Advice for New Shooters

[grant]

Hey I'm a realitive newbie and I've thought of a couple of things I forget to do (other than shoot better). I just realized I forget to clean the end of my ramrod. I don't use the ramrod that came with my gun at the range preferring to use a loading rod instead. I leave the wooden ramrod in the thimbles when I shoot and the tip sticks out past the muzzle slightly. As I'm typing this I'm looking at my gun's ram tip slightly black and starting to corrode and I say, YOU DUMBY CLEAN THE RAMROD when your done shooting. I also forget from time to time to clean off the hammer. As I get fixated on cleaning the barrel and nipple and putting it back together these little details sometimes slip by, but I'm resolving to get better.

 

[Le Grand]

And? I just had to ask... Le Grand

 

[grant]

And yes, they are clean now.

 

[CrackStock]

Mine has been jet black for a decade and it still works as well as it did the day that I got it.

CS

 

[Slamfire]

I bought a used rifle at Auction Arms. It has a plastic rod and the jag on the end was green in all the grooves. I thought, I'll just toss it and put on a new one. When I removed it I discovered that the shank was hollow and a ball screw was inside. :shocked2: I placed in in a shallow tray with some water an aluminum plate and some bakin' soda. I'll check the result tomorrow. :hmm:

 

[shmrck1]

grant,
Good advice! When starting out in this
great endevor, and I really don't know why,
it was just something that I always have done.
It was, at least to me, a part of the cleaning
process.
snake-eyes

 

[dlemaster]

Slamfire
Try a diluted solution of vinegar and water. It will remove the green verdigris right away. If left in a little longer it will leave the brass the prettiest pink color you'ver seen. I know I was given some .45-110 Sharps brass a few years ago that needed cleaning and the vinegar did the job and now I have some girlie brass to shoot in a big old buffalo rifle.LOL

Regards, Dave

 

[grant]

dvlmstr,
When I was in the Navy we used to put our brass(firehose nozzels, etc.) in a bucket of bug juice(Koolaid for landlubbers). That stuff would make the brass shine like it was new. Must have been mil-spec bug juice.