Flintlock swabbing process? How to clean between shots?

[user 36911]

Swabbing with straight alcohol won't leave anything wet because it dries so fast. Using tow to do it is even better.

 

[Ben Meyer]

I use moosemilk that I made. Can't remember the exact recipe, but its mostly water with some ballistol and pine sol. I did have a dropper and put 12 drops on a patch, but now I have a tiny spray bottle. 2 spritzes. This is just damp. I bring a range rod with the cleaning jag, run the patch down and back out 1 time. Then I load and fire.

Pretty much the Dutch Schoultz method. Works, is very consistant.

 

[Carbon 6]

As I've always said, its your gun do what you want. If someone does not have a problem then use peroxide. I have been told by many shooters not to use it. I trust what the majority tells me over the one. Again your gun do what you want. My guns will never see peroxide.

Perhaps some other factor is at play here and peroxide is getting the blame unjustly. I and many other shooter have no problem using it.

 

[Art Caputo]

Perhaps some other factor is at play here and peroxide is getting the blame unjustly. I and many other shooter have no problem using it.

I agree that the disparity in the use of MAP has been around for years...And, is confusing to those that have had good sucess. I have a viewpoint after 20 years of this debate. I think much of the bad wrap with MAP is because of s few different factors. Over the years, naysayers I have been in contact with were either basing their viewpoint on playing chemist, hearsay, or, did have experience, but we’re not using the originally prescribed. formulation/method. I can’t say have heard of someone experiencing damage when the MAP formulation/procedure was followed.

MAP
6 parts - 3% Hydrogen Peroxide
6 parts - 92% Rubbing Alcohol
4 parts - Murphy’s Oil Soap
*Pour approx 2oz down the pledged barrel, Invert 2-3x for no more the 5 minutes. Dry with patches. Lube.

I have seen variety of so-called “MAP formulations/methods with varying amounts/substitutions of the ingredients including the use of 30% Hydrogen Peroxide instead of 3%! At the higher concentrations of Peroxide, corrosion is possible, particularly with prolonged exposure, Unfortunately, when this damage is observed due to these deviations from the MAP recipe, the generalization is Frequently made that ANY use of peroxide is damaging to the firearm. IMO.

 

[MSW]

as i'm sure you have surmised, there are as many opinions as there are shooters. you will, therefore, have to tinker with this for a bit until you come upon a technique which works best for you and your particular rifle.

i would recommend that you check out Dutch Schoultz' method - here's a link:

https://blackpowderrifleaccuracy.com/?page_id=69
you should get a copy of his method - it's the best non shooting accessory for the money.

Good luck, and make good smoke!

 

[Carbon 6]

I can’t say have heard of someone experiencing damage when the MAP formulation/procedure was followed.

I mix it in equal parts, but I don't actually measure, I just eyeball it and have never had a problem.

Peroxide can be substituted with plain water and it works almost as good.

 

[mushka]

I am never in a real hurry when shooting on a range with my muzzle loaders. No reason to be. I fire a shot then spit patch the bore once, dump the powder, put in the prb , cap or prime and shoot again. The only difference with the cap lock and flint lock is that every couple of shots I'll wipe the priming tub area to clean out the residue. Maybe use a nipple pick every once in a while if I think of it. This is the regimen I've found that works for me.
After the last shot I'll spit patch then take it home to clean.

 

[Crow-Feather]

OK.....almost ready to begin shooting my .45 Thompson Center Hawken flintlock. However, I am a bit concerned swabbing might push fouling down into the breech. Does the TC flintlock have a patent breech to worry about?

I've shot my CVA caplock over 100 times, usually swabbing with a wet patch (soapy water) then drying with two dry patches between each shot. Can I do the same with a TC flintlock and it shoot each time?

