Novashooter
Lil-Rokslider
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2023
- Messages
- 286
How I clean muzzleloaders depends on what they are, and what I was shooting.
Most of what I shoot today is sidelock and flintlock guns, and I don't hardly shoot any Pyrodex or 777. I sold the rest of my BH209. Blackpowder is the easiest to clean. There's not really a wrong way to do it, even spit on patches can work. I've played around with hot water, warm water, cold water, alcohol, windex, you name it. Today I keep it simple, I just use water. Not hot, just whatever comes from the faucet, or in the field, whatever is in the jug or wherever. No soap or anything. Some of my guns I can easily take off the barrel, and if so I'll do that, pull the nipple, and pump water through them with a patch. If not, such a pinned barrel flintlock, I pull the lock, flip it upside down, then run wet patches through it until clean enough. I like them sopping wet, and I'll even pour some water down the barrel. A good trick is to put a small stick like a toothpick in the touch hole or nipple, fill the barrel a ways, then let it sit a few minutes. Then plug the muzzle with your thumb, slosh it a bit, and pour it out. Flush with some clean water. That's 95% clean right there. the rest is already wet and cleans easily. I like to use a pipe cleaner for the touch hole. If I'm at home, I'll blow them out with compressed air, then run dry patches. If not at home, I just run dry patches. I then like to let them air dry, ideally in the sun or by some heat for a while. I finish by oiling the bore. The lock I wipe off with a damp cloth, then dry. I oil lightly, but try to keep the pan dry. On percussion guns I use a small screwdriver with a patch into the hammer face to clean that out. Inline guns can vary widely, but in general I always pull the breech plug. I clean that with a drill bit for the flash channel, and a tooth brush for the rest. I use a toothbrush for the threads in the barrel. If I can get the barrel in water, I will, otherwise wet patches are fine. I try my best to keep gunk out of the action, but it can be tricky. I often stuff paper towel in there to catch it. I rarely pull barrels from inline guns since it's too much effort. Something like a TC Encore I might.
That is my general day to day cleaning. I sometimes do a deeper cleaning as needed. I'll run a brass bore brush, and certain guns like TC's that have a dished breech plug I like to run a smaller brush down and twist it to clean that dish out. I'll run a pipe cleaner through the channel of a percussion side lock. I'll also more thoroughly clean the lock of both percussion and flintlocks. I'll pull the firing pin and triggers from inlines.
I forgot to say the reason I don't like hot water. It does work even better, and would be the fastest method, but if you don't do it right, you get flash rusting. If you have a barrel in hot water, clean it, then dry it, it will be rusty in 5 minutes. It must be oiled as soon as you think it can be, probably in 30 seconds to one minute. Room temp water work a little slower, but it's not that huge of a difference. In humid Florida it might be different, but you can leave a barrel cleaned in cool water dry and even an hour later it probably won't have rust on it. It dries slower, too, but I find it dries just fast enough that I only finish doing the rest of what is needed.
Most of what I shoot today is sidelock and flintlock guns, and I don't hardly shoot any Pyrodex or 777. I sold the rest of my BH209. Blackpowder is the easiest to clean. There's not really a wrong way to do it, even spit on patches can work. I've played around with hot water, warm water, cold water, alcohol, windex, you name it. Today I keep it simple, I just use water. Not hot, just whatever comes from the faucet, or in the field, whatever is in the jug or wherever. No soap or anything. Some of my guns I can easily take off the barrel, and if so I'll do that, pull the nipple, and pump water through them with a patch. If not, such a pinned barrel flintlock, I pull the lock, flip it upside down, then run wet patches through it until clean enough. I like them sopping wet, and I'll even pour some water down the barrel. A good trick is to put a small stick like a toothpick in the touch hole or nipple, fill the barrel a ways, then let it sit a few minutes. Then plug the muzzle with your thumb, slosh it a bit, and pour it out. Flush with some clean water. That's 95% clean right there. the rest is already wet and cleans easily. I like to use a pipe cleaner for the touch hole. If I'm at home, I'll blow them out with compressed air, then run dry patches. If not at home, I just run dry patches. I then like to let them air dry, ideally in the sun or by some heat for a while. I finish by oiling the bore. The lock I wipe off with a damp cloth, then dry. I oil lightly, but try to keep the pan dry. On percussion guns I use a small screwdriver with a patch into the hammer face to clean that out. Inline guns can vary widely, but in general I always pull the breech plug. I clean that with a drill bit for the flash channel, and a tooth brush for the rest. I use a toothbrush for the threads in the barrel. If I can get the barrel in water, I will, otherwise wet patches are fine. I try my best to keep gunk out of the action, but it can be tricky. I often stuff paper towel in there to catch it. I rarely pull barrels from inline guns since it's too much effort. Something like a TC Encore I might.
That is my general day to day cleaning. I sometimes do a deeper cleaning as needed. I'll run a brass bore brush, and certain guns like TC's that have a dished breech plug I like to run a smaller brush down and twist it to clean that dish out. I'll run a pipe cleaner through the channel of a percussion side lock. I'll also more thoroughly clean the lock of both percussion and flintlocks. I'll pull the firing pin and triggers from inlines.
I forgot to say the reason I don't like hot water. It does work even better, and would be the fastest method, but if you don't do it right, you get flash rusting. If you have a barrel in hot water, clean it, then dry it, it will be rusty in 5 minutes. It must be oiled as soon as you think it can be, probably in 30 seconds to one minute. Room temp water work a little slower, but it's not that huge of a difference. In humid Florida it might be different, but you can leave a barrel cleaned in cool water dry and even an hour later it probably won't have rust on it. It dries slower, too, but I find it dries just fast enough that I only finish doing the rest of what is needed.
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