flintlock cleaning

[Terry Cheek]

Would any seasoned flintlock shooters share your process for cleaning a flintlock after a shooting session? Compared to me, anyone with one shooting and cleaning session is seasoned.

Thank you in advance

[Seth Isaacson]

Here is a little post I put together on cleaning muzzleloaders. Everyone seems to have their own process. Ethan's video from ILoveMuzzleloading on his procedures is also linked in the article for comparison. He does it differently than me. Most of the time I use the basic procedures from this post, but sometimes I only use patches, the Murphy's oil soap solution, and/or Hoppes Black Powder Solvent for cleaning followed by some oil. I'm sure many of the very seasoned shooters on here will have some ideas for you as well. There are a lot of right ways to do it. The main wrong way to do it is simply to neglect cleaning or not do a thorough enough job.

https://www.rockislandauction.com/riac-blog/muzzleloader-cleaning

[ScottNE]

Would any seasoned flintlock shooters share your process for cleaning a flintlock after a shooting session? Compared to me, anyone with one shooting and cleaning session is seasoned.

I scrape the breech with a breech scraper, empty that stuff out, then plug the touchhole and fill the barrel with cool water mixed with Murphys wood oil. I let it stand while clean the lock. A couple times per year I’ll completely disassemble the lock and clean every part individually, but usually I just take off the mainspring, spray the whole thing down with ballistol, and scrub it will toothbrush, blow compressed air into the nooks and crannies to blast out the residue/ballistol mix, then wipe thoroughly with a clean rag, then again with a lightly oiled rag.

After that’s done, I empty the water out of the barrel and scrub with a bore brush for a few passes, then patches until they come out damp instead of sopping wet, then a few more strokes with the bore brush, then patches (twisting at the bottom to make sure the breech face is cleaned)  until they come out clean (ie light grey residue from graphite instead of powder residue). A couple lightly oiled patches down the bore, a quick toothbrush scrub of the external lock/breech area of the barrel, a quick wipe down of the exterior with a lightly oiled patch, done.

Takes perhaps 15-20 minutes.

[smylee grouch]

A room temp water flush and swabbing, dry as well as three clean  flannel patches can get it then a good shot of WD 40 then wipe out the excess .

[MuskratMike]

My method is maybe the simplest of all and has worked for over 40 years.
 First I remove the flint from the lock. Then I remove the lock taking it to a utility sink in my garage. I run barely warm water over it scrubbing with an old tooth brush, then set aside to dry.
Next I wipe any remaining powder residue from the lock mortise and barrel and roll up 1 square of paper towel very tightly and insert into the lock mortise (wood and water don't play well together).
Stand the rifle upright with a wood toothpick in the vent hole. I then fill the barrel with just tepid water, wait a minute or two upend the rifle remove the toothpick and drain. I then use a bore brush and run it up and down for a couple of strokes, repeat the filling and draining of the barrel twice more. Finally I toss the toothpick and use 3 wet (with water) patches followed by 3 or 4 dry patches. The last step is wetting a patch with original formula WD-40, run it inside the bore for a few strokes. If any moisture (rain) got on the rifle I wipe the metal with another WD-40 patch. Lastly I spray the locks workings with WD-40, wipe down (every 4th time I grease the workings with RIG grease). Reassemble the lock and done.
No W.W. fluid, Murphys oil soap just water, patches, WD-40 and once in a while RIG grease.
I shoot well over 1000 balls a year and my bores still shine. Don't try and reinvent the wheel what worked 200 years ag still works.

[AZshot]

I do the same as most here, plug the vent, luke warm water to to muzzle for 5 minutes, pour it out.  Do it again 2 times.  Then bring it inside for patches. 

But this rifle takes dozens and dozens of patches, before they start coming out clean.  I think the cause is I don't have a brush that fits my rods, and the bore.  So I'm slowly wiping the residue out of the deep, round bottom grooves each pass.  I need to add a brush to the first few steps and I'm sure it will clean with 4-5 patches.  I hope. 

In the past I didn't need a brush, because I had percussions.  I would put a special nipple with a rubber hose in a bucket, and a tight patch on a rod, pumping water back and forth a few times.  I could have clean patches in 5 min.  Flintlock?  Not so much.

