Help! with cleaning my musket

[tjiann]

Fun to read all the cleaning methods. I'm in the category of keep it simple. Tight fitting jag and patches are a must to me. I use Windex to clean. One wet patch, a couple of dry, repeat, then a patch with CLP to lube once clean. Use this method both in the field and at home. No rust issues, and inspections of bore and breech with scope show shiney clean throughout.

 

[Jay Templin]

For decades I cleaned mine the way I was first taught: flintlocks got their vents plugged, a little boiling water in the barrel, and then I would plunge them with a patch, letting the suction and hydrostatic pressure scour the bore. Repeatedly until the patches came out clean. Once I got a hook breech gun, I would put the barrel and nipple, put the breech end into a clean tin can, pour boiling water into the barrel and plunge it in the same way.
Lately, I’ve been using the method BP Maniac posted- I plug the vent on any gun, fill the barrel with boiling water, and let it stand for a few minutes. Dump and repeat a time or two, then scrub with patches. I haven’t noticed it working any better, but it seems to do as well with less work, and I can do something else while waiting, which is nice.

The most important thing is just to clean them, honestly. Find a method that works for you and just do it.

Jay

 

[Nobody85]

I use a teapot filled with boiling soapy water, it’s easy to pour down the barrel with the spout. Toothpick in the touchole . Once the barrel is full of soap water, I point the muzzle up and pull the toothpick to let the water flush out the touchole. Do that a few times to wash out the barrel and soften up the fouling. Now I start running soapy water patches down the barrel until it comes out clean. Finally I run patches soaked in hot Ballistol water, (half and half). While this is being completed; I disassembled the lock and scrub it with hot soapy water. Once it’s clean I simmer it in Ballistol water. Once all the cud cooks off the lock, I pull it out and let it dry. The water will evaporate and leave oil residue . All done! Do it all over again next week after my hunt.

 

[rkg1]

I said this before but will again I use fluid film. Used it for 30 years both inside and out on the barrel with no problems. It is a lanolin based oil and won't hurt the wood finish. I still check the barrel the next couple days tobe safe just out of habit. This works for me.

 

[8Ball]

Since 55 years after cleaning with hot water or Moose Milk I coat all of my bores with a Ballistol soaked patch and then at last I coat and ram down a few times a Rig Gun Grease coated patch .

 

[northernThaiguy]

Wow! There are tons of good ideas here! Thanks, guys!!

 

[smoothshooter]

Points of interest.
Isopropyl alcohol contains water.
Flash rust is just a tarnish and nothing to worry about.
Heat is your friend with muzzloaders.

Ever wondered;
Why were muzzloaders kept over the fireplace?
How would a mountain man clean his gun with below freezing temperatures and with cold water?

It's not rocket science and you don't need to do any fancy dance or start going into a semi conscious trance like state and offer blood sacrifices to the rust god!
Just promise me just one thing and one thing only....don't use engine oil, please

The reason I use 70% Isopropyl Alcohol is because of the higher (30%) water content.
The other type of Isopropyl Alcohol (90%) only has 10% water, which is not enough to loosen up all the BP fouling.
Of course a person could buy either type and simply add water to suit their needs.

 

[smoothshooter]

Since 55 years after cleaning with hot water or Moose Milk I coat all of my bores with a Ballistol soaked patch and then at last I coat and ram down a few times a Rig Gun Grease coated patch .

Big fan of Ballistol here, too!

 

[Banjoman]

I use rainwater from a barrel outside my garage. I have proven extensively that tadpoles do a better job of cleaning out black powder than anything else.

 

[Mike in FL]

I reckon I will get in here with my useless opinion. I never heard of using boiling water. I can see how that would tend to dry the bore very well from the heat, but I've never tried it. Seems like a smooth bore would be easier to clean than a rifle. I just use diluted Ballistol. A little bottle of that in my possible bag. A jag and cut up t-shirt there too. Oh, I forgot. I do not plug the flash hole. To remove all traces of water I dump alcohol down the barrel and before it leaks out, I hit it with a clean patched jag. It squirts out the hole. Then dry that. Oil with gun oil. I also use the alcohol to remove the oil before shooting again.
The idea of motor oil after cleaning seems like a very good method to prevent rust. Gonna try that. Most every thread teaches me a new thing.

