BP cleaning, ever use Simple Green?

T

twobit

New member
Anyone ever use Simple Green in hot water to clean a brass frame BP revolver (Italian made)?
A friend has asked me to clean his. It has been on a shelf for thirty years and is a little gummy (but not rusted or corroded).
 
I assume that what you're trying to do is remove dirt (accumulated dust suspended in an oil film on the surfaces of the gun) and not black powder fouling - if it was fouling, there'd be rust.

With that in mind, Simple Green will work just fine, and will rinse away completely with plain water.

After which the metal should be thoroughly dried and oiled, of course.
 
OK, I cleaned it last night with simple green and hot water after taking it completely apart. Worked well. Then dried all parts in oven and oiled lightly with olive oil. He wanted the dull brass to shine again so I polished that. There was some light surface rust which I removed with steel wool. No BP fouling found. Most the workings were all gummed up with 20 years of dust/dirt. It functions very smoothly now. Attached pictures before/ after are somewhat fuzzy. The after picture is the one on the green towel. It is a 1851 .36 caliber import from the 70's.
 

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twobit said:
...Then dried all parts in oven and oiled lightly with olive oil....Most the workings were all gummed up with 20 years of dust/dirt....
Click to expand...

Olive oil can turn into a varnish and gum up if left on a surface for very long,
 
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It's perfectly fine to use regular gun oil in the action, just not in the bore and chambers. Not unless you want to scrub it all out before you shoot.
 
I us it every time I shoot my cap&ball revolvers. i just remove the cylinders and leeve off the wood grips and the rest into a tub of hot water and Simple Green. It works well with a tooth brush and a bore brush. After rinsing and drying make sure to lube some of the moving parts since Simple Green takes all of the oils out.
 
Someone makes a black powder machine gun? Is it a muzzleloader? That I GOTTA see, if only to see a human move that fast! :D

Some years ago I read that the first cartridges fired in the prototype Browning .50-caliber machine gun were assembled with black powder. The story goes that the cartridge, first made by Winchester, was something of an unknown when it came to using smokeless powder in it.
John Browning told Winchester, "You make the cartidges and I'll make the gun, and we'll do some shooting." (Source: John M. Browning: American Gunmaker by John Browning and Curt Gentry, copyright 1964).
I recall reading that the machine gun functioned fine with black powder, a testament to its excellent design and reliability.

Now, I read the above years ago. It may be true. It may be an utter fabrication. I checked the above cited book and found no mention of .50 BMG cartridges with black powder.
It's probably deep within my collection of 900-plus American Rifleman magazines, an unbroken set dating from this month's issue back to 1929. Or in my incomplete set of Handloader and Rifle magazines.

When I meet my maker I'll ask Him, Her, It or Them if it's true. On second thought, I'll just ask John Browning. It's a short question, and I should be in Paradise long enough to get his answer before they tell me I'm trespassing and need to move along to someplace less comfortable. ;)
 
i like to use spit to clean my gun in the field too! i usually stick a patch in between my cheek and gum while i load my cap and ball and then after i finish loading it i run that sucker down my rifle's barrel. it seems to work just fine, maybe it's the enzymes that help break down the blackpowder residue. i also use Q-tips and spit to give my smaller pistol a quick cleaning in the field. seems to break down the powder residue just fine.
 
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