Cleaning your black powder rifle

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shooterm

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So I shot my black powder traditions Hawken rifle for the first time today and of course came the cleaning afterwords. Here is what I have done so far
1.Hot bucket of water with some soap detergent and pulled a swab through bring water up out the top till seemed clean. (on my traditions the back of the barrel doesn't come off so i too the screw out the side for the nipple for water to come through).
2.next came some bore solvent with a couple swab pull throughs
3. dry swabbed till clean
3. cleaned the nipple/firing cap area
4 next will be some brasso

Is this enough or should I do anymore? Seems clean is there something more should be done, I was using Pyrodex.

Thanks
I am new to the sport and after today hooked
 
You're ahead of the pack - black powder does manage to get everywhere so as long as you really do a good job getting into the cracks/crannies with hot soapy water, rinse, dry then re-oil you're golden. It pays to get into the very back of the barrel about once a year no matter how thorough you are - maybe not as extreme as pulling the breach plug, but really soaking in very hot soapy water then blasting out with pressure. Case in point - have had to clean a plug of fouling out of two BP rifles that were a little slow with ignition - absolute back of the barrel against the breech plug had formed a cup of fouling where the brush wouldn't reach. One came free with a long hot soak and pressure via the clean out hole, the other required pulling the plug.

But yes, you're following a good method. A good bright light in the bore helps figure out if anything's developing that you need to deal with. It's a LOT better to avoid rust than deal with it... they'll still shoot well but a pitted bore sucks to clean.
 
right on, I noticed today after firing for a while the mark i had on my ram rod start moving away from the barrel, but the round still seemed to be seated well considering I am still here lol.
Is this normal due to fouling. A good guy I was taking to said I should do a pull through after every shot to avoid this.
 
I chew on a patch to get it damp then swab the bore between shots, I also wipe my frizzen and pan with alcohol. It keeps fouling down, do you use a lubed patch with the ball? That helps as well. Makes for easier loading and cleanup.
 
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Shouldn't be - not that quickly. Is the mark cut into the rod or tape that might be moving?

Not sure what experience you've got, but fouling can make loading difficult. Patch lube rather than saliva can help keep fouling soft to make loading easier. A blow tube (flexible rubber tube that seals into the barrel) can also temporarily soften the fouling between shots. Using a tube helps keep you from getting your face over the bore to get a good seal on the barrel to force air into it. A good trick to tell if your ball is seated on the charge is to flick your ramrod down the bore onto the ball when you believe it's seated - it'll bounce a certain way when the ball is seated. Since BP is somewhat compression sensitive in relation to velocity (IE your elevation is partially dependent on how tightly your powder charge is packed) you'll want to find a method you can keep pressure consistent so you can get your shots right. A final option is getting a brass range rod. These have the mass to ram a ball home if you're tight patched or shooting a lot of rounds in a day and occasional cleaning doesn't help. They do make loading considerably easier if used judiciously.
 
other than talking and reading online this is my first day ever out on my own shooting BP, I taped it temporarily until I got home to mark it with a marker, but I'm positive the tape didn't move, but I could be wrong I will measure and remark next time out. I did do the ram rod bounce you talked of (read about it) and the rod would bounce back up every time.
 
shooterm said:
right on, I noticed today after firing for a while the mark i had on my ram rod start moving away from the barrel, but the round still seemed to be seated well considering I am still here lol.
Is this normal due to fouling. A good guy I was taking to said I should do a pull through after every shot to avoid this.
Click to expand...

If you have a crud ring form you can have a rough time getting you projectile seated. This is why you will see most people using BP or any of the other substitutes accept BH209, running a damp patch down the bore. As to when you need to use it will depend on you rifle, load and powder used.
 
While you have it standing up in hot soapy water,,,screw a bore cleaning brush on the ram rod or a cleaning rod..and give the bore a few good scrubs.Do the same with the bore solvent on a cleaning brush. Also what are you wiping it down with after and treating the bore with? My preferred is G96 in the spray can.Alternately WD40 will suffice.Screw a cotton shotgun swab tool on the cleaning rod. Couple of quick sprays on it and run it up and down the bore. For the outside take some newspaper,lay it down on the floor,place barrel on top,ligt mist of lube as mentioned above,,,let sit 10 minutes to soak in around the sights,then wipe with a paper towel to get the excess off. Then reinstall into stock Also check and clean the hammer face so you don't get a "light" strike on the caps. Wipe the outer hammer lock down also.

An lastly you need a breach scraper tool. They look like a screw driver flat tip but are bore specific. Screw it on the ram rod or a cleaning rod,drop it down the bore till it hits the breech block. Give a few...like 10 good twists on it to cut all the heavy powder fouling off the breech face. Do this while its in the hot soapy water..My .02 worth!!
 
ice hunter
where would a find a breach scraper? Can I get it at cabbalas or wholesale sports in edmonton or do i have to get online?
I have all the tools mentioned on here so far except that, is there anymore accessories/tools that would be good to have
Again thanks.
 
shooterm said:
ice hunter
where would a find a breach scraper? Can I get it at cabbalas or wholesale sports in edmonton or do i have to get online?
I have all the tools mentioned on here so far except that, is there anymore accessories/tools that would be good to have
Again thanks.
Click to expand...

Make one - just a hard, flat edge. I make most all the stuff I need for this venture.

All I've ever done is hot soapy water, never scraped my breech plug off. I pull the nipple and drop the breech end of the barrel in a bucket of hot water mixed with dish detergent, the swabbing action draws up the water through the breech just give 'er a bunch of swabs. Dry 'er out with some patches. Usually just bear down on the end a bit, eventually the patches come away clean (or not black).

What I've found helps in the accuracy and loading department over the last couple years is to prelube my patches with a 50/50 mix of virgin olive oil and water. HUGE improvement over chewing em (which I've done a lot) - for instance if I'm shooting a trail with say 25 targets, chewing em demands I stop and clean the rifle several times over that 25 shot string or the patched RB start getting very difficult to ram home; olive oiled patches (for me) need no cleaning at all in that 25 shots.

Rifle's still there after 25 years. Still shoots the same. YMMV
 
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U could make one...if you have a lathe and such...or just buy one from WSS or Cabellas...they are only 6 bucks or so_Or just call Becky at Hillfolk Musket supplies in Sask.
1-306-228-2949 She is awesome to deal with...Just tell her Dennis from Viking sent you...oh and are you near Camrose by chance??
 
For 6 bucks give'er for sure and HIllfolk deserve the business

That said when I say "make one" I don't mean just the end to thread into the rod - I mean a single chunk of whatever ya have on hand with a hard, flat edge.... (flat bar comes to mind, wrap the length in something quick like cloth if you're concerned about the bore)... ;)
 
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Cool thanks
I will look them up, also I am close to edmonton Ice hunter.

Are there any good websites in Canada for Black powder shooting supplies and excessories
I can't seen t find any and bought from the states which was good but took for ever to get to me. These are the 2 that I mostly check out and ordered from track the wolf.
http://www.trackofthewolf.com
http://www.crazycrow.com/onlinestore

Would be nice for something closer
 
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OK, I wasn't sure if someone was thinking it would be good for the bore or not.... :d

My Lyman GPR is all steel furniture. So no polishing for THIS guy....
 
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