Tell me of your cleaning rituals

[Indy Durtdigger]

This is for cleaning a flintlock with a pinned barrel.

First you must have a pattern makers vice on one end of your bench and a support on the other for the stock.

Clamp the buttstock in the vice while the other end is supported, remove the lock using gunsmith specific screwdrivers.

Using a pin punch with a concave point made especially for removing barrel pins, tap the pins part way out and using flat face pliers remove the pins and then using gunsmith specific screwdrivers remove the tang screw.

Inspect the pins and straighten if needed by tapping with a jewelers hammer while on a perfectly flat surface.

While the stock is in the pattern makers vice stick a dowel rod in the barrel and gently pry up while pushing down on the stock, careful so you do not crack the stock.

Remove the breech plug and the vent liner, clean both thoroughly.

Scrub the interior of the barrel with your favorite gun cleaning juice until the white cleaning patches are spotless, oil the barrel inside and out with Ballistol, tell the wife the cat farted

Completely disassemble the lock, place the parts in a fine mesh bag and run the securely fastened bag and parts through the dishwasher, promise the wife you will not do it again while her good dishes are in there.

Rub all the lock parts down with Ballistol (damn cat) and reassemble. You probably should have already ordered the replacement fly for the lock by now.

Coat the bottom of the barrel with a good paste wax, apply another coat of polyurethane sealer to the inside of the barrel channel of the stock to keep moisture from penetrating.

Reassemble and apply a good coat of paste wax to the entire gun.

And that is how YOU should do it, I do it like the evil Mike Brooks (Comfortably Numb) does and have for forty years. This will mean you new guys will go do something else to avoid the hassle instead of shoot BP which means more BP, flints etc. for me!

Dag Nabit. Now I have to buy more tools so I can do it right. I was already wishing I had one of those fancy vices last night.

 

[Erwan]

I'm a straightforward and ordinary guy:
- At the range and just after I've finished shooting, I do a little neutralizing cleaning with Young's Parker Hale and water (cutting oil for my lathe is good too ).
- When I get home, I put a toothpick in the flash hole, a small quarter barrel-length hot water with a surfactant (dishwashing liquid or other Teepol-style product), I scrub, then I fill it with hot water.
- While I clean the lock, I let the hot water work: impurities rise to the surface and the barrel's metal heats up.
- When the lock is clean and re-oiled, I empty my barrel by tilting the rifle downwards and finish drying with a few patches.
- I put my lock back on the stock, swipe it all over with Parker Hale, especially in the bore, and I'm done cleaning.
That's a quarter of an hour of actual work waiting for the next series at the range...

 

[Rob M.]

A good seal at the pan . Important , naturally ....any who . Water wet patches until clean , dry patches 3-4 , motor oil patch to breech , leave it ...tooth brush in water , at pan and immediate area ... Wipe with cotton clothe ... Pull ramrod out ...that oil.patch wipe pan and area , wipe length of barrel , ramrod and any iron parts ...7-12 minutes ... Every two or three shoots I'll take the lock off , inspect internals , drop of oil on spring stirrup , wipe off excess ...

 

[Adam in WI]

A good seal ...

Do you use anything where the lock meets the barrel? Or just metal to metal?

 

[Rob M.]

Do you use anything where the lock meets the barrel? Or just metal to metal?

Nope , traditional ...just metal to metal . When building the gun at some point I I let black the bolster and put the lock back in the mortice ....remove it and file the barrel until a good fit , good seal ..Works great ... I will take off the lock to inspect etc. often but I dont have to every time ...its sealed .

 

[B P Maniac Shooter]

I can clean a flintlock rifle in 10 minutes. The only part I take off is the lock.

Yep...same here. 10 minutes or less.
Disassembly of locks and triggers isn't necessary.

 

[APG]

I pretty much do the same as you. Take all apart,soak breach in hot soapy water along with the locks. The oil I use is Break Free CLP. Use a bent coat hanger to hang locks in the bucket.

 

[Salty Cracker]

I fill the barrel with water with a toothpick in the vent. Let is sit for 10 minutes and pour it out. usually add water again and pour it out immediately. Then a couple dry patches followed by a couple Windex patches then dry with a couple more then oil. No real time involved at all. For BPCR I just use maybe four Windex , a couple dry and then oil.
I never ever remove a barrel for anything other than to change a vent liner every 5 or 6 thousand shots.

What does the Windwx do.?

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

What does the Windwx do.?

Cleans.

 

[Salty Cracker]

Cleans.

And a streak free shine I suppose. Thanks.

 

[Indy Durtdigger]

And a streak free shine I suppose. Thanks.

It dries quickly without flash rusting.

