I have a CVA .50 caliber muzzleloader and need to know the best product to use to keep rust out of the barrel. I always clean it thoroughly and grease it before putting it away. I always find some rust in the barrel when I check it from time to time. Any solutions???

Where do you live and what do you store it in? Sonora

My muzzleloaders are the only guns hanging on my walls. I clean them after firing with HOT water , and after it's dry but still warm , I swab the bore with a mop soaked with straight 30wt motor oil.

All the old-timers I knew that kept rifles hanging on open racks in their homes or cabins used 30wt motor oil to wipe down the steel.

I use Thompson Center Bore Butter to coat the inside of my muzzleloader's bore, and then store the rifle in a silicone gun sock.
I believe it is not uncommon to get a small amount of rust in the barrel of blue steel guns. I switched to stainless steel guns years ago because I hunt in high humidity and rain all the time down here in Florida.

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"Life is short, hunt hard"

Rust in the barrel of a muzzle loading rifle can be an indication of incomplete cleaning. Black powder residue attracts and retains moisture.

For cleaning I recommend boiling water with a bit of dish soap. Remove the barrel from the rifle, remove the nipple, place the breech end into the pot of boiling water, use a tight fitting cleaning patch to draw the water into and out of the barrel repeatedly. Bronze bore brush will remove the harder residue, followed by the cleaning patch again until the water is running absolutely clear.

The barrel will heat up from the water temperature, and the water will evaporate away readily when removed. Mop it down thoroughly with oil, inside and out, prior to storage.

A second cleaning a day or two later doesn't hurt.

Prior to shooting again clean out the oil with dry patches, then pop a cap or two before loading and shooting.

Attached photos show my pre-Civil War .41 caliber percussion rifle, which I have restored to shooting condition and find handy for small game. Nothing like a meal taken with a 150-plus year old piece!

Attached Images

	Golcher.jpg (16.6 KB, 46 views)
	the hare.jpg (62.1 KB, 53 views)

A friend recommended Break Free Collector Oil for storage between shooting sessions. It is great.

Eezox.

Amazing stuff. I have tested myself in hot humid salt water environment. It works. Midway used to sell it but no longer does. Warrenoutdoor has it.

Eezox® Gun Care Products - Order Here - Warren Custom Outdoor

The Gun Zone -- Corrosion Test

Ballistol/Sportsmans oil cleans muzzle loaders well and prevents rust. Non toxic and cheap

Sportsman's Gun Oil 16oz Liquid

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Still Running Against the Wind

Hot water and soap. Dry with patches. High percentage isopropyl alcohol on patches and then dry patch, again. After it is allowed to dry...

WD-40...patch... And same WD patch treatment,... the next two days.

All my bores are bright.

Giz

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Non gratum anus rodentum

Thanks so much! I thought I really cleaned it well after the season was over, but buess I didn't do the right things. Have always used Bore Butter or Hoppe's Gun Grease in the barrel. Maybe a new product is needed.

Yes, the idea of using water on a gun was so counter-intuitive. My brother-in-law (I was new to the family) offered to teach me how to clean my muzzle loader properly. The sight of my then-new CVA barrel in the shower, with hot water spewing out, seemed so abnormal.

I thought that this must be some kind of family initiation, so I went along with it. I figured it wasn't worth losing family relationships over a relatively inexpensive gun barrel.

I found out later that the use of hot water was indeed one of the recommended ways of cleaning such guns. We let it dry out, then lubricated it. I never got rust on it, and this all happened in the land of 10,000 lakes, not in the desert southwest where I now spend most of my time.

Unless the barrel is already 100% dry... Bore Butter will seal on moisture next to the metal. This leads to pitting. If any black powder residue is left.

Another step I do with the rifles is to use a bore brush to really scrub out the cut rifling I also use a breach scraper, as needed.

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To clean my flintlock 50cal,
I take a plastic bottle of water with me to the range. A drop or two of dish washing soap added, not much more.
After shooting, I plug the vent w/a toothpick and fill the bore,,let it stand for a few minutes. Then drain it, refill and run a patch down the bore and push the water out the flash hole. Use a breech scraper on it.
Fill the bore again and clean w/a couple of wet,,then dry patches. Wipe off the exterior parts w/a damp then dry patch too.

At home the lock comes off and right into the sink for a scrub down under hot water and soap w/a toothbrush.
The bore gets another round of wet patches and dry. Then a couple w/WD-40 to pick up any moisture. The same with the outside surfaces.

The lock drys by it's own heat and gets a light spray of Rem-Oil or G96. Reassemble the lock to the rifle the next day, checking the bore again and this time it gets an oil patch w/ the Rem-Oil/G96 or what ever is the oil of the day.
Re-check the next day again.
No rust or damage ever.
The lock is left polished in the white and isn't tarnished after 4 years of use and cleaning.
I've only had the bbl out of the wood once in that 4 year time. It stays assembled except for the lock coming off during cleaning.

Everyone has their own way, but the bottom line is that the BP fouling has to go before you cover up the metal with any protective coating. It'll only rust underneath if any is left in there.
Water is about the cheapest, easiest and still one of the best cleaning 'solutions' for BP.

Clean well & leave a coat of gun oil inside & out, just dry out prior to loading. I left the hot water & bore butter long ago, neither add anything for storage.

I've also moved on to Blackhorn 209 powder, though it won't work in side-locks or older types.