Boy am I dumb - lesson learned

S

spacecoast

New member
I learned the hard way the necessity of cleaning my black powder pistol SOON (and thoroughly) after shooting.

A couple of weeks ago my son and I were up north shooting my Pietta New Model Army (1858 Remington) replica, purchased through a contact here at TFL. For some stupid reason I put it back in the case after one cylinder's worth of shooting and didn't look at it for four days. BIG MISTAKE. When I took it out, I found numerous rust spots everywhere around the cylinder, in the frame near the hammer, etc. The bore was a mess.

I was in a hurry to get ready to travel back home after an extended vacation, so I disassembled the gun 100% and gave it a "cleaning", not using much if any soapy water, treating it pretty much like your normal smokeless cartridge handgun. The bore cleaned up pretty well with #9 and I rubbed all the rust from the parts and oiled before reassembly, thinking that was going to do the job. BIG MISTAKE - AGAIN.

Two days later, after returning home I opened the soft case and to my horror discovered rust everywhere once again. The bore wasn't too bad, but everywhere else was almost as bad as before. Obviously solvents and lubricants alone do not neutralize the corrosive nature of black powder and percussion caps. This time the gun (after grip removal of course) went into a bath of hot soapy water and once again every part was disassembled, scrubbed and thoroughly dried. The rust spots were treated with steel wool and gun oil. Hopefully the only permanent damage is to the bluing (and my pride). After three days things are still looking OK.
 
Sorry to hear of your "learning experience" but trust me . . . I've been shooting BP for 50 years and WE ALL have "learning experiences" of one type or another.

Now that your revolver has a little "character" - you might consider giving it an "antique" finish. You can strip the blueing off with vinegar and let the metal "age". I striped the blueing off of my Uberti 1851 Navy wanting to give it an "antique" finish. I got it down to bare metal and then browned it with "Plum Brown" - an easy process. I was then going to take steel wool and rub the high spots to give it that "worn look" - problem is, I liked it so well browned that I have left it that way.

Just chalk it up to a "I'll never do that again" and go on from there. It's kind of like having a brand new gun and getting the first "scratch" on it while you're hunting. As much as a person likes to keep 'em looking as nice as they can . . . after time, they are going to have "mileage" on 'em.

You've got a great revolver and just enjoy shooting it and have fun! :)
 
Welcome to the "I shot Pyrodex and screwed up my gun" club. I did somewhat the same thing with a .50 cal Hawken rifle; only it suffered the same results as your '58 overnight! That lb of Pyrodex became fertilizer and have never used it again.

T7 and Pinnacle are much more forgiving and BP can go a week or longer (depending on relative humidity) before adverse effects are seen.
 
I hope you also learned another lesson and used the pyrodex for fertilizer and bought some real black powder.

You've got Graf's through the mail and Buffalo Bills in Orlando, not to mention the fellas at the Titusville Rifle and Pistol Club and sometimes even Ammo Attic and that old timer's shop on US1 around Rockledge.
 
Water is what neutralizes the corrosive properties of fouling. It doesn't need soap. It doesn't even need to be warm.
The oil is just for lubrication and protecting the metal after it's cleaned.

And I dearly hope the others aren't suggesting that if you used blackpowder instead of Pyrodex and left it to sit for 4 days, it wouldn't have developed rust.
Because it absolutely would have.

It doesn't matter what powder you use, BP, Pyrodex, T7, etc. Clean them all the same way - as soon as possible.
 
For the Holy Black and its substitutes, use Hot Holy Water. Dissolves fouling, dries quickly. If I didn't know better, I'd think John Moses Browning invented it.
 
My experience has been the opposite. I can leave a gun fired with Pyrodex uncleaned for several days but one fired with Swiss the fouling turns white overnight. Looks nasty but no harm done.
 
And I dearly hope the others aren't suggesting that if you used blackpowder instead of Pyrodex and left it to sit for 4 days, it wouldn't have developed rust.
Because it absolutely would have.

It doesn't matter what powder you use, BP, Pyrodex, T7, etc. Clean them all the same way - as soon as possible.
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I left a Pyrodex pistol uncleaned for a couple of days and it rusted.

BP I've left for up to a week and while it is crusty, there is no corrosion of the metal.

My experience has been the opposite. I can leave a gun fired with Pyrodex uncleaned for several days but one fired with Swiss the fouling turns white overnight. Looks nasty but no harm done.
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I did not have the same experience with Pyrodex, but what you see with the Swiss is what I see with black powder. Fouling turns greyish but seemingly no harm to the firearm.

The Pyrodex, however, actually caused orange rust and pitting for me.

Steve
 
I left a Pyrodex pistol uncleaned for a couple of days and it rusted.

BP I've left for up to a week and while it is crusty, there is no corrosion of the metal.
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Sorry, but remind me never to let you take care of my guns.

Personally if I don't have time to clean that day, I won't go shooting percussion.
 
Hey guys, let's just say that "clean with water right away followed by thorough drying and lubrication" is the best policy, delay can and does lead to adverse results.

3-1/2 days after my 2nd recovery operation and everything still looks good, so I'm convinced that the sources of corrosion have been removed and I'm looking forward to my next BP shooting opportunity.

swathdiver - I'll use the rest of the Pyrodex, but thanks for the tip on local sources of BP, I'll ask the next time I'm in Ammo Attic.
 
I've read that wiping down your gun with Ballistol will allow you to postpone cleaning. I tried it after shooting with Olde Eynsford, and it staved off the rust monsters as promised.

I've also seen testing down on a piece of steel where T7, Pyrodex, and BP were all burned and left in the garage for 4 days. Pyrodex did the worst by far, followed by BP, but T7 hardly left a mark.
 
I've also seen testing down on a piece of steel where T7, Pyrodex, and BP were all burned and left in the garage for 4 days. Pyrodex did the worst by far, followed by BP, but T7 hardly left a mark.
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I think where you're located has a lot to do with it. I live in the deep south where its very humid so you'd think I'd have a hard time keeping guns from rusting without leaving them unfired but it isn't so.
 
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