Black Powder Solvents

[The General]

I am getting reacquainted with black powder revolvers after some years away from it and have a question.  What is the best BP Solvents out there today to make the cleaning of these fine weapons a joy rather than a chore?  I have read a few of the articles here and see Ballistol mentioned quite a bit.  Is this a solvent as well as a lubricant?

Let me thank you for any input in advance.

[Dick Dastardly]

Howdy General,

Ballistol is an old, I mean very old, gun cleaning product.  It works great with both heathen fad smokeyless and Holy Black powder.  When cleaning black powder guns, water does the heavy lifting.  I use a mixture, a colloidal suspension actually, of One part Ballistol and Ten parts water to make up a milky looking mix called "Moosemilk".  My pistols go in a plastic tub (gun spa aka rubbermaid) with the grips removed.  Then, I spritz the bores of my long guns and pull a boresnake thru.  As soon as that's done, I pull a boresnake thru the chambers of the cylinders and the bores of my pistols.

If I'm going to be putting them up for a while I like to blow them out with compressed air.

The Moosemilk leaves enough Ballistol behind that it prevents rust.  I still like to use clear Ballistol or the Marshal's own Gun Butter on any wear parts.

I can clean all my main match guns in under Fifteen minutes and have time for a cold beverage while doing it.  One trick that makes it so easy is the Big Lube™ bullets that I shoot.  They carry so much lube that none of the fouling gets hard or dry.  It simply blows out with each shot.

Hope I helped.

DD-DLoS

[Marshal John Lawless]

...... My pistols go in a plastic tub (gun spa aka rubbermaid) with the grips removed......

Howdy DD. You just dunk the pistols down in the moosemilk and let 'em sit for a while? I've thought about trying it but something always stops me from soaking the internals of my Rugers in a water based solution. Guess I'll get over it and give it a try if you've been getting good results and no rust. Thanks.

Edit: do you know of anyone using moosemilk in an ultrasonic?

JL

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[Dick Dastardly]

Worser yet, I don't know anybody using an ultrasonic.  My dentist does, but it makes him nervous if I bring my guns. . .

No, I use my Moosemilk bath to throw my pistols into.  It works great and is very easy to do.  Problem is, in the winter the stuff freezes.  The guns just bounce off and don't get clean at all.

DD-DLoS

[Tequila Jim]

For what it's worth, after my Rugers get their moose milk bath they go onto an old cookie
sheet and into the oven at about 150 till the all the water evaporates. Regards, TJ

[Arcey]

All I can say is if you can find something better’n Ballistol and/or Moosemilk, use it. I ain’t lookin’ no more.

What I’m seein’ is ya don’t need a solvent for Black Powder residue. Ya just wipe it off.

[Cactus Cris]

I use an ultrasonic with a mix of Ballistol- water- Knights BP soap.  I put the cylinder in, nipps on bottom, frame in (w/o grips)--NOT the barrel.  Run for 15-20min & all fouling is gone.  Do the bore, blow dry, add some straight ballistol, blow out excess, add lube on cylinder pin, re-assemble.
  I used Cabelas BP solvent till it got too exspensive.  Ballistol is just as good.

[TAkaho kid]

Hot water, a few 100% cotton patches and a light coat of Ballistol.

[The General]

This all seems simple enough.  Just add one cup Ballistol to 10 cups water, soak the revolers for a time & then blow out excess with an air compressor.  I normally keep my revolvers wiped down with oil to protect them after they have been cleaned.  Would this no longer be neccesary using the "Moosemilk" solution?

Thank you all for you insight.

[Black Powder]

Good question!

I've always run a lightly oiled patch through my barrels and cylinders as my final touch on my percussion arms.  I'd then pop some caps before starting to shoot.  Figured I'd do the same now that I've gone cartridge and intend to stay with the holy smoke, but not sure what step replaces popping the caps.

More stuff yet to learn...

BP

[Deadeye Dick]

BP, No need to pop caps on a cartridge gun. Popping the caps on a percussion gun clears the nipples of lube or any other contaminate or blockage that might be there. Since a cartridge gun does not have nipples, no need to pop caps.
Deadeye Dick

[Arcey]

Just finished cleanin’ mine from Saturday. Don’t mean yesterday, the one ‘fore that. They been in their socks since. They ain’t made ah no special alloy from Alien technology from Area 51 that I know of. Just sprayed ‘em with Moosemilk before I left the range ‘n wiped ‘em off just now.

