Yeah, I Used To Shoot 'em

[Urban Coyote]

"Yeah, removing it every time, the wood gets loosey-goosey, not a good idea."

Hmm, 46 years of removing locks I never had the wood get "loosey-goosey" but then my gunstocks are of maple, walnut and ash. Now maybe if I had a stock of balsa wood I might have a concern.

 

[mmb617]

I usually only take one of my flintlocks on a range day except sometimes I'll take both a rifle and my pistol. It's not that cleaning them takes that long, I'd say about 20 minutes maybe, but after spending a few hours shooting when I come home I'm usually ready for some sit down and take it easy time. I don't want to be tied up cleaning for a long time and I always clean them immediately after I get home.

I'm not saying that what I do is best but I always remove the barrel and locks for cleaning. That seems to be working well for me. The only rifle I had with a pinned barrel was my Kentucky kit one and I converted that to wedges just so it was easier to remove the barrel.

 

[Bobyote]

The Zen of Muzzleloader Maintenence will be my new book.

I’ve never thought of it as that but I dread it before hand but then it is very satisfying to do correctly and completely.

 

[APG]

The extra effort it takes to clean a muzzleloader is actually a joy for me. Many years ago while in the US Army I found that I really enjoyed cleaning all kinds of weapons. It was a Zen thing for me. Even cleaned other guys weapons and never had one rejected by the Armour. To this day it still is a Zen thing for me. Enjoy shooting my muzzleloaders and enjoy cleaning too.

 

[SOLANCO]

Thread reminds me of the end of Army basic training. We had the M1 and were given a special set up to clean them to return to the armory. Very heavy steel GI trash cans with gasoline burning immersion heaters in them. Fill the cans with water and let it come to a raging boil. String components on the operating rod and dunk as much as you could stand. Take barrel and receiver from stock, hang it from bent coat hanger, dunk repeatedly. Let cool. Reassemble and oil it. The metal got so hot drying was not an issue. All old oil, grease, dirt and carbon was gone.

 

[oldwood]

Have to relate this about cleaning. Not as radical as Solanco's adventures.
Back in the early 1970's , to make an extra buck for flint lock parts , I was buying from a local military surplus warehouse , new British Enfield unmentionables , degreasing them in a metal dish pan in the driveway , and reassembling them. I would take the cleaned guns to a friend's gun shop , and he would sell them , with the proper govt paperwork , to customers. The crux of this story was , that one day the home lawn mower broke down. I disassembled it next to the pan of solvent in the drive way , and put some lawn mower parts into the solvent next to the unmentionable parts to camouflage what I was doing from my wife's critical observation , instead of not mowing the lawn. Any way , she never did figure out why , it took so long to fix the lawn mower , even though she checked on my progress frequently , at the lawn mower repairs. Oh well , my order to Dixie Gun Works , M/L Parts , went out ahead of schedule , and my first flint long rifle was to happened.............oldwood........I tell this story at the deer camp , and those who know me , still laugh at this story.

 

[Dark Angel]

Thread reminds me of the end of Army basic training. We had the M1 and were given a special set up to clean them to return to the armory. Very heavy steel GI trash cans with gasoline burning immersion heaters in them. Fill the cans with water and let it come to a raging boil. String components on the operating rod and dunk as much as you could stand. Take barrel and receiver from stock, hang it from bent coat hanger, dunk repeatedly. Let cool. Reassemble and oil it. The metal got so hot drying was not an issue. All old oil, grease, dirt and carbon was gone.

Was an M-14 and end of BT in'65. Some of us tried a similar method. The XO, who was inspecting rifles found out what we were doing and failed all rifles even though they were spotless, even from fingerprints as we used new, clean, white, wash clothes to assemble the rifles. Stood over us making us reclean them. Told us we were destroying the integrity of the metal by using hot water. Knew better from years of cleaning guns before enlisting, but then, an E-1 was hardly in a position to argue with a 2nd Lt.

 

[Coinneach]

The extra effort it takes to clean a muzzleloader is actually a joy for me. Many years ago while in the US Army I found that I really enjoyed cleaning all kinds of weapons. It was a Zen thing for me. Even cleaned other guys weapons and never had one rejected by the Armour. To this day it still is a Zen thing for me. Enjoy shooting my muzzleloaders and enjoy cleaning too.

That makes 2 of us.

 

[oldwood]

Using m/l's goes hand in hand with maintaining them. Folks that are mechanically inclined , have good success with m/l's , because they know this type gun needs maintained. I tell folks to find what you have to do to clean their gun , and just do it . Find the easiest way , and work with that method. Repetition makes cleaning a m/l gun easier , each time it's done.........I have an acquaintance that uses a m/l to hunt deer . Sadly , he is well known in the neighbor hood to have a tool box , with only one tool in it , a check book. He brings me his custom m/l rifle to me a couple times a season to clean , and lubricate it. I don't mind , and it costs him nothing , as I enjoy it........oldwood

 

[SOLANCO]

Was an M-14 and end of BT in'65. Some of us tried a similar method. The XO, who was inspecting rifles found out what we were doing and failed all rifles even though they were spotless, even from fingerprints as we used new, clean, white, wash clothes to assemble the rifles. Stood over us making us reclean them. Told us we were destroying the integrity of the metal by using hot water. Knew better from years of cleaning guns before enlisting, but then, an E-1 was hardly in a position to argue with a 2nd Lt.

SSG Bailey was our DI and set up this cleaning operation. He was a 20+ year man, combat veteran, black belt with hands that looked like shovel blades. The CO and the XO taken together were less than his equal. The CO got a promotion to Captain and was polishing his new insignia in the mess hall. SSG Bailey asked him if he was going to take them to show and tell. I hid my face in a bowl of cereal.