[bob in the woods]

I use water alone much like all the others, however I just came up with a nifty piece of engineering which I'm using for my 20 and 10 bore guns . I haven't tried it for my .54...not sure if it will fit , but...I took a piece of copper tubing, soldered a hose fitting on one end, crimped the other end and then drilled a bunch of holes along the length [ 5/64th drill ]   I upend my gun , hanging by the guard, with the tube in the barrel connected to a hose and turn on the water. Vent is plugged with a feather..
While I'm cleaning the lock, the barrel is going through an internal jet rinse 
A couple of dry patches and then a patch with bear oil and I'm done.   Makes a bit of a mess in the laundry tub.

[foresterdj]

I like the tube jet blaster idea, have thought about making something like this myself.

[davec2]

I like the water jet blaster idea as well    However, a while back, I came up with the following and it keeps the amount of water used a little more "contained".  I have made about 150 + of these for people now....many of them on this board....and I would like to know how they are working out for those who have one.  Please let me know.  Thanks.

http://luckybag.us/MagneticFlushTube.html

[Prairie dog shooter]

I did a video on the process.

[hanshi]

I really like the method that bob-in-the-woods came up with.  Otherwise I do a procedure similar to what ScottNE posted sans Ballistol, compressor and a couple of other substances.  I use Barricade in the bore and Type F tranny fluid on the exterior, often make use of a nylon brush & Scotch Brite pads.  I use WD40 during the drying phase only and wipe that out with alcohol before applying Barricade.

[Terry Cheek]

I did a video on the process.

Thank you for sharing the video. It was very instructive and I really loved the wood block you made to remove the cock from the tumbler. I will be making one of those the next time I take my lock off. Also, I have subscribed to your youtube channel. Thanks again.

[Prairie dog shooter]

Thank you.

[Huckleberry]

I have found duelist1954’s method to be slick!  You can use natural binder twine in lieu of tow and don’t skimp on the ballistol mix - 10:1 works great.  Stick a tooth pick in the touch hole and wrap a rag around the wrist near the tooth pick to catch seepage.  Here is a link to Mike B’s video on you tube: 

[Jeff Murray]

You can also use one of those old slip on rubber sink sprinkler type heads, cut off the head and insert a piece of aquarium hose or plastic tubing.  hold the rifle upside down over the sink, plug the touch hole, and run hot or cold water as desired.  If you have a threaded faucet spout, the hardware store can set you up with the gear to down size the spout to your tube size.  A variation of the above ideas that I have used for years.  Be sure to dry and oil the bore afterwards.

[Marcruger]

I believe it is essential to go back to the bore the following day ("the second day") after cleaning.  Just about any cleaning method leaves some moisture in the bore, in spite of WD-40 or similar.  I always go back the next day and wipe out the WD-40, and then apply whatever bore protectant is being used.  Overnight the moisture in the barrel will usually be dissipated, but if left the bore can develop rust.  That is why "the second day" wipe out is important. 

I have found room temperature blue windshield washer fluid (that you Bob Hill) to work a bit better than water.  Once the patches come out clean, I switch to Mr. Flintlock to remove the graphite against the grooves (thanks to our late great Mad Monk - Bill Knight).  Wipe out the Mr Flintlock and apply a good coat of WD-40 to displace water until the next day.  See "the second day" procedure in the paragraph above. 

Yes, I am a bit fanatical about keeping my bores clean and pristine. 

God Bless,   Marc

[Dphariss]

Pull the barrel from the stock, if possible, this is a non-starter on my swivel breech. Then give the bore a few shots of windex or similar. Run the breech in a bucket with enough tepid water to come above the vent/nipple by 3-4 inches. Wipe with wet patches pulling water into the bore on the up stroke. After a couple of stroked pulling water in and out of the nipple on concussion guns remove it/them. I try the work it so that I pull water all the way to the muzzle a least once.  Change patches till they start coming out pretty clean. Dump the bucket and pour clean water through the bore to  remove any soap residue, its corrosive at a greater or lessor level.
Wipe dry. If you thin you are getting too much black then wet patch it a few times. Wipe dry with a few patches. You can use larger patches for the bucket work but as the bore drys large patches tend to bunch up above the jag and seize in a dry bore. If this happens I oil it with something that displaces water, like G-96 Gun Treatment aerosol can been using it for 55 years of so with never a gripe even in VN. Once dry give it a good shot of the water displacement let it run to the vent or run a loose patch down then give it another shotmsomyou know the whole bore is well wetted. Stand the barrel muzzle down on a paper towel. Expect some small amount of brown/black to come out with the oil. Clean the lock and rest of the gun of any fouling. Dry patch the barrel. Reassemble.
Now…. If you have a poorly breeched barrel there will be a fouling/water trap at the breech. Thus the good shot to water displacement lube. If allowed to get all the way way the breech the water displacer will float the water out and then standing it muzzle down will let it run out. Its also possible, recommended to stand the assembled gun muzzle down over night. Lets any exess oil run out the muzzle and not into the stock.
About that brown or black you get with the dry patches. Set one of these on a shelf or some other place and let it dry for a couple of days. I find this is loose iron/steel from the bore which shows as red rust on the patch when it dries. Propellants create high pressure and high temperatures in the bore and mild steels especially will be carburized a molecule or so deep. This is now a dissimilar metal and tends to scrub off the bore either with subsequent shots or in cleaning. Its a very minor amount but its enough to appear on a patch. I have never had a barrel rust doing this nor have I ever found a fouling build up in the breech which can happen.
This when then oiled and the process repeated a few times can lead to a build up of a something very much like asphaltic concrete in the bore that is REALLY hard to get out.
This is for cleaning BLACKPOWDER. If you use something else like the “P” stuff you better use hot water and a lot of it.
For my swivel breech I plug the vents with toothpick then poor in water and slosh it end to end with a thumb over the muzzle, dump, wet patch and repeat 3-4 times. Then follow the above process. This is probably best for SMRs with a long skinny tang as well and any with a hard to remove barrel. Guns with pins not wedges I use a pin punch that is slightly smaller to push out the pins assuming they are not locked in with finish and the ends are properly chamfered.