No soap, no water, no myths complied with, no rust. 

[The General]

I would never have thought of the idea of popping caps, but can clearly see why this would be most helpful.  This "Moosemilk" method sounds like the sure fire way of simple cleaning when it comes to maintaining your percussion revolvers.  The old way was very time consuming for me & took some fun out of the sport for sure.

I think I will have to look into this Marshal's Gun Butter mentioned in this thread also.

[Black Powder]

BP, No need to pop caps on a cartridge gun. 

Thanks DD.  Figured that lettin' a couple rounds off into the air weren't the way to go and couldn't even remember why I was poppin' caps in the first place; it's just become part of the mental check off procedure.

BP

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Unless you have particularly stubborn fouling there is usually no need to soak the gun. Hot water is really the best solvent you are going to find for Black Powder fouling. The trick is being sure you remove all the water again when you are done, so you don't get rust. I usually just use a few patches soaked in my favorite water based BP solvent and run them through my chambers and bore at the end of the day. The fouling melts right off. A few Q-tips soaked in the same solvent will usually help in the nooks and crannies. A cartridge revolver is usually a bit simpler to clean that a C&B revolver because the chambers are bored straight through. A C&B cylinder usually has several nooks and crannies down in the chambers, and you can't push a patch staight through from one end to the other.

My favorite solvent also has oil dissolved in it, and when the water evaporates the oil is left behind. Here is the beautiful part: Black Powder fouling cannot cause rust if you soak it in oil. BP fouling is normally extremely dry, and in the dry state it wicks moisture in the form of water vapor out of the air. The water condenses and causes rust when it is held close against the metal by the fouling. But if you soak fouling in oil, it is 'full', and cannot absorb any water from the air. So it becomes harmless. When I am done cleaning my guns I run a patch soaked with straight Ballistol through the bores and chambers. Then I run a dry patch through to soak up the excess. In addition, I work a little bit of Ballistol down into the lockwork with a Q-Tip through the opening for the hand in the back of the frame. Any fouling that is lurking down inside the gun gets coated with the oil and is rendered harmless. I only tear my guns down once a year to completely degunk them. There is always some black, oily gunk down inside, there is never any rust.

Yes, conventional wisdom is that all oil should be removed from chambers and bores before firing a gun. To tell you the honest truth, I never do. I just load them and shoot them with that light coating of Ballistol that is down in the chambers and bore.

[Dick Dastardly]

Yup DJ, and that little bit of oil left in the bore blows right out with the first shot.  The onlyist reason I use a Moosemilk Spa is cuz I'm way lazy.  I could do it any number of other ways, but the dunk, boresnake pull and compressed air blow is real easy.  A spritz bottle is near as easy.

The trick is to get the job done with the least pain possible.  I like to sit around by the tent, enjoy the campfire and take it easy when I clean my guns.  It's part of the fun.

The moral of the yarn is that it's not difficult to keep your black powder guns way cleaner than those heathen fad powder shooters ever dreamed of.

Shiny bores,  that's us.

DD-DLoS

[44caliberkid]

   Hot water and Dawn dish washing liquid has always worked great for me.  Dry everything a well as possible with paper towels then into a warm oven to dry them out.   I lube the arbor with my home made BP bullet lube/ chamber lube but Bore Butter would be comparable.   Then I wipe down the exterior surfaces with Ballistol.

[The General]

I think the combination of the air compressor blow out & being placed in the oven once you have completed the Ballistol bath is the ticket here.  You gentleman are most generous with the insight & ideas here and it is greatly appreciated.  I hope to be able to return the favor one day & be an added resource here as well.

[kurt250]

for me i have found superclean(you can get it at autoparts stores) and water 50/50% mix best. it cheap and works great on b.p. and b.p. brass. have used it for over 8 years. i do use ballistol for final cleaning. kurt250

[The General]

In the old days I would use WD40 & found I ran into problems with that method so, I went back to the method Uncle Sam taught me many years ago & it just became too time consuming thus taking a lot of fun out of the sport.  I don't mind cleaning my firearms but, when it takes longer to clean them then the entire shooting even you attend, something is wrong with the picture.

This "Moosemilk" sounds like the way to go.