How To Clean A Black Powder Pistol

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TCoops Member

Joined:

Apr 23, 2007

Messages:

11
Howdy. I've been shooting black powder nearly 7 months now and I reckon I'm getting pretty good. I'm the proud owner of that Uberti Dragoon I keep bragging about on here : )
I'm after cleaning tips.

I clean my pistol the hard way. After a typical shoot of 50-100 rounds it's pretty dirty. And the black powder gets everywhere, in the trigger mech and right down into the grips (how it gets in the grip is beyond me). So typically i strip it down to the last screw, and scrub every single part individually. Then dry and oil liberally, reassemble. Let me tell you, this takes 2-3 hours. I have 5 cylinders to clean, so thats 30 nipples and 30 chambers. Admittedly, I 'overclean' it. I love my pistol and hate rust. But I dont wear off the blueing or unduly damage it.

I cant bring myself to just take off the barrel and dunk the parts whole (minus the wood grip that is) in boiling water. Last time I did that, i found watery sludge and minor rust in the trigger mech and areas the water/solvent missed. The only way I know for sure is the hard way.

But I'm looking for shortcuts now. Especially since I'm looking at getting a second Dragoon. Some people say to use kerosene/metholated spirits because it cuts right into the fouling and leaves an alcohol coating which just evaporates afterwards. Some people laugh and say try a sonic bath or something. Funny as it is, i'm tempted to try something like that. To save myself 2-3 hours every week i'd buy a machine to wash it. I've even considered buying a second dish washer for my pistol, and just chucking it in after the shoot! I'm up for any crazy idea at the moment.

Just toss in any ingenious strategies you guys use. I'd really appreciate it!
What I do....
After every shooting session:

I remove the grips, barrel, cylinder, loading lever and nipples.

The nipples go in a small jar of bp solvent (currently T/C's No. 13).
The barrel and cylinder go in very hot soapy (dish detergent) water. I run wet, soapy patches through the barrel and each chamber on the cylinder, then rinse the barrel and cylinder in very hot (hot as I can stand it) clear water.

I dry the exterior with a towel and run dry patches through the barrel, loading lever hole, wedge opening and cylinder chambers until they come out as dry as they went in.

I carefully dry the nipple recesses and notches in the back of the cylinder (this is the part that takes the longest) with dry patches and a small screwdriver to wipe down the hard to reach places.

I then remove the nipples from the solvent, dry off the exterior of each with a dry patch and run a pipe cleaner into the top hole. I blow out any remaining solvent, apply anti-sieze to the threads and install the nipples.

I lube the chambers and the base pin hole with Bore Butter then wipe each out with a dry patch to leave a thin film. I do the same with the barrel bore, the wedge opening, the loading lever hole.

Then I use patches soaked with the bp solvent to wipe down the cylinder arbor and wedge opening in the arbor, the recoil shield, the hammer channel in the frame, the hammer itself, paying special attention to the hammer face and any other exterior surface that might get powder or cap residue on it.

I follow the wet patches with dry ones until they stay clean. I then lube the cylinder arbor with bore butter and reassemble the gun.

The above process takes about 15 minutes per gun on average.

Every month or so I do a complete disassembly, soaking the small action parts in bp solvent and scrubbing every surface of the parts and the frame with a soft brush and solvent. I reassemble applying a light gun oil film on all contact surfaces.

The complete disassembly/cleaning/reassembly adds about 30-40 minutes to the task for each gun. Sometimes longer if they are especially dirty.

I've been doing this for over 30 years. It works for me. There are many different materials that can be used; I've been advised to use olive oil or Ballistol as the lubricant/preserative, and one of these days I'll probably try that. Many people certainly swear by it. But, this is what I do, and I've had no problems with rust or fouling build up over many years, so I'm happy with it.

By the way, I usually shoot 777 but also use Goex often as well. 777 seems easier to clean.

