Cleaning the barrel

[Ohioan]

I've been shooting primitive muzzle loaders since before I was 10 years old. I got away from them when I turned 18 and could by modern guns. I couldn't stand cleaning those BP guns! But, I've found out, that modern guns are harder to clean because of all chemicals you have to use. Well, a long story short, I'm almost 26 and and I've come back to wanting to shoot the primitive guns. Many of you have already given me lots of advice with my project of building my own rifle.
But, cleaning still bugs me. I've been hearing shown so many different styles of cleaning. I'm not sure what would work best.
The last time I cleaned my .32 flint this is what I did:
1. Pull the lock, spray it down with window washer fluid (contains ammonia). I work it over with a toothbrush and then rinse it off with water. I then placed it on the electric oven range that was on low heat.
2. Then I removed the barrel from the stock. (This is going to be the last time I shoot it for a long time.) I placed a coffee can of water on the oven and got it to a boiled. Took it out in the garage. I placed the breech end of the barrel (with plug still in it) and ran a patch down the barrel. Then, sucked water into the barrel when I pulled the patch out. I did that a bunch until the patches were coming out pretty much clean.
3. I ran several dry patches down the barrel to make sure the bore was clean.
4. I ran a patch soaked in Hoppes #9 down the barrel. Flipped it over, and ran it down again. Then did the same thing with another patch.
5. Ran dry patches down until they came up clean.
6. Soaked a patch with military oil and ran it down the bore. Then I cleaned the outside of the barrel with Hoppes #9 and then wiped it off. Oiled the whole barrel and placed it back in the stock.
7. Took the dry lock off of the oven and let it cool.
8. When the lock was cool I wiped it down thoroughly with military oil.
9 Placed it back in the stock.

That was it. It took 19 total patches to get the gun clean this way.

Was this an okay way to do it? Was I causing any damage this way?

Now, when I get my rifle built, I'm not going to want to remove the barrel every time. So how do I get water up the barrel?

Some of the fellows in our club use the following method:
1. Run a couple patches of Hoppes #9 down the barrel.
2. Wrap rag around the vent hole.
3. Fill barrel with Hoppes #9.
4. Pull the rag off the gun and force the hoppes out by thrusting the ramrod down fast.
5. Fill barrel with Mobil 1 oil.
6. Force the Mobil 1 out fast.
7. Thats it.

They say it works. I dunno.

Others in our club use lots and lots of moose milk or some such solvent.

What do you use to clean your primitive weapons?

 

[Old40Rod]

I don't use boiling water any more. I use luke warm water with a bit of liquid dishwashing soap or Windex, it seems to work just fine. I put the mix in a cup or can and pump it in an out a few times, empty and repeat until things come up clean (usually it doesn't take very long). I flush everything with clean water and then run a Hoppe's soaked patch or spray WD-40 down the barrel to displace the water. I usually set the barrel muzzle down on a towel to let everything run out. I clean that out with a dry patch and then use Break-Free as a final coat. Total time is usually about 10-15 min per gun unless I remove the lock. I'm shooting percussion only at the moment, so I will remove the lock on occasion and clean it up.

I stopped using boiling or hot hot water after getting flash rust. Don't seem to have a problem with luke warm water.

I would think filling the barrel with Hoppe's, although one of my favorite fragrances :grin:
is probably a bit much.

 

[bwhoffman]

I dont pull my cap locks but maybe once a year.
I do pull the barrel every time on all my guns
into the luke warm wash sink they go, with nothing added these days.
My favorite tool these days has been a bronze bore brush wrapped in a cleaning patch.
up and down of goes, followed by water down the barrel, then the cleaning jag and patch doing the suction work, this till it passes clear.
a toothbruch on the breech and nipple.
I dry it by hand, patch the innards till dry patches appear, a clean patch with alcohol followed by a wd40 spray and wipe.(inside the barrel)
I was wiping all metalwork with bore butter then switched to moose snot, then Zonie posted something about rubbing down the barrel with wax paer, so I have been trying that and LIKE IT!
No rust, no crude. I go to the range, run an alc patch followed by a lubed shooting patch and off I go.
used to final wipe the inner barrel with BB, but was getting crud and color. wd40 has been working fine for me and I do tend to wipe my barrels weekly just because.(small affliction with fondling the guns before I leave for work!)

this works for me, your results may vary.

 

[George Holton]

A round,yes round toothpick in the flintlock vent works well to keep the slop off the stock. usually a quick posh with the tight patch will blow it out and drain the bbl. Do not do this in the kitchen. Bob :nono:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

after a shooting session I use a BP bore brush to loosen fouiling and run a few patches to pick up the most of the crud. then plug nipple and fill bbl with w/w fluid and let soak awhile, dump out and repeat. then pour hot water down for a flush, dry patch until clean and oil with lube. I wipe the lock with w/w fluid, that stuff really cleans BP residue.

