new rifle

[chowell]

I picked up a new rifle yesterday in a gun deal.
After shooting percussion for 45+ years I am going
to try a flintlock.

It is a Dixie Tennesse Poor Boy in very good condition. I remember seeing it in the old
Dixie Gun Works catalog.

Can anyone fill me in on this rifle (quality,
accuracy etc.

Another question is what to do when I get ready
to clean it. There is no way I am going to pull
the barrel so that I can put the breach end in
a bucket of water.

Any other hints will be appreciated.

Over the hill.

 

[Dausener]

Over the Hill, Congrats on the new rifle. What cal. is it, .50 or .32? I don't have a Dixie gun but have heard they are good shooters. The barrle dosen't need to come out to clean it. Get some hot soapy water, plug the flash hole w/ a tooth pick, pour in a bit of the hot water solution, slosh it around and dump it out. Do this a couple times. Run some patches til they come out clean, and dry. Then apply some sort of rust prevention. I use Bore Butter or Moble #1 synthetic motor oil. Just use a thin coat. Good luck Basset

 

[kherring]

Congrats on the new rifle. All my guns are flint and I clean them the same as Basset does. Plug the flash hole with a tooth pick and wash it out with warm water. You really don't need expensive solvents with black powder, just water and patches.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

These rifles were built in Japan and I think Miroku was the builder. The stocks were of Japanese cherry. Quality was excellent--Miroku has built guns for some of America's top firearms companies. I believe Dixie still carries parts for them, though I've always heard that they are hardy rifles and hold up well. Still, it might be a good idea to pick up a few spare parts while they are available.

They are good shooters and hunting guns. Make sure it's unloaded, give it a good cleaning and you should be good to go.

 

[chowell]

Thanks guys. Now if I can just learn how to
successfully shoot this rifle I will try to
get a deer with it.

The suggestion on how to clean it had not occured
to me but sounds like a good plan.

Again, thanks.

Over the hill

 

[Cheyenne]

Congrats, they're nice rifles....now enjoy! :thumbsup:

 

[Dausener]

I forgot one thing, CAREFULLY take out the lock. I just put mine in the bucket of hot soapy water while I'm cleaning the barrel. when finished w/ the barrel, take an old tooth brush to the lock (no...not your wifes... :nono: )Give it a good scrubbing and dry it off. oil the lock as needed and reassemble. That should pretty much do it. I had the exact same concens when I started shooting flinters. Now I'm done in about 15-20 minutes. It's kind of fun when ya get used to it. Sort of a debriefing after shooting. Let us know how it works for you. Basset

 

[chowell]

It's a 50. I bet the 32 is a heavy sucker if it
uses a barrel with the same outside deminsions.

Over the hill

 

[jmac]

The above pretty much covers it for cleaning. The only thing I would add is NOT to use a petoleum based lube in the bore. Fine on the out side and lock but not in the bore. Petroleum has a higher burning point than vegetable and animal based lubes which will gum up your bore.

John

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

All the .50s that I know of liked a .490 ball and a lubed .015 100% natural patch ovr 70 grains of FFFg powder. Real black powder--the fake stuff won't work in a flintlock.

 

[mazo kid]

Good pointers as to the cleaning. I have a left hand .50 and also bought a .32 in percussion a few years ago. Both real good rifles; the .50 has taken a few deer. I also changed out the .32 to flint, so now it can be either in less than 20 minutes.

 

[Stumpkiller]

You could get one of those plumbing fixtures that clamps a flexible tube over the vent. I tried one and it leaked.

Now I just pull the lock, lay the vent down on some old towels, keep the muzzle lower than the breech and run damp (spoapy water) patches alternated with dry. Squeeze out the wet patch & reuse it. I use a worm to squish a patch well against the breech in addition to the patch jag. When I get clean results I use an alcohol (91% isopropyl) patch to chase the water out and then apply a penetrating oil (Sheath or Barricade).

Before shooting again I wipe with alcohol to clean away the oil.

 

[bigsam]

congrats on the new rifle. i had one of those that i bought as a percussion and converted to flint. it was a good accurate rifle.hope you enjoy yours as much as i did mine. i never capped another nipple after i converted it. my 50 yard load was 65 gr. of 2f or 55 gr. of 3f. dont remember my 100 yd load. its been a while. to clean i used one of the rubber hose things. i screwed out the vent liner and screwed in the hose. but mine was a converted percussion rifle i dont know if the thread size on yours will be the same. if not you might find one that fits it. it worked good on mine.

 

[jbwilliams3]

Congratulations on a having a good shooter. When I was growing up, my best friend’s dad took that gun in .50 all over the wilderness hunting. He’s still using it and it’s still a shooter. I was surprised when I first found out it was made in Japan, but they apparently knew what they were doing.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Turner Kirkland had them made when his Belgian rifles got too expensive. I think these rifles were better made than the Belgian ones and more authentic, too.

 

[tsmgguy]

Seriously, go ahead and take the rifle apart for through cleaning. What seems like a chore (on the face of it) is actually pretty enjoyable! Then you can put 'er back together, lock, stock, and barrel.

You WERE taking the perc apart for cleaning, weren't you??? :thumbsup:

 

[J.D.]

The only thing I would add is NOT to use a petoleum based lube in the bore. Fine on the out side and lock but not in the bore. Petroleum has a higher burning point than vegetable and animal based lubes which will gum up your bore.

John

Well, that is not necessarily true. IMHO, and in my experience, "natural" lubes don't always work all that well for bore preservatives. I prefer BreakFree, but other petroleum based preservatives WILL also do a better job of preventing rust in the bore than "natural" lubes.

Any petroleum based preservative can be easily removed from the bore with an alcohol saturated patch, before loading, so you don't have to worry about any gummy residue.

God bless

 

[jbwilliams3]

I second JD. I’ve tested natural oils on barrels I didn’t care so much about and never had great results. Sometimes they were okay for short term, but never great for long-term storage. Breakfree is an excellent bore preservative. Most any old gun oil will do just fine, though, and as JD said, get all of it out before shooting. I use alcohol and several patches to make sure traces of petroleum are gone. I’d rather take the extra effort before shooting, than take a chance with rust.

 

[paulvallandigham]

The advice has been misstated. YOU DON'T Want to use petroleum based lubes for a Patch lube. That does cause incomplete combustion in the chamber area, and gums up the works with tars. Yes, You can flush even that out with alcohol, between shots, but why create the problem??? :hmm:

Instead, use Sheath or any other favored Petroleum based lube to preserve the bore during long term storage- ie., anything longer than a week! Flush it out with alcohol before putting the gun in a case to take to the range or hunting. I also use this same routine with non-petroleum based OILS that I use for short term storage- overnight, or for a week or so, between shooting. I have not found it necessary to use the alcohol flush if I use a vegetable based lube in the bore for short term storage. :hmm: :thumbsup:

 

[jbwilliams3]

Yes, but in the context it was clear that cleaning was being discussed and not lube, regardless of the verbiage. Anyhow, better to be safe and make it very clear to not use petroleum products as a LUBE, but by all means use it as a preservative before flushing it out to shoot. Amen