Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Triple Seven, cleaning, & corrosion?

Back before I switched entirely to BH209, the cleaner I liked best for cleaning up after Triple 7 was the Knight Solvent Concentrate -- came in a fairly large aerosol can. That seemed to clean the crud out of the barrels well, followed by a quick swab with some oil-based product to prevent rust. I don't know if this is still available.

The triple seven propellant leaves a portion of itself behind after ignition. Some of it collects as a hard ring just ahead of the breech, making it difficult to firmly seat the next projectile. How difficult depends on the volume of powder fired. The rest of the bore has a coating of hygroscopic fouling that collects and holds atmospheric moisture. How much depends on humidity, and duration.

An unfired charge if left loaded and sealed can remain perfectly serviceable for a long time, but it's also hygroscopic.

It's a great propellant, but is harder to light off than real BP., and the fouling it leaves behind hardens with commensurate effects on accuracy and ease of reloading. I like to use it in cap&ball revolvers, and BP cartridges for handguns.

When I was shooting a flinter, Ballistol and water were all I used and kept it spotless. Learned about it reading Ross Seyfried. He shoots a lot of BP, often in valuable vintage guns, and it’s what he uses. Flushing with a 4-1 water/Ballistol mix, followed by drying and swabbing with straight Ballistol works very well. Always pays to check the bore from time to time, JIC.

Ballistol won’t harm wood, or any finish IME, unless you really soak it.

I help run a black powder shoot every other year for a large group of 14-15 year-old scouts. Last time we fired 9,000 balls in 2 days. We disassemble and clean the guns every night. I found hot soapy water was better than Ballistol. We also swabbed with moose milk. ( cutting oil mixed with water i think) a patch of this was better than Ballistol.

We used 777. I have a couple bottles of ballistol but don't use it much. Maybe there's A niche i haven't found

I've used hot water and Dawn to clean 777 since ~2002. Never a problem.

I've got a couple of plastic cans of 777 still lying around. I haven't shot it in some time but what was nice is it was AVAILABLE at the local Gander Mountain whereas BP was not. It doesn't like to be compressed which is opposite of BP. It had a "greasy" residue which seems to provide some level of lube (if you want to call it that...LOL). It does clean up very easy with water. Regarding your question about cleanup, I'm very particular about my firearms especially percussion ones. I tend to get on them and clean them up within a few hours of getting home. With 777, my guess is that it would be okay for a couple of days but for BP I would want to get things cleaned up by the next day at the latest. +1 on Balilstol...great stuff!