Pulled muzzleloader from cabinet yesterday. Saw rust inside the barrel. Not sure of the extent. Is there a good way to remove? Should I even bother? Etc, etc, etc.

Knight Wolverine, uses 209 primers. Simple but good... outside the rust, that is!

Thanks in advance for input. Looking for advice... how to examine, what to look for, ways to correct, etc. Not looking to see what your favorite muzzleloader is and why I should buy one. (at least not yet)

-Jeff

Might just be surface rust and if that is the case then you could probably just fire a few rounds down range and clean it off....

If it isn't too awful bad, a good stiff brush and Flitz on some patches will clean it up.

http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0oG7jom61FSUCEARmNXNyoA?ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-138&p=flitz+polish&rs=0&fr2=rs-bottom

You can get it almost any hardware store.

I guess I don't need me to remind you that black powder is corrosive. If you don't wash all the corrosive salts off of the metal it will rust. But all is not lost it normally doesn't rust much over short term, just brush it out using flowing water to flush out the salts. Dry the barrel out with some dry patches & lube it to protect & seal the metal surface. Then if you don't see any pitting on the inside of the barrel, take it to the range to check if it is still zeroed. If your gun is still on zero it should be OK.

I understand the corrosive property of the black powder. Sorry to show my ignorance but is a standard bore cleaner inadequate? I clean with TC No. 13 Bore Cleaner. Typically end of year I will also run patch for a light coating of Rem Oil or similar to protect over the winter. Gun sits inside the house. Please advise...

Also, a friend said he will clean his then run a patch with WD-40 and let that sit in the barrel over the winter. Useful, wives tale, etc???

Thanks.

Hard to beat break free poweder blast to clean it, then a good coating of break free CLP to protect

CLP
http://www.break-free.com/?location=/products/index.asp

CLP is the single product out military uses to clean and maintain weapons. CLP is far superior to WD-40 and rem oil. I buy it in the 12 oz size and use it in all of my firearms, including muzzleloaders.

for longer term storage (>1 year) take a look at the Collector Liquid product. It is speced and >5 years storage time on firearms.

Clean your gun any black powder cleaner and then use Barricade for storage. A couple wet patches down the bore and no rust. When you are ready to use it just run a alcohol patch down the bore. h.h.