Re: MtMan-List: patch lube and cleaner

[Gary Bell <micropt@gte.net>]

Pendleton,

I couldn't have said it better.  Actually I didn't even say it as well as you
did --  I was the fellow blowing the whistle on peroxide and with the rusting
Lyman.  I will try to work with just hot water for a spell, and see how that
works for keeping the bore 'seasoned' and still clean enough to load
gracefully.  I too have tried a bunch of recipes, and I don't yet feel I have
settled into the right way for me.  I promised Hawk Pierce and some others that
I would do some experimenting with BP and Pyrodex, and after my original
posting where I merely mentioned the P word I got a very good idea of how many
folks around here feel very strongly about BP!

Thanks for the input, (particularly as I agree so well with you), the whole
point of this online community is discussion of mountain man era issues, and I
for one find something to learn from virtually every posting.

Gary

yellow rose/pendleton wrote:

> Folks,
> Now some of you are going to label me a purist, but here's my two cents
> worth on the cleaning of  blackpowder guns. Peroxide is very corrosive ! It
> is used in some industries to etch metal on purpose. So why in the world
> would want to put it down the bore of your prize rifle or smoothbore. There
> are many very effective commercial blackpowder solvents, and I have tried
> most of them
> at one time or another. The Murphy's Oil Soap reciepes the 409 stuff the
> windshield washer fluid I've tried it all. Then it occured to me that our
> forefathers didn't carry around a bar of lye soap to clean their guns. They
> used just plain water, and that is all I have used for the last six years
> with very good results.They washed or wiped their guns out with water dried
> them well then greased or oiled the bore, and reloaded. The key to any
> cleaning method is thoroughly drying the bore after cleaing then using a
> good lube to prevent rust from forming. To backtrack for a moment, stop and
> think about it would you use peroxide to clean your best castiron skillet ?
> If you treat your gun bore the same as you would you best skillet you won't
> go wrong.
>  To the fellow with the Lyman rifle that continued to rust. All gun barrels
> are not the same. That is to say some metals are more porous than others.
> That is not a knock on Lyman guns. Lyman makes a fine rifle that is
> probably one of the best out of the box guns around, but their barrels are
> a bit more porous than some others and therefore require a little more
> maintence. The bottom line is you have to learn what works best in your
> gun. Another tip is two or three days after you have cleaned your gun and
> put it away run a patch down the bore just to check it to make sure
> everything is up to snuff.In high humidity areas like ours this is a very
> good idea. I can't emphasize enough, you have to dry the bore completely  !
> Now I fully expect to hear from a whole flock of folks who have used their
> favorite concoction for gun cleaning for years and wouldn't change no
> matter what, and that is fine I'm not trying to condemn or change anyone's
> methods. In my experience when we get away from the ways of our forefathers
> we are usually messing up. That's my two cents worth.
>
> Pendleton