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

There is a difference between "shoot it again tomorrow" clean and spotless clean. I always enjoy when someone says they just run a few patches down and they are done in 5 minutes.

 

[THBailey]

I do a lot of hunting with my Pedersoli SxS 12ga Multichokes. Cleaning? As many ways to do this as there are people doing it. My method for what it may be worth? Wedge out, barrels off. My big dedicated soup pot heating on the stove with a gallon or two of tap water and a small squirt of liquid dish soap. I pull off the nipples and unscrew the chokes and into the pot they go. If needed, the lock plates also. Bring the pot to a low boil. Pot off the stove and into the kitchen sink. A couple old bath towels laid out to protect surfaces, slightly overlap the edge of my pot, and collect water escape. The breech of the barrels into the pot. I use a 16ga jag and a couple of generous patches to draw water up and out of each barrel several times with some enthusiasm. Shove down hard enough so water gets past the patches and some comes out of the muzzle on the upstroke. Things get hot so I use old wash cloths to hold the barrels and collect the escaping scalding water. Barrels out, drain water from the nipple holes and lay flat on the bath towels. Copious large dry patches in each barrel, including a couple run down and twisted with the patch puller, until thoroughly dry. Finish with a couple of passes, to include the patch puller, with a patch with TC Bore Butter. Set the barrels muzzle down until they cool. The wet towels are then used to wipe down the hammers and other metal. Nipples are likewise wiped down and I blow through them to be sure I can see daylight through the fire channel. The chokes are likewise wiped down and dried. Scant bore butter applied to threads of the nipples and chokes. Reassembled when the barrels have cooled. So cleaned I merely load with no further ado for the next hunt.

 

[WonkyEye]

I'm bringing this thread back from the dead because I just saw a YouTube video that claimed locks were frequently boiled for cleaning and then re-lubed. Anybody do this? I'm sure it's fine the first 50 times but I'm curious if the little nooks and crannies (frizzen screw, tumbler, back side or bridle, etc) get rusty from boiling off the oils every time.

 

[B P Maniac Shooter]

I'm bringing this thread back from the dead because I just saw a YouTube video that claimed locks were frequently boiled for cleaning and then re-lubed. Anybody do this? I'm sure it's fine the first 50 times but I'm curious if the little nooks and crannies (frizzen screw, tumbler, back side or bridle, etc) get rusty from boiling off the oils every time.

I see no need in boiling locks. I agree with you about the rust, etc.
I just scrub mine with a toothbrush, soap and tap water, then dry. ( Occasionally using a hair dryer to dry )
I squirt a little fresh 10W-30 motor oil on the main moving parts & put it back together.
They all work fine for me.

 

[Cruzatte]

I'm bringing this thread back from the dead because I just saw a YouTube video that claimed locks were frequently boiled for cleaning and then re-lubed. Anybody do this? I'm sure it's fine the first 50 times but I'm curious if the little nooks and crannies (frizzen screw, tumbler, back side or bridle, etc) get rusty from boiling off the oils every time.

Sounds like a lot of bother to me.

 

[Trigger]

I just clean it. Shotgun

Cold water without soap works too..

Dawn... if you want less bubbles get the dollar store brand soap.

Windex... ballistol.

The rifle is modern.. windex patches and ballistol.. it's chrome shines.. I run it cleaning I think 3 windex patches 2 or 3 dry between shots.

 

[Banjoman]

1. Shoot the gun
2. Clean the gun as good as you can
3. Shoot the gun again before it has a chance to rust

 

[Rob M.]

I'm bringing this thread back from the dead because I just saw a YouTube video that claimed locks were frequently boiled for cleaning and then re-lubed. Anybody do this? I'm sure it's fine the first 50 times but I'm curious if the little nooks and crannies (frizzen screw, tumbler, back side or bridle, etc) get rusty from boiling off the oils every time.

LOL !! No , they weren't boiled ... it wasnt a common practice anyway . Cleaning a flintlock is very easy , I dont know why people try to draw it out and complicate it ... weird . To each their own ...

 

[WonkyEye]

LOL !! No , they weren't boiled ... it wasnt a common practice anyway . Cleaning a flintlock is very easy , I dont know why people try to draw it out and complicate it ... weird

It just sounded...off to me.

The vid made it sound like it was the camp washerwoman's job to keep water boiling 24/7 so after firing, once a soldier soldier was back in camp they could pop off the lock, dunk, scrub, re-oil and on with their day. If that was the case I think externally it probably didn't matter because they constantly polished the metal, but internally I could see that causing real havoc after 6 months of a daily ritual of that.

Then again, I think boiling every time you shoot could lead to a really cool looking natural brown or more likely blue patina on the exposed parts if you started with a polished lock in the white and carefully blew out, dried and oiled only the internals.