cleaning longrifles

[chuck faison]

How is the best way to clean a pennsylvania long rifle.The barrel is pinned to the stock.do i have to remove it each time.I know about taking the flintlock out to clean inside of that,but pumping hot water up and down the barrel has got me stumped.I remove the barrel on my 1861 rifles,but that is barrel bands,,will be building a TOTW gun this winter,if winter ever comes to san diego.. yhank you,great site for all my questions..

 

[Stophel]

When I'm "in the field", I will prop the butt of the gun up so that the touch hole is pointing down. Spit some water in the bore and swoosh it out the touch hole. Rinse and repeat. Yes, you will get it on the stock, no, it won't hurt anything.

When I'm in the shop, I use the super handy dandy little clamp on tube thingy that most of the supply houses carry (I think I got mine from Wayne Dunlap). Clamp it on the barrel over the touch hole, dunk the other end in a bucket of water and wash away. :wink:

 

[chuck faison]

thanks stophel,,I have had several longrifles but never shot them,I an primalry intrested in civil war guns and they are easy to clean,Do you have any thoughts on kits to get.I like the dickert style but built as a working gun,not fancy,,I feel that the great gun builders built lots of working guns and a few"high dollar"guns,they were not used as hard as a "working gun" so there are a lot of them left.That should ster up the hornets nest some.. thanks chuck

 

[the Black Spot]

i soak a cleaning patch in windex with ammonia and run this up and down the bore a few times, then use dry clean patches till they come out clean. then repeat. when all is done run a slightly greased patch down the bore to coat barrel with light coat oil for protection.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

My barrel is also pinned. I use T/C presoaked 1000+ cleaning patches until no black or gray comes out (3-5 of them). Then a few drys, then one with bore butter on it.

No water, solvent, of any kind on the outside surfaces, except a light coat of bore butter on the barrel

 

[Grizzled Roberts]

A good traditional way to clean your longrifle while in the field or at a historical event is to use very hot water. There is always a pot or kettle around camp, I carry a pot just for this.
Put a toothpick or feather in the touch hole to
stop it up. Pour a small amount of the hot water down the bore plug the muzzle with a finger and invert the rifle back and forth a few times to get coverage of the entire barrel. Then I hold the rifle so the barrel is away from me and I invert the rifle muzzle tward the ground. With the hot water most of the black gunk goes on the ground. Quickly stand the rifle back up and none of the cleaning solution will get on the stock.
At this point I can get a clean bore with 3 patches most of the time.
If you are at the range or at a casual shoot
the 3 part murpheys oil soap, alchol and peroxide
will work just as well with no fire needed.
No matter which solution you use it is important
to dry the barrel and get your oil in the bore quickly to prevent rusting.
For years I used to use this system except that I would start a tight wet cleaning patch in the bore, reach down and pull out the touch hole stopper and ram the cleaning rod to the breach!
This forces most of the cleaning solution and gunk out of the touchhole with hydrolic force!
This stuff squirts out 10 feet or better ( think of the problems in camp! )and I always got the solution on my stock. Instead of the hydrolics
just pour the solution out of the barrel. It works as good, makes less mess and can be done in a very calm manner! :v

 

[Stumpkiller]

Warm water and Ivory soap (bar shavings). Keep the muzzle tipped downwards and lay the gun (lock removed and vent pointing down) on a junk towel. Sitting on porch steps is a good place for this. Wipe with cotton patches or tow on a worm alternating damp in the soapy water with dry. Follow up when they come out clean with a patch soaked in alcohol (not rubbing alcohol - that's 1/2 water) and then a patch with Beechwood-Casey Sheath or CLP Breakfree to keep it protected until the next time.

Before shooting run an alchohol patch and a patch covered in the lube you will be shooting. Then load. MAkes cleaning easier afterwards.

I don't knowk the pins out. Every time you do that you risk splitting out pieces of the stock. Had one piner flintlock 15 years and pulled the barrel once. Current flintlock rifle I have yet to remove the barrel and may never.

 

[burgessrudy]

I just came back from the Dewitt-Wallace museum in Willamsburg, Virginia. They have an extremely good collection of orginal firearms currently on display including Pocket pistols, pistols, rifles, blunderbusses, muskets etc.. What is interesting is that they have about 10 Brown Besses and about half of them have a little wood missing from the rearward pin area. These guns were obviously dismantled and the pins taken out to remove the barrel. This happened on my newer Pedersoli Brown Bess. A little chip came out when I reinserted my pin.


So if you really want to be authentic looking, Remove the pins like I still do even with my new rifle I just built, because that will make it look authentic when that little chip of wood comes off.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Yeah, but when did that happen? A soldier could be flogged for taking the lock off, let alone pulling a barrel. The Sergeants had turn-screws but not the men on the line.

