Proper cleaning of percussion gun with drum

Hi folks, I just bought a CVA Mountain rifle and I am gathering up a few items, # 11 caps etc., in anticipation of shooting this Spring. I thought I would as the experts out there a few questions about cleaning suggestions. I have an 1853 Enfild repo. That I shot for years and clean religiously. Thing is, though, I have never messed with a percussion gun that has a drum. I clean the Enfield by removing the nipple (which I place in the bucket of hot,soapy water), screwing a brass, slotted attachment onto my rod. Then I thread a piece of rag through the eye of the slot, soak with the soapy water, and start plunging. Most of the time I precede this with a rag soaked with powder solvent, to loosen the fouling up.I even have a rubber tube with an end that can be screwed into the nipple hole so that liquid running out of the barrel won't run down the gun and stain the wood. OK, that being said, you can see where I am in my knowledge of cleaning the barrel........But. there is no drum on an Enfield. So, I am sure I must remove the nipple first, but then what? Does anyone take out that drum? What about that screw, it's a clean out screw right? Should it come out? Then there is the whole other problem of the powder chamber(breech). I understand it is a smaller diameter than the bore. How can I be sure it's cleaned? How can I be sure that its dryed out when I am done? I always run dry rags at last, but how can these get into that chamber? OK, that's plenty enough to get this rolling. Forgive, me if there is a thread already out there that deals with these questions, I searched a little, but no real results. Any advise is much appreciated, Bucky

I put a patch on the nipple with hammer covering it to form a seal. Fill barrel half with warm water. Swish it back n’ forth. Drain. Repeat once or twice more. Remove and soak nipple. Run patches thru bore till they come out clean, using a little moose milk alternating with dry patches. Clean nipple and wipe off lock. Clean drum with a Q tip and pipe cleaner. Oil everything and done.

There’s plenty of ways to make cleaning more difficult but Smokey way is as good any and better then most. The anti-chamber doesn’t need any special attention just the movement of water will clean it completely. I’ve pulled enough breeches to know this for a fact.
That drum is never removed for cleaning and the screw isn’t for cleaning its there from manufactureing.

Phil Coffins said:

There’s plenty of ways to make cleaning more difficult but Smokey way is as good any and better then most.

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Thanks!

If your barrel come off easily you can pull the screw, put the breach in a bucket of water and pump away.
should you have a pinned barrel, you can put a gasket of leather or cloth over the nipple, fill the barrel with water and dump, repeat several times swab and dry. Pull out cleaning screw wipe insid the drum with twisted cloth or pipe cleaners.
Alcohol or wd 40 works good to displace any extra water left after drying then a good light oil.
Be careful not to over tighten the screw

I don't pull the drum. If it has a screw clean out, I will remove that, if not I remove the nipple. Once cleaned and oiled, I take a Q-tip and make sure the drum area is clean before replacing the nipple. Also make sure you clean the hollow area of the hammer where it strikes the nipple. I had a buddy that had a problem with caps not firing regularly, upon further inspection, the residue buildup in that area was such that it caused misfires.

@Bucky, The CVA Mountain rifle will be easier to clean than your Enfield. The CVA Mountain Rifle has a hooked breech. Pull the wedges and lift the barrel out of the stock. Do remove the nipple, maybe even that flash channel manufacturing plug that some call a clean out screw. Put the breech in a bucket of water. Add some soap to aid cleaning especially if you use an oil or greasy patch lubricant. There is a screw in the side of the drum that can be removed to do the flash channel cleaning suggested by @tenngun. I'm not going to improve on the rest of tenngun's suggestions. Do use a good grease such as never seize or RIG on the nipple threads and the clean out screw before reinstalling them. They only need to tightened to snug.

Wow, guys, thanks so much, I will make sure I store and print all of your suggestions. I did have a TC fintlock years ago, so I was aware of removing the barrel, forgot to mention that. One thing that still makes me wonder, since it was brought up...the large screw on the flat of the drum is really from manufacturing. That's got me curious. Can Phil or anyone elaborate?

The screw in the drum or bolster plugs the hole that was drilled to connect the nipple channel to the bore. In a few higher end breeches that passage is drilled from the nipple hole to the anti-chamber of the bore at an angle to give a more direct path for the flash. Some drums are drilled from the threaded end then screwed into the barrel with out an external hole to plug. Many ways to skin a cat story!

