Cleaning a traditional flinter??

H Wally

H Wally

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I think this was demonstrated to me a while back, but I've either forgotten or come up with more questions.


How in the heck does one properly clean a traditional pinned barrel flintlock?

The only blackpowder muzzle loaders I shoot have hooked breeches, so cleaning is easy. But what I wonder is, how does one clean a flintlock barrel out without soaking the wood in hot water?? Cleaning my muzzle loaders is a long involved process that usually results in me being covered in as much water as the gun is, since it takes forever to get the water to run clear out of the barrel.... so I'm either incredibly messy or there's a trick to cleaning flintlocks without waterlogging the stocks.
 
a barrel flush kit helps but you can plug the flash hole and dump hot water down the barrel. or you can unpin the barrel unscrew the tang snd clean like that

cleaning up affter real blackpowder is not hard at all and it dont take too long

hot water down the barrel or the barrel in water pump the water up and down the barrel a few times dump it run some wet patchs in the barrel till thay come out clean and then some dry ones then a oiled patch down the barrel rem oil is good so is BALLISTOL. TC bore butter is good for lubing bullets and patchs but no good for keeping the bore from rusting
 
cleaning

hello, well i have that ame issue with a gun i have here, all pinned in place, heres what i do, get a bowl of hot hot water and a bit of soap, dowse a patch in it a few times get it good and absorbed with soapy water, work it through the bore, go all way to bottom, pull that patch out after a few passes, then dowse a fresh one in the hot soapy water, do the same 3 or 4 times, then, dry it out, after that i usually shine a bright light down and have a look for anything i missed, if clean, oil it well inside and out, i also remove lock and wipe out powder pan, and residue from shooting off of lock and wood, once oen, lightly oil lock assembly and put back together, thats all you can really do witout completely removing stock from gun, what kind of gu do you have thats all pinned???
 
HUNTERROD said:
hello, well i have that ame issue with a gun i have here, all pinned in place, heres what i do, get a bowl of hot hot water and a bit of soap, dowse a patch in it a few times get it good and absorbed with soapy water, work it through the bore, go all way to bottom, pull that patch out after a few passes, then dowse a fresh one in the hot soapy water, do the same 3 or 4 times, then, dry it out, after that i usually shine a bright light down and have a look for anything i missed, if clean, oil it well inside and out, i also remove lock and wipe out powder pan, and residue from shooting off of lock and wood, once oen, lightly oil lock assembly and put back together, thats all you can really do witout completely removing stock from gun, what kind of gu do you have thats all pinned???
Click to expand...

I personally don't have any, hence my confusion on how it's done:p I was speaking mainly of those beautiful flintlocks that you see people shooting at rondevous with amazing wood... I couldn't wrap my head around it.

The earlier mention of flush kits is a good one..... at least one of my guns likely has a bit of a rough bore, so it takes forever to clean
(never been able to confirm since I can't pull the drum or breech plug, but it cokes up a fair bit and takes forever to clean.... but is accurate as all get out, so I keep shooting it:p).
 
Ed's Red

I've also wondered about the pinned guns. Not really meant to be taken apart and you can break chunks of wood off those beautiful stocks along with the pins...:eek:

Those hooked breech guns are really the ticket for cleaning...you can submerge the breech end in a pail of water and run the rod and brush in and out, drawing water through the flash hole...

BUT

A very experienced black powder guy I know swears you should not use water to clean a muzzleloader. The reason is, the water will run down into the threads of the breech plug and rust in there...

He swears by Ed's Red. He even gave me a bottle of it. Easy to clean a gun with it and very effective and no rust in the breech plug threads.




''Ed's Red'' Bore Cleaner... Home-Mix Really Works


Four years ago I mixed my first "Ed's Red" or "ER" bore cleaner and
hundreds of users have told me that they think this home-mixed cleaner
is more effective than commercial products. I urge you to mix some and
give it a fair trial, compared to whatever you have been using.
Competitive shooters, gun clubs and police departments who use a gallon
or more of rifle bore cleaner annually can save by mixing their own, and
they will give up nothing in safety or effectiveness.

