Managing traditional rifles on extended hunts

[GoodRabbitPilgrim]

G'day,

I do a few extended hunts where I am in the bush and away from all forms of civilisation and mod cons for 5 to 7 days at a time.

A) I have been wondering, in this scenario say I shoot my sidelock rifle day one, how should I clean it in the field to that ensure when it is reloaded and I want to fire it again in a few days time I won't get a hang fire or fail to fire? I'm wondering this seeing as I won't have full access to all my cleaning gear.

B) when I get home a week later I'm guessing the rifle will be cruddy in the fire channel/patented breech area. How do you effectively clean this area?

To date I've only shot inline and it's a much simpler process so the whole sidelock world is new to me.

Cheers

 

[FishDFly]

A. I carry cleaning solution in one of those small pump sprayers
used for airline travel. I put that into a small baggy in case it
should leak. Cleaning patches go into another small baggy.
You can put some patches with lubricant in another small
baggy. Hobby Lobby has all sorts of tiny plastic bags.

Will let someone else do B.

 

[GoodRabbitPilgrim]

A. I carry cleaning solution in one of those small pump sprayers
used for airline travel. I put that into a small baggy in case it
should leak. Cleaning patches go into another small baggy.
You can put some patches with lubricant in another small
baggy. Hobby Lobby has all sorts of tiny plastic bags.

Will let someone else do B.

Once you clean it good and proper, how do you dry out the fire channel/breech area? My concerns were around that causing an issue.

 

[FishDFly]

Dry cleaning patches.

Folks around 1840 did not haul alcohol around with them.

 

[andy52]

I've only have a failure to fire one time in my cap lock and it was my fault. I had fired a shot on the previous day and killed a deer.
Later I ran a lubed patch to clear the fouling. Next morning I was back out hunting watching a place I knew the deer bedded in.
A doe stands up I take aim and I get pop not boom. I hadn't fired a cap before reloading that morning and had pushed grease into the flash hole. I wouldn't worry about extended hunting just run a patch through your rifle and reload when needed.....but fire a cap before you do...

 

[SDSmlf]

I use HOT water. It removes black powder fouling and dries the bore. Not concerned about possibility of flash rust. Need a dry clean bore ready to shoot when the trigger is pulled. Barrels can be refreshed, rebored or replaced after the hunt. You may never get that shot over that you missed because of moisture in the breech or a blockage in your fire channel. The only misfire I ever had because of how I cleaned a gun while hunting was after using tepid water (because that’s what experts said to use) the night before to clean the gun. Never again. Have hunted in multiple states in the lower 48, Alaska and Africa. If your serious about hunting, your gun is a tool, not a slow piece. Keep it functional while in the field.

 

[Rudyard]

Extended hunts ? Rabbit I've just PM ed you . I often took extended hunts here in NZ I would load and if wet plug the vent with a quill or if percussion seal the nipple with a bit of old jangle held tight by the hammer but other wise keep the primeing & cap on. Should I fire I reload & at night wipe it with progressivly spit wet rags then run lightly oiled rag on top of load its enough .I cant speak for factory disgorged guns mine are old or my make . Needles to say my camps are not with other people . You know these regions I gather so you can go all week & see no one particularly off track as I normally was.( My furry assistant Mr Banjo Beagle Esquire didn't seem to object .)
Fish deFly
Re the statement 'Nobody carried alcohol in 1840' seems ridiculous & most unlikely . Where you there ?.
Rudyard

 

[Jaeger]

Dry cleaning patches.

Folks around 1840 did not haul alcohol around with them.

.....and if they did, they DRANK it......

 

[FishDFly]

Nope, but how much could a person carry while on foot?

Did you carry alcohol on your extended?

".....and if they did, they DRANK it......"

Who would waste good bourbon on a barrel?

Yep!

 

[EC121]

Take a pipe cleaner or two for the flash channel or vent in the cleaning kit. If needed, round toothpicks will plug the vent for days. Then prime if you get a shot or plug the vent at the end of the day. If you only shoot once, there isn't a lot of cleaning needed. Wipe the barrel out well, dry it and the flash channel(pipe cleaner), and stand the rifle on its muzzle overnight or stick the rod in the barrel with a dry patch on it overnight.

 

[Walkingeagle]

Just wipe out the barrel with a few wet (damp) patches and dry with clean patches. Then wipe off the area around the nipple. Snap a few caps prior to loading. That’s all I do.
Walk

 

[rich pierce]

Good advice above. What’s all this talk of caps? Hahaha. I would be more concerned with a percussion gun than a flintlock especially with a patent breech. After cleaning hang around by the fire with the lock side toward the fire. Get you and your gun comfortably warm. Then reload and plug the touchhole or nipple. Leave your powder horn somewhere else!