[Dphariss]

BTW the “casehardening” of the bore mentioned in my previous comes from Mad Monk, rest in pease Bill, I keep coming up with questions I can no longer ask… I lost friends in my youth I can never forget and now as I age it starts all over again…
And also from information on bore wear in naval guns, this from a video on the USS Texas maintenance, she is in dry dock right now.
I may have run across in a book on navel gunnery I once read 30-40 odd years ago when doing research when competing with blackpowder suppository guns.
But this is real. But the wear is so slight in a RB rifle that I don’t think it effects shooting  until many many rounds are fired. Poor cleaning process is the main culprit in barrels needing to be freshed back in the day and now. Back in the day cleaning while hunting was not a good option and they were often left loaded for security so they were often left fouled after being wiped with tallow. But the humidity in the East is pretty awful and BP fouling sucks it up….

[Marcruger]

"BTW the “casehardening” of the bore mentioned in my previous comes from Mad Monk, rest in pease Bill, I keep coming up with questions I can no longer ask… I lost friends in my youth I can never forget and now as I age it starts all over again…"

Dan, I agree with you.  I was friends with lots of WWII fighter pilots.  I have many days where I wish I could call and ask a question or just visit.  My mom too. 

Bill was a great resource, and he could give the "why" behind his advice.  That torch is now passed, so I share what I have learned from him just as you do. 

You mentioned the black running from the bore when sat muzzle down.  I wonder if some of that black in the oil is graphite?  Bill said that the only thing he knew that would pull graphite was LVL or Mr Flintlock.  Bill also knew the maker of both of these, and said the maker of Mr Flintlock got the recipe from the LVL inventor when LVL stopped. 

I store all guns muzzle down or at least horizontal with the muzzle lower than the breech.  Oiled punkish wood is no good.

Also Dan, I appreciate your input on shooting black.  You probably have more experience with black than the rest of us on here. 

God Bless,   Marc

[davec2]

Dan,

I didn't see the link you mentioned about the USS Texas.....as an old Navy gunnery officer I am interested.    Can you post the link ?

Thanks

David

[Dphariss]

"BTW the “casehardening” of the bore mentioned in my previous comes from Mad Monk, rest in pease Bill, I keep coming up with questions I can no longer ask… I lost friends in my youth I can never forget and now as I age it starts all over again…"

Dan, I agree with you.  I was friends with lots of WWII fighter pilots.  I have many days where I wish I could call and ask a question or just visit.  My mom too. 

Bill was a great resource, and he could give the "why" behind his advice.  That torch is now passed, so I share what I have learned from him just as you do. 

You mentioned the black running from the bore when sat muzzle down.  I wonder if some of that black in the oil is graphite?  Bill said that the only thing he knew that would pull graphite was LVL or Mr Flintlock.  Bill also knew the maker of both of these, and said the maker of Mr Flintlock got the recipe from the LVL inventor when LVL stopped. 

I store all guns muzzle down or at least horizontal with the muzzle lower than the breech.  Oiled punkish wood is no good.

Also Dan, I appreciate your input on shooting black.  You probably have more experience with black than the rest of us on here. 

God Bless,   Marc

Swiss so far as I know is not graphited. It passes the in use test anyway and Bill said it was not and it does not act like a coated powder.  Historically graphite was used to make a cheap powder look better. The British military, and I expect others back in the day would not accept powder that was coated with “black lead”. But after DuPont destroyed the US BP powder making industry in the US and they were forced to divest (they owned ALL the powder companies at one point and some made very good BP in the late 19th c.). After divestiture in the early smokeless era, only DuPont made BP at Moosic a plant used for military powder for years prior and their primary customer was the US military. BP was and I suspect still is used as boosters and for fuses. When I was using such things a grenade, for example, had a piece of basically dynamite fuse (BP) crimped against the primer at the top and a blasting cap crimped on the other end. Fuse long enough to give about 5 seconds. (war can be pretty boring at times and I am the curious type and took one apart). Artillery shells have or had a BP fuse/booster as well or so I have read. Graphite keeps the powder from clumping and lets it flow easier when making things in a munitions plant. It also messes with the ballistics (for fuses and boosters this is irrelevant) and adds to the fouling since while its a form of carbon the ignition temp is  very high and it does not combust. The BP shooter got military grade fuse/booster powder as side line to the primary consumer. Until the European powder started being imported a few decades back. Remember the USS Arizona had perhaps 100 or more tons of BP in the  dedicated BP magazine at Pearl Harbor and some believe this was what was the initiator of the explosion that destroyed the ship. It was used as a booster to get the several hundred pounds of smokeless lit properly in the main battery guns, smaller amounts in the secondary battery. The last battleships (US anyway) had about 5 pounds of BP sown right into each end of  the powder bags for the 16” guns.  So I woulds suspect that one Iowa class had enough BP on board with a full load of ammo to supply the sport shooters in the US for quite some time.
Remember the plant that Goex was operating in Louisiana was on a military reservation as a backup or supplemental  plant at least during the cold war and perhaps WW-II dunno the history.
Sorry I got carried away. But I stopped using GOI/GOEX years back due to something involving an article I wrote and an lawsuit I was not aware of. We, meaning the magazine and I, got threatening letters from the company but since what I wrote was the truth the threats were empty. Mad Monk also got in touch with them and no more was heard. So its a “button issue” for me. If I have violated any rules here the moderators can delete. But there is no way to explain BP in the US in the 20th c without telling some of the modern history and use. I already edited  some out.

[Dphariss]

Dan,

I didn't see the link you mentioned about the USS Texas.....as an old Navy gunnery officer I am interested.    Can you post the link ?

Thanks

David

PM sent.

[Dphariss]

Dan,

I didn't see the link you mentioned about the USS Texas.....as an old Navy gunnery officer I am interested.    Can you post the link ?

Thanks

David

[hanshi]

Losing Bill Knight (aka Mad Monk) is beyond sad.  I had many online conversations with him knowing what was in store for him.

As mentioned by several I always go back to the gun the next day and at least once every week or two after that.  Being OCD is both a great help and is often annoying.  I clean with tap water and that seems to work just fine.  I also don't trust that no moisture is left after the initial cleaning.  Hence the going over it the next day.  All the bores in my guns are near pristine or are pristine.  One rifle I've had for 56 years and shot regularly still has a crystal clear bore.  Water is free or at least has such a miniscule cost that it is basically free.  I don't like the idea of relying on various concoctions for cleaning and like to keep it simple.  I never remove a pinned barrel or vent liner for cleaning; I just clean the barrel still on the stock. 

[Dphariss]

Losing Bill Knight (aka Mad Monk) is beyond sad.  I had many online conversations with him knowing what was in store for him.

As mentioned by several I always go back to the gun the next day and at least once every week or two after that.  Being OCD is both a great help and is often annoying.  I clean with tap water and that seems to work just fine.  I also don't trust that no moisture is left after the initial cleaning.  Hence the going over it the next day.  All the bores in my guns are near pristine or are pristine.  One rifle I've had for 56 years and shot regularly still has a crystal clear bore.  Water is free or at least has such a miniscule cost that it is basically free.  I don't like the idea of relying on various concoctions for cleaning and like to keep it simple.  I never remove a pinned barrel or vent liner for cleaning; I just clean the barrel still on the stock.

I have a large stack of paper on various subjects Bill had sent me starting in the 1970s. Yeah I keep thinking of questions I can no longer ask. Same for my Mom and Dad. 
I have started cleaning off the gun lately even pinned stocks. It seems to go faster. But I have one that has to be cleaned in place. Nor would I would recommend it for a lollipop tang SMR or similar long skinny tang.