Get a Cleaning/loading jag because that will give you a better seal than a loose rag in a slotted jag. I have a mountain Rifle too. I remove the barrel and clean it in a bucket with warm soapy water. I Pump water through a few times before I remove the nipple and the clean out screw in the bolster. that loosens the built up fouling on the threads and allows them to be removed easier. Take care when removing the clean out screw because that can get buggered up easily. I use a pipe cleaner to clean the flash channel but don't do anything to try to get into the powder chamber. I remove the lock to clean every time. Once or twice a year I take the trigger out too.

I now rarely remove the barrel now when cleaning the barrel. First I use a soapy jagged rag, second a plastic wire brush, third is to put a round tooth pick in the nipple, fourth is to fill approx six inches of the barrel full of soap and water or other cleaning solution with the gun barrel up. At this point I go do something else or not, then come back and finish. At this fifth point I have a gun stand that puts the gun with the barrel almost horizontal with the barrel end slightly elevated so when I take the nipple out, the cleaning solution stays in the barrel, then sixth I blow 100lbs of PSI air volume thru the barrel blowing the solution out of the nipple hole with a brass stemmed quick coupler on a compressor. Finish cleaning the barrel the usual standard way and inside breech and the nipple threads looks like you polished them clean. Best way I have ever found to get the breech end spotless.

Phil Coffins said:

The screw in the drum or bolster plugs the hole that was drilled to connect the nipple channel to the bore. In a few higher end breeches that passage is drilled from the nipple hole to the anti-chamber of the bore at an angle to give a more direct path for the flash. Some drums are drilled from the threaded end then screwed into the barrel with out an external hole to plug. Many ways to skin a cat story!

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Thanks again everyone, all of this gives me a much better idea of function and care of my new rifle. One final thought....the Enfield is continuous form from nipple to barrel, its one thing. Can I assume that the added piece - the drum- was originally designed to facilitate the conversion of flintlocks to percussions in the early days and by the time of the Enfield, there was no reason for conversion any more? I could probably look this up somewhere.

What they all said! Don't try to remove the drum; isn't necessary and can cause damage.

Basically @Bucky, by the time the Enfield was designed, the patent breech which has the breech plug and the snail for the nipple to bring the flash to the charge was the method to breech the rifle-musket. Yes, the drum and nipple was designed as a means to convert the flint lock breech to operate with a percussion lock.

Grenadier1758 said:

Basically @Bucky, by the time the Enfield was designed, the patent breech which has the breech plug and the snail for the nipple to bring the flash to the charge was the method to breech the rifle-musket. Yes, the drum and nipple was designed as a means to convert the flint lock breech to operate with a percussion lock.

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Thanks, cool and interesting stuff to consider. Knowing the historical evolution makes it all even more enjoyable.

Yes, my friend. All above advice is good advice.

Personally, I only remove the nipple. The breech fully submerged in water coupled with the up and down pumping motion will create a suction of water that’ll thoroughly clean the barrel and firing channel.

Respectfully, Cowboy

For my one rifle with a pinned barrel I remove the nipple and use a piece of tubing that fits tightly into the threaded nipple hole. The other end goes into bucket of hot water. Then use the rod to pump water as others have noted.

I remove the stock, then attach a piece of rubber or plastic tubing to the nipple on my .50 cal CVA Mountain Rifle and stick it into a bucket full of really hot soapy water (dishwater soap) and with a water soaked patch on the end of the ramrod use the ramrod as a pump piston to suck the soapy water into the barrel up and down until the water in the bucket is a good shade of black, usually about 12 or 15 strokes is enough, then throw that out and fill it with some really hot water for a good rinse rinse 4 or 5 strokes then disconnect the tubing and dry out the barrel , sometimes I will use compressed air, then I use Barricade squirted in the barrel and on a patch to oil the bore with a few strokes (blowing it out the nipple) and do the same cleaning in a couple of days, unless I am shooting it sooner.

I've got a Mt. Rifle I have shot for over 40 years. I clean in much like Tenngun and Grenadier1758 describe, when I am home, and have been known to use a creek at rendezvous. A pipe cleaner trough the cleanout hole can be helpful. Do indeed pull the nipple and clean out screw. Do indeed reinstall using neversieze. Dry the snot out of it (hot air, wd40, alcohol, etc) from all directions, oil well and store muzzle down. The CVA breechplug/drum system is a bit different.

Thanks everyone, very helpful indeed. I think I got everything I need. Pilgrim, thanks for the very informative image.