Cleaning the hawkens rifle

I think I'm doing this right. I just got the percussion rifle and my method of cleaning is soap water and a bucket and cleaning till water is clean.Then I have been told to get water almost boiling,pore in barrell and while its still hot, season the barrell with borebutter. I also clean the nipple area well and apply borebutter on threads also.

With modern steel no such thing as seasoning a barrel..I use cold water with alittle soap

RickD said:

With modern steel no such thing as seasoning a barrel..I use cold water with alittle soap

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Same here, and after a good dryin`, I use rendered bear oil to grease the barrel and all iron parts.

yeah hot soapy water, pump it through the barrel until the patches come out clean, i then squirt some windex or just rubbing alcohol to free the breech of any left over water, dry the bore and nipple, then use a good quality oil to lube the barrel.

Bore butter is junk, Save it for shooting patches.

smoke&arrow said:

I think I'm doing this right. I just got the percussion rifle and my method of cleaning is soap water and a bucket and cleaning till water is clean.Then I have been told to get water almost boiling,pore in barrell and while its still hot, season the barrell with borebutter. I also clean the nipple area well and apply borebutter on threads also.

Click to expand...

The use of water and soap is correct, the reason for using boiling water is that it heats the barrel up, you need a good set of rubber gloves to do this with, when done cleaning, the barrel is so hot the water will evaporate off of the barrel and dry it out. Then coat it with what ever oil you like.
Remember black powder and petroleum base products react and cause all the crude that you have to clean out between shots, that's why I use 64oz of oilve oil and 1 pound of bees wax mixed togethor to use for patches and cleaning between shots.
When I do the final cleaning to store the gun I use Ed's red and just do a good swabbing before I shoot the gun.
Here's some info you can read thru.
Patch Lube
An excellent patch lube for black powder can be made with 1 part anhydrous lanolin or saddle soap, 2 parts "rust inhibiting water soluble oil,"* and 1 part Murphy's Oil Soap. Shake well and apply to patches before loading. Cleaning is much easier when using this lube.

*Arco Emulsiplex or NAPA Soluble Cutting and Gring Oil (765-1525), Trimsol, Lyondell Satisol, or Tooltex cutting fluid can be used.

Thanks to George Stantis for this tip.

Bore Cleaners
Many black powder shooters swear by Simple Green™ and of all things Windex™ "glass cleaner with vinegar."

*** WARNING! DO NOT USE SIMPLE GREEN TO CLEAN ALUMINUM OR ANODIZED ALUMINUM ITEMS. ***

If you will be using Ed's Red mostly for black powder and old chlorate primed military ammo, there is a modification to ER that may be of interest. Substitute a "fire retardant hydraulic fluid concentrate," or "rust inhibiting water soluble oil" suited for water hydraulics for four fluid oz. of the ATF in a gallon mix of ER. The resulting mix will form a stable emulsion when mixed in a 50-50 ratio with distilled water (NOT tap water). The resulting mix is very similar to "Moose Milk", though it may actually be better. To do this, mix the ER as usual, substituting the water soluble oil for 1/8 of the ATF in the mix, or 4 oz. if you are adding a quart of ATF to mix a gallon of ER. Once the ER is mixed, heat the distilled water just short of the boiling point, steaming with bubbles just beginning to form, and pour this SLOWLY into the Ed's Red while stirring. It should form a pink, soapy looking liquid like Pepto Bismol. Arco Emulsiplex or Trimsol, Lyondell Satisol, or Tooltex cutting fluid concentrate, or other water soluble cutting oils are suitable, as long as they DO NOT contain any chlorine or sulfur. That's also why you should use distilled water instead of tap water.

Another black powder cleaner that is being used by Civil War re-enactors is composed of 1 part rubbing alcohol (70% or 91%) 1 part hydrogen peroxide (typical 3 percent drugstore kind), and 1 part Murphy's Oil Soap or a generic equivalent. It cuts Black Powder (even caked on residue that has been left from one event to the next) very quickly. Because of the alcohol, it does tend to eliminate most of the oil it comes into contact with, so be sure to lightly oil everything unless you are going to be firing immediately.

Thanks to Warren Harrison for this recipe

Here's another BP cleaner

4 -6 Oz. of Murphy's Oil Soap
4 drops of regular Dawn dish washing soap
2-4 caps full (about 3/4 ounce) of drug store hydrogen peroxide (3%)
Distilled water to make 1 quart.

