Ditto.
Does one need to apply oil or ballistol INSIDE the lock?
- Thread starter CS
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You do need to clean your lock after every use. As others have mentioned if you have a good tight fit of the lock bolster to the barrel, the internals may just need a light cleaning. If you shoot pretty regularly WD40 is a good cleaner and a lube. I personally use Lithium grease on the tumbler, sear, sear spring and main spring. I don't really care what you use as a lube on the internals, as long as you use something. Anything is better than nothing. Many new flintlock users shoot there flintlocks dry, doing so, in time your flintlock will not function properly. Balistol is a good cleaner, it does stink, but it is not a lube in my opinion that I want to use for friction function of lock internals.
A small amount of good gun oil is a good thing to do for your lock. IMHO, Ballistol is the Devil's brew.
When isn't it true?
I can think of at least 1 example of when greasing the sliding surfaces isn’t a wise idea but we don’t talk about that stuff here. But in general grease on sliding parts is wise.
hanshi
Cannon
The way I do cleaning & maintenance on my muzzleloaders is the only right way to do it. If you use some other way then you're doing it all wrong. Except, of course, if it works for you then maybe you're doing it right......or something like that, I don't know, I've just got a headache.
Oh no, not again Hanshi!
Oh no, not again Hanshi!
I always clean and oil my lock on any day that I shoot my rifle(s).
I typically remove the lock first and set it aside. Then I plug the vent with a toothpick or a twig and pour a couple of inches of MAP (equal parts mix of Murpy's Oil Soap, Isopropyl [rubbing] Alcohol, and Hydrogen Peroxide) down the bore and stand my rifle up to soak the breech while I clean my lock. If I don't have any MAP left, plain water also works.
I'll use a boar bristle toothbrush for cleaning the interior and exterior of the lock using a little MAP on the bristles and then wipe it off with a dry patch while letting the breech of the barrel soak. I use bristle toothbrush at reenactments for the sake of historical correctness as the camps are often open to the public when I clean my rifle, and it works great. Next I'll dry the lock using a dry patch. Then I use a tin gun-oil container with a pick in the cap to take drops of gun oil (3in1 oil works in a pinch) and place them individually on the various moving parts. I'll usually put a little oil on a dry patch and give the lock a once over afterwards being careful to use a light coat.
Before I reattach the lock, I'll wet a patch with MAP and run it down the bore until I feel some back pressure. Then, pointing the vent well away from anything I don't want to stain with black powder residue, I'll remove the vent pick and push the ramrod down smartly. This will shoot out a good 6-feet or more of a stream of the blackest sludge looking liquid you ever saw. DON'T point it towards a tent or anything within a good 10-ft (ask me how I know!). I'll run more wet patches down the bore until it comes back clean and then a dry patch or two followed by one patch of gun-oil to put a light covering on it. Finally, I'll reattach the lock and check everything for fit and function.
After about 3 or 4-years of use for reenactments, I removed the frizzen spring to do a little extra cleaning that I couldn't otherwise get to with a wet patch or Q-tip (toothpick or twig in a patch works pretty well). While I was cleaning, I somehow managed to drop the frizzen spring in the tall grass somewhere and lost it. Next day I called L&R and asked if I could get a replacement frizzen spring. I think it was $12 back then and they said if I sent it in to them they'd be happy to go over the lock and replace the spring at no extra charge. So I sent the lock in and about a week later (I lived in VA and they were in NC) I received it back. They had installed a new frizzen spring and included a short note with the receipt saying, "Nice Lock!"
So I presume that way I cleaned and oiled it was how I should always do it, and I always have. I have never had the need to totally disassemble my lock and I don't use grease on it. Grease can attract and hold dirt, dust, and other contaminants. If I were to use grease on it, I would probably look to a lithium grease like we used to use on the bearings we would put on a crankshaft or camshaft. It's a white grease that is much lighter, leaving smaller residue while remaining super slippery. I've used grease a lot on seals and bearings in auto engine rebuilds and suspension parts though, butnever used them on locks. So I am not the "authority" on the use of grease in firearms - I never used it on firearms.
I am however saying that L&R Lock Co. was pleased with the condition of their lock after 3 or 4-years of hard use in reenactments where I would typically fire about 100-shots of blanks each weekend, besides hunting with it. And, if you haven't done it before, shooting blanks leaves a LOT more fouling than live-firing a round ball does.
So YES, you do need to oil your lock after cleaning it and you should clean it every day that you fire your flintlock.
Okay
I like the people who say bore butter… ugh. Bullet lube.
Lots of stuff works… my dad swore by Water Displacement Formula 40… I used to use REM oil a lot. Now mostly balistol
Pam!
Hasn’t anyone tried lubricating with Pam, you know, the cooking spray?
Let’s be creative!
Hasn’t anyone tried lubricating with Pam, you know, the cooking spray?
Let’s be creative!
Shooters do seem to have a habit of complicating their hobby.Pam!
Hasn’t anyone tried lubricating with Pam, you know, the cooking spray?
Let’s be creative!
Now you've got to decide which PAM to use. Do you want to use Original which claims easy cleanup? How about the Baking formula for perfect release? Would the Grilling formula for high heat prevent the dreaded "Crud Ring"? I think the Olive Oil and the Butter flavors would just make you hungry. 
hanshi
Cannon
Seeing as how olive oil is already one of the ingredients in my beeswax mix, that's the PAM I'll be using.Now you've got to decide which PAM to use. Do you want to use Original which claims easy cleanup? How about the Baking formula for perfect release? Would the Grilling formula for high heat prevent the dreaded "Crud Ring"? I think the Olive Oil and the Butter flavors would just make you hungry.
Probably wouldn’t hurt. To put all this in perspective here’s what some British military folks circa revolution thought about lock maintenance….
The lock not to be taken to pieces but when necessity requires it
–
and that is, when the trigger or hammer goes stiff, or sounds unpleasant to the ear.
The lock not to be taken to pieces but when necessity requires it
–
and that is, when the trigger or hammer goes stiff, or sounds unpleasant to the ear.
N.Y. Yankee
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I've used Ballistol for interior lock rust protection. It works just fine. Only thing I didn't like was that all I had was the small spray can with a straw in the nozzle. I couldn't spray a small enough amount where I wanted it, even squeezing the nozzle very gently. I always ended up with 3 times as much oil as I wanted. I graduated to a needle-tipped oil bottle with 5w-30 Mobil One oil on the advice of a gunsmith friend of mine. I like that a lot and use it a lot on all kinds of guns. Just a tiny drop on the moving parts and another drop rubbed around the rest of it. Work the lock a few times after applying the oil. No oil ever runs out and I have no rust. Locks work great. I still use Ballistol, both straight and mixed with water, for various cleaning and other things. I recommend the Mobil One 5-30 in a needle tip oil bottle or a regular bottle and use a tooth pick to apply a tiny drop where you want it.
Just a few drops of fresh 10w-30 motor oil works for me.
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