 

[SPQR70AD]

for years I just drop off my rifle at the dry cleaners. they come back like new

 

[Leadball loader]

I said this before but will again I use fluid film. Used it for 30 years both inside and out on the barrel with no problems. It is a lanolin based oil and won't hurt the wood finish. I still check the barrel the next couple days tobe safe just out of habit. This works for me.

The last three years I have cleaned with wet patches soaking wet with water hot or cold and wiped dry when no more fouling shows.
Dry the breech with a hair dryer and wipe bore and barrel with fluid film.
I only take my locks out every year or so to check.
My cleaning must be ok as I don’t have rust and the guns have a used patina.
These are both rifle and smoothbores.
LBL

 

[Florida airgunner]

I

I MUST be doing it all wrong. I disassemble my Charleville completely. All parts go in a plastic wash basin and remain there until I am ready for them.

I clean the stock with soap and water to remove any black powder soot. Sometimes I give it a quick going over with a furniture polish.

I plug the vent of the barrel with a patch on a toothpick and then pour a mixture of hot water and dish detergent into the bore and let it soak for 10 minutes. Then I pour it out and repeat a couple more times, letting it soak for 10 minutes each time. While this is going on I take a toothbrush and scrub all the other parts in a container of hot soapy water. I set them aside to drain and will wipe them down later to make sure all are dry.

Then I go back to the barrel and holding my thumb over the muzzle, shake the water inside it up and down a few times and then pour it out. Now I run patches down the bore until they come out cleaner; no longer black but maybe with a tinge of rusty brown, until the patches are dry.

The next day I polish all metal parts with Simichrome Polish, put a little grease inside the lock and reassemble. Then I run a few more patches down the bore and finish up with a good coating of Bore Butter.

If I don't shoot the musket again for a while I will run a few patches through it again after about 3 or 4 months and then coat the bore again with Bore Butter. A slight brown color in the bore is no cause for worry, I have yet to see any pitting.

I've never heard of anyone taking the barrel out every single time they clean, maybe once a year ill take it out. I don't see any reason to remove the barrel every time but what do I know

 

[Grenadier1758]

@Florida airgunner, you know what I know and many other members on the forum. If the barrel is pinned to the stock, there is no need to remove it for every cleaning. Even once a year may be too often. If the barrel is held to the stock with wedges, maybe, but still not necessary.

 

[ed dillon]

About cleaning patches: I use Original British 4 x 2 Military Issue Cleaning Material- 45 Meters. I am not paid to recommend this product. It is all I use for all my guns. It is like a flannel shirt on a roll, and you just cut off what you need. Both sides are the same, very absorbent. The US military used to issue good patches, but now their patches are like Russian toilet paper; believe me, I know. Oh yeah, the cost is currently $13.03 per roll, and for all of you Cheap Charlies, you could probably run them through the clothes washer and re-use.
My two cents on this matter.

Your right about military patches. Their not worth the room they take up in your shooting box. I go to the fabric store buy a couple yards of the thick flannel I also got that fabric cutting wheel. Cut 11/2. 2 and 3 inch squares. A lot of nice thick patches for a couple bucks

 

[Notchy Bob]

I

I've never heard of anyone taking the barrel out every single time they clean, maybe once a year ill take it out. I don't see any reason to remove the barrel every time but what do I know

I think you are pretty well informed. You are also dedicated, if you have actually read through all 55 previous posts!

