# Muzzleloader Cleaning?



## Woods'nWater

Ok, so I got my first .50cal muzzleloader  for this years hunting season. I need to know what type of cleaning kit to buy for it. Obviously I need a .50cal brush, but what type of solvent? Can I just use the same stuff that I use for my other guns? Any tips or suggestions on what to buy and what not to buy would be great!!


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## Nicodemus

Traditional, or modern inline?


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## hawgrider1200

Solvent is not required, soap and hot water is all the solvent u need, for the woods when u are nt around soap and water a patch with windex will take out enough fouling for that follow up shot should u need it.  
U will need a cleaning jag and some patches. ur jag should screw into the ramrod. For around the house I use a metal ramrod or fiberglass. My TC renegade has the wooden ramrod that I use in the field. I carry my cleaning jag and patches with me when i take to the field. If traditional like a percussion cap or flintlock u may need as the need arises, one nipple pick, one ball puller, one nipple wrench, a patch puller. Did I forget anything? 
If it's inline get a breach plug wrench.


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## Doyle

> If it's inline get a breach plug wrench.


And a piece of wire that you can push through the plug hole to keep it clean.


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## bevills1

Use Blackhorn 209 powder if it's an inline, and you may clean it the same as rifles using smokeless powder loads.  All other black powder substitutes and black powder need to use soapy water for cleaning.


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## WTM45

bevills1 said:


> Use Blackhorn 209 powder if it's an inline, and you may clean it the same as rifles using smokeless powder loads.  All other black powder substitutes and black powder need to use soapy water for cleaning.





Yes!  BH209 all the way!
Water (other than rain) gets no where near any of my muzzleloader rifles anymore.
Hoppes #9 is the magic elixir of life!


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## davis211

50% alcohol & 50% windex - works better than anything I've found.  Check out prbullet.com


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## Jim Thompson

WTM45 said:


> Yes!  BH209 all the way!
> Water (other than rain) gets no where near any of my muzzleloader rifles anymore.
> Hoppes #9 is the magic elixir of life!



yep


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## bighonkinjeep

Man in addition to a cleaning kit you need a bathtub. just make sure Mommas not around when you do it cause she might put a knot on your head if she sees it in her tub.
BHJ


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## hawgrider1200

I like to dry my barrel in the oven, puts me in the dog house every time. I like my doghouse though.


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## NCHillbilly

I just run a brush through it,  then screw one of those fluffy things on my ramrod and slurp some hot water through it, run a few dry patches and a swab of bore butter through the barrel, and I'm good to go. Has worked well for many years and only takes a few minutes. One of the main things to be sure and keep clean is the nipple-I'll check mine every time I pop a cap.


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## outdoorsman52

murphys oil soap also works well


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## stev

Citrus patches work well too on blackpowder.


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## redneckcamo

when I used pyrodex it was soapy water and swabbin it till clean ...

now I am using 777 in my percussion rifle and I  swab it with  hoppes ....pump very hot water thru it .....let it dry and then swab it with wonderlube for storage .......


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## kvistads

There must be as many home made concoctions to clean black powder firearms as Carter has liver pills.  I've tried many and most bore cleaners will work fine.  I like to use one part Simple Green to ten parts water.  Run plenty of patches through until it no longer shows residue on them.  No need for a brush - EVER!  Lube with bore butter - can't go wrong with it.


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## tullisfireball

According to Jim Shockley you only have to clean it after 1000 shots if you use the powder with HIS name on it!


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## kvistads

What a joke...


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## torrente1

Try some black powder bore cleaning solvent available at www.trackofthewolf.com


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## olhippie

...A few drops of Dawn dish detergent in hot water swabs out a barrel with black powder,Pyrodex , or 777 residue (all water soluble powders). Use any good smokeless powder bore cleaning solvent for Black horn 209 powder in closed breech in-lines. Follow solvent patches with dry patches, and anoint the bore with "kroil" or "Break Free Collector" for storage protection.


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## Sloppy_Snood

Another way to clean....


*LINK*:  Field Cleaning the Elite (Click Here and Scroll to Page 5)


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## hammerz71

I've always only used hot soapy water to clean my T/C Hawken.  Then a swab with a patch that has a little canola or mineral oil on it.  I've been shooting that Hawken since I bought it new in 1983 with the same two barrels, the stock 1:48" for the field and a Green Mountain 1:70" for patched ball in competition.
The "old timers" who I learned from always told me this treatment would not take out the "seasoning" inside the barrel for optimum shooting...


