.32 cal flintlock

[kingsax26]

hey all,
I went to a rondevous in maine last week and while i was there i picked up 2 nice flintlocks.

One is a reworked DGW .32 squirrel rifle and the other is a .40 custom flint 1/2stock

My questions are: 1) is there a better way to clean the .32 other than using a million patches? The way i clean my other rifles does not work for this one ....its just plain dirrrttyyy!
2) the frizzen is a bit stiff on the .32 and i would like to lighten it up...is this somehtig that is easily done ? I had a gunsmith do my other flintlock for me but its rather expensive..

 

[Lonegun1894]

Good looking guns! Congratulations. I can't explain why it shoots so dirty because neither of my two .32s is any worse than my larger calibers. As to the cleaning, I just use flannel patches and the usual soapy water and it doesn't take any more than any other gun I have, but have been playing with Dutch's cleaning system with a CVA .50 and so far the results are excellent. If the results keep this up for another while longer I may be going to this with all my MLs.

 

[Rifleman1776]

The answer to the cleaning question is probably "no". Lotsa soapy water and elbow grease. Some dispute it, but small calibers have a reputation for getting dirty fast. Swabbing between shots may help that condition. Also using a cleaner powder, like Swiss may cut down on the dirty.
As for the frizzen. This is very much a do it yerself game. Lightening that frizzen movement should not be difficult. Most frizzens can be removed by taking out a screw. If you can do that do it and study the wear spots. Then with a fine file or stone work down those friction areas. A job like this requires stoning, reassembly, dissassembly, more stoning, reassembly...etc. Not difficult but does take a little time. I'm sure you can do it. And, as you pointed out, paying someone to do things you can learn to do yourself is expensive. Go fer it.

 

[kingsax26]

well i appreciate the encouragement and i figure the worst that can happen is that i screw it up and pay someone to fix it ...but if i dont screw it ...then i accomplished my mission. Better to try and fail than not try at all

as for the powder....i normally shoot goex, however i got a good deal on KIK, and scheutzen powders...i bought 3 pounds of each to try them...

oh and for shits n giggles...anyone who might be interested...I spoke with roy stroh while i was there...and he told me a secret cleaning tip that i will share with you guys.... GO JO hand cleaner, i swear it didnt take me more than 10 minutes to cleam my larger caliber rifles and maybe 6 patches

step:
1) goop of gojo down barrel
2) insert patch and run up and down barrel for approx 10 strokes
3) fill barrel 1/2 full of water...reinsert same patch and run up n down barrel.....patch should come out grey
4) refill with water and rinse barrel
5) repeaT UNTIL patch is clean!!
6)oil barrel

i tried it and it actually worked very well! i shot my 50 flint all weekend at the rondevous, brought it home and it took me all of 10 minutes to ahve the barrel squeaky clean ...

 

[hanshi]

Congratulations on two nice guns. I've just never had a problem with .32 or .36 getting any dirtier than my big bores. Don't know where the idea came from but it ain't so.

 

[nkbj]

What if....
You might have a tenacious air curing rust preventer in there.

 

[nkbj]

Oh, by the way...
Slobber, slobber. Those look nice.

 

[buzz]

Nice
Use bore brush with some gojo and scrub it

 

[loco6725]

Nice looking guns!! I have been frustrated with cleaning my .32 before. It seems tougher to clean. I found a "new to me" wd40 it's called specialist long term corrosion inhibitor (I've tried near every home brew I can think of) I've had good luck with it. I just dry swab it out before loading.
FWIW - everyone has there own way of cleaning. Probably as many ways as there are people on this forum. (Plain soap and water dry patch and jag are all I use for cleaning)

 

[AZbpBurner]

GoJo is great stuff for all kinds of cleaning, but after a while it separates out in the plastic can. I just poured mine into an old hand soap pump dispenser. It's easy to shake it up to stir it all together, then just dispense the amount you need.

It works great to remove residual label adhesive from empty bottles, too.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Nice
Use bore brush with some gojo and scrub it

Brush is risky. :shocked2: They don't like to come back out. A patch on a jag is just fine for cleaning.

 

[sumoj275]

Thanks for the tip on GoJo. I will have to pick some up and give it a try.

As to your rifles--I really like the .32 full stock. Some day I hope to get myself a .32 for tree rats.

 

[kingsax26]

i use a nylon NYLON BORE BRUSH...i would never use copper. It is very easy to remove ..plus mine is a .30 cal brush so is a bit undersized as well...

 

[cowpoke1955]

Might try this : http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_102_506&products_id=7030 .

 

[sleeperNY]

I've been using one of those for many years and love it. It works great, just have to make sure you have a good seal at the o-ring.

Jim

 

[Billnpatti]

Thanks for the Go Jo tip. I use straight Ballistol as my patch lube and have very little fouling. You might give it a try to see if you can reduce the fouling that so many folks, myself included, have with small bore rifles.

 

[tom deinek]

What kind of store sells this gojo stuff? Never heard of it.

 

[curiousgb]

What kind of store sells this gojo stuff? Never heard of it.

Try an auto parts store. It is hand cleaner.

 

[kingsax26]

i tried autozone ..walmart home depot.tractor supply...finally found it at advance auto parts on the clearance rack lol

 

[Flounder]

That is funny. I used to clean my M60 with Gojo then run it under hot water. I could have it spotless in 15 minutes. Always puzzled the PSG how I could have it that clean that quick while other guys were still using T-tips and pipe cleaners on their M16s.

Never tried it on muzzleloaders, but I'm gonna try it now.