shooting and cleaning a muzzleloader

[carpsniperg2]

i know what bar oil is my family is in the saw mill industry so i come from a long line of loggers
i was saying never heard of it used with a muzzleloader.

[bobcat]

OK, just makin' sure!  I've never heard of it for muzzleloaders either, but I guess oil is oil, right?

[duckmen1]

when cleaning the barrel i pour boiling water down the barrel and then one lubricant patch
clean as a wistle

[AWS]

Chainsaw bar oil is very sticky and seals the metal very well, doesn't dry out  or gum like WD-40.   Whens the last time you saw a well used Chainsaw bar or chain that is rusty, even if it's been hang out in a shed for years.  I used to store my guns in a unheated garage and the ones wiped down with bar oil never got any rust, others that got regular gun oil had to be rewipe at regular intervolds to keep rust at bay. Works for ME.

AWS

[Crisptrigr]

When shooting at the range I'll patch with bore butter every two shots to remove fouling and reserve reasonable accuracy. Most of the time I'm shooting for groups or practicing. One important thing I've always done whether at the range or in the field is to pick my nipple with a paper clip after reloading. I've seen and heard way too many misfires because of plugged nipples. Very important to get the primer fire into the powder, nipple holes are small and easily plugged.

At home to do a major clean I use hot soapy water after removing breech plug and nipple. Before re-assembly coat all threads with bore butter, breech plug and nipple. Bore butter helps prevent rust and also seals against moisture, pretty important in this part of the country. Coat the bore with bore butter while the barrel is still warm from cleaning. You want to make sure you clean as much of the powder residue as you can from your rifle during a major clean because it will build up and cause ignition problems in the future if you don't. If you shoot copper jacketed bullets make sure you use a good copper solvent in the cleaning procedure. Copper fouling will affect accuracy.

[pat2bear]

At home my Hawkins goes in the bathtub in hot soapy water with the nipple removed. Then I dry it as quickly as possible and apply bore butter or lightly oil with gun oil. I clean the #11 nipples with acetylene torch tip cleaners to make sure there's no gunk in them. At the range I do the best I can with a brush, patches and a little solvent.