Wood shrinks over time. Could have "lipped" up enough that it caught on a rag when being dusted. ;-)

 

[Birddog6]

I use this method to clean all my flintlocks & percussions, longrifles
and halfstocks.
I use dishwater liquid soap & cold water for the flushing solution. (or 2 oz of Ballistol
per gallon of water in a jug)
I put the rifle upside down in a cradle & remove the lock & have the barrel end a little
lower than the muzzle. This way if I get any seepage out of the clamp or fitting, it stays
on the Outside bottom of the barrel & NOT down into the barrel channel.
Next thing I do is take a breech scraper & scrape the accumulated fouling off the breech
face. It takes about 15 seconds & knocks all that thick crud off the breech face. (Note:
they make a special scraper for a GPPR & T/C or you can take a standard blade scraper
in .36 cal & make one for them by rounding the edges of the blade to the contour of
the patent breech interior. On a 40-45 you may need a .32 cal on for this)
Then remove the range rod & invert the rifle muzzle down & bump the breech with your hand
& the fouling will fall out. Now put the rifleback in the cradle upside down & connect
the Flush Kit & wet a patch, put it on a jag on a range rod with a bore protector & take it to
the breech & then suck the barrel full of the solution & just leave the rod hanging out at
the muzzle, with the barrel full of solution. (You may need to support the rod at the handle).
Then while the barrel is soaking I & clean the lock asm. under faucet
with a old toothbrush, blow dry with air & or dry with a paper towel & take
a tiny screwdriver & work the towel into the cracks & etc., then spray
the lock down entirely including the flint, with Ballistol aerosol & pat dry with
a paper towel & set asside.
Back to the rifle in the cradle, I take a cleaning jag & a tight patch,
& start swabbing back & forth in full strokes to flush the barrel real
good for about 20 strokes. Change patches & do it again, change patches
and do it again til I am sure it is clean. Then I take the jag off & put on
a breech scraper & check for any fouling. Scrape if necessary & if there
is any fouling I put on a Breech Brush & brush the breech. The back to
the jag & wet patch & flush again.
Then I swab with a dry patch a time or two. I wad up 2 patchs
& put them in the bore & shove them to the breech with the jag
& hold it there tight with the ramrod & then take a worm & pull it
& check it for moisture & fouling. Then I do 2 more. And 2 more if
necessary to BE SURE THE BORE IS COMPLETELY DRY.


When dry, I then squirt a lil Non-Aerosol Ballistol in the barrel from a pump spray
bottle & wet a patch real wet with same Ballistol & again swab & force some
out the vent. (By doing this you just lubed the cone of the vent.
When I am satisfied it is lubed real good, I install the lock & close the frizzen on a dry
patch so any excess Ballistol will run out the vent & be absorbed in the patch at the frizzen.
You can do all the same with BreakFree which I used before I found Ballistol & it
works good also.
Now keep in mind this is not a Maybe this will work, this is a "I KNOW " it will work
proceedure.


Some tell me I go to too much detail, I know it works. I know I don't
have any rust in the bores of my rifles & have done this for 30+years, so it
must work.

It is IMPERATIVE that you get ALL of the moisture out of the barrel
and at the breech before you put the gun oil in the bore.

It is IMPERATIVE that you Reswab the bore the Next day & the
3rd day just to be sure you got it all lubed & etc.

Once ya learn the proceedure, it takes about 15 min to totally clean the rifle.

:thumbsup:

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

Sorry burgessrudy but Stumpkiller is correct, only the armorer removed the barrel in military service, the soldier never did - not under any circumstances whatsoever. The chips you saw happened when the muskets were in the armorer's hands and it is natural for it to happen to a greater or lesser degree. Those muskets' barrels have probably only been removed 2 or 3 times during their entire 225+ years of existence - less than the average modern shooter might remove the barrel in a year if you remove the barrel to clean it. It is simply not necessary.

Plug the vent and fill the barrel with plain (or if you wish soapy) water, allow it to stand for a few minutes and drain and pore out. Repeat. When the water comes out clear, put a patch on the worm and wipe out any remaining fouling - usually very little - then be sure the bore is dry and lightly oil - you are done. Usually takes less than 10 minutes. Check again in a day or so if you wish. I've never had any rust or fouling build up using this method.

 

[brubincam]

takes longer to tell how... :thumbsup: than it does to do it... :thumbsup:

 

[Birddog6]

Boy that is the truth !! :surrender: Especially with MY typing skills !! :rotf:

 

[Timothy Gregory]

Has anyone used tow and a tow worm for cleaning? If so.how did you do it and what was the result (i.e. easier or more difficult?) Also, did it clean adaquately? Tanx