Bore solvents

[Kurt]

I have always used Murphy's oil soap for cleaning the powder rifles and got along fine using it. When running dry patches through and if I see some gray on the dry patch I dampen a patch with penetrating oil, dont make any difference what kind it is, and run one loose patch through and wait a few minutes to let the oil get under the lead and with that patch folded over and run it through again. It gets what little lead is in the bore.
The important thing is when cleaning the bore and that is get it dry. Two dry patches does not do it usually if one uses a water/oil mix like NAPA or OIL soap. This has a tendency to leave moisture droplets in the grooves. When checking the bore with a scope with 20 X magnification you can see this after running a final oily patch through. After a few days when you pick up the rifle again and run a dry patch through just before shooting and checking the bore with a scope you will see dark spots that the moisture pushed the oil back.
Two patches are not enough to dry a bore especially when you use a lubed bullet or lube wads. there are always water droplets that stay behind.
I like to use a cotton ball for my final pass through before oiling the bore.

Kurt