Original cleaners??

[Mauser06]

Does anyone know what was used to clean long rifles originally??   

Specifically wiping the flint/frizzen/pan  and swabbing a fouled bore??


Also...what do you guys use now??



Right now I use %91 rubbing alcohol for both tasks...I keep a old medicine bottle with soaked patches in my bag...


Don't have any idea what was originally used....and don't know if you guys have suggestions for anything better for me to use now...

[Dewey]

Traditionally, Water and flax tow, with Bear grease or Sperm oil to protect !!!

Today - tons of ideas and products.....
 
As for myself, I use cotton squares instead of tow and warm water with a tad of Murphy's soap to wash and warm water to rinse. A patch of WD40 to help get water out, then gun oil (or grease - RIG - if longer term storage) to protect.

10,000 other cleaning ideas will surely follow  

[Don Steele]

Historically, water and spit.
Now...when I'm at the loading bench I run a small piece of wiping patch across my tongue to get it just damp. I use one to wipe the frizzen, the flint, and the pan after every shot before going to the firing line and charging the pan.
Before someone asks, I use a fresh piece each time. I've found I don't much care for the taste of BP residue.

[wattlebuster]

I have yet to find anything that beats good ole fashion H2O an a drop or two of dawn. Scrub it with some tow an rinse then dry an oil. Been working for me for might near 40 yrs give or take a yr

[yip]

  black powder barrels are like black iron skillets they need to be seasoned, water is all thats needed. soapy water and detergents take away the seasoning. i use a chemistry bottle and plain..... ole water, put a tooth pick in the flash hole and squirt the water down the barrel, i dump the water down the toilet till it comes out clear, a few dry patches and wala ,oil the bore and barrel and put er away.....................yip

[L. Akers]

In one of the Little House on the Prairie series of books  the author, Laura Ingals Wilder, gives a step-by-step description of how "Pa" cleaned his ML rifle.  He used hot water, tow, and grease.  This was ca. 1870.

[Daryl]

I may be repeating myself - but - do not use hot water - in many barrel types of steel, hot water will cause flash rusting. Soaps also have salts or acids in them - I also avoid soaps when cleaning - just not necessary - I've yet to see anyone on our trail wiping their frizzen before shooting and most of us shoot flinters. Holland and Holland, gun makers for the King and Queen & Princes in England from the early 1800's on to today, say never to use hot water for cleaning - water from the cold tap is all that is needed & is all I have used since about 1976 when I read their words to that effect.  My barrels shine like newly lapped barrels, inside.  H&H went on to state that hot water can have a glazing effect on the fouling in the breech & not dissolve or break it up at all, whereas cold water is a much better dissolver of BP fouling.

[hanshi]

Tap water, sometimes with a drop of Dawn, is what I use to clean.  Alcohol and WD40 are also part of the process.  I protect with Barricade or BreakFree.  Bores do not season like skillets; any crust inside the bore will harbor rust, cover the rifling and interfere with loading and accuracy.  Bores should be cleaned down to the bare metal then protected with a good rust preventative.

[Candle Snuffer]

In one of the Little House on the Prairie series of books  the author, Laura Ingals Wilder, gives a step-by-step description of how "Pa" cleaned his ML rifle.  He used hot water, tow, and grease.  This was ca. 1870.

I have read this and quoted it many times when a person has asked how did they clean their ML's in the old days. Laura Ingals has given us this first hand account of how it was done in her family household by her Pa. For them (the Ingals family) this is historically correct in their time period.

I do agree with Daryl and hanshi - do not use hot water for the reason he gives. Cold water/room temperature water will do just fine and remember to get all metal parts dry before applying any protective gun oils.

[moleeyes36]

  black powder barrels are like black iron skillets they need to be seasoned.....

The subject of seasoning a barrel has started some lively threads in the past.  Just sayin.

Mole Eyes

[smylee grouch]

I don't want any seasoning in my barrels, just clean bare steel and WD 40 when I put it away. Plain water is all that I use to clean.

[HAWKEN]

I don't want any seasoning in my barrels, just clean bare steel and WD 40 when I put it away. Plain water is all that I use to clean.

I'm with you smylee, I'll save the seasoning for my squirrels and venison.......robin   

[James Wilson Everett]

Guys,

Since this thread started with the question of how were barrels cleaned originally, I might add that cleaning of a modern steel barrel is really quite a bit different than cleaning a wrought iron barrel.  Steel will rust very much more easily than will wrought iron, there is a significant difference here.  Wrought iron will stay bright when steel will look like an orange popsicle in no time!

Also, wrought iron is a physical mixture of pure iron and about 4 percent slag.  This gives wrought iron a slightly porous surface structure.  Lots of tiny places for black powder gunk to hide.  I have found that to clean a barrel made from the original material, wrought iron, I must repeat cleaning, at least an oily patch wipe, daily for several days.  There is no rust in this, but there will be additional black fouling on the patch.  I clean until the patch come out with no fouling, then the next day's patch will again have additional fouling.

So, I believe that the original cleaning was not a one time effort, but had to be repeated several times even on different days to get a completely clean barrel.

Here is a microscopic photo of wrought iron so you can see why original cleaning techniques are different from our modern techniques.

