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Well water, water softener (salt) and black powder cleanup


Lazy Eeyour

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The salt you put in your water softener is sodium chloride. Effectively table salt.

 

Sodium chloride is bad for iron like gun barrels.

 

But the sodium chloride does not get to your gun barrels, only the sodium does. The sodium is harmless.

 

Water hardness comes from calcium and magnesium. Your water softener exchanges magnesium and calcium ions for sodium ions.

 

You put sodium chloride into your water softener and ions exchange during regeneration. During the regeneration process, magnesium chloride and calcium chloride go down the drain. The sodium is left behind.

 

During operation feeding water to your house, magnesium and calcium trade places with the sodium.

 

The soft water does have sodium, just no chlorides. The soft water does not contain table salt. It just has sodium instead of magnesium and calcium.

 

Soft water cleans better than hard water, and it makes soap more effective.

 

Additional... If you are on a sodium-restricted diet, you can buy potassium chloride for your water softener instead of sodium chloride. It costs a bit more, and you will need to adjust the softener for the substitution. Note that while your doc may say to use less salt, he is advising you to cut the sodium, not the chloride. Salt substitute is potassium chloride. It is salty but a bit bitter. Same chemistry idea for your water softener.

 

 

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If you have any doubt, why not just buy a gallon of distilled water.     See if it makes any difference     GW

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Several years ago, there was an article in "Muzzleloader" magazine, about a quick and easy way to clean the bore of a muzzleloader, or a bore of a rifle/handgun/shotgun, that used blackpowder cartridges. 

 

++++Blue windshield washer fluid.++++

 

I haven't used water, soft or other wise, since. 

Easy, quick, and inexpensive. Takes about 4 or 5 patches, a bronze bore brush, a little follow up with some non-petroleum based gun oil, and about 17 minutes, or so, of your time, depending on how fast you do this.

No mixing home-made concoctions, no hot water, no soft water, no hard water. 

Serendipity...

 

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11 hours ago, G W Wade said:

If you have any doubt, why not just buy a gallon of distilled water.     See if it makes any difference     GW

If you have a dehumidifier running use the water it recovers, it's distilled water

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I’m with @Runamuck, SASS #49216L on this one, Dawn and water, couple of wet patches, couple of dry ones, finish with either Bore Butter or Ballistol - done. 

My general thinking with BP or BP subs is what did they do in the 1800’s?  No chemicals, nothing fancy, just used what was available.  Plus it works in the B-Westerns for all 12 shots out of the six shooters :P :D

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City water or good well water are very low in any type of salt.  Sea water normally runs about 5% salt.  Brine (saturated salt water) is 26%.  Any water below 26% salt will absorb salt.  Ph of water is more important   City water will run 7 to 8 Ph.  Well water will run close to the same Ph.  Low Ph is acidic very corrosive.  High Ph is caustic very corrosive.  Long story short use city water.

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