Well you probably won't believe this, but before you just pass it by, give it a try someday. I never swab tween shots. Don't have to, and accuracy is less than 1 inch at 50 yds, rested. I never use any oil product in my bore ever. Those who used these rifles never had petroleum and used natural fats and oils. Whale oil and rendered bear fat are hard to find these days.
I use a mixture of 25% Ballistol and 75% water for my patch lube. (with a dash of liquid soap) I never have to wipe my bore and my first shot goes down and out as easy as the first. Cleaning is a breeze as there is no powder build up. Some people use a water soluable machine oil/water mix as I have in the past, but Ballistol is also great for wood and leather.
When I get a rifle, prior to shooting it, I take the barrel and run super hot (almost boiling) water in the bore and clean the barrel with a bore brush. I wipe the barrel with a tight paper towel patch. It soaks up water and shows any dark streaks indicating a still dirty bore. I repeat wiping the bore until the patch comes out dry and all white. If necessary, I might use a natural bore cleaner then hot water, then paper towel patches. Why super hot water? It heats the barrel and softens powder residue, and it helps the water to evaporate. With the barrel still hot, I put T/C bore butter on the clean dry patch, and run it down the bore. The barrel heat melts the bore butter so that it runs into all the small crevices. I then send down a dry patch to finish the cleaning. I put bore butter on the threads of the nipple and reinstall it.
The patch must be completely soaked with lube but not sopping wet. Give it a try, if you don't like it the Ballistol is also good for leather and wood.

 

[nhmoose]

For years in line shoots I would spritz a patch on one side with a small spray bottle of MAP. Once down twist the rod twice and bring it back up. Then turn the patch over then send it down and bring it back up. Then load for the next shot.

End of the relay I wet the patch with 2-3 sprays of MAP depending on the humidity and leave it at the breech for the break till the line is open. Then I would put 1 dry patch down and up then load.

Depending on how I felt by my own assessment I would go for record or put on the sighter target . 50/50 either way. I won many matches that way. Got the medals to show and gave many back in 20 years shooting in the 1st American Congress shoots here in New England and in Many Territorial NMLRA shoots.

Map with peroxide never damaged my barrels but lost 2 to using the chapstick crap until I knew better.

I have cleaned with MAP over 20 years and then used RIG between matches and years of matches and no problems.

Yep I am a Heretic to many on here that clean with just water but I do it faster and no following cleaning needed. However I also do not ever re-enact.

 

[Carbon 6]

Yep I am a Heretic to many on here that clean with just water but I do it faster and no following cleaning needed.

MAP is just an improved version of soap and water.

Water works
Water and soap work better.
MAP works even better.

Evolution or progress ? You decide.

 

[oldwood]

Years ago I accidentally discovered medical gauze as a super m/l cleaning patch. It's coarse weave cleans on the removal of the patch from breach to muzzle. 2X2 size unfolded one time used w/ a standard jag works well. Larger calibers could need the 2X2 gauze patch left folded , etc.. Liquid patch lube on the gauze removes powder ash rings easily. Some fabric stores sell gauze , and of course , drug stores do as well.. oldwood

 

[Mark Herman]

Stabbing between shots is just that, it's not cleaning. A patch wet with saliva and then turned over is normally adequate, unless you've fired a number of rounds then a little wetter.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

A cleaning patch piped in my mouth and chewed a second like a piece of gum. Or just a splashed out of my canteen and squeezed.

SPIT PATHCH between about every 4th shot works for me, if your worried about fowling in the breech pick the vent, why complicate things, I am a pouch shooter so the less I carry the better.

Agreed. Since I cut the patch at the muzzle from a strip of patching material that I've held in my mouth, there is remaining cloth that is still damp with saliva. I cut off some of that damp cloth to swab the bore. On the .54 that's all, but on the .40 the smaller caliber likes me to prick the touch hole after I swab.

IF I'm using patching material to which I've added soluble oil, I put small piece of unaltered cloth in my mouth or as written, splash some water on the cloth and squeeze most of the moisture out.

LD

 

[Roughneck]

i have been using the same mixture to lube my patches as i use to clean my rifles and i never have to swab the bore. 1/3 part Murphys Oil Soap, 1/3 part rubbing alcohol and 1/3 Ballistol. gun cleans up super nice with only 2 or 3 patches at the end of a long shooting session. i also also used straight ballistol for a patch lube and had the same or maybe even slightly better results cleaning the barrel after. i never get fouling with either. i would not use hydrogen peroxide on metal but that is just my opinion. this solution has worked for me on all brand barrels, calibers and rifling types.

