CAM2

when i bought my encore a few years ago i heard people (and t\c) recommend seasoning the barrel and to keep patroleum based products out of the barrel. do i have to be concerned about this because i use nothing but sabot' s and BP substitutes such as pyrodex (i' ll be trying 777 this week)? is the seasoning practice best used when you are useing BP and lead projectiles?
thanks.

RandyWakeman

It is best not used at all-- because it just does not work.

kevin1

With respect to Randy ,
I also use Pyrodex with sabots in my guns , and yes seasoning does work . My bores are mirror bright and rust free with normal cleaning that includes a swabbing with Bore Butter afterward .

RandyWakeman

Kevin,

If you are happy with it-- fine. The " all-natural" notion is peculiar. Oil is all natural. Bury a dinosaur in your backyard for 10,000,000 years-- bingo! Sweet crude.

It is basically the stuff the FDA won' t let into a hot dog, along with artificial color and perfume. Rendered road kill, and wax.

You won' t find this wonderous product used outside of smoke pole land, just because there are far better bore protectants. My barrels aren' t cast iron, and I' m not cooking.

Thompson sells it because it is an extremely high profit item for them, with most of the cost in packaging and shipping from Ox-Yoke. There were asked how it could possibly work--

The answer was:



It DOES work as a bullet lube, and does keep fouling soft. As to metal, it has no different affect than sheep tallow, bear grease, etc.

mlaubner

I " seasoned" every barrel of every ML' er I have ever owned.
I do not ever use any petroleum distillate solvents in my ML' er.
I have never had any problems with plastic fouling or " powder rings" in my bore.
And while " crude oil" may be an acceptable lube and seasoning agent Hoppes, Break-Free and the rest are refined petroleum products and are not necessary for the cleaning, seasoning and lubing of ML' ers.

To season: Remove the bbl from you rifle. Boil some water in a tea kettle. Holding the bbl w/ a towel, pour the water thru the bbl unti lit is hot. Take your swab totally saturated with bore butter and swab the bbl back and forth for several minutes or until the bbl begins to cool slightly. Let it sit to cool completely. Use dry patches to remove any excess. Done.
I also do this periodically after cleaning or target shooting.
It works great for me.[:-]

1950KID

I think that' s a lot of bunk. All I' ve ever used is WD-40. My barrels are not rusty, or gummy. The bore-butter thing is a sales job.

kevin1

1950KID ,
sales job or not , the product does work . Sure , I could use another product , but if it works don' t fix it .

Randy ,
steel and cast iron are made from the same mineral . My cast iron skillets and steel bores are clean and rust free as a result of thorough cleaning , and seasoning . Whatever seals the metal' s pores seasons the barrel by keeping moisture away from it' s surface . The choice of " seasoner" is entirely up to the gun' s owner , use what works for you .

Among the many things I did in the Navy was corrosion control on aircraft , I was also the only one in my class to ace that part of the curriculum . These copters were constantly exposed to salt spray , and we sealed every exposed surface to prevent corrosion . Rust is a form or corrosion , and sealing your bore' s pores through seasoning prevents rust .

RandyWakeman

I' m happy to dissent, as they distinctly are not, and you won' t find " steel" listed on any periodic table of elements. A cast deep dish pizza pan certainly can benefit from a crusty seal-- it takes a while at 500 degrees to do it. The pores in 4140 and other GBQ steels are microscopic, no " seasoning" can take place, and that is why you' ll not find the people that care the most about their metal, such as the military, subscribing to its use.

kevin1

Randy ,
a quick recheck of the Periodic Table will turn up a listing called " Iron" , from which all cast iron and steel are made . I work for a welding shop , and I' ve worked with and around metals most of my life , so I' m pretty sure that I had that one right . The traditional recipe for seasoning cast iron is 1 hour at 350 ceg. with a light coat of cooking oil , and it has always worked in my experience . It has also worked for my Mom , and hers , and ...


Last I looked , the military hasn' t used BP for some time , and the powders they do use are allegedly non-corrosive . You might also note that most military rifle barrels , and some receivers , are chromed to reduce corrosion and wear . Ask the howitzer crowd what they use , I' ll bet they use something as a corrosion preventative sealant too . CAM2' s question dealt specifically with a muzzle loader , not an AK-47 .


A pore is a pore regardless of size , and if moisture and a corrosive agent enter that pore then galvanic cell corrosion will result . These are basic corrosion facts known to accepted metallurgy for centuries . The cure for that has always been the same , seal the metal against moisture and corrosive agents, whether with paint or some other sealant .


You don' t have to season yours if you honestly feel that it does no good , but some of us prefer to make that judgement for ourselves .

RandyWakeman

Of course it is anyone' s choice how they elect to maintain their guns, hardly any dispute there. When it comes to 4140 chrome-moly steel, or 416 SS steel, the testing performed by barrel manufacturers need not be arbitrarily set aside-- whether Green Mountain, Kreiger, etc., nor the research of Ian McMurchy or Doc White. Most folks have little idea of the exact composition of synthetic BP substitutes, and when Thompson / Center tells me it cannot possibly work in one of their stainless steel barrels-- the very company that sells the most of it, it is very hard to ignore.

What do you think really is in Triple Seven?