Cleaning BP (777)

[LeScouse]

I took the Ruger for a spin on Friday night and returned home to face the cleaning session. (I am using 777 and wads)

However this time I went for the bowl of bolling water and fairy liquid approach. Removed the grips, cylinder and nipples and dumped it all in the bowl.

WOW ! - talk about easy cleaning, the cap residue on the nipples wiped off as did the black gunk on the rear of the cylinder. Insides of the cylinder, pretty much cleaned themselves as did the barrel. The hammer also cleaned up very easily.

I dryed the Ruger and lubed with WD40 - Ready to rock for the next session

Thanks for everyones advice - who would have belived that old fashioned soap and water would be the route to easy cleaning

[Smokeless Coal]

Yep,nylon bottle brush and teapot spout brush from the local pound shop work well for me. And a toothbrush on the nipples.

I dont like WD40 though,particularly on the cylinder. Its good for penetrating around the trigger and hammer but I find it affects caps more than oil. I always "cap off" before shooting but you can get "damp squids" after WD40. It seems to penetrate the cap quicker than you can let it off but plain oil does not.

[Smokeless Coal]

A thing about 777 is you should not use lube.

Hodgdons say just a wonderlube patch is enough.

Lube is used with BP to keep the residue soft and easier to clean. Pyrodex is modified BP so also needs lube. 777 does not make the same sort of residue, leave it on for a while and all you get is a white powdery coating. It does not need lube.

I'm uncomfortable with the thought of unlubed lead going up the barrel so I coat my projectiles with Alox. For those who dont know of Alox its a cheap and easy way to lube bullets for reloading ammunition. Put your bullets in a plastic tray, dribble on a little Alox, swirl it around a bit then put the bullets on a hard surface for a few hours to dry. It gives them a coating similar to a varnish. No mess at the range. You can do over a thousand with one bottle of lube that costs 3 to 4 quid.

Thats all the lube I use, my range dont allow over ball grease. We have a tube range and the guys used overball lube for a while and it built up a greasy coating containing unburnt BP down the tube. One day one guy let one off which ignited the residue and sent a ball of flame the length of the tube. Very spectacular but frowned upon by the RO.

[LeScouse]

Interesting point - regarding WD40 on the nipples, since I did not cap off and on my first cylinder 4 out of 6 chambers misfired, I recapped and no problems.

Lessons to be learned, will cap off next time I take the Ruger out for a session and will use oil on the nipple threads, since the nipples are stainless, next time I think I will clean and dry them but not lube the insides.

Also point of note, I purchased some wonderful looking wads from McAvoys in Standish (they have a web site) same price as normal 1/8" wads but these babies must be close on 1/2" thick, should close the air gap between powder and ball very nicely (22 grains of 777) - not tried them as yet

[lilguy43uk]

Hot, soapy water to start with followed by Hoppes solution

[Smokeless Coal]

Mc Avoys website

http://www.guns.gb.com/#1X0

The wads sound just the job LeScouse.

[Jochen L.]

What I've learned ( on the hard way ) is that soap will degrease the barrel and it starts to rust from that second on you did the first pull through.

Its of course not much, but the surface inside the barrel will become bigger and rust become more every time.

To use an oil-emulsion ( hot water + a suiting oil / solvent ) is far saver and works astonishingly even faster.

Also its an advantage to use compressed air to dry the barrel entirely before its oiled to put it away.

I'm now down to 15 minutes on my Hawken

Cheers Jochen

[Mousemann]

Fwiw, most here will remember my similar questions when I first got my pistol a year ago. I've got the cleaning ritual down to about an hour and a quarter now and that's dropping it all to bits in scalding water with screenwash. All components that will fit, go in the ultrasound.

Some do and some don't remove the nipples each time. But it's a very good idea to lubricate the threads with copper grease. This also helps in other locations where residue can cause problems (the cylinder pin on the 1858 Remington for example).

I found everyone on this section very helpful LeScouse, so don't worry about asking what seem like dumb questions. They're not at all.

[Smokeless Coal]

If I'm laying the gun up for a couple of weeks I take the grips of and bake it in a low oven for a while to get rid of the last of the water. Then liberally spray with WD40 wrap in a musin cloth and store.

But if I do it then a real good wipe and pull through before going to the range. I use a bit of meths on an old toothbrush on the nipples and be sure to cap off.

[John Bedford]

I'm another fan of Alox. Balls lubed in the way described earlier.

If you shoot a Remy try a little Alox on the underside of the cylinder spindle (the flat area) too - I find it helps reduce fouling build up.

[lilguy43uk]

I've always used boiling, soapy water in the shotty, although you have to wear gloves whilst doing it.
Recently I've tried Hoppe's No.9 with good results.

[Wobbly 2]

I clean my Stainlees Ruger Old Army in the dishwasher.

Strip it down, and remove grips, place the small items in the cutlery tray, and the nipples in one of those net bags you put washing tablet in the washing machine.

Run the dishwasher on a full cycle, the pistol comes out spotless and dry, quick squirt of WD40, then reassemble, ready for use.

[middaycowboy]

Fwiw, most here will remember my similar questions when I first got my pistol a year ago. I've got the cleaning ritual down to about an hour and a quarter now and that's dropping it all to bits in scalding water with screenwash. All components that will fit, go in the ultrasound.

Some do and some don't remove the nipples each time. But it's a very good idea to lubricate the threads with copper grease. This also helps in other locations where residue can cause problems (the cylinder pin on the 1858 Remington for example).

I found everyone on this section very helpful LeScouse, so don't worry about asking what seem like dumb questions. They're not at all.

as in screenwash in the cars screenwasher bottle ???

[DJS]

as in screenwash in the cars screenwasher bottle ???

I use neat screenwash at room temperature, it dries very quickly. I always had problems with 'flash rust' when using boiling water.
Daz

[Neil Marshall]

The best & easy way to clean Black powder.....

Take the pistol apart.......into the major bits, remove grips put to one side.
Then put all metal parts in a container of neat car screen wash solution, leave for about the time it takes to have a cuppa then with an old tooth brush, clean off residue.....
It works in M/L rifles as well, just plug the flash hole then fill barrel up & leave. then just put hand over end & flush back & forth, pour into a container for reuse. Just leave it to settle out.
After this, just dry & oil the gun as normal.
This is the best B/P solvent i have found. Also the cheepest.
It also works in B/P cartridge rifles