Putting up rifle for the season

[mtnmike]

What do you do when you are through for the season,bore wise?

[Dogshirt]

I just clean it and oil it, but I shoot year around so it's never more than a couple weeks until I do it all over again.

[Hanshi]

I'd also check it periodically.

[mtnmike]

What do you use? Hoppe's?  WD40? Bore butter?

[texasranger]

any good gun oil, I would stay away from wd-40 for extended time off.

[flintboomer]

any good gun oil, I would stay away from wd-40 for extended time off.

Even here in Colorado WD40 will not hold for long term storage. Vegetable oil or gun oil will work, but veg oil will slowly drain into the breech if you store the gun muzzle up.
Whatever you decide to use check with a dry patch after a week or so then lightly reoil or reclean and reoil if any rust shows up on the patch.
When you pull it out again to shoot, drop enough alcohol down the barrel to dribble out the breech and wipe with a dry patch before loading.

[mtnmike]

Thanks for the help

[Red Badger]

any good gun oil, I would stay away from wd-40 for extended time off.

Even here in Colorado WD40 will not hold for long term storage. Vegetable oil or gun oil will work, but veg oil will slowly drain into the breech if you store the gun muzzle up.
Whatever you decide to use check with a dry patch after a week or so then lightly reoil or reclean and reoil if any rust shows up on the patch.
When you pull it out again to shoot, drop enough alcohol down the barrel to dribble out the breech and wipe with a dry patch before loading.

question :  Out of the Breech or out of the Nipple/flashhole?

[pilgrim]

      This will stick to the metal better than anything.  http://www.fluid-film.com/

       When going to shoot, will need to run several alcohol  patches through bore to remove.   

[flintboomer]

any good gun oil, I would stay away from wd-40 for extended time off.

Even here in Colorado WD40 will not hold for long term storage. Vegetable oil or gun oil will work, but veg oil will slowly drain into the breech if you store the gun muzzle up.
Whatever you decide to use check with a dry patch after a week or so then lightly reoil or reclean and reoil if any rust shows up on the patch.
When you pull it out again to shoot, drop enough alcohol down the barrel to dribble out the breech and wipe with a dry patch before loading.

question :  Out of the Breech or out of the Nipple/flashhole?

Since the nipple or flashhole is "usually" at the breech end of the muzzleloader I would pour it into the muzzle end and let it drain out whatever type of hole it finds at the breech end, and if it finds a way out besides a nipple or flashhole I would reccommend not trying to fire it!!!!

[pathfinder]

W/D40 is NOT for storage. W/D stands for "Water displacement". I use Dextron II auto trans fluid for my gun oil. It was developed as a replacement for Sperm Wale oil in WWII. In the 20 years I've been using it,I've NEVER had ANY rust issue's.

[gunmaker]

Pathfinder, you ever use that ATF for patch lube ?  If it was a sub. for sperm whale(how'd they get that name?) oil could it be patch lube or is it flamable ?................Tom

[flintboomer]

I have used it on shotgun wads but not as a patch lube. I don't recommend it for cartridges because it will slowly kill the powder, but it works fine in muzzleloading shotguns.

I may have to give it a try as a patch lube some day and see if the patches smoulder like most oil lubes do.

[Hank12]

It depends a lot on where you live, where you store your guns and how clean your guns are before you oil them for storage. It's always better to overdo the protection than underdo it but i've been shooting muzzleloaders all my life but religiously for the last 50 yrs. For that last 50 yrs. or as long as WD40 has been around, I've used nothing else and have never had a speck of rust. I clean it, spray WD on a patch, run it down the bore, wipe the metal down with the patch, put them away. I have 26 long guns and 7 handguns, some i shoot several times a week others haven't been shot in yrs., the bores are all perfect.  I run a dry patch down the bore before I load, it always comes out white. I shoot mostly flinters but also have cappers, both patent breech and drum and nipple, no problems with any of them. It's dry where I live now but I used to live in Northern Calif. where it rained (big time) all winter.
Hank

[pathfinder]

Sperm whale oil come from,of all places,the Sperm whale. They have a huge store of it in their head. It's not the rendered oil from the fat. From what I recall from school,it was to equalize the pressure while making deep dives.

Haven't used it as a lube,spit is too convenient. I had a gallon from my Grandfathers clock making shop,used it up a few years ago,do wish I had some more! Jojoba oil is supposed to be a good substitute,I didn't think it was. Got gummy in a couple of clock movements I built. Expensive lesson