Cleaning the breech where the flashhole comes in

[bdub1792]

I have an 1861 Springfield repro that I am trying to clean up, but no matter what I have done I cannot get clean patches to come out. I believe the culprit may be the small buildup on the breech where the flashhole comes in. Any tips on cleaning that up? I have tried with my jag, borescraper, and bronze brush to no avail.

Thanks

 

[64Springer]

Pull the nipple.

Run a wet pipe cleaner through the nipple hole.

Run a dry pipe cleaner through the nipple hole.

And no BP gun is ever 100% clean. .02

 

[The Crisco Kid]

Looks pretty clean to me.

 

[Matt85]

BP guns never get truly "clean". The inside of the barrel will darken and no matter how many patches you run , something will come out. Many people refer to this as "seasoning".

 

[Absoroka]

Try plugging the nipple, putting some HOT water down the barrel, start a cleaning patch, lay the rifle down on a bench with the nipple side down remove the plug and push the hot water out the nipple with your cleaning patch. Make sure you dry and oil after using the hot water.

 

[Will]

Make sure you remove all the oil before you shoot again or you will have more of the same problem. I run patches with 91% alcohol down the bore on a jag but to get to the powder chamber area I use a small bore brush with a patch of alcohol around it and give it a few twists to remove the oil.

 

[Grimord]

You can also try using steam thru the nipple to loosen up the remaining fouling at the breech. A small hand held steamer with a pointy nozzle has worked for me to remove crusted in fouling. Just make sure to protect the wood.

 

[boman]

Take the barrel out of the stock, get a bucket of hot soapy water, stick the breech in said bucket and use a ramrod with plenty of patching, rags, etc to create suction and plunge the ramrod in and out. Water will be sucked into and pushed out the nipple----dry out the barrel and oil.

Steve

 

[oldwood]

You need warm water going in and out of the breech/nipple area. That will melt any ash and grease in and around the breech.

 

[barracudadave67]

What boman said.
Take out the nipple, throw it in the bucket, take out the clean-out screw(dont loose it) let it soak while pumping the barrel with hot water, till your patch comes out clean. Clean your nipple, and the flash chanell with a pipe cleaner. Dry barrel, and lightly oil it.

Dave

 

[Dave Markowitz]

These pictures are from the 1947 edition of Ned Robert's The Muzzleloading Caplock Rifle. I'm sure that most of our members recognize this as a seminal tome on the subject.

Obviously, sperm whale oil is no longer available, but any good modern gun oil will work to protect the bore against rust. I like FP-10 or G-96 CLP, but any of them will work.

He mentions using a bristle brush, but notes that it should not be a brass brush. The modern equivalent would be a nylon bore brush.

I thought it very interesting that he suggests using Hoppe's No.9 nitro solvent. AFAIK, Hoppe's No.9 Plus BP solvent wasn't introduced until the 1960s or 1970s.

Finally, one thing I thought very interesting is that he doesn't recommend removing the nipple for cleaning. Even though I put anti seize grease on the nipple threads on my rifles, I remove them every time I shoot because fouling seems to get into them and I don't want them to rust in place.

 

[boman]

quote "Obviously, sperm whale oil is no longer available, but any good modern gun oil will work to protect the bore against rust. I like FP-10 or G-96 CLP, but any of them will work."


I actually have around a quart(had a gallon) of the last legal sperm whale oil available---LOL---bought it back in the 70's to make fox trapping lure. It was part of an exempted lot already processed when the law changed.

Steve

 

[Grenadier1758]

Be well aware that many of us live in cities where the water is purified and trace amounts of corrosive liquids such as chlorine are added to prevent disease bearing organism from forming in our water. Unfortunately, the city water boiled and used immediately to clean a muzzle loading rifle can cause flash rust to form. The formation of flash rust is less when warm water is used with a bit of dish soap. Ned Roberts didn't have to deal with chlorinated water, and he didn't have liquid dish soap, or he would have taught an improved way to clean his rifle.

Ned probably didn't deal with chambered breeches all that often or he would have included storing the rifle with the muzzle down after applying the final rust inhibiting oils after cleaning. Oils at the breech will combine with fouling to clog up a chambered breech. The alcohol wipe before starting a shooting session is good advice.

 

[Grimord]

I try to use the water that collects in my dehumidifier for cleaning my BP guns when ever possible. I seem to recall that Jojoba oil is very close to sperm oil. It even smells somewhat fishy. I have never tried it, but I thought I might.

 

[TNTraveler]

You could put a small piece of tubing on the nipple and stick the other end in a bucket of hot water or small bottle of cleaning solvent running a patch back and forth in the barrel will suck the cleaner into the barrel and flush out the bottom of the barrel and nipple passage way

 

[Grenadier1758]

What @TNTraveler suggests will work, but you have to be aware that the tiny hole in the nipple really limits the amount of water that can be forced through the breech. The cleaning process will be better served by drilling out a worn-out nipple and using that with a flexible tube.

Of course, one of the flush nipples from Track of the Wolf with the included rubber gasket and tubing (that needs a weight to keep the tube in the cleaning solution) is a very good item to include in the next TotW order. To be used if the firearm does not have a hooked breech and barrel is left in the stock.

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/66/1