Cleaning up an old muzzleloading shotgun can be quite successful when the gun is rusted and crusty but not pitted. Sometimes it is hard to tell how bad they are until they are cleaned up some. So, unless the gun is obviously rusted with pitting, it can be worth the time to clean them up.

The first step that we used to clean up the bore was to soak a bronze brush with Evapo-Rust and scrub the bore several passes. The Evapo- Rust was re-applied a couple of times and then the barrel was allowed to set and soak for a couple of hours. After soaking for a couple of hours, the barrel was flushed with water and blown out with air.

The second step was to swab the bore with patches soaked with Kroil. Kroil has the property of getting under rust and crud, allowing it to be removed from the bore. This was repeated several times to insure that the bore was clean. After the patches were coming out clean the bore was swabbed with a dry patch and then swabbed with a patch that had been coated with Lucas gun oil. This was done to protect the bore from rusting back.

After cleaning the bore and finding that it was good, we worked on the outside of the barrel with Kroil and a stainless-steel pad. This method takes off the surface rust without taking off whatever bluing remains. Sometimes the finish comes out really well once the surface rust is removed. The finish on this old shotgun came back really well.

Shooting the Muzzleloading Shotgun

After getting everything cleaned up and checked out, we were ready to shoot it. The following videos show shooting muzzleloading shotgun.

If you have an old muzzleloader that has been neglected, it may well be worth the effort to rehabilitate it. Many times, the result can be quite satisfying. These guns are lots of fun to shoot and hunt with. For any help you might need for this type of project, Craig at Craig’s Outdoor Sports can help you out.