 

[FishDFly]

"After cleaning hang around by the fire with the lock side toward the fire. Get you and your gun comfortably warm. Then reload and plug the touchhole or nipple.

The above is one of the best ideas that I have read in a very long time.

 

[TreeMan]

I may get yelled for this but if i shot my gun today and planned on hunting again tomorrow, I’d load it again then leave it loaded for tomorrow’s hunt. If you run the second load down with a good lubed patch it’ll clean the bore. Overnight seal off the nipple with a foam earplug between it and the hammer. Shouldn’t get enough moisture to hurt anything. If you’re adamant about cleaning finish off the cleaning with a good dose of alcohol or brake cleaner to get all the moisture out. I’ve never gotten a flash rust from not cleaning my guns immediately after shooting them.

 

[SDSmlf]

If you’re adamant about cleaning finish off the cleaning with a good dose of alcohol or brake cleaner to get all the moisture out.

OP asked about how to care for a gun in the field for 5-7 days. How much alcohol or brake cleaner do you propose he carries? In the field, water is there and free for the taking. Heat up the water, and you can easily clean blackpowder residue and your barrel will quickly and completely dry.

 

[Rudyard]

Only Alcohol I carried was a 'pre 1840 high plains' plastic bottle of airoplane gin .The little bottles , not putting that down the barrel might get the ball tipsy. Not sure you can document foam ear plus or pipe cleaners But I cant document plastic airoplane gin bottles either .Your all right
Rudyard

 

[Carbon 6]

Folks around 1840 did not haul alcohol around with them.

YES they did. Of course mostly for drinking.

 

[Carbon 6]

G'day,

I do a few extended hunts where I am in the bush and away from all forms of civilisation and mod cons for 5 to 7 days at a time.

A) I have been wondering, in this scenario say I shoot my sidelock rifle day one, how should I clean it in the field to that ensure when it is reloaded and I want to fire it again in a few days time I won't get a hang fire or fail to fire? I'm wondering this seeing as I won't have full access to all my cleaning gear.

B) when I get home a week later I'm guessing the rifle will be cruddy in the fire channel/patented breech area. How do you effectively clean this area?

To date I've only shot inline and it's a much simpler process so the whole sidelock world is new to me.

Cheers

How do you normally clean your gun ? And, how much shooting do you expect to do ?

To date I've only shot inline and it's a much simpler process so the whole sidelock world is new to me.

Never mind, that answers my question.

 

[Art Caputo]

I personally see little difference in how I maintain my muzzleloaders between extended hunts, and, the duration of the local hunting season where shots can be fired on an interim basis. While a more intensive “deep clean” may be performed at the end of that extended hunt or the season, I think the key is to establish a cleaning procedure that is easy, transportable, and, capable of both removing the corrosive residues and return the rifle to a state of reliable function. While the cleaning agents/materials I use today may be different from those used 40+years ago, the principles are the same.....whether flintlock or percussion.

-access to water
-a water soluble cleaning agent
-patch/tow/pipe cleaners to scrub and dry the barrel/action/flash channel
-a lubricant(rust preventative oil/grease
*** Always snap a cap or two on a cleaned percussion rifle to clear/check the flash channel before loading. Pick/pipe cleaner with a flintlock. The breach/flash channel should NOT be wet or greasy!

While in my younger days I would carry a bar of soap and shave it and dissolve it in heated water for use as a cleaning agent. For the last few decades or so, I have personally found that Ballistol is quite effective, either mixed at 20% with water, for cleaning, or full strength as a shorter term lubricant/rust preventative/water displacer.. It can be “wiped out” with a dry patch, with any residual not effecting the powder charge. Tow acts as a natural sponge that resists driving residue into flash holes/channels, can be rinsed snd re-used, amd in dry form, can help dry out the barrel. I will carry a higher grade oil for the lockwork/exterior steel. Mink oil as a patch lube does a great job of keeping the fore-barrel protected against the elements. Just my choice of what has worked for me amd ai have not experienced. I’m sure there are many ways to skin this cat. Whatever process is used, I would recommend testing it out in practice(at home) before going on your hunt of a lifetime. IMO

 

[Brokennock]

OP asked about how to care for a gun in the field for 5-7 days. How much alcohol or brake cleaner do you propose he carries? In the field, water is there and free for the taking. Heat up the water, and you can easily clean blackpowder residue and your barrel will quickly and completely dry.

The o.p. also didn't say if he us driving right up to his camp or has a 4 hour joke to get there.
This could make a difference.