I would hear some of you black powder cartridge shooters explain their cleaning procedures for their firearms and cases for long term storage, 6 mo. to 1 yr., when they use black powder. Thanks for the input.

For firearms, I just shoot about 3-5 smokeless loads through the barrel and clean the muzzle with a water based cleaner then, clean the bore as usual, wipe down with oil and put away.

For cases, I recommend ultrasonic cleaning in what ever you normally use for a BP cleaner. Warm them, to evaporate the water and put in a dry place to keep.

Frank

I have used Glass Plus glass cleaner for years to clean the bore. As good a BP solvent as any.  Cheaper than most.  Usually available at most grocery stores    Oil with G 96. 

Cases, rinse in a jug of water, wash with 50/50 vinegar and water, rinse, dry,  and tumble.

Been shooting MLs for 30 years and my HighWall for the last three years or so I find that just plain old hot soapy water followed by drying and oiling is all that's needed, my T/C Hawken is over 25 years old and the bore is spotless.


That's with real BP however, any of the subs (with the notable exception of BH 209) and all bets are off! My limited experiance with Pyrodex was a real eyeopener, no doubt that thorough cleaning will prevent corrosion problems but that thorough cleaning was to me a LOT more involved than with real BP so the answer to the question depends at least somewhat on the type pf powder used.

ssdave wrote on Dec 27^th, 2015 at 5:33pm:



I agree BP (real honest to gosh Black Powder) is simple as rinsing with clear water most of the time, I use a mild dish liquid however and just make sure it gets dried good, then a little bit of oil and that's it! Like a lot of folks I at first heard the unfounded horror stories but quickly learned it was way overblown, maybe it is somewhat of a major concern with some of the subs but real BP is not nearly as bad as some seem to think.

After a couple of patches wetted with 5-1 mix of water soluble cutting oil & water do a thorough cleaning with patches wetted with Arizona Sharpshooter's 'Dago Red' (gotta luv the name). Run the last patch very tight. Another couple of patches wetted with Break Free oil and then a couple of patches with Bore-Butter prior to any storage (generally 3mon, at most). So far, so good.

marlinguy wrote on Dec 27^th, 2015 at 10:27pm:



That's something that don't get mentioned as much as the gun itself but I have found case cleaning/maintenance to be more of a hassle than cleaning the gun itself.

Radkins wrote on Dec 27^th, 2015 at 11:01pm:

Have never been to a match where the shooter's decap after each shot. As timed events where one must shoot all their shots within a certain time window, that would take too much time. One is normally shooting in a relay and either decaps on their off-relay or at the end of the match.

Whether you decap at the range or decap at home, it doesn't matter if you are shooting smokeless or BP. You still have to decap. 

Like the majority of BP shooters I am aware of, I clean in a wet-tumbler. I would say the majority still decap at the range and toss in soapy water, but many don't if it is only going to be a day or two before they get around to cleaning the brass. A nice benefit of shooting BP is that once fire-formed one does not need to do any sizing of the brass. And, it lasts essentially forever if well cared for. Load, shoot, clean, repeat...............