I would have to wonder how many were put up dirty on the last time, and then ignored in the century after.
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Cleaning Frontier Firearms
- Thread starter Santa Fe
- Start date
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I believe Grenadier's answer is very good and probably quite accurate. Most of us who have been in this hobby for awhile have probably read and heard a great deal of the use of tow in cleaning. I'm guessing in his scenario the OP was talking about guys who would be staying in the wilderness for an extended period and not heading to a cabin at the end of the day. If he was going home to his cabin a frontiersman may have another gun or two and could then pull the load on the one he had fired and reloaded that day and clean it properly, then reload it. If they were staying in the wilderness for awhile, a few might could pull their loads and clean while others remained loaded for security, then swap off. If he were a lone longhunter he would probably follow a procedure similar to what Grenadier described. In any event many of those guns would probably be used the next day, if not for defense then so they could eat. I believe ball pullers were more common in those days than what we might think. For over 20 years I have kept tow and copies of the old style tow worm and ball puller which I got at the Camden Revolutionary War reenactment in the patch box of my early Virginia. I have never used them to clean or pull a ball, but they stay there, whether on a short trek, on the range practicing or competing, or in the house.
