After shooting -- cleaning. There's the rub!

[C Barker]

Just a thought: Has anyone tired to modify the Flintlock EZ Flush kit by eliminating the O-ring part and matching the touch hole threading with a small tube-like gizmo that would screw directly into the touch hole on one end and have the tubing attached to the other end? Wonder if it would seal tightly enough? At first look seems like it would simplify things. Just brainstorming.

 

[tg]

can't get much simpler than a feather or toothpic in the vent and wet patches till clean, then dry and oil.I suspect many can have their guns cleaned before others can get all the do dads set up.i would suggest to new shooters to at least try the old school before caving into the modern approach you just might feel like you are a part of something rather satisfying, and not missing a part of the "slow down and smell the roses aspect of the sport"

 

[bioprof]

Just a thought: Has anyone tired to modify the Flintlock EZ Flush kit by eliminating the O-ring part and matching the touch hole threading with a small tube-like gizmo that would screw directly into the touch hole on one end and have the tubing attached to the other end? Wonder if it would seal tightly enough? At first look seems like it would simplify things. Just brainstorming.

I can't remove mine as they are White Lightning liners that are filed flush with the barrel and don't have a screw driver slot or hex slot for removal. Most touch hole liners aren't meant to be removed on flintlocks anyway.

 

[Ken Rummer]

Track of the Wolf sells a fitting that screws into the vent threads and has a short poly tube attached to dunk in a bucket of soapy water.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I can just imagine Jedediah Smith gutting a squirrel to obtain a length of intestine so he could clean his flintlock. :grin:

 

[tg]

I do not see how any of those guys managed without all the gizmos that are now considered a neccesity for gun care, guess they were just Damned lucky...or all these dodads were around then and we just have not found any survivors and they were so simple of an item that no body bothered to write about them? Now that makes more common sense and logic eh? Thay were not stupid back then and could surley have made some sort of tubing and clamps and made o-rings from slices of dried and oiled Buffaloe balls, it's a no brainer :hmm: Some one should try to make a period correct flush kit so the PC Nazis and stitch cpunters could use them also :idunno:

 

[Number19]

Perfect opportunity for me to add my two cents with a newbie question. This thread discusses how we do it today, but back in the 1700's, what was the procedure? The frontiersman might shoot his rifle daily just to put meat in the pot. You know he religiously maintained his rifle, but what was his daily routine; and then maybe a more thorough routine weekly or so? And how was his routine different in hostile situations?

I have successfully not thought about my order with TVM, for six months, since putting my order in on June 2nd. But the first week in January I'm going to visit Corinth to take my stock blank to Matt and to measure and fit the peep sight I'll be using. I actually found an early gun where the sight is only about 4" forward of the lock and this is exactly the placement I need for a traditional, period, peep sight. I haven't asked just yet, but I should be getting close to the front of the line sometime toward the end of February. I'm allowing myself to start getting a little excited, again.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I have said before: if you are looking at an item for muzzleloading and it says "Patented", put it down. It's unnecessary. If it wasn't needed in the first 400 years then the last 25 probably could have got along without it just fine.

Same for "New", "Improved", "Radical", "Extreme" and now "Bone Collector". Marketing ploys from the Ron Popeil Muzzleloading Labs.

 

[Stumpkiller]

You do wonder how - with a wood rammer that has no threaded fittings - the rifles and guns were maintained. #1 is probably not as well as we consider proper. #2 is with what was at hand. A roughed up or split "wand" with a hunk of damp cloth or tow to wipe, rinsed and reused, and a second wipe with bear or other animal oil.

Military fusils routinely had a threaded worm, so it follows civilian arms would. For 15 years I used nothing but a tow worm to clean my Bess (which I deer hunted with as well as shot very frequently). I have a couple "spring" tow worms that grab on to the outside of a split hickory ramrod with no caps. When I feel really frisky I use that rammer in my flintlock rifle and carry tow and the worm in the patchbox.

To clean the outside? The British supplied powdered grit to the soldiers to scrub the rust off the Besses. Can you imagine doing that to a nice reproduction? The lock? Remove it and you'd be flogged. Only sergeants had screwdrivers and the permission to use them on Royal Property. (Flints were changed by inserting a pin/vent pick through the hole in the top jaw screw to turn it). One that would also fit the 7/64" vent hole (no liner).

The frontiersman likely shot his rifle no more than weekly at game and left it loaded the rest of the time IMHO. When you needed a rifle you needed it THEN. A trapper, especially, had no pressing reason to shoot to eat. Different for longhunters bringing in hides.