Regarding barrel removal, I would agree with brother Grenadier that if the barrel is pinned to the stock, as with many traditional longrifles, it's best to leave it in place, although the only real risk is chipping the wood around the pin holes, which can be avoided with reasonable care. Cleaning a flintlock with the barrel in place is not difficult, but dirty water leaking out the touchhole can damage the stock finish or get under the barrel, between the wood and the metal, and cause some corrosion. I have found that a toothpick works as a touchhole plug, but it is not entirely reliable. One forum member suggested a small rare earth magnet over a little piece of Saran Wrap as a touchhole cover. I have not tried it, but it sounds like a good idea.

Your Charleville, however, has barrel bands. Removing the barrel is easyon a gun with barrel bands. You don't need to do it every time you clean the gun, if you are shooting it reasonably frequently, but now and then, and especially if the gun is going to be stored for a while, it's a good idea to remove the barrel and clean it thoroughly.

Remove the ramrod. Turn out the side nails (lock bolts) most of the way but not all the way. Lay the musket on a bench and push the heads of the lock bolts with your thumbs to push the lock out of it's mortise. Turn the lock bolts the rest of the way out and remove the lock. Remove the tang bolt. Then start with the barrel band nearest the muzzle. Depress the band spring and wiggle the band loose and off the gun. Repeat for the middle and lower bands. Then gently lift the barrel out of the stock. Be careful here... if it is a tight fit and you lift it by the muzzle, you may bend the tang. Muskets are pretty robust, though, and with reasonable care you should be fine. Once the barrel is out, you can put the breech in a can of hot water and "pump" the water up and down with your cleaning rod, with a jag and patch. This is absolutely the best way to clean the barrel. Turn the barrel muzzle down and let it drain, then wipe it out with a dry patch. Leave it muzzle down and let the residual heat finish drying whatever moisture may be left while you wipe down and lubricate the lock, inside and out. Make sure the barrel is dry, inside and out, and coat it with the surface protectant of your choice. I use LSA. (Egad! That's a petroleum product! Has Bob lost his mind?)

Reassemble in reverse order, and you should be good to go.

Again, you certainly don't need to disassemble the lock every time you clean, but it's good to learn how to disassemble and reassemble the lock so you are comfortable doing it. That's a topic for another thread. However, you do need to take pains to get the fouling out of all the little nooks and crannies in your lock.

I don't know if you are a competition or recreational shooter or a reenactor. Reenactors in general (forum members excluded, of course) have a terrible reputation for gun care. Any gunsmith will tell you this. Proper cleaning is not difficult or particularly time consuming, and it can be part of the fun. There is no excuse for a rusty gun.

This is the bore of my own Charleville:



Best regards,

Notchy Bob

 

[8Ball]

Do not forget to get a rag over the flash hole to prevent a splash of crud on the kitchen wall. The wife could became hysterical. Don't ask me how I know...

 

[beyu]

I've never heard of anyone taking the barrel out every single time they clean, maybe once a year ill take it out. I don't see any reason to remove the barrel every time but what do I know

It just seems to me to be the best way to guarantee everything gets clean and to avoid rust?

If had a Tower Musket, I would not take it all the way down either, but a Charleville is so easy to disassemble, I have always done it.

 

[Moe ziggley]

I take my stuff apart whether it be flinter caplock revolver..i wash it all with dawn and hot water and soak it all in a clear plastic bucket and tote..and i made a tank out of a pvc fence post glued end caps on it an cut out the top..barrel fits nicely.. Yu can use it for an electrolysis tank also..i tried all the old ways .wash it in the stream...bacon..olive oil.which only taught me to clean my stuff again cause the oil got rancid and smelled up the house.now its borebutter. anti seize.gun oil .heavy tar..gunwax .Alcohol.. Tc13.hydro clean..traditions ez clean.and acetone on occasion..haven't tried that balistol stuff yet but when i see it on the shelf it's going home with me.. The pin thing is another discussion all together..i have wedge slots that are shot out and sitting waiting to get fixed when i get to it.. Just my 2 cents

 

[8Ball]

For best results strip every BP for complete cleaning. This one was made in 1971 with 2000 well over rounds fired, no rust.