 

[MikeChapin]

Everyone has their own method of cleaning. If they get the gun clean and protected one's about as good as another. I use TOW's Bore Clean cut 50/50 with water at room temp. I found this stuff cleans much better if cut with water.

If the rifle has a hooked breach, I will pull the barrel otherwise not. It usually takes four or five patches to get the barrel clean with the solution.

If I am cleaning a flintlock, I will pull the lock. If it is a percussion I will leave it in. For a flintlock I will put the first gunky patch from the barrel in the pan and close the frizzen. This is set aside to let it soak.

After I have the barrel clean with the Bore Clean, I run two patches with a Ballistol and water mixture. This cuts the detergent in the solution and catches what little graphite that is left in the barrel. This is followed by two dry patches and one patch with straight Ballistol to protect the barrel.

I use the cleanest patches from cleaning the barrel and the Ballistol/water patches to finish cleaning the lock and the outside of the barrel and use the straight Ballistol patch to protect the clean lock and the outside of the barrel.

If the rifle has a patent breach I use the barrel cleaning patches on a .22 brush to reach down into the firing chamber and clean it.

For percussion rifles I pull the nipple and soak it while I'm cleaning the rest of the rifle. I clean off the outside of the nipple with one of the patches and run a pipe cleaner inside to dry it and remove the accumulated gunk. When I replace the nipple I put some grease around the threads so it will be easily removed the next time and to lube the threads.

I quit using petroleum based lubes a couple of years ago. I have found that using Ballistol for a lube allows me to shoot all day without cleaning. The petroleum based oils will protect the barrel but leave behind a lot of residue when the piece is fired. Ballistol, Bore Butter and Natural Lube 1000 all work to protect the barrel and don't contribute to the crud formed when firing.

 

[Black Hand]

Warm to hot water from the tap at home, spit and cold water in camp. Sometimes a little soap. Toothpick in the touch-hole and fill the barrel with water. Allow to soak, drain and repeat until water is mostly clear. Remove toothpick and place an absorbent patch in the pan and close the frizzen to hold it in place. Clean barrel with a wet patch, dry with patches, and grease with lube. Dry off the exterior and use same lubed patch on the wood and metal. Occassionally, remove the lock and clean the lock with soap and water/water, dry and oil.

I don't remove the barrel unless it is a hook breech. I may remove a pinned barrel from the stock if I have been out in very rainy weather, but try to avoid this as much as possible. It can easily result in a broken forestock, chipped out pinholes, warped forestock etc.

 

[boar]

Sounds like you need to get a flush kit,for nipple or flint?. I use just hot, lukewarm, or cold, what ever is handy. I use cloth patch then dry out with good paper towels, they get the water fast. Then oil. When you do a long rifle invert the rifle so lock is toward ground so water doesn"t get in lock area. I have a kit made up that I can clean the gun in the field. It fits in a altoids can. I made a small nipple wrench,that takes out the wedge pin and nipple . The tin has deer tallow around sides and small vial of MAP or Windex, tooth pick,wrench,jag and patches. Dilly

 

[Johnny Tremain]

What do you use to clean your primitive weapons?

Warm water and dishwashing soap.

The heat of the water will dry the barrel.

Then coat with bore butter.

Petrolium based oils cause sludge when mixed with burnt black powder.

Dont want that hassle.

and the are FIREARMS not weapons.

I dont use my flintlock offensively. I have big caliber gas guns for that.

 

[E Poffinbarger]

Ohioan:

As you have noted there are an equal or greater number of ways to clean a rifle bore as there are folks shootin' them. Mine; remove barrel, clean with warm soapy water followed instantly with oily patches and wipe with oily rag.

With my muzzleloaders I add a little something after finally cleaning when season ends. I re-swab the bore with an oily patch; each day for a week, each week for a month and each month until hunting season returns.

Osage

 

[Applejack]

After removing the lock, I use hot water and dish soap pumped on patches in the barrel to loosen crud then wipe with clean patches until they come out clean and dry. I wipe and clean the lock.

I run a patch coated with olive oil down the barrel and wipe down the furniture both inside and outside the lock and reinstall. I then use that patch to wipe down the barrel and stock.

Olive oil seems a non-harmful and natural oil. It works great on a cast iron skillet and seems to do the same for me on black powder gun steel.

Does anyone else use olive oil like this?

 

[oldarmy]

Pull the flintlock, throw in the bucket of
cold water, wipe off and lightly oil with mineral oil
for the barrel.
cold water,cotton patches,then a brass brush, a few more wet cotton patchs, one or two dry ones. and a little light mineral oil to stop the rust.
10mins max.
no rust so far.
of course I shoot them at least once a week during the spring, summer,fall.
Will clean very well before putting up for the winter.