When you get into market hunting - well maybe that's the reason for the hooked breech. Shoot the gun 50 times at bison or doves and it will need a good cleaning.

 

[mjulihn]

After shooting comes Cleaning -- and there's the rub!

Shermo

"To clean or not to clean, there's the rub. Whether it is nobler in the mind to go forth into the field with pristine barrel, or to take arms against a sea of those who swab, flush and oil -- and by opposing, end it." :wink:

 

[Stumpkiller]

God provided me some Touch Hole Cleaner Trees in my back lot. Also known as Vent Pick Trees and Powderhorn Base Plug Peg Trees.

Unfortunately, they are also known as Flatten the Mower Tires Trees.

 

[Robby]

Shermo, The only thing I don't like about cleaning my flintlock's is that when I'm done, its put up, my association with it, for that day anyway is over, and I must resume my twenty-first century stumblings. Lots of good information here as always. Only one thing left, attitude adjustment. Good luck. :grin:
Robby

 

[TGJaeger]

God provided me some Touch Hole Cleaner Trees in my back lot. Also known as Vent Pick Trees and Powderhorn Base Plug Peg Trees.

Unfortunately, they are also known as Flatten the Mower Tires Trees.

I'm glad that somebody found a use for those dang trees! I call'em firewood.

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

Good explanation Dan and you are 100% correct on all counts. I always use room temperature water, hot is okay but certainly not needed.

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

I do not see how any of those guys managed without all the gizmos that are now considered a neccesity for gun care, guess they were just Damned lucky...or all these dodads were around then and we just have not found any survivors and they were so simple of an item that no body bothered to write about them? Now that makes more common sense and logic eh? Thay were not stupid back then and could surley have made some sort of tubing and clamps and made o-rings from slices of dried and oiled Buffaloe balls, it's a no brainer :hmm: Some one should try to make a period correct flush kit so the PC Nazis and stitch cpunters could use them also :idunno:

:rotf: TG, I love it, good for you. :hatsoff:

 

[Dphar]

You must have been doing something wrong if you got rust in your barrels.

I've used hot soapy water and a hot water rinse for almost 20 years and it doesn't cause rust problems in any of my barrels...if it did I wouldn't continue to use it.

I think I noted that soapy water needed a rinse if used.
Hot water is well know by a large number of people for causing flash rust in bores.
So I stopped using it a long time ago.
If you have not noticed it you are luckier than most.

Dan

 

[stone knife]

God provided me some Touch Hole Cleaner Trees in my back lot. Also known as Vent Pick Trees and Powderhorn Base Plug Peg Trees.

Unfortunately, they are also known as Flatten the Mower Tires Trees.

Yeah and don't lean against me trees to, we have the same kind around here :grin:

 

[Celt5494]

Fantastic post Sir!

 

[FRJ]

This is a preety long thread already so I'll just add one thing. I used to use hot water BUT found that I would always get rust out of the barrel a few days after cleaning. On another web site I was informed that the hot water was causing the rust. I stopped using hot and went to cold and never had the problem again. Also I use 20/20 windshield washer fluid for patch lube when I'm just shooting paper and I hardly get any fouling at all. I can shoot all day and still have very little clean up time. FRJ

 

[smoothshooter]

What works for me : clean with isopropyl alcohol.Put small piece of cleaning patch in pan and lower frizzen down on it to block vent and keep flushed out fouling from running down behind lock plate or running down stock to leave a permanent streak in wood.Run saturated patches down barrel wrapped around undersized bore brush.Repeat as necessary. Use a breech plug scraper THAT FITS THE CONTOUR OF THE FACE OF YOUR BREECH PLUG (NOT ALL OF THEM ARE FLAT FACED ).Point barrel toward ground and sharply knock side of stock with your knuckles to cause the chunks dislodged with the scraper to fall out.Remove small patch from pan.Clean pan,frizzen,hammer,frizzen spring,and lock plate.Wipe pan flash fouling from wood above pan with damp cloth.Wipe down ramrod with same damp cloth.Run oily patch down bore several times.Take same oily patch and wipe down pan,lock,all exterior parts attached to lock,and outside of barrel.A stiff artist's brush cut down to abour 4 inches long is a big help in cleaning around the lock,and makes a good pan brush.That's all.Do not remove pinned-in barrel.Do not remove lock more than 3 or 4 times a year even if you shoot 'year around like I do.Go back a couple of days after the last cleaning job and check your work for any rust or any area you need to go over again.This reads long, but it took me longer to two-finger type and proof-read this post than it takes to actually clean the gun.In a pinch,saliva-soaked patches clean very well for the short-term; just don't forget to follow up with the oil patches.
-Smoothshooter