Clean Up for BP & Other Substitutes
- Thread starter Whisk
- Start date
long rider
New member
One thing thats beats all the above?
BALLISTOL, it takes care of evrything
BALLISTOL, it takes care of evrything
Fingers McGee
New member
During the late unpleasantness, enlisted personnel used hot water & lye soap to clean their guns, whilst the officers used whiskey.
Balistol is my current cleaning compound.
Balistol is my current cleaning compound.
Cleanup at home: hot soapy water & really hot rinse, wipe down with straight Ballistol. Helps to have a Stinger vacuum set up to blow water out of the action. Warm oven (180° F) helps too.
Cleanup in the field: 9:1 water/Ballistol mix in a spritzer from Rite Aid. Fog it down the bore and around the frame and recoil plate, in the chambers and nipples. Toothbrush, rag and pipe cleaners for scrubbing followed by straight Ballistol. Clean gun in ten minutes.
Cleanup in the field: 9:1 water/Ballistol mix in a spritzer from Rite Aid. Fog it down the bore and around the frame and recoil plate, in the chambers and nipples. Toothbrush, rag and pipe cleaners for scrubbing followed by straight Ballistol. Clean gun in ten minutes.
Cleaning at the Range?
Why is everyone wanting to clean at the shooting range? I go to the range to shoot, clean it when I get home. I use lubepills and can shoot at least 100 rounds in a revolver without thinking about doing any cleaning. No crisco melting everywhere, no messy borebutter flying everywhere. You can wipe the bore out with a clean patch if you want to. You can wipe the arbor pin off and add a tad of borebutter to it if you want to. I just shoot at the range, hot soapy water when I get home. Hot soapy water is pretty cheap compared to all the other cleaners. There is not a magical just spray it and forget it.
Why is everyone wanting to clean at the shooting range? I go to the range to shoot, clean it when I get home. I use lubepills and can shoot at least 100 rounds in a revolver without thinking about doing any cleaning. No crisco melting everywhere, no messy borebutter flying everywhere. You can wipe the bore out with a clean patch if you want to. You can wipe the arbor pin off and add a tad of borebutter to it if you want to. I just shoot at the range, hot soapy water when I get home. Hot soapy water is pretty cheap compared to all the other cleaners. There is not a magical just spray it and forget it.
I think a lot of people believe the hype bout bp and think their gun is going to start rusting before they get home. I sometimes go two or three days before I clean mine. Soap and water works for me. Balistol is good for keeping a revolver going but so is just about anything else. I haven't had any for a awhile and I used to be a nutcase about it.
I didn't say anything about cleaning at the range. I haven't fired black powder on a range in over two years. Most of my shooting is off road in the boondocks. Sometimes my M1860s lie around in the back of the old Yukon for up to a week. I believe the term I used was "in the field," not "at the range." Cleaning "at the range" or anywhere else is a means to an end, not an end in itself. For me, anyway.
There may be reasons to clean in the field, regardless of whether it's at the range, in the boonies, on a buffler hunt, on a cattle drive to Wichita or at Gettysburg. It just happens and ya can't get back to the kitchen in a timely manner.
I carry a complete field kit in a musette including cleaning gear, paper cartridge makings, ham sandwich, spares, hunting licenses, BLM charts, golden age passes, etc. Weighs about three or four pounds and makes for effective independent study of the opportunities afforded by the great outdoors.
But, Your Mileage May Vary...
W. C. Quantrill
New member
One thing that is usually available in the field is windshield washer fluid. It's either under the hood or in the toolbox. I never use anything that has vinegar or ammonia in it to clean my rifle. Windshield washer fluid will not harm the paint on your expensive vehicle,,,,,,,,soooooo, likely you can get the gunk out of the barrel without taking the finish off your rifle. Of course, I hunt with a traditional rifle that I built.
Often times I will just pour the barrel full of washer fluid and dump it a couple times, then swab it dry which removes about 98% of the BP salts. When I get time, then it gets scrubbed with hot water and soap.
Often times I will just pour the barrel full of washer fluid and dump it a couple times, then swab it dry which removes about 98% of the BP salts. When I get time, then it gets scrubbed with hot water and soap.
What's a greenhorn to do?
...and with a wad cutter, you can make pretty effective lube patches out of that ham sandwich...
Seriously, I'm a novice who shoots a lot and all the miracle potions I hear about make my head spin. A competitive cowpoke action shooter I met this weekend swears by dipping his balls (OK, get the sniggering over with...) in a 50/50 mixture of cartridge case lube and bore butter. No wad, no top lube -- over exactly 35 g of Triple 7.
