Who uses their brush

[Darkhorse]

The oldtimers taught me there was only 2 reasons to brush out a pan. One was to remove all traces of the prime. The other was to remove any small chips of flint after sharpening your flint.
I learned a lesson myself years ago when a small, thin, chip of lint wedged itself somewhere in the pan area unseen by me. But when I wiped the fouling out with my thumb it's presence was well documented by the amount of blood suddenly spewing from my thumb.
Since then I've always brushed my pan area after freshning a flint.

[Daryl]

Oh yeah - NEVER rub a flint with your thumb.  IT happens & then the blood flows.  I did that once after firing a shot - I still do not know why I did that.  Sliced it, almost side to side, instantly - opened up like a book.

[Birddog6]

I use a brush a lot. I leave my gun loaded during hunting season and always brush out priming powder so I don't get any rusting in the pan and also don't want any powder left in pan for safety sake. Some may frown on leaving a gun loaded but I have no issues with it. I treat all guns as they are loaded and no one has access to my guns except me.

I used to do the same thing at the hunting camp, except after brushing the pan out I would push a round toothpick in the vent hole, frizzen open, cock down, put it on the wall rack. 

I've had a brush on my bag for  15-20 years that Packdog made & that is the only time I've used it.

[alacran]

Went on a woods walk this weekend. Had to knap a flint, used my brush to get the prime out of the pan. After a couple of more shots, the lock kletched and decided it was time to replace the flint. I used the brush again. Mostly use it on woods/trail walks when enough shooting necessitates knapping or replacing flints.

[Timberdog]

I never used to…and you don’t really need to…but when loading from bench I’ve developed a habit of using a stiff, small brass wire brush to wipe pan and flint between shots.  Absolutely not necessary, but I’ll do it anyway as part of the routine.  I guess I feel like if I’m going through all this trouble of loading, and quick ignition wanted for target shooting, I might as will try to make every effort to make sure she goes off like she supposed to.

But the brushes that come with the sets are too limp to do much good as previously mentioned.

[Denny Ducet]

I find I never use it for powder or cleaning while shooting.  I’ve only used it after knapping a flint and chips in the pan or during snowfall shoot to brush wayward snowflake out of my pan.

[walks with gun]

   I use my brush almost daily.   I keep one rifle loaded and every time I come back into the house I dump my prime and wish away any remnants of powder that may stick to the pan.  Same as for getting out of the truck, Mn. state laws say that a flintlock is unloaded if the pan is empty so when heading home or a new area I dump and wisk away any traces of prime from the pan as well as changing prime from time to time on a damp day.  As Darkhorse said previously it's a great idea to get rid of any flint flakes that may have fallen in or near the pan.  Every bag for my guns as well as the kids have a brush on a short cord hanging from them.

[Bob Gerard]

I just use it when I am hunting. After an hour or so I'll dump my priming, whisk out the pan, prick the touch hole and re-prime. It's useless for damp fouling after a shot (use a small cloth for that).

[APG]

I bought a pick and brush and a few other items while waiting on the arrival of my first flintlock rifle several months ago. Thd only item that I use is the pick. As stated in previous posts a wipe from a rag or patch takes place of the brush. But I do have one just in case the need for a brush should arise.