Jim

[T*O*F]

I don't want any seasoning in my barrels, just clean bare steel and WD 40 when I put it away

.
In reality, by using WD40 you are seasoning your barrel.  Once the volatiles in it off-gas, it leaves behind a tough varnish.  Ruger, for one, specifically noted not to use WD40 in their mechanisms as they would gum up and cause jams.

I did an experiment years ago upon hearing this.  I took some parts and put them in a container after spraying with WD40.  Left them for six months.  Upon examining them, they were coated with a varnish that was impervious to everything I tried to remove it....lacquer thinner, acetone, mineral spirits, soap and water, and WD40 itself.

If you put your gun away for any length of time after using WD40 in the bore, it will have a thin varnish deposit remaining behind.
Frankly, I don't care whether anyone uses it or not.   It's their choice among hundreds of other alternatives.

[hanshi]

For that very reason, T*O*F, I go back down the bore with alcohol to remove the WD40 when cleaning.  The WD40 swabs brings out "fouling" the water didn't quite get.  It has then served it's purpose.  Barricade is the last step.

And steel most definitely DOES rust more easily than wrought iron.  I've had experience with both metals and agree completely.

[Mauser06]

Good info guys! 



I appreciate it!   



I know today the steel is different and we have lots and lots of different"stuff" to use....


I noticed the super hot water causes immediate flash rust......I used to do that....

[Gun_Nut_73]

I am in the "Water with a bit of Murphy's" camp.  I carry a small spray bottle, and, as required by range rules, swab between shots.  I use old 100% cotton T-shirts as swab and cleaning patch material.  If I run out, there is always the water bottle, and plain old spit.

[Daryl]

I am in the "Water with a bit of Murphy's" camp.  I carry a small spray bottle, and, as required by range rules, swab between shots.  I use old 100% cotton T-shirts as swab and cleaning patch material.  If I run out, there is always the water bottle, and plain old spit.

What range is this that requires wiping after every shot?

[Gun_Nut_73]

I am in the "Water with a bit of Murphy's" camp.  I carry a small spray bottle, and, as required by range rules, swab between shots.  I use old 100% cotton T-shirts as swab and cleaning patch material.  If I run out, there is always the water bottle, and plain old spit.

What range is this that requires wiping after every shot?

Local club:  Scotts Valley Sprortsmans Club and the Santa Cruz Muzzleloaders.

[Ron Wehmeyer]

Does anyone know what was used to clean long rifles originally??   

Specifically wiping the flint/frizzen/pan  and swabbing a fouled bore??


Also...what do you guys use now??



Right now I use %91 rubbing alcohol for both tasks...I keep a old medicine bottle with soaked patches in my bag...


Don't have any idea what was originally used....and don't know if you guys have suggestions for anything better for me to use now...

Have read many times that Urine was used in the old days for bore cleaning. (Ammonia) works but stinks real bad!  Today I use water/soap then a dry patch or two . Then a patch WET with WD40 . Check and wipe more WD40 every day after for the next three days.  Works for me !  Cleaning is not a chore for me. Its  a part of the sport I enjoy also. ,,RW

[Daryl]

When I clean my barrels, they are clean.  I do not use soap.  If I run a dry or wet patch down and out the barrel the next day, or a week later, it comes out clean.  Perhaps some people having to keep cleaning your barrels for days is because they do not get them clean the first time.

Plain water gets a barrel without pits clean the first time.  It will also get a pitted barrel clean if some time is spent cleaning it - like 10 or 15 minutes.

If a barrel is pitted and the water pumped into and out, flushing over and over, then dried with patches THEN sprayed heavily with a water displacing lubricant like WD40 , THEN wiped clean and re-oiled with a good preservative oil - it will not need wiping again until after it is shot.

After drying - if only wiping with WD40- you are not getting all the moisture out- spray that stuff in to the barrel until it runs out the vent or nipple seat - then force a tight patch into and down the bore so the excess WD40 sprays out the vent or nipple seat- keep running that patch up and down until no more blasts out. Then patch the WD40 out if you want and re-oil with your favourite rust preventative.  I use that WD40 patch to wipe down all the metal - none of my guns rust.

[David R. Pennington]

I have never found anything that works better than plain old water. I always clean my rifle in the field immediately after shooting with plain old water, not hot, not cold. They had water back in those days I think. I have been using bear oil for lube and for oiling the barrel after cleaning and it seems to season the bore some and cleaning seems easier. The only time I don't use plain water is when it is below freezing, then I use some alcohol. I keep two chip brushes in my shooting box for the lock. I most always pull the lock off and clean it good inside and out with water and the chip brush. Then I set it in the sun on warm days or by the fire in cold weather to dry. After the bore is clean, dry and oiled I put a few drops of oil on the other chip brush and use it to oil the lock.

[WadePatton]

Traditionally, Water and flax tow, with Bear grease or Sperm oil to protect !!!

Today...

_when you get done messing around_

you will find that water and flax tow still work (cheap and reusable too).  and Sperm oil is difficult to source, but bear grease is out there.   

Have we made it to 10,000 recipes yet? 

[Nate McKenzie]

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=24312.0

[David R. Pennington]

Traditionally, Water and flax tow, with Bear grease or Sperm oil to protect !!!

Today...

_when you get done messing around_

you will find that water and flax tow still work (cheap and reusable too).  and Sperm oil is difficult to source, but bear grease is out there.   

Have we made it to 10,000 recipes yet? 

Most all the bears roaming around our woods carry some.