This cleaner has an action very similar to standard military issue rifle
bore cleaner, such as Mil-C-372B. Users report it is more effective than
Hoppe's for removing plastic fouling in shotgun bores, or caked carbon
fouling in semi-automatic rifles or pistols, or in removing leading in
revolvers. It is not as effective as Sweets 7.62, Hoppe's Bench Rest
Nine or Shooter's Choice for fast removal of heavy copper fouling in
rifle bores. However, because "ER" is more effective in removing caked
carbon and abrasive primer residues than other cleaners, metal fouling
is greatly reduced when "ER" is used on a continuing basis.


http://www.handloads.com/articles/default.asp?id=9
 
Will ed's red dissolve the salts though? Pretty much everything I've seen that does any sort of a job removing salts includes water. I'm interested in that eds red stuff...

I'm definitely not a fan of the looks on that modern muzzle loader... but certainly a genious design.

It would be fun to remake the gun into an octagonal barreled wood stocked brass trimmed traditional gun, just for aesthetic sake. Make it far more elegant.
 
I take the lock out and put a wad of cloth in the hole for the sear arm to minimize the water getting into the triggers. I have a small funnel and pour warm water down the barrel and when it has drained out, I run a bronze brush up and down the barrel several times then flush with warm water and repeat with the brush. Rinse the brush in the water coming out the vent so you are not putting crud back in again. After 4 or 5 cycles the water comes out of the vent more or less clean.

Next takes about 3 or 4 patches to dry the bore and finally an oily patch to protect it. I wash the lock off inside and out, shake dry plus use a paper towel and let it sit on top of the hot water tank until the next day before reinstalling

My breach plugs are sealed with loktite and would take considerable trouble to remove plus my barrels are pinned in place and I have almost never removed one from the stock.

cheers mooncoon
 
Its easy....I use this technique with both my pinned bess and my banded charleville.

After shooting /reenacting and burning a pile of powder I

1. Take the lock off, rinse it in clean water and wipe it clean and lightly oil it

2. put my thumb over the barrels touch hole

3. "while holding the thumb on the touch-hole" Pour plain clean water down the tube put my other finger in the tube opening to plug it.

4. turn the musket up then down back and forth.

5. empty out the water and repeat until it runs out clean

6. Dump a bit of alcohol down the bore "rubbing alcohol, rum , whisky it all works:p" and empty it

7. tie a small rag around the "button" of your rammer and give her some swabbing to dry it out.

8.Lightly oil the bore

If your going to store it for a extended period swab the bore and exterior metal with some high pressure grease.


It all sounds quite complicated but onece you have it down its really as easy as pie.

My musket bores are immaculate after heavy use year after year, season after season
 
Excellent procedure Musketfire! I've saved that.



Musketfire said:
Its easy....I use this technique with both my pinned bess and my banded charleville.

After shooting /reenacting and burning a pile of powder I

1. Take the lock off, rinse it in clean water and wipe it clean and lightly oil it

2. put my thumb over the barrels touch hole

3. "while holding the thumb on the touch-hole" Pour plain clean water down the tube put my other finger in the tube opening to plug it.

4. turn the musket up then down back and forth.

5. empty out the water and repeat until it runs out clean

6. Dump a bit of alcohol down the bore "rubbing alcohol, rum , whisky it all works:p" and empty it

7. tie a small rag around the "button" of your rammer and give her some swabbing to dry it out.

8.Lightly oil the bore

If your going to store it for a extended period swab the bore and exterior metal with some high pressure grease.


It all sounds quite complicated but onece you have it down its really as easy as pie.

My musket bores are immaculate after heavy use year after year, season after season
Click to expand...
 
Mooncoon - that's the process I knew I'd seen but had forgotten :p

I'm curious, with these pinned guns is there a risk of burnt powder working its way under the wood line on these guns over the years? There always seems to be just a smidgeon of powder residue below the wood line on my guns, even the one that is very well fitted. I'd imagine over the years as it built up and gradually migrated it could cause issues? Maybe I'm just paranoid...
 
