A Guide to Cleaning Your Black Powder Gun

First things first: Make sure there is no charge left in your gun.

Now if you have a gun with a hook breech, you just need to remove the barrel from the stock. I like to use dish soap. The stuff will cut about anything with oil or grease. It cleans black powder residue very well. I use a bucket with as hot of water as your tap will give you and mix in a good amount of dish soap.

Take the nipple end of your barrel and put in the the bucket. And if you have a gun that the barrel is pined and screwed at the breech to your stock you can use and piece of ¼ inch air tubing for fish tanks. Just slip one end over the nipple and put the other end in the bucket of water. Next you use a wet patch and your ram rod and drive it down to the breech. Now when you bull it back up you want to go slow enough that the barrel will fill with the hot water and soap. Pull the patch to the top of the barrel put do not pull it all of the way out.

Now just run it back down and repeat the hole process again. You can do this till the water is running out clean in the bucket. You will want to change the water once and you will tell too by the way the patch will look. Just dampen a new patch and run it down and back out of the barrel with it out of the water to see if all the residue is gone.

With using very hot water it will help to evaporate it out of and off of your barrel. You will want to run clean dry patches till they come out the same way they went it, dry and clean. Then all you have to do is to oil it good on the inside and outside .

You can use the soapy water to to clean of your lock and hammer along with the wood. But make sure you do not use too much water on your stock and get it under your lock or tigers.

Always make sure that you have dried everything very good before putting your gun back together. Water left on your stock can ruin the finish and stain the wood it self.

You will find cleaning your black powder gun this way will make your cleanup go faster and will be less messy and use fewer patches. I always oil my ram rod also before cleaning and after to protect it from the water itself.

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