 

[Idaho Ron]

Old40Rod, :thumbsup:
Flash rust, that is what I got the last time I cleaned. I have cleaned my Stainless steel GM renegade barrels with boiling hot water for, forever. I cleaned the Blued GM 45 and BANG the patches came out red.
I got pi$$ed and got out the JB bore paste compound. I polished the barrel and cleaned it again with water after I finished with the JB. This time I used luke warm tap water and it went much better. I finished with oil and now two weeks later everything is still goood
I am glad you brought that up, now I know why it did it. My days of boiling water are over. :hatsoff:
thanks Ron

 

[Jarikeen]

I too found that hot water was not for my rifle - flash rust. I have been using tap water without soaps. I've alway enjoyed cleaning my rifles as part of the whole shooting experience.

Having said that, I'm now converting to the Dutch Shultz waterless cleaning method as it makes sense to me. I never really felt comfortable with water cleaning on a steel barrel, but accepted that this was the way to do it.

So I'll give this system a go, and if it doesn't do what I hope it does, I'll go back to water.

 

[bob1961]

i let the hot water from the tap get hot enough to hold my hand under it....i have an old spring water jug with the twist on top cut to make a bigger opening to get my T/C hawken barrel in it with half filled hot water only....run a patch up and down bringing the hot water to the muzzle till it feels warm in my hand....let it drain the water out and dry the outside with a paper towel....then use bits of the same paper towel to dry the inside good....once dried i run dry patchs down till it comes out clean....then soak a patch in hopps gun oil or rem-oil and run it down and out once, then use the same patch to rub the outside of the barrel down to oil it before putting the barrel back in the stock....the lock i clean by swishing it in the hot water then dry with a can of air fer a CPU....a drop of oil here and there to make the lock work smooth, then assemble the gun and it's good fer storage....never no rust in the barrel :v ...............bob

 

[Slamfire]

I'm using the hottest water that flows from my tap. A couple drops of Murphy's Oil Soap, followed by 91% isopropyl alcohol to dry out any water. I then run a patch, coated with Sno Seal (mostly bee's wax with mineral oil softener, through the bore, and with a pipe cleaner through the flash channel. For a quick clean at the range, either T/C's No. 13 or Hoppe's #9+. I tried some of Rusty Duck's blackpower solvent, but discovered it is mostly ethelyne glycol, and much to poisoness for my dogs. :barf:

 

[123joe]

Bare in mind, I have invested very little in obtaining my ML's. One is a CVA Bobcat, the other a CVA Hawken obtained from a friend who didnt think it could be brought back to life.
With that said, I have had no problem with the Bobcat in the 5 years I have had it. The Hawken has not re-rusted since the last cleaning about 2 month ago.

Both rifles are caplock (obviously), and without the knowledge of the flint, I do not see removing the barrel as a problem and or hassle.

I spend about 10 minutes on this entire process.

1. Hot water from tap.
2. Flush with patch until clear.
3. #9 until clean.
4. Dry patch.
5. Oil.

If it is the end of the season, heavy on the oil.

Joe

 

[mike van]

how much water do you cut the balistol with?
would this work as a bore cleaner too?
thanks, mike

 

[MikeChapin]

how much water do you cut the balistol with?
would this work as a bore cleaner too?
thanks, mike

Welcome to the Forum.

I'm pretty sloppy on the mix because I'm just using it cut soap and scavange the last of the graphite. I fill a bottle up with water and add enough Ballistol to make it look the same as low fat milk. A lot of guys here who use it for shooting lube are more exacting in their ratios. If you do a search on Ballistol you should find older posts on what they use.

Yes you can use it to clean the rifle. It's cleaning properties are close to the same as Stumpy's Moose Milk. A lot of people like and use moose milk to clean with. I have not had a lot of luck with it so use something else.

 

[MikeWoodyard]

I use hot water from the tap with a little dish soap and some water soluble citrus cleaner. I pull the nipple, put the breech in the water, and pump the water up and down the barrel with a cleaning rod/patch. I follow that with plain hot water using the same process to get the soap suds out of the barrel. The barrel is usually hot enough by then to evaporate any remaining water without having to bake the barrel, etc. I then run a cleaning patch soaked with CLP down the barrel, lub the nipple threads with choke tube lube and reinstall. The outside of the barrel gets wiped down with Boeshield T9. By the way, I also use CLP for round ball patch lube. It keeps powder fouling to a minimum 'cause you are basically cleaning the barrel every time you ram a ball home, and what fouling there is it keeps soft so it is easy to remove. Waiting for the flames from the bear grease crowd... :grin: