Proper Cleaning/ Your thoughts

[Charles/NM]

I think all concerned will agree that the barrel of a muzzle loader should be cleaned as soon as possible after firing the last shot prior to being put away.
Before cleaning I remove the barrel from the stock and take out the nipple and cleaning screw from the snail for seperate swabbing. Cleaning of my barrels bore is with a 12 gage shotgun wool mop. It holds a lot of hot water and soap or #13 T/C cleaner for a good swabbing of the bore. After I'm sure the bore is rid of powder fouling I use a bronze bore brush, 28 gage I think, that fits the bore fairly snug. I wrap a piece of paper towel around it to dry the bore. The brush/paper towel combo gets down into the rifing grooves and the bottom of the chamber. After the paper towel comes out close to clean I use the same setup to swab the bore with what ever lube I'm using at the time, usually yellow T/C bore lube. Before I put the barrel back on the stock I squirt the ram rod rib and sights with spray can WD-40 to displace moisture from under those parts and wipe off the excess. I wipe around the stock and lock with a rag wet with cleaning solution and dry. Just before putting the rifle back together I wipe all exterior matal parts and the stock with some lube to keep them fresh. I wipe all the lube off the stock. I mostly do the stock to remove sweat and hand oils from it. My cleaning routine probably take me a half hour or so to do.
I have made or bought several threaded adapters to fit shotgun cleaning stuff and other gun cleaning accessories I've accumlated over the years. I machined a muzzle crown protector out of brass stock to protect the end of the rifling. I always use that thing when cleaning and shooting at the range. It fits the rifles ram rod and range rod close enough so it's trapped on the rod with my bullet/ball pusher or cleaning accessories on the end.
Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[Landngroove]

Dont forget the stock.Mine gets alot of crud on the stock by the nipple.After I shoot ,my face needs a good washing.I come home lookin like a coal miner from all the smoke :haha:

I agree. The stock, and lock area should be wiped with a cleaner/lube. The hammer should also be wiped, and cleaned. :thumbsup:

 

[Swampman]

Nope, I didn't misspeak. Excessive and agressive cleaning ruins a barrel just as fast as poor cleaning. Muzzle wear from ramrods and cleaning rods, will kill a guns accuracy in no time. Careful and smart cleaning is what is needed. Three patches can clean a muzzleloader if you know what you're doing. No hot water is needed. Fill the barrel, let it set, and then dump the fouling out.

 

[Charley Hart]

My advice is be as anal as possible. I used to be really good at cleaning my bp revolvers. Made the mistake of NOT taking the nipples off one time, then one became frozen. It was a BIT@H to get it loose.

Learned my lesson. My advice is restrict the number of BP guns you take so you have less work when you come home and always remove the nipple!