Which seems reasonable, until he got that fire in his eyes and demanded I promise to load exactly that way, at least until Jesus comes.
I've sworn off all store-bought elixars and 6-cent lubed "miracle" wads. Until I see a significant difference... I'm going with some kind of non-petrol lube (mink oil waterproofing, crisco/parafin/beeswax, over the first 2-3 cylinders (it blows off the rest anyway). I clean with hot water and whatever soap is laying around. And lube with mineral oil made for cutting boards (garage sale) and the mink oil stuff if I need some grease on the cylinder axle. (Confession: I got a glass bottle of Hoppe #9 Plus for BP on a clearance table and I use it as moose milk at the range cause I love the smell).
When that stuff runs out, I'll re-read this threat and try something else. Times is tough.
...and with a wad cutter, you can make pretty effective lube patches out of that ham sandwich...
Seriously, I'm a novice who shoots a lot and all the miracle potions I hear about make my head spin. A competitive cowpoke action shooter I met this weekend swears by dipping his balls (OK, get the sniggering over with...) in a 50/50 mixture of cartridge case lube and bore butter. No wad, no top lube -- over exactly 35 g of Triple 7.
Which seems reasonable, until he got that fire in his eyes and demanded I promise to load exactly that way, at least until Jesus comes.
I've sworn off all store-bought elixars and 6-cent lubed "miracle" wads. Until I see a significant difference... I'm going with some kind of non-petrol lube (mink oil waterproofing, crisco/parafin/beeswax, over the first 2-3 cylinders (it blows off the rest anyway). I clean with hot water and whatever soap is laying around. And lube with mineral oil made for cutting boards (garage sale) and the mink oil stuff if I need some grease on the cylinder axle. (Confession: I got a glass bottle of Hoppe #9 Plus for BP on a clearance table and I use it as moose milk at the range cause I love the smell).
When that stuff runs out, I'll re-read this threat and try something else. Times is tough.
long rider
New member
Yeah and i never said anything about cleaning
at the range to ?
at the range to ?
That's not a bad idea... can eat what doesn't go out the barrel.
Don't need lube patches in the revolvers, but use lube pills as underball wads, mostly... or shoot "nekkid" and loosen up arbor fouling with Ballistol or spit. Tried Crisco, worked fine but got tired of having to keep load fixin's in the cooler. Sometimes temperatures are over 100° where I shoot and most everything lube related turns to goo.
Cleaning at the Range.
If you go back and read the first sentence of this thread at the beginning, it starts off about cleaning at the range. Now, he does state that his reason is because his wife gets him off on other things before he can make it home to clean his gun.
Most of the other conversations about this subject has other people that are worried about their guns either binding up at the range or rusting on the way home. Everyone is looking for that magic cleaning solution that doesn't exist.
My point was this, use lubepills to prevent any need to clean at the range as for as binding up. The gun will be alright untill you get home to clean it, and hot soapy water is cheaper than everything else you can use.
After listening to all the people that has done this for the last 30 years sounds like everything that can be purchased or made at home has been used at one time or the other. Windsheild washer fluid is a new one to me, sounds like a lot of different cleaners can be used.
Now, back to his question, no hot water at the range, I think I would try Ballistrol if that was all the cleaning the gun would get.
If you go back and read the first sentence of this thread at the beginning, it starts off about cleaning at the range. Now, he does state that his reason is because his wife gets him off on other things before he can make it home to clean his gun.
Most of the other conversations about this subject has other people that are worried about their guns either binding up at the range or rusting on the way home. Everyone is looking for that magic cleaning solution that doesn't exist.
My point was this, use lubepills to prevent any need to clean at the range as for as binding up. The gun will be alright untill you get home to clean it, and hot soapy water is cheaper than everything else you can use.
After listening to all the people that has done this for the last 30 years sounds like everything that can be purchased or made at home has been used at one time or the other. Windsheild washer fluid is a new one to me, sounds like a lot of different cleaners can be used.
Now, back to his question, no hot water at the range, I think I would try Ballistrol if that was all the cleaning the gun would get.
If I'm shooting my stainless ROA, sometimes I just sneak it into the dishwasher with the dinner dishes. I end up putting the dishes away anyway, so nobody catches on. I have three cylinders for it, and my oldest daughter once wondered what they were for. Told her "making noodles." Her reply? "Oh."