Best way to clean a Traditions Kentucky Rifle?

[HighlyAdaptive]

Not sure if this is the right forum to put this in, but how do I clean a Kentucky rifle by traditions that has been using pyrodex? What is the best way to do this.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Flintlock or percussion?

 

[bob308]

if cap lock. get a piece of plastic tubing that just fits over the nipple tight. drop the other end in a can of hot soapy water then pump the jag with a wet cleaning patch till you pull water to the muzzle. then change to a clean can of not water and do the same change water till it flushes out clean. then dry with a patch then oil oil with wd-40 till it comes out of the nipple. I have been cleaning my under hammers this way for 30 years never have a problem.

if a flintlock there are kits to put the same tube on them.

 

[Grenadier1758]

I'm thinking you have a percussion rifle since you have been using Pyrodex.

The good news is that Pyrodex is water soluble. Plug the nipple. Use plenty of warm water with a little bit of soap to clean the fouling from the bore. Dump the water from the bore. Remove the nipple and clean that. Clean the flash channel with a pipe cleaner. Wipe the bore with a dry patch. Get the rubbing alcohol to dry up the water. Use a good rust inhibiting lubricant on a patch to protect the bore. In a couple of days, use the rust inhibiting lubricant (such as Barricade) to remove any fouling left in the bore.

Read all the other posts on cleaning your rifle.

 

[ohio ramrod]

you can buy all sorts of fancy cleaning solutions or as already posted just use warm to hot water. All of the end products of the fouling dissolve in water so since water is cheap it just seems reasonable to use it. :idunno:

 

[tenngun]

The first thing you need to do is clean a ml. Black powder is nice and stable unburied. Burned it turns in to a metal eating monster. Pyrodex gives you about 25% more shots per pound and is even more stable then black powder, so it's on the shelf at your local wal mart. However, after its burned it's even nastier then black powder residue. Water is all you need, maybe a little soap, dry well the oil....but clean fast, by the way clean quickly after shooting and don't forget to clean the gun as soon as your done :wink:

 

[HighlyAdaptive]

Thanks for all the help guys. One more thing, should I just run a patch down my bore every so often while shooting? Also, if I want to try and fire say 3 rounds a minute what should I do to extinguish the embers?

 

[uno676]

It will improve your accuracy if you swab after every shot or at the most I would go 5 shots without swabing

 

[coloradoclyde]

If you shoot real black powder and you swab between shots....You'll never have more than one shots worth of fouling to clean at the end of you session.

 

[Grenadier1758]

I sense a slight change of topic here.

Thanks for all the help guys. One more thing, should I just run a patch down my bore every so often while shooting? Also, if I want to try and fire say 3 rounds a minute what should I do to extinguish the embers?

Three rounds a minute is pretty fast reloading and is the rate for volley fire from smooth bored muskets using paper cartridges.

One round a minute is fast reloading for a rifle.

When I regularly shot silhouettes, there was a time limit of 4 rounds fired in five minutes starting with a loaded rifle. Often I would finish with 30 to 45 seconds to spare. I would wipe the bore with a damp patch, pour a measured load down the bore, start and cut a patch at the muzzle, run the ball to the breech with the rammer, cap and fire. That takes a bit more than a minute. You can go a bit faster with premeasured charges, precut and lubricated patches and a capper close to hand. Between relays, I would fire a couple of caps to clear the fouling from the breech.

 

[tenngun]

Using a loading block and a loading mallet(short starter) a flinter with a 3/32 touch hole, loading with the gun on half **** and frizzen closed( not recommended and unsafe) the gun would prime as I ran ball down the bore I got ten shots in three and 3/4 min. That's 25 sec per shot as I had started with a loaded gun. I got eight of the shots on a paper dinner plate at twenty five yards.
Some argue that loading blocks went invented until after breech loaders were becoming common. With one with out one, if they were or were not hc makes no difference you just get one shot at game. And paper never runs away.