Brush for cleaning bottom

[Bowjo]

Does anybody make a cleaning brush that cleans the bottom of the barrel. I guess it would be something like an end brush all the brushes I have the metal sticks out on the end and they really don't clean the very bottom seat...thank you

 

[FishDFly]

Plenty of water with a dash of soap does a fine job of cleaning, no brush needed.

 

[64Springer]

I wrap a doubled over cleaning patch around an undersized brush and smoosh it down in there.

The smooshing, technical term, flattens out the patch. Turning the ramrod removes the filth.

Clean. Clean. Clean.

 

[Ames]

Water and a fouling scraper.

 

[Pirate's Son]

Ditto on the fouling scraper!

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

Yeah, those other methods can work too ... but this is what you asked about. CVA makes them as their product # AC1459. Note they have been tough to find lately. Besides MZL suppliers, also try eBay, look for ‘breech cleaning brush’.
... after a few uses it won't look like that anyway ... but more like Albert Einstein's hair .

If you have a T/C 'patent breech' rifle, you should seek out their special breech cleaning jags, but I've also used common c'fire brushes for sub-caliber patent breeches.

 

[Bowjo]

I have a zouave and I was worried about taking the stock off every time I wash the barrel off because of the pins and all the Rings..... all the rest of my guns I just take the stock off and wash them out in the sink but this one has got me a little worried about assembly and disassembly.....thank you

 

[64Springer]

Your Zouave doesn't have any pins.

Just two brass barrel bands.

Slide off the bands, remove the tang screw and that barrel pops right out.

Easy. Peasy. Japaneasy.

 

[Bowjo]

I don't mean to be worried but everybody told me that the more you take them loose the looser everything would get.... is it all right to just keep taking the stock off like I do all my other muzzleloaders.... muzzleloaders

 

[64Springer]

I don't mean to be worried but everybody told me that the more you take them loose the looser everything would get.... is it all right to just keep taking the stock off like I do all my other muzzleloaders.... muzzleloaders

The people who designed that gun meant for the bands to come off. Don't listen to the people who told you to not remove them.

Just be gentle with everything. No damage will occur.

 

[Salty]

I’ve been using these Bore-Tips with some solvent on the end of my cleaning rod.
https://www.bore-tips.com/

 

[Art Caputo]

I have both the bronze brush types and bore scrapers for cleaning the bottom of the barrel. I actually find that a well fitted scraper does a better job in removing the any heavy fouling. After shooting, I will generally use the scraper before cleaning the barrel. I scrape, invert, and bump the barrel to dump the residue. Then clean. This works well for me.

 

[Cruzatte]

A fouling scraper, or a hank of tow soaked with plenty of soapy water on a worm will work just fine.

 

[chorizo]

Yeah, those other methods can work too ... but this is what you asked about. CVA makes them as their product # AC1459. Note they have been tough to find lately. Besides MZL suppliers, also try eBay, look for ‘breech cleaning brush’.
... after a few uses it won't look like that anyway ... but more like Albert Einstein's hair .

If you have a T/C 'patent breech' rifle, you should seek out their special breech cleaning jags, but I've also used common c'fire brushes for sub-caliber patent breeches.

View attachment 187953 View attachment 187956

Deer Creek Products has them

 

[BadDaditood]

Log cabin shows them also
I’ve had one for years, I almost never use it… perhaps I should…

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

I urinate down the barrel, drain it out, swab with tow, and grease the bore with coon fat.

Traditional.

 

[user 34300]

A scraper works well on a flat breech plug. IF you notch it or have a chambered breech it is different. Some of the deep chambered breech plugs can justify a brush to clean out the deep chamber. Don't put a tight bronze brush in the chamber, it may not come out.

I shot the heck out of a TC when I was a kid. IT had a chambered breech. I never made any attempt to clean the chamber. I did not know about it then. I just used lots of hot soapy water. It was pretty nasty when I pulled the plug 30 years later. No complaints, it never gave me any problems.

I now look at it this way. IF I use lots of warm water any water soluble residue, the corrosive stuff, will be dissolved and removed. The carbon that might remain is not corrosive so I don't get worked up about it.

 

[Kansas Kid]

 

[Kansas Kid]

I make my own for flat face breeches. 50 cal and under are straight wall pistol cases. Best way to clean breech face is to plug vent or nipple and pour in some cleaning solution and let sit a couple minutes and then use a scraper followed by the brush.

 

[Notchy Bob]

I have a zouave and I was worried about taking the stock off every time I wash the barrel off because of the pins and all the Rings..... all the rest of my guns I just take the stock off and wash them out in the sink but this one has got me a little worried about assembly and disassembly.....thank you

I don't mean to be worried but everybody told me that the more you take them loose the looser everything would get.... is it all right to just keep taking the stock off like I do all my other muzzleloaders.... muzzleloaders

@64Springer is correct. Military longarms with barrel bands, like your Zouave, are meant to be disassembled for detail cleaning. Remover the ramrod first. Put the hammer at half-cock, and then turn the lock bolts almost but not quite all the way out, so they are standing a little proud of the sideplate, but still engaged with the threads in the lockplate. Turn the rifle lock side down, and push the two lock bolts simultaneously with your thumbs, to push the lock out of its mortise. Then remove the lock bolts the rest of the way. Note which bolt was in which position so you can replace them in the same holes when you reassemble. The lock should then lift right out, if it doesn't just drop out. Next remove the tang screw, then the forward barrel band, then the lower barrel band. Hold the rifle horizontally with both hands and turn it barrel side down. Gently and lightly bump the muzzle end of the barrel on a well-padded horizontal surface, like a folded towel on your workbench. This will loosen the barrel so it will drop into your palms. You do not want to lift the barrel up and out of the stock by the muzzle unless it is a very loose fit. You can bend the tang that way.

Your friends who told you never to remove the barrel may have been thinking of full-stocked sporting rifles that have the barrel pinned to the stock. While you don't want or need to remove the barrel from these guns every time you clean them, you can do it with the right tools and reasonable care. Remove the ramrod, lock, and tang screw as above. Use a pin punch of a size that will not enlarge the hole, and don't let it slip off the pin while you are driving the pin out. I was taught that pins go in from the right, out from the left (wedges usually go the opposite way). Also, don't drive the pins all the way out... just enough to release the barrel. When the pins are out far enough to release the barrel, turn the rifle barrel side down over a padded bench and gently work the barrel out of the stock, taking care that you don't stress or bend the tang. Put the stock in a safe place, so you won't break it, and replace the barrel in the stock as soon as you have done whatever you want to do with it. The reason for not dithering around here with the barrel out of the stock is that the fragile forend is best supported, less likely to warp or get broken, with the barrel in place.

I urinate down the barrel, drain it out, swab with tow, and grease the bore with coon fat.

Traditional.

While I don't think it was universally practiced, that is one traditional technique (except maybe for the coon fat... never heard of that). Frank Mayer, the old buffalo hunter and author of The Buffalo Harvest, described using urine to clean his Sharps in camp. Urine is warm, free, and comes from a convenient dispenser. It works very well as a solvent because it contains ammonia, although mine also frequently has traces of beer. However, it is very corrosive, and if you use it as a solvent, the barrel should be rinsed thoroughly with water afterward. Mayer also addressed rinsing with water after cleaning in his narrative, so he was well aware of the corrosion risk. Then dry the barrel and grease it as stated.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob