new muzzle loader

[douglas duncan]

i went and bought myself a traditional muzzle loader. I have been shooting an inline for the last ten years. i really think this is going to more fun to shoot than the inline I have.
this rifle is a Lyman trades rifle in a 54 cal with the 28" barrel and 1-48 twist. I also have a 32" barrel in 1-70 twist for it.
A question I have is How hard is it to get the breech plug out?
I was looking at it, and the breech plug end seems to be a 12mm size. did not want to really start cranking down on it. thought it best to ask someone first. I can take the breech plug out on the inline for cleaning, would like to do the same for this rifle.
the instructions says to let a gunsmith mess with it, but why let someone else do something when you can do it yourself.

 

[Swede50]

Do not try to remove the breech plug you will probably ruin it and void the warrantee.
There is no real reason to remove it anyway.

 

[wwpete52]

On a traditional muzzleloader about the last thing you would want to do is remove the breech plug.

 

[Oldnamvet]

Removing the breech plug is not part of the procedure for cleaning a traditional muzzleloader. Mine has not been out in over 30 years and should never have to be removed. Part of the learning process will be learning the proper way to clean a traditional muzzleloader.

 

[2172]

Doug, all of the guys are right...it stays in. To clean this, unhook the bbl from the gun, stick the nipple end in a pail of water...some say very hot, some lukewarm, some cool...I guess the temp doesn't matter. I use hot so that the bbl will heat dry itself. Sort of. With the bbl in the water, put a patch down the bbl and pull it up, back and forth..the suction action will clean the residue out of the bbl. Pull it out of the bbl, shove the patch down so that the water in the bbl remaining squirts out. Use dry patches and such to get rid of all of the moisture. Now, here we leave science and go to alchemy. No matter what I tell you, at least two others are going to tell you a different way to do this. And, their method is probably OK,too. I use something to drive the water, if any out of the bbl. I use a commercial product called Sheath, which seems to drive water out as WD 40 does. I have friends who use WD 40, and others who'll give you the evil eye sign for even mentioning the stuff. Whatever you use, get the bbl dry. When it is dry, I lube with Wonderlube. Many others swear by a product called Balistol...invented by the German Army in WWI...I don't much like it, but it is the current "magical mouse pee" among the fraternity. There is a new "magical mouse pee" for cleaning every three or four years..I've been shooting black powder for 40 years, and have seen a couple come by more than once...
This is my technique....I haven't had a bbl damaged by rust in those 40 years, so I'm content.
Good luck..it'll take you less time to do this than it has me to write about it...oh, by the way, I bought a yard of flannel at Wallyworld to cut up into cleaning patches...works good.. .Hank

 

[douglas duncan]

So this is why they have brushes for breech plugs that fit on the end of the ram/cleaning rod. right now I do not really know anyone with a traditional rifle, I have been doing some reading about them but not enough.
thanks for the advise on the breech plug. i will say this there sure is allot of information here on this web site. sofar I have learned how to make my own patches. cleaning looks to be the next subject on hand. What I have been using lately is this cleaner called "sagebrush" it is for black powder and seems to work pretty good.

as for wally world, my mother has a fabric store and has pillow tickling avaiable, just finding the right size. is the trick this weekend will provide. I will look into sheath
thanks

 

[Mountainman56]

:thumbsup: Welcome back from the darkside! Leave the breechplug where it is. They ain't hard to clean, all the information already given is all you need to know to get started. You will develope your own routine as time goes by.

 

[paulvallandigham]

As others have now told you, you don't remove the breechplug on a traditional rifle to clean the barrel. Everything goes down the muzzle. USE REAL BLACK POWDER, not the subs you used in that unmentionable.

Soap and luke warm water are all that are needed to clean the gun. remove the nipple and soak it in a small glass with soap and water. Plug the nipple hole, and pour some liquid soap down the muzzle. Then, pour in the water, and fill the barrel 3/4 full. Put your thumb over the muzzle to plug that end and shake the barrel up and down to mix the soap and water. Let the barrel set for 10-15 minutes. Shake it again. Pour out the soap water, and crud, and repeat, but this time, only put about 4 inches of water in the barrel. Now, use a wet cleaning patch on a jag, and run that down the barrel to work on the crud. If you really left the gun full of crud because you didn't clean between shots, you might need to use a bore brush to break loose some of the crud. The brush will not get all the way down to the breechplug face. You probably will need to use a scraper jag to get all the crud out, unless you are willing to let the barrel soak for several hours with soap and water, letting the soap and water dissolve the thick crud in the corners. Pour the stuff out the muzzle. Now put more water, and a bit of soap in the barrel, and this time, remove the plug where the nipple goes, and use the cleaning patch and your jag to force the water through the plug and out the bolster. Tip the barrel on that side over a bucket, or your sink, to catch the spray. That will clean out the flash channel from the nipple, to the powder chamber.

I repeat this process a few times, until my cleaning patches come out reasonably clean. They will always seem to have dark stains from the Graphite left on the steel in the bore. But both the water that comes out and the patches will be noticeably cleaner.

I flush the barrel with alcohol, so that the alcohol evaporating will remove the remaining droplets of water in the barrel. Then, lube the barrel for storage. I am having good success using Ballistol for storage, but I store the gun Muzzle Down, so that any excess oil drains out the muzzle rather than get down into the flash channel and congeal into a thick grease there.

If the gun has been stored for more than a month before its next use, I flush the oil out with alcohol, again, before taking it to the range, or hunting.

Those tips should get you heading in the right direction. There are lots of thread on this forum about cleaning guns properly. Look for them, and then read them. Good advice, here. Unless you insists on shooting plastic wraped modern pistol bullets, using smokeless powder substitutes, there is no reason to be spending money on the modern cleaning products. You need a good grade of oil, for the screws, and moving parts, but soap and water does the rest. You might as well begin by finding out how to save money on buying all that junk. :hmm: :hatsoff:

 

[Mulebrain]

When you get that rifle up and running, you will scratch your head and wonder why they ever came up with an inline rifle in the first place!

Makes no sense!

Do your part, and it will fire every time you want it to!

Pyrodex will work for you, but highly recommend getting some real black powder :thumbsup:

Round ball and patches will get the job done!

 

[jtmattison]

On a traditional muzzleloader about the last thing you would want to do is remove the breech plug.

Exactly!

Sidelocks are not like inlines. Do not try to remove the breech plug.

HD

 

[torn moc]

Well Sir, you picked a great gun for your
first Real Muzzleloader! And We are all glad that you found THE BEST MUZZLELOADING SITE online!!!!
You are most Welcome!

 

[chuck-ia]

I have a friend who hunts with an inline but shoots his trad. sidelock at our shoots, he hates to admit it but agrees that the sidelock is easier to clean than his inline. flinch

 

[Pork Chop]

Welcome Douglas D! The mind trust here will gladly share their knowledge with you, so ask all the questions you like!

you found THE BEST MUZZLELOADING SITE online!!!!

Uh, scalper, are you implying that there may be OTHER sites? Perish the thought! :thumbsup:

 

[torn moc]

:rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: ....no other sites :shake:

 

[Zonie]

Doug: When you clean your guns bore, I strongly suggest that you don't run a "bore brush" down the bore unless it is the kind with nylon bristles or with the "bristles" that look like little loops.

The reason is the straight bristled brushes are made for thru bores where the brush can come clear out of the barrel on the far end.
With a traditional gun, the bristles bend backwards as they are pushed down the bore. When the brush reaches the breech plug and you try to pull the brush back out, the bristles are pointing back towards the muzzle so they tend to "lock" the brush down there.

If you have already got your brush stuck in the bore because of this, don't yank on the cleaning rod. That will often break the rod at the threads.
Instead of yanking on the rod, turn it clockwise until you feel the brush slip. Then do it again applying a gentle pull while you turn it.
This will allow the bristles to bend sideways, and then downward towards the breech plug.
After this has happened, you can then pull the damn thing up out of the bore.

Welcome to the Forum. I'm sure we can answer any question you can come up with.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Jim; Turning a bronze bore brush clockwise to get it to reverse directions is not a heavy mental exercise. I have not had a problem with bronze wire bore brushes in any rifle, centerfire, or MLer. I use them, and like them. I like to use them with a cleaning patch soaked in any solvent or oil to dig the crud out of the corners of the rifling. This speeds up the cleaning process.

The nyon bristle brushes are okay, also. Both need to be turned to right going down and coming back out, in order that the brush does not UNSCREW from the rod. I have a muzzle protector on my range rod to help center the rod and bore brush in the barrel.

 

[renovato]

You don't need to use any "solvent" to clean black powder residue. In fact, solvent might clean but it doesn't rinse out the salts. The easiest way is just to use warm soapy water. Black powder residue is water soluble. The salts it leaves behind are what causes corrosion. That's why rinsing them out is important.

Dry the bore with a patch or two. Drizzle a little rubbing alcohol down the bore and swish it around a bit. This removes any remaining moisture. Then oil the bore and metal parts with your favorite protectant. If you're in a humid area, you can't do much better than CorrosionX, but most any good oil will work. A lot of the fellers here use natural fats or oils and they don't have problems.

If you will be using one of the substitute powders, then all bets are off when it comes to cleaning and keeping it rust free. :haha: