I cannot find a definitive answer on this question...maybe my google-fu is not up to snuff.

According to Hodgdon's website, Triple Seven propellants contain no sulfur and clean up easily with just water. Okay...that's plain enough. What I want to know is how critical it is to clean a muzzleloader soon after shooting when using Triple Seven (I use CCI 209 primers and 50./50 pellets). I won't assume that just because there is no sulfur, there will be nothing corrosive in the residue. I'd like to use my muzzleloader on hogs (maybe I should just say "a hog," LOL) at least once and I really want to know if I can put off cleaning for a few days since I won't have access to all my gear and conveniences while out at the ranch.

Anyone have a good link, or firsthand knowledge?

Resistance when loading will tell you.

How so?

I'm not well versed at all with muzzleloading. I have one ML in the safe and I've fired it maybe 15 times. I have no idea how pushing a bullet down the bore will indicate whether or not my propellant is corrosive before corrosion has done its dirty work.

Feel and remember the pressure required to push a fresh bullet/sabot down a clean barrel.
Then, feel the resistance required to do that same task after each subsequent shot.
It will get progressively more difficult.
You will feel a crud ring with 777. Bank on it.

Windex works better than plain water.How humid and what is a couple of days 2-5-10?.

If you have everything to load it, you should have enough to clean it.There are small kits you can buy that has a bullet pusher, a patch jag,a bullet puller and a mop. All you need is some thing to clean the breech plug, , breech plug wrench,and anti-seeze compound for the breech plug.
ch plug

Personally I would clean it the day you shoot it. If you are using tight fitting bullets/sabots, with 777, that 2nd shot can be tough getting seated.

But I am paranoid . I guess if I were hunting close to home I wouldn't worry,. If I were traveling I would be more critical about it

In my opinion, a couple days is too many. The powder itself may not be too corrosive, but it attracts moisture. That will start some rust. Once it starts to rust, you will eventually be screwed. I have let them go till the next morning after an evening hunt, but that's it. My oldest Hawken is around 22, and still looks great. I shot that thing a LOT! Cleaned it a lot, too. With hogs, I guess you would shoot more than a couple of times, too. I would swab every third shot.

I am not asking how to know when I need to clean.

Thank you. That's the kind of info I was looking for.

IIRC, I took it out to shoot it exactly one time for sight-in purposes and just to see how it would shoot. It was the cheapest muzzleloader Cabela's had the day I looked for one---a Traditions Canyon .50-cal, and to be honest I did not expect much at all. I put a VX-II 1-4x on it and was pleasantly surprised to see groups running around an inch. I fired it from about 8 to 15 times that day and never had a hint of an issue seating a sabot/bullet.

I did clean it that evening about ten or twelve years ago. Maybe I'll drag it out and have a look at the bore with a new borecam.

What you are asking is quite variable. Each brand and model of rifle barrel is different in composition and coatings.
Weather conditions play a major role.
So, you have to know when YOUR particular sample rifle bore needs cleaning.

Some rifle bores may take longer than others to show corrosion or rust. But damage can be done faster than one thinks.

If you value the rifle, clean it after every firing session or use during a hunt. Multiple shots may require cleaning DURING the session.

This. If you can load it then you only need a cleaner of some sort and patches. Only 2 extra items to pack and in my opinion it's really only 1 extra item, as I usually run a patch down the bore before loading anyway to make sure there is no oil or moisture in the bore.

I shot a lot of loose 777 through a Lyman Great Plains 50 at local monthly matches.

I was careful to clean it at the end of the match with wet patches, dry patches and I left it lubed.

With the inlines, having along a good range rod to swab the bore clean, dry and lubed at the end of a days hunt and pulling the breech plug when I got home worked fine.
If I'd lubed the breech plug beforehand...

Leave the breech plug in dirty too long and it can be a fight to remove as some bits of crud get driven into the threads.

It's was simpler to have a ratchet, extension and socket, lube and patches under the foam of the rifle case and a range rod with the rifle.

October of 2019, I shot my Omega for zero and my daughter hunted
with it. I used to clean the day of shooting any "blackpowder" gun,
dad didn't, and didn't have any real issues. Just cleaning at the end of
season. (We do not move the guns from warm to cold)


Anyway, things got crazy and it didnt get cleaned.
Until Christmas time, 2021.

Was nervous about getting the plug out,
I use anti-sieze but this was extreme.

Didn't even try the sheet metal tool, went with a 6 point deep well 1/4" socket
to start. It screwed right out. One pellet fell out. Bumped the stock and the
other fell out. The Barnes Expander Sabot was a bit tough to move.
There are a couple tiny pits in breech area of the plug. And a row of them
on the blued breech block where it snugs up to the barrel.

The barrel is fine, no marks, no rust on the patch.

This was a stainless gun, for what it's worth, and not something I'd
recommend or do again on purpose. It just kinda happened.


I have seen way worse surface issues on our flintlocks,
using black powder,
after two days hunting in snowy weather.

Warm to cold is never an issue. Cold to warm with a high humidity can be serious though.

I've left Triple7 in the bore for a week without trouble.

If I’m on an out of state hunt I bring some patches with me. A few soaked with bore butter. After shooting swab the bore with a few damp patches followed by a dry patch and then one with some bore butter or light oil on it. Also wipe out the nipple area and hit it with a little oil or bore butter and it will be fine until you get home.

I clean guns after using 777 just the same as with BP. Ballistol/water solution, followed by straight Ballistol for protection. I always check the gun periodically for signs of trouble over the following weeks until I’m satisfied all’s well. If any trace of rust should appear, straight Ballistol on bronze wool will take care of it.

Other ways work too, but this is easiest for me. One product and done. The solution is a good patch lube for target-shooting too.

A small bottle of solution, one of the straight product, and some patches, plus a brush, jag, ball puller, and patch puller shouldn’t be a burden to pack. I carry most of that in my possibles bag anyway, the wet stuff on patches in film cans or the like.

Said it incompletely.
Once we take the guns outside, they stay there.

Pappy348, the Ballistol is/was used by the military for cleaning years ago....heard it was invented by Germans....and it is one of the best for cleaning and oiling a rifle I have found. Just bought a new can few days ago. It seems to last longer in a rifle barrel and protects from corrosion better. I also use Shooters Choice for copper removal which works great. I use to use Sweets but believe the Shooters Choice works just as good without the smell. My Knight in line with Blackhorn 209 cleans up with the Ballistol also....clean it after every range trip or hunt....and my Knight is like 30 years old and barrel looks like new. Have seen some barrels that was not cleaned after shooting and they show it, so take it for what it is worth.

I actually shoot very little 777, but it’s an option, and excellent for some purposes, giving good velocity. I scored a 5-pounder of 209 in 2020, and bought some of the cleaner marketed for that. Works very well, so I’ll continue to use it for now. My current inline is nitrided SS, so about as rustproof as it gets.

I havent found anything that Ballistol is best for. Maybe being a jack of all trades.

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!