 

[Carbon 6]

Swabbing between shots is just that, it's not cleaning. A patch wet with saliva and then turned over is normally adequate, unless you've fired a number of rounds then a little wetter.

There is a difference, but if done in the right manner they can be virtually indistinguishable to the casual observer. I have the luxury of being able to hunt out my back door so I can hunt on a whim. I can pop out the back door and go squirrel hunt or whatever for a half hour,shoot one shot and return home with a clean gun loaded for the next outing. I can do this all year long without problems. Cleaning and reloading takes only a couple minutes and about 4 additional patches.

 

[satwel]

When I started participating in flintlock shooting matches, I believed I had to wipe the barrel between each shot. I experienced ignition problems after the first two or three shots. The vent would get plugged with damp goop. Frustrated, I decided to see what would happen if I stopped wiping after every shot. My ignition problems quickly disappeared and I've never looked back. I do a cursory cleaning between relays, but I can shoot all day without a misfire. IMHO when you wipe after each shot, you introduce moisture into the bore and push damp fouling to the bottom of the barrel where it accumulates and blocks the vent.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I have been told by many shooters not to use it. I trust what the majority tells me over the one. Again your gun do what you want. My guns will never see peroxide.

In this case 'the many' are full of 'it'. The H2O2 you buy in a bottle from any store is not the same as the highly corrosive industrial stuff. I once did an experiment after another discussion on this subject. I put a 2" ml barrel cut-off into a jar filled with H2O2 and waited. Want to know what happened? Nothing. I have used H2O2 for cleaning ml stuff, including my hands, for decades. Except for having to type with my elbows now, there has been no downside.

 

[vulture]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I have a question on this. I have noticed a lot of shooters talk about swabbing between shots, or after so many, and my question is why? Honestly, is it because the bore becomes so fouled it is difficult to load, or does it have to do with accuracy? The reason I ask is I've never done this, nor have I ever seen any of the group I used to shoot with do it, and they were very avid shooters. I will admit that we were shooting for fun, but it was a competition, with prizes at the end each days shooting. Our ranges were approx.. 30 yards, and the average powder charge was around 30 - 40 grns. We found that at those ranges and charges our rifles shot pretty much to point as they would at say 100 yards with full charge, so no need to adjust sight picture from what we hunted with. Everyone simply stuck the next patch in their mouth and soaked it up good, then loaded with it. The wet patch would clear fouling out as we loaded and deposit it on top of powder charge under patched ball. Loading never really became a problem during the entire day, and we probably fired close to 50 - 60 rounds each. So my original question, why swab the bore instead of simply using a nice wet spit patch, and no this isn't a good idea for hunting where the rifle is left loaded all day long?

 

[Ben Meyer]

In my limited experience, you're right. I can shoot dozens of shots if I use a product like Mr Flintlocks as patch lube. It wipes fouling as it goes down the barrel. Spit will do the same. But that last 3-4" where the powder and ball sit, never really get wiped. It gets fouled, tight, and subsequently more difficult to fully, properly load.

I swab between shots for CONSISTENCY. I want my bote to be the same for every shot. Ive found this helps accuracy in my guns. Same amount of the same product for every swipe, leaves the barrel the same for every shot.

 

[Grenadier1758]

@vulture, as you pointed out, you are wiping the bore between shots with your sopping wet patch. I wipe the bore between shots at the range for accuracy reasons. Using a damp patch, I have a consistent condition of the amount of fouling in the bore and the powder won't be affected by the very wet patch interacting with the powder. The wet patch is probably not much of a problem at a range where you are shooting soon after loading. If your results are acceptable, then wiping with a damp patch and avoiding the possibility of pushing fouling into the flash hole is alright. When you are shooting for accuracy for center x's or off a chunk or table for closest to the X, then every action to reduce group size must be taken.