Reminds me of me:
 

The “Old dead guys” hold a certain timeless reverence to me. I take pleasure with my vintage shotguns, reliving an earlier time when living was basic and simple.

Barrels finished:
 

The Roger Q. Mills 1888 Top Lever Hammer Gun barrels were returned from Breck Gorman today. When I looked at the “before” photos they looked really bad. Seriously bad. How he transformed these barrels is beyond my imagination. Breck’s skills are astonishing.

Breck is truly an artist at his (other) trade. The A.J. Aubry chain pattern barrels he just finished for me are amazing.

Speaking of cleaning up a gun after shooting black powder, I have a funny story. At the Vintage Cup up at Dover Furnace, I shot the black powder event. It was 50 targets out on the course. That's how I like to shoot that event. It gives the gun time to cool down and you don't have to deal with too much smoke obscuring targets. After the day's shooting was completed, Susan and I went back to our hotel room. I figured I should somehow clean the barrels so I started running the hot water in the bath. I then ran water through the barrels and proceeded to set them into the hot water in the tub. Well, not thinking what the result would be seeing as I never cleaned black powder out of a gun in a bathtub, I looked on with a mixture of amusement and horror as the tub transformed into what looked like a drain oil storage tank!! :shock: No amount of scrubbing the tub would remove the film. Had to call housekeeping. When the maid showed up she darn near fell over!! "What happened here??" she shrieked. I proceeded to sheepishly tell her. She used a green 3M scrubby and glass cleaner and got the tub looking like new! Needless to say I gave her a big tip and never, ever again cleaned black powder from a gun in a bathtub!! Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. :rotf::rotf:

When shooting the Black Powder I bring a couple of water jugs along mixed with a bit of Murphy's Oil Soap. It doesn't take too many patches wrapped around a nylon brush to get the mud out, rinse and repeat. I use a separate cleaning rod for the final Hoppes and oil. Admittedly a messy endeavor but it's just part of the experience.
When cleaning between shots with BPCR, a 7 to 1 mixture of NAPA cutting oil and water has proven to give excellent results, it's water soluble.
As mike's story reveals, cleanup is an outdoor job.

:shock::nono::rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf: Ran out of applicable emojis!

After many years of shooting BP I can say its easy to clean if you are ready for it. I carried two 1-gallon buckets. I would heat water and put dawn dishwashing soap in one and clean water in the other. Once the "gunk" had been removed from the barrel(s) in the first I would patch out the barrel and move to the second. This one had some alcohol added to the water. After several passes with the "swab" and then some patches to prove it clean I would set the barrel aside and let it cool and evaporate dry. Then a quick brush with some light oil and a touch on the extractors. Easy, peasey

Personally, and only personally, it’s just not worth that kind of effort (for me) just to see a cloud of smoke and hear/feel the concussion of the explosion. I get it, I really do, but I won’t shoot BP again.

Smokeless and nitro powders were an improvement just as non-corrosive primers were an improvement. Plastic shot cups were an improvement… These were all developed to protect the longevity of our fine old guns… and to make it more convenient to enjoy our shooting enjoyment.




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Dean brings up very valid points regarding the advancement of smokeless power and the evolution of shot shells overall. One thing that has not been discussed, recoil from black powder is greatly diminished compared to smokeless powder. The reduction in felt recoil is beneficial not only for one’s shoulder but additionally preserving 100+ year old furniture.
I certainly don’t use black powder exclusively, however it’s an enjoyable experience when I do.

pitting and barrel damage out lived black powder by decades - you see it in fluid steel from the smokeless age as well

IMHO - it was the residue from corrosive primers that - yes, along with the lack of cleaning it out that ate the steel.

the older the barrels the longer they were exposed to it

they actually called them corrosive because they knew