Murphy’s mix in pitted barrel.

[cruizer]

Question for guys who know better than I. How long do I let a mixture of Murphy’s mix sit in a ML barrel? A few minutes, couple hours, overnight? I’ve read about it on other sites, but no one mentions how long you let it sit in the barrel. The barrel has some light pitting throughout, and still a little dark after cleaning with hot soapy water. It is a Ml that I haven’t used in ten years. Thanks!

 

[lonedave]

I usually run a brush in the barrel and a smaller one in the powder chamber to break up any crud in there first. Then I pull the nipple, plug the threads with a tightly rolled patch (or just plug the flashhole on a flintlock), and fill the barrel partway. Then I upend the barrel back and forth a few times, dump and run a few patches with more mix on them. Dry with a patch or two and finish with some Ballistol. If you want to remove some of the pitting, you can run tight patches or a tight swab with Flitz, but unless the pitting is too bad, I wouldn't worry about it.

Mixes can vary too. I use 1:1:4, Murphy's : isopropyl alcohol : water.

 

[cruizer]

Thanks Dave, I used 1 part Murphy's oil soap, 1 part rubbing alcohol, 1 part Hydrogen peroxide. I saw a thread on another site that said fill the barrel within 3 inches of the top, and let the mixture "Fizz", when fizzing stops, about 2 hours, empty the barrel and clean with a patch and the same solution. I did this, and the Barrel cleaned up better than I expected. A lot of what I thought was pitting, was just rust and crud. There is still a little pitting, but not nearly as bad as I originally thought. I will be taking it out later this weekend to see how it shoots.