H Wally said:
I'm curious, with these pinned guns is there a risk of burnt powder working its way under the wood line on these guns over the years?
Click to expand...

The problem is of water leaking down the seam between the barrel at the muzzle end and the inletting of the stock. Towards that end, before I fasten the barrel in the gun, I give the under surface a thin coat of grease (something that is not likely to evaporate over a long time) If it is a gun that I have made, I (cross yourselves and hold a crucifix in front of you) glass bed the barrel, primarily to protect the wood from the grease. My current rifle which was made by someone else, I had to remove the barrel to replace the vent liner and I think the barrel channel was protected by a coat of varnish. I wiped the underside of the barrel down with Fluid Film which is a non volatile light grease in a spray can.

cheers mooncoon
 
I no longer dismount barrels, even with hooked breaches, and I don't use water any more.

I mix a cleaning fluid out of three parts methyl hydrate to one of Murphy's oil soap and start as per Musketfire. After it runs clean, I swab the bore with a couple wet patches, then run dry patches until they come out clean, then use a vegetable oil for preservative/lubricant, olive oil if I have it.

I also add a bit of Murphy's to my beeswax/olive oil lube to sorta get a head start on things. When loading bp cartridges, I use the same ingredients but more wax.
 
Another method...

I clean my pinned guns with a concoction made up of windshield washer fluid. I add enough water soluble cutting oil to turn a jug of the stuff a milky green colour. Then I add about a tablespoon of Murphy's oil soap and shake well. Not only a great cleaner but a great patch lube.

I then start my cleaning procedure by:

-first removing the lock

-wiping the flash hole area clean.

-plugging the flash hole.

-then I fill the barrel full of the cleaning solution and let it stand for a while.

I have left a gun overnight like this when time did not allow me to get my cleaning with no adverse effects but I usually give it 15 minutes.

-then dump it and repeat followed by running a bore mop down the bore and dipping it in the solution until it comes out clean.

-run dry patches until the bore is dry. A film of the cutting oil is left on the metal surfaces but I then finish with a patch of good quality gun oil.

Then put her away till next time. Steve.
 
stevejones said:
I clean my pinned guns with a concoction made up of windshield washer fluid. I add enough water soluble cutting oil to turn a jug of the stuff a milky green colour. Then I add about a tablespoon of Murphy's oil soap and shake well. Not only a great cleaner but a great patch lube.

I then start my cleaning procedure by:

-first removing the lock

-wiping the flash hole area clean.

-plugging the flash hole.

-then I fill the barrel full of the cleaning solution and let it stand for a while.

I have left a gun overnight like this when time did not allow me to get my cleaning with no adverse effects but I usually give it 15 minutes.

-then dump it and repeat followed by running a bore mop down the bore and dipping it in the solution until it comes out clean.

-run dry patches until the bore is dry. A film of the cutting oil is left on the metal surfaces but I then finish with a patch of good quality gun oil.

Then put her away till next time. Steve.
Click to expand...

X2
I use Steve's moosemilk also, "slicker then deer guts on a door knob" :D
 
My recipe...

Maybe it should be called frog milk cause its kinda green...?

I should add that I drop the lock into a small container with enough of the solution to cover it. Let is soak in for as long as you like so it can get into all the crooks and crannies.

Cheers. Steve.
 
Because most moose milk involves water soluble cutting fluid, it's always a good idea to oil the gun afterwards, because the cutting oil is sulphur based....
Cat
 
catnthehatt said:
Because most moose milk involves water soluble cutting fluid, it's always a good idea to oil the gun afterwards, because the cutting oil is sulphur based....
Click to expand...

I got the impression that it is a vegetable oil; definitely gets a mouldy surface scum on it unless you add 3 or 4 oz of Isopropyl alcohol per liter. Quite different from the old Sulflo oi

cheers Mooncoon
 
Moose milk... 10% Ballistol 90% water. Cleans up real quick. Lube afterward with pure Ballistol. WD-40 is great for displacing any water. I only shoot cartridge guns (CAS) at this point...
 
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