You can use more Murphy's Oil Soap for really dirty barrels.

Go here and join..Tons of people to answer any question you may have..
www.muzzleloadingforum.com

However you clean it, just make sure you use a non-petroleum based product to oil/grease it afterwards. Petroleum products tend to leave a residue when you shoot it the next time.

I just let the hot water tap run until the water is hot, as it is running into the bucket I add dish soap. Clean as the others described, until the patches are clean. Then run a few dry patches though the bore to get most of the water. Then I use a hair dryer and blow warm air through it for a few minutes until everything is dry. Then lube the barrel and the nipple threads and put it away.


huntin1

RoosterTodd said:

However you clean it, just make sure you use a non-petroleum based product to oil/grease it afterwards. Petroleum products tend to leave a residue when you shoot it the next time.

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I use olive oil.

I just use plain cold water for the barrel, then turn it upside down an a paper towel and let it drain. I take the lock in the house and clean it with a toothbrush under hot sink water.
Swab the barrel with a couple of dry patches then a WD-40 patch down the barrel to displace the water and a couple more dry patches. Then the lock gets the WD-40 treatment, gets wiped dry and a couple of drops of fine Jim Chambers lock oil on internals. The barrel gets the thick Jim Chambers rust preventive heavy oil.
Black powder needs nothing but plain water to dissolve the residue, regardless of all the internet chat that claim otherwise.
Now that bore butter seasoning is another story. I don't want it period. And I will use brake cleaner to get rid of it.

I coat it in WD-40. So do most of the folks at the BP club I was in after they shoot. Even the wood gets wiped down with WD-40.

I never had any luck with WD-40 as a preservative or rust preventor. It is a water displacer and works good to free rusty parts.

I am of the very hot water school and I use any good oil to lube it up afterwards. I like ballistol as you can wipe the wood and all with it.
I always swab with denatured alcohol to remove all oil residue before reloading.

Darkhorse said:

I just use plain cold water for the barrel, then turn it upside down an a paper towel and let it drain. I take the lock in the house and clean it with a toothbrush under hot sink water.
Swab the barrel with a couple of dry patches then a WD-40 patch down the barrel to displace the water and a couple more dry patches. Then the lock gets the WD-40 treatment, gets wiped dry and a couple of drops of fine Jim Chambers lock oil on internals. The barrel gets the thick Jim Chambers rust preventive heavy oil.
Black powder needs nothing but plain water to dissolve the residue, regardless of all the internet chat that claim otherwise.
Now that bore butter seasoning is another story. I don't want it period. And I will use brake cleaner to get rid of it.

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Times 2 on the WD-40, used on all my muzzleloaders for years... I also use other petroleum oil products down the bore like Hoppes Gun Oil, RIG +P grease and have even use bore butter. Never a problem with reisdue since I clean the bore before shooting. Bore butter is great for patching. Don't like it much for rust prevention.

Cleaning

FrontierGander said:

yeah hot soapy water, pump it through the barrel until the patches come out clean, i then squirt some windex or just rubbing alcohol to free the breech of any left over water, dry the bore and nipple, then use a good quality oil to lube the barrel.

Bore butter is junk, Save it for shooting patches.

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Rubbing alcohol is 20% water!

Use Denatured Alcohol!!

Think about this. How did the original users of the Plains rifles clean them? Think about where they were, and the possible materials they had on hand at the time.

Nicodemus said:

Think about this. How did the original users of the Plains rifles clean them? Think about where they were, and the possible materials they had on hand at the time.

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WATER!!

And when the barrel got extremely hot they'd sometimes 'WHIZZ' down the bore to cool 'em off!!

RickD I like the horn !!!
As for cleaning whatever works for you.....

Mike Venturino wrote several times that he uses Windex, VINEGAR formulation, to clean his black powder rifles. I took his advice and it's amazing how quickly and thoroughly it will clean your rifle! I swab a wet patch between shots, followed by two dry patches and then I'm ready for the next shot. Cleanup at the end of the day is the same, with some type of oil to prevent rust to wind things up. I boiled my last barrel 20+ years ago after learning this trick. Zero problems with rust. Like magic...