Last edited: Oct 14, 2007
I think Mykeal has a pretty good cleaning method. But hot tap water in a bucket with dish soap works as good as boiling water, which you mentioned in the original question, and is a lot easier on the hands. The metal heats up enough and dries quickly after a rinse and my pistols don't rust. However, if you worry about the water not clearing quick enough, put some tin foil on a rack in the oven and put the revolver with the handles off on the tin foil. Put the oven on low heat for about five minutes and use a oven mitt to take the pistol out. It will be dry. Then I wipe mine down with a rag with enough gun oil in it to leave a really light film.
1 part each of Murphy's oil soap, isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol, Hydrogen Peroxide.
It's hard to beat soap and hot water.
1/3 murphy's oil soap, 1/3 rubbing alcohol, 1/3 hydrogen peroxide.
works wonders for bp and bp substitutes
I shoot two Ruger Old Armys. Both Stainless. I take off the grips and put them in the dishwasher after my wife goes to bed.
I do the oven thing, but I let them soak up Bore Butter while they are still hot.
Does anyone read articles by Mike Venturine,Hand Gun Editor of Shooting Times magazine and a very dedicated BP shooter? He cleans his blackpowder guns with Windex with vinegar. Several years ago i read an article by Mike and started cleaning my guns with Windex with vinegar-it is the clear Windex.
It takes me about 10 minutes to completely clean and oil my muzzleloading rifles and about 20 minutes for the 1858 Remington revolver. Windex with vinegar very quickly dissolves black powder residue. It also dissloves the residue of all the B/P substitutes.
I do the same thing with mine (except I put the gun in the dishwasher, not the grips )
Do you run the dishwasher without detergent when cleaning those ROA's?
There is Windex with Ammonia,and Windex with Vinegar,one of these is used to remove blueing from a firearm.Which one is it,Vinegar or Ammonia?
Haven't tried it, but sounds interesting: 1/3 Murphy's, 1/43 alcohol, 1/3 hydrogen peroxide mix.
However, I understand the soap, but what effect or benefit does the alcohol and hydrogen peroxide contribute. Just curious.
If a wood hand finished stock is left on a rifle, or grips left on a pistol.......and this concoction drips on the wood in the process of cleaning..... it could cause finish to be removed from the wood and a lasting mark where the fiinsh was damaged if not wiped off soon after contact. Happened to me the only time I tried this formula.
Just stick to hot water and mild soap would be my advice.
I have used this mix, well similar before for cleaning brass cases after BP use and it works very well.
If I remember correctly, the alcohol helps to blend the two other products together and the hydrogen peroxide forms oxygen which helps lift the fouling off. Never tried cleaning a gun with it, but it worked on brass, it really fizzes and lifts the fouling right off the cases.

As for cleaning your Dragoon quickly, lots of regular shooters I know tend to just clen the barrel and cylinder with either a good BP solvent of hot water and soap, give the frame a wipe over with baby wipes.....yes they do actually work and then they spray a good gun oil into the frame without taking the mech to pieces, they only fully strip the thing down evey six months to a year.

I recently bought a second hand Uberti Remington which the owner had cleaned this way, no rust to be seen anywhere and after stripping it down I was surprised that the ammount of fouling in the trigger mech etc was surprisingly light.
Gustav Member

Joined:

Feb 7, 2007

Messages:

554
Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber is what I use on my firearms it works like magic just remember to thoroughly apply a good oil coating when you are done using the cleaner or solvent.
Thanks for the explanation folks. I have a Pedersoli 1874 45-70 that I'm itching to shoot some 45-70-500 loads. I'll try the 3 way mix on the brass.
Boiling water and Dawn here, followed by water displacing oil and a wipedown.
What oven temperature do you use for low heat? as I wouldn't mind given it a go.
I clean my 51 Navy's barrel, cylinder and nipples with BP Solvent and boiling hot water after each shoot (approx 50 shots once a week). Very 2 months or so I strip it down for a full clean and oil. The only other thing I do is to sow some cotton thread in a needle and thread it through each nipple to ensure the holes are dry.
Vinegar will remove blueing from a gun, but the quantities of acetic acid in the Windex with Vinegar is pretty small, on the order of 0.25% as I recall.
150 deg F, 66 deg C, Gasmark 0.1
Best shortcut I know of for cleaning any guns was the one my father taught me: "Son, clean the guns."
I use soap and water, just like they have done for 100s of years.
The tirck is do not use petrolium based oils of any kind.

The oils and burnt powder react to each other and mkae sludge.

I only wash my rifle at the end of the years shooting. The rest of the time I use T/C 1000+ products.

Best stuff ever made.
I clean with dish soap and water after shooting. That said, I let one sit a month after shooting without cleaning with no rust. Bore butter seasoned bore, Ballistol exterior wipedown and snapping a set of caps through post-firing. I had previously seasoned the chambers by bore buttering then loading and firing.
I use the soap/water gig and don't completely disassemble the piece. Have used the oven drying but also follow it up with a hair-blower on "high" and then Ballistol. Have been hesitant on the frequent disassembly/reassembly because it seems a lot of that would take a toll on the piece.
Needless to say my stainless ROA .44 is my favorite of the lot.
I use a spray bottle of windsheild washer fluid to soak the whole pistol down good, let it sit a few minutes and repeat. then take down for brushing, seems the w/w fluid loosens fouling up well.