Cleaning In the Hunting Camp?

[DanChamberlain]

I love to camp when hunting. Until now, I've only hunted with cap guns and dare I say it..."synthetic" black powder that required a few wet patches and a couple with alcohol to see me through the weekend.

I've started flintlock shooting and know that cleaning must be done in the evening around the camp fire. I have no trouble cleaning the bore and breech, but was wondering what everyone does to make sure the breech is dry and what lubes you use that allow for reloading in the am and sure ignition.

 

[roundball]

Living here in the mid atlantic states, Natural Lube 1000 for year round hunting works fine for me...just be sure to use enough. IMO the pre-lubed "cleaning & seasoning" patches have no where enough lube in them and I use a microwave to melt a lot more lube (from a tube) into stacks of them (mostly homemade ones from 2" squares of old T-shirt material / flannel shirts / PJ's, etc).

To me the biggest worry in that environment after cleaning the bore is ensuring that the breech is 100% bone dry from any liquid so the AM powder charge is not killed when its dropped...while not 'HC', pipe cleaners and Q-tips are handy things to work around and through the vent...and if your ML has a patent breech, a small .270 caliber rifle bore brush with a dry patch wrapped around it is excellent to slide down into the P/B to soak up any possible liquid...and then can also be used with a lubed patch wrapped around it.

Also not 'HC' but really handy in camp is a CO2 discharger.

 

[kherring]

I always clean with hot water and run several patches down the bore until clean and dry. I follow this with a patch soaked in Break Free CLP. Maybe not "PC" but I want the bore protected. I use a patch before the hunt to swab the oil out then load. Works for me anyway. I inspect the bores of my rifles with a light every now and then and they stay clean and bright.

 

[texcl]

I will take some windwex with and wet down a couple of patches and run them down the bore, then I'll use a couple of water soaked patches then I'll dry and run a couple CLP soaked patches down. If i havent fired I'll just stick my tooth pick back in the vent and save the load for the next day.

 

[rabjr]

I use Black Solve to clean the gun. Once clean I use a tight fitting dry patch/es pushed all the way down to the breech. I then prop the gun upside down for the night. Next morning I again wipe with dry patch/es, check the vent, then load my powder charge with frizzen closed, patch lubed with Bear grease and a ball, all pushed home. I then take another greased patch and run it once or twice down the barrel. Then I go huntin. :thumbsup:

 

[Stumpkiller]

I clean with water that has a little Murphy's Oil Soap in it (you can carry it mixed in a little bottle - mine has an eye-dropper).

After cleanng I wipe with stove/solvent alcohol (also from a small bottle). I carry that in a small "defarbed" corked bottle that formerly had iodine water treatment tablets in it.

I then wipe with B-C Sheath (now Barricade) for rust prevention. That I carry in a small Ted Cash brass oil bottle. Before shooting again I wipe with alcohol to remove the oils.

I lube with Moose Snot (do a search here - it's a homebrew) and, for short periods, it also works as a bore coating to prevent rust.

The bottles I doctor up with a Mizzy Wheel to remove the modern threads and they look suitable old. I get corks from hardware stores. I carry a bit of Moose Juice (also a homebrew) in a defarbed vanilla extract bottle. The Moose Snot in a mint tin with the paint burned off & toned by rubbing with motor oil.

You don't need much for a short camp and I have enough in my shooting pouch to last for quite a while. I'd probably need a back-up supply of the alcohol. I use that to wipe the pan and frizzen before heading out, also.

 

[DanChamberlain]

Thanks for the replies. My current flinter is a .62 caliber smooth bore trade gun, so cleaning the bore and breech is pretty much a snap! My concern was expressed by another, making sure the breech area is suitably dry to receive a new charge in the am.

For my rifles, I came up with a little thing I do that I think works well, but some might think is a waste of time. I find a brass cleaning jag that is small enough to fit into the powder chamber and after I've dried the bore and powder chamber as best I can, I heat that jag up in a camp fire and when it's cherry hot, I drop it down the bore and into the powder chamber. It doesn't have enough heat to even pass the heat on to the rifle's steel, but it has enough radiant heat to finish the drying process in the powder chamber. Once it's cool, I drop it out, put a lightly oiled patch on it and run it back into the powder chamber on the ramrod.

I suppose a little wd-40 would suck up the moisture...but I like tinkering around the camp fire!

By the way, I don't want to ruin anyone's fun...but really, I've discovered after 35 years, that many of us "over clean" our muzzleloaders.

I haven't heard one suggestion about filling the barrel and letting it stand for awhile.

Before I start the brushing/patching chore, I plug the vent or the nipple and let a barrel full of cold water sit in bore for about 5 minutes while I rest the brogans before the fire. Pour it out and refill about half way and plug the bore with a cork or a thumb and slosh it back and forth a few times. A couple treatmenst of this, and the water is coming out clear. That's when I start the brushing/patching. For my rinse, I plug the vent/nipple again and pour hot water in the gun and using a tight patch I open the vent/nipple and force that water out in a jet! Take care when you get to the bottom to turn the gun upside down before you withdraw the rod or you will get a lot of water dribbling out the muzzle from the stuff that got around the tight patch.

For a three day hunt, I don't pull the lock and take out the vent or remove the nipple, until I'm back home and getting ready to put the gun away.

My bores remain bright all the way to the powder chambers and breeches with about the same effort I put into cleaning the bore of a smokeless gun.

Thanks for the replies.

Dan

 

[paulvallandigham]

A small container of isopropyl alcohol will evaporate and remove any moisture from that powder chamber, and your flash channel. It also dissolves grease and oil, and has some medicinal use, around camp, too. Buy an 8 oz. Plastic bottle at Michaels, or Hobbby Lobby, to hold the alcohol in. It soon becomes just part of the standard gear that goes camping/hunting with you.

 

[tg]

I don't shoot the gun at days end unless things get real wet, but if I do have to clean I use the same method as home and use a bit of alch or WD to get the water out then wipe dry and reload, a pipe clesner works well in the vent