Does one need to apply oil or ballistol INSIDE the lock?

[wiscoaster]

The correct choice here is "Both."
Polish AND Lubricate !!

Ditto.

 

[bamajim]

You do need to clean your lock after every use. As others have mentioned if you have a good tight fit of the lock bolster to the barrel, the internals may just need a light cleaning. If you shoot pretty regularly WD40 is a good cleaner and a lube. I personally use Lithium grease on the tumbler, sear, sear spring and main spring. I don't really care what you use as a lube on the internals, as long as you use something. Anything is better than nothing. Many new flintlock users shoot there flintlocks dry, doing so, in time your flintlock will not function properly. Balistol is a good cleaner, it does stink, but it is not a lube in my opinion that I want to use for friction function of lock internals.

 

[Rifleman1776]

A small amount of good gun oil is a good thing to do for your lock. IMHO, Ballistol is the Devil's brew.

 

[Clark Badgett]

A small amount of good gun oil is a good thing to do for your lock. IMHO, Ballistol is the Devil's brew.

 

[Sandy Jarrell]

Not always true.

When isn't it true?

 

[Clark Badgett]

When isn't it true?

I can think of at least 1 example of when greasing the sliding surfaces isn’t a wise idea but we don’t talk about that stuff here. But in general grease on sliding parts is wise.

 

[hanshi]

The way I do cleaning & maintenance on my muzzleloaders is the only right way to do it. If you use some other way then you're doing it all wrong. Except, of course, if it works for you then maybe you're doing it right......or something like that, I don't know, I've just got a headache.


Oh no, not again Hanshi!

 

[Twisted_1in66]

Hi all,
I came to realize (been a year roughly since I started getting into this hobby!) that I need to take better care of my flintlocks. Was wondering - do folks typically worry about rust INSIDE the lock, and if so, do they do the same thing as exterior i.e. apply ballistol or oil?

And does one have to dissassemble the lock and apply to every piece (tumbler, springs, screws, sears, bridles, everything) , or just broadly apply the ballistol on the entire lock inside and out?

Thanks in advance, guys (and happy thanksgiving)!

I always clean and oil my lock on any day that I shoot my rifle(s).

I typically remove the lock first and set it aside. Then I plug the vent with a toothpick or a twig and pour a couple of inches of MAP (equal parts mix of Murpy's Oil Soap, Isopropyl [rubbing] Alcohol, and Hydrogen Peroxide) down the bore and stand my rifle up to soak the breech while I clean my lock. If I don't have any MAP left, plain water also works.

I'll use a boar bristle toothbrush for cleaning the interior and exterior of the lock using a little MAP on the bristles and then wipe it off with a dry patch while letting the breech of the barrel soak. I use bristle toothbrush at reenactments for the sake of historical correctness as the camps are often open to the public when I clean my rifle, and it works great. Next I'll dry the lock using a dry patch. Then I use a tin gun-oil container with a pick in the cap to take drops of gun oil (3in1 oil works in a pinch) and place them individually on the various moving parts. I'll usually put a little oil on a dry patch and give the lock a once over afterwards being careful to use a light coat.

Before I reattach the lock, I'll wet a patch with MAP and run it down the bore until I feel some back pressure. Then, pointing the vent well away from anything I don't want to stain with black powder residue, I'll remove the vent pick and push the ramrod down smartly. This will shoot out a good 6-feet or more of a stream of the blackest sludge looking liquid you ever saw. DON'T point it towards a tent or anything within a good 10-ft (ask me how I know!). I'll run more wet patches down the bore until it comes back clean and then a dry patch or two followed by one patch of gun-oil to put a light covering on it. Finally, I'll reattach the lock and check everything for fit and function.

After about 3 or 4-years of use for reenactments, I removed the frizzen spring to do a little extra cleaning that I couldn't otherwise get to with a wet patch or Q-tip (toothpick or twig in a patch works pretty well). While I was cleaning, I somehow managed to drop the frizzen spring in the tall grass somewhere and lost it. Next day I called L&R and asked if I could get a replacement frizzen spring. I think it was $12 back then and they said if I sent it in to them they'd be happy to go over the lock and replace the spring at no extra charge. So I sent the lock in and about a week later (I lived in VA and they were in NC) I received it back. They had installed a new frizzen spring and included a short note with the receipt saying, "Nice Lock!"

So I presume that way I cleaned and oiled it was how I should always do it, and I always have. I have never had the need to totally disassemble my lock and I don't use grease on it. Grease can attract and hold dirt, dust, and other contaminants. If I were to use grease on it, I would probably look to a lithium grease like we used to use on the bearings we would put on a crankshaft or camshaft. It's a white grease that is much lighter, leaving smaller residue while remaining super slippery. I've used grease a lot on seals and bearings in auto engine rebuilds and suspension parts though, butnever used them on locks. So I am not the "authority" on the use of grease in firearms - I never used it on firearms.

I am however saying that L&R Lock Co. was pleased with the condition of their lock after 3 or 4-years of hard use in reenactments where I would typically fire about 100-shots of blanks each weekend, besides hunting with it. And, if you haven't done it before, shooting blanks leaves a LOT more fouling than live-firing a round ball does.

So YES, you do need to oil your lock after cleaning it and you should clean it every day that you fire your flintlock.

 

[CS]

Thanks so very much, all!