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## Triton Mike

Been shooting competition muzzleloading for years.  We take surgical tubing and attach one end to the nipple and put the other end in HOT soapy water and attach a miniball to it with some wire to keep the tubing end submerged in the water.  Take a patch and a ram rod into the barrel and when you pull the patch out it will draw the hot soapy water in through the nipple.  All the while having the but end of the gun on your work bench and hold the barrel with one hand with towel and the ramrod with the other and repeat stroking the ram rod with patch in and out of the barrel and as the water gets dirty let it out thorugh the bore into the oil pan.  Keep doing this until the water is clean/barrel is hot (purpose of towel is to keep the hot barrel from buring ya).  Then take off tubing off nipple then dry barrel with dry patches.  Then put some oil on a patch and run it through the barrel to prevent rust.  I have $1000.00 custom made muzzleloaders with match compeition H & H barrles and never had an issue.


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## Sloppy_Snood

Triton Mike said:


> Been shooting competition muzzleloading for years.  We take surgical tubing and attach one end to the nipple and put the other end in HOT soapy water and attach a miniball to it with some wire to keep the tubing end submerged in the water.  Take a patch and a ram rod into the barrel and when you pull the patch out it will draw the hot soapy water in through the nipple.  All the while having the but end of the gun on your work bench and hold the barrel with one hand with towel and the ramrod with the other and repeat stroking the ram rod with patch in and out of the barrel and as the water gets dirty let it out thorugh the bore into the oil pan.  Keep doing this until the water is clean/barrel is hot (purpose of towel is to keep the hot barrel from buring ya).  Then take off tubing off nipple then dry barrel with dry patches.  Then put some oil on a patch and run it through the barrel to prevent rust.  I have $1000.00 custom made muzzleloaders with match compeition H & H barrles and never had an issue.


Good information the Mike. 

I can add that I saw several competitive shooters at the NMLRA shoot in Friendship, IN utilize the cleaning method you have described.


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## bighunter23

I have been using a home brew for years called Ed's Red.   He is a link:

www.handloads.com/articles/default.asp?id=9o the recipe

I mix it up in a five gallon gas can and store in that also.

Good Luck


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## fishdog

*Yep*



Triton Mike said:


> Been shooting competition muzzleloading for years.  We take surgical tubing and attach one end to the nipple and put the other end in HOT soapy water and attach a miniball to it with some wire to keep the tubing end submerged in the water.  Take a patch and a ram rod into the barrel and when you pull the patch out it will draw the hot soapy water in through the nipple.  All the while having the but end of the gun on your work bench and hold the barrel with one hand with towel and the ramrod with the other and repeat stroking the ram rod with patch in and out of the barrel and as the water gets dirty let it out thorugh the bore into the oil pan.  Keep doing this until the water is clean/barrel is hot (purpose of towel is to keep the hot barrel from buring ya).  Then take off tubing off nipple then dry barrel with dry patches.  Then put some oil on a patch and run it through the barrel to prevent rust.  I have $1000.00 custom made muzzleloaders with match compeition H & H barrles and never had an issue.



I use the same method but I just put the but of the rifle on the floor. I use a .015 patch that fits tight, two or three patches is all I use. The towel is a must. You can also just put the tube in the bucket with water put the soap in the muzzle and pour the water down the barrell. Then just start swabing it out.


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## tv_racin_fan

I use a two liter coke bottle with the top cut off. Couple drops of dish liquid and the hottest water I can get, but I like the Half Stocked Hawkens style so the barrel comes off easily. I do this in the bathtub and the wife doesn't complain so long as I cleanup after. You can do without the soap and you can use cold water so field cleaning is a breeze. Just be sure to dry it thoroughy and grease it well afterwards. Couple guys I know online always give me heck when I tell em I was cleaning my BP revolvers in the sink.

I generally clean with water on the day I shoot, then clean with a BP solvent the next day or so and sometimes a couple of days later. Old military habit I guess...


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## Triton Mike

Sloppy,  Wow it's been a long time since I have heard of Friendship, Indiana.  I was shooting alot of the Levi Garret shoots in the South as a Junior and dad shot with the Mens group.  We did manage to make the drive and shoot at the Championship up there one year.  I still got my plaques from that event.  Brings back alot of memories .

Mike



Sloppy_Snood said:


> Good information the Mike.
> 
> I can add that I saw several competitive shooters at the NMLRA shoot in Friendship, IN utilize the cleaning method you have described.


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## Triton Mike

fishdog said:


> I use the same method but I just put the but of the rifle on the floor. I use a .015 patch that fits tight, two or three patches is all I use. The towel is a must. You can also just put the tube in the bucket with water put the soap in the muzzle and pour the water down the barrell. Then just start swabing it out.



I guess you can put the but of the rifle on the floor.  But it made a mess if the water shot out the top as it dribbled down the outside of the gun.  Heck it's a messy job anyway you cut it . 

Mike


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## fishdog

It is a messy job Mike. The towel catches most of the water, the main thing is to find a way you like and clean them after shooting. Taking the barrell of and doing it the bathtub is a good idea, but don't you smell like black powder after your bath though?


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