powder combustion environment.
 
Anybody use alcohol Ive been using it, it seems to do good and you dont have to worry about moisture. Talked to a old timer today. He gave me his secret recipe said he used 1 part denatured alcohol 1 part hydrogen peroxide 1 part Murphys oil soap
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I use alcohol (91% isopropyl - available at your local pharmacy for less than $1) to swab at the range and also for a quick clean-up before heading home. When I get home I clean with good old water and follow it with a couple of patches soaked with the same alcohol to make sure there is no moisture in the bore.

As far as that "secret recipe" - water is cheaper and safer than using hydrogen peroxide in your guns. H2O2 is a strong oxidizer. Granted, in the 3% solution available at the drugstore, it is pretty well diluted. But remember, steel + oxidizers = rust. Why risk it when water works just as well, if not better, and is free?
 
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Ditto on the booze! I keep a mini flask of the high octane mineral alcohol at the range and it's an excellent way to get a fresh bore after the crud starts to build up. Just put some alch. patches down and they'll loosen up all the crud. Great for swabbing the pan, too. And incredibly inexpensive, too. Just don't try to drink any or you'll go blind ;-)

There may be some modern cleaners like CLP that are OK to use with black powder, but given that they cost so much more per unit than plain old hot water and alch., why use them? You don't even need to buy bore butter, since there are a lot of homemade variations on that theme.
 
Hi everyone

I'm glad to see some further discussion on seasoning of firearms. I've been reading your posts with interest. But as I said in an earlier post on this thread I think I'll just not worry about it. After reading all that's been said, I feel that if I clean and oil my gun well, and I do, I shouldn't have to worry about whether the bore is seasoned or not. I'd also like to mention that when I last shot my 58 Remmy. I knew I wouldn't be able to clean it that night so I sprayed it down good with break free and wrapped it in an old t shirt. It turned out to be several days before I was able to clean it. Yesterday I finally got time to clean it and admit I was a little worried that I might find some rust, but didn't find any at all. Just some gooey powder residue. So I cleaned it with hot soapy water and oiled all the parts real good and left it unassembled in a tray. The reason for not assembling it is I thought I'd inspect all the parts good for burrs or rough spots hoping that if I remove these it might smooth up the action a little. NOW a question. I was planning on using 600 or 800 grit sand paper. Does anyone know if this is a fine enough grit to use? I also have a set of needle files, but don't know if I should even think about using them or not. I've never tried this before and don't want to screw up.
NC
 
Depends on what you want to do. Removing burrs and surface roughness requires the needle files. Smoothing the action mating parts involves polishing the surfaces, which is a job for emery paper, polishing stones or even polishing compounds.
 
I know I shouldn't be doing any grinding and am skepticel of the needle files, but I'd hoped 600 or 800 grit emery paper would be ok since that's what I have on hand. Don't have any polishing stones either, nor do I know where to buy them..Lowes Maybe? I do have some cloth and felt buffing wheels for my Dremel, but don't know about that either. Hate to drive 30 miles round trip to town just for emery cloth, but I will if I really need to.
 
Dremel makes a emery impregnated rubber polishing wheels and points that are excellent for smoothing out actions, trigger pulls etc. Might have to order them but they are the best thing I have found to smooth gun parts.
 
Hawkeye748

Thanks. I've wondered about those rubber wheels. Didn't know how good they were. I might be able to find some at Lowes or Northern Tools. Guess I'll be making that trip to town in the morning after all. :cuss:
 
If you get them, go slow. If you use a high speed on some of the softer Italian metals, you can take a lot off in a hurry.
 
If you have the 600 or 800 'wet or dry' sandpaper on hand,save yourself the trip.Wrap some around a popsicle stick,or similar object,and that'll do just fine.The stick keeps the sandpaper rigid to prevent 'rounding' of your parts during polishing.
 
This RWS 60% moly paste lube is like having a trigger job in a jar.

http://www.compasseco.com/beeman-metal-metal-paste-p-1325.html

detail_1325_beeman_moly_paste_99130.jpg


http://www.straightshooters.com/navagationpages/cleanmaintenanceselectionshtml.html

http://www.airgunsbbguns.com/Beeman_Metal_2_Metal_M2M_p/bee99130.htm
 
I thought I'd inspect all the parts good for burrs or rough spots hoping that if I remove these it might smooth up the action a little. NOW a question. I was planning on using 600 or 800 grit sand paper. Does anyone know if this is a fine enough grit to use? I also have a set of needle files, but don't know if I should even think about using them or not. I've never tried this before and don't want to screw up.
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When cleaning up an action you want to keep clean sharp edges. You really just want to remove any burrs or high spots. Quality files, stones or sand paper backed by something solid works fine. BPH FAN's popsicle stick's work great. A dremel can used to polish parts with a cotton wheel and compound. Those impregnated rubber polishing wheels can be aggressive so go slow.
 
Thanks MCB I think I'll try the emery paper first since it's raining cats and dogs here and I really don't want to get out and drive to town in it. Maybe a little later I will.
I used a 7x eye loupe to inspect the contact points on the hand, cylinder lock, trigger and hammer and it seems that Pietta left quiet a few tiny little burrs. If I clean these up it should make a differance.
 
I used a 7x eye loupe to inspect the contact points on the hand, cylinder lock, trigger and hammer and it seems that Pietta left quiet a few tiny little burrs. If I clean these up it should make a differance.
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It normally makes a big difference. You don't really change the dimensions of anything, or alter any angles. You do not need to polish these parts, just deburr any place that metal moves over metal. Look at the slot in the frame for the hand, that can have some nasty machine marks, cleaning that up can really help how smooth everything feels. Check the bolt cam at the bottom of the hammer, I have seen burrs left on the hammer from the drilling operation that are as high as the cam. You would feel that as a rough spot as the leg of the bolt moved over the cam.

Check these stones from Midway, nice to have in your smithing box.
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=319747
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=212392
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=931648
 
''Baker Single Action Hammer Notch Stone Ultra Fine''...wow,my whole life [well,since I was seventeen or so] I've been looking for one of these! Thanks,MCB...
 
Did you look at the Brownell's link for India stones above? They might be a bit less expensive.
 
If you want just general aluminum oxide India stones this is the best price around. About half as much as Brownell's, not sure if they're Norton or not, they are made in the USA.

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INPDFF?PMPAGE=284&PMCTLG=00

The ultra fine stones are kind of a specialty item. The ''Baker Single Action Hammer Notch Stone Ultra Fine'' is just a 1/4X1/4X4 stone, ultra fine being the big difference.
 
Hey

this is tedious work, or am I being over cautious? I worked on it awhile last night, and some more this morning. Still not finished. I'm sure some of you highly talented and more experienced folks could have finished this little chore by now. But as I said before I don't want to screw up. Been looking through the eye loup almost as much as I work. Didn't want to, but I'm having to use the needle files on some burrs. There was some pretty big ones on the frame where the holes for the bolt and hand stick through. Anyhow I'm taking a break for a little while to visit Mom to make sure she's ok and doesn't need anything. Guess I'll work on it more when I get back home. Would like to finish today, but don't know.
NC
 
The essence of black powder shooting is patience. No, we probably wouldn't have finished by now; in fact, we'd probably take a little longer. In a sport where it can take 5 minutes to load your gun there's really very little that's done quickly. Speed is not the winner.
 
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