Flush tube help....

So I have been scrubbing away at that Renegade this week... Bore looks like a mirror, but patches never come out spotless. So, just bought a flush tube and decided to give it a try. You know the tubing? You know how vinyl tubing likes to expand when you put scalding water through it? So, on the downstroke, the tube lets go of the end that threads into the nipple hole. Yup, a nice stream of scalding water on my left foot!:sad:
The question is, how do you folks keep the tube attached when it wants to expand? Small gasket clamp? Zip tie? Or something else?
Sidenote... The Renegade barrel looks great....EXCEPT for what you guys might call "etching" from corrosion. Rifling is extremely strong, but there are all those little, light scratches throughout. Can't feel them with a tight patch, so I think she should shoot well. Stock has some honest wear from being used, but in overall real good shape. If she shoots well, before ice fishing season I might be asking for tips on refinishing it.

Thanks,
Jim

throw that tube away, take the nipple out of the barrel, the barrel out of the stock, put the end of the barrel in your bucket or pan of hot water & have at it.

The big question is........How does it shoot? I would think you are worried about things that might not have any effect if you are using patched round balls or even mini's if the twist is fast enough? I have similar things happen when I shoot one of my slug guns, clean it so patches are clean, oil the barrel well and then 4 or 5 days later I'll run a patch through and it shows powder residue and what even looks like sludge from the very bottom of the barrel! I worried about it too for a bit and found no effect on shooting so I stopped worrying! Since I had my quad bypass surgery I have other things to be concerned with!

I bought a small hand held steamer and have some double wall Kevlar race tube that fits tight on the adapter I made. It is a piece of stainless tube that has the end threaded in 1/4 - 28 and I put that in place of the regular nipple before going to the range and steaming the oil out of the powder drum and barrel. It is so tight it doesn't come loose.

You don't need to use scalding hot water. Warm will do fine.

JB bore paste on a reasonably tight patch, about 200 Strokes. If JB is not available get the Equivalent (possibly better?) Montana Extreme bore polishing compound, again about 200 Strokes. Then do a good clean in a bucket of tap, to warm water, with the nipple removed and the breech end in a bucket with a 4 or 5 inches of water, fit a patch to your jag and do what some call 'slush pump' push the patched jag til it bottoms out and as you pull it back it will pull water in thru the nipple hole, i like to make several 'hard fast pushes' to race the water through the Patented breech and out the nipple, I personally use a small amount of Dawn dish soap, I would also use a good quality bronze bore brush NOT the press fitted GARBAGE ones, get one for a Muzzleloader and it should be looped through. The press fitted brushes are total JUNK and its highly likely that you will pull one apart in your gun! Ive done it once, NOT fun! I feel the Bronze brush is important to break stuff loose in the grooves, i ad a bit of dawn dish soap to my brush and run 10-12 full strokes with the breech end stil in the bucket of water.

Dont forget you have a Patented Breech/Ante chamber, You might be getting rust from there? Here is what a Patented breech looks like, this is a cut away section from a TC Hawken barrel, TC themselves make a tool for cleaning/scraping the Patented breech
Attachment 198471

Here is the Patented breech Scraping tool made by TC for their Patented breeches
Attachment 198472

Here is the kind of bore brush you want! These will NOT pull apart, Traditions sells them, and a few others, Cains outdoors sells the good ones as well
Attachment 198473

This is a press fitted *** brush, STAY AWAY from these in your Muzzleloaders! You are begging for problems
Attachment 198474

Here is another description of a Patented breech, a drawing showing what they look like

Attachment 198475

I have a few barrels that no matter how hard i try my patches stil come out with a tinge of brown, i have worked and worked trying to get it to stop doing that to no avail, i have learned to accept it, i do my cleaning as described above, knowing i have the barrel as clean as i can possibly get it, i make sure and get the bore and Patented breech BONE DRY then i coat with a good quality gun oil, i am excessive here, i would rather KNOW that my rifles bore is 100 Percent protected than skimp on the oil.

I have a different approach to cleaning the oil from my rifle before i shoot. I pull my barrel, pull the nipple, blast about 10-15 seconds of steam in thru the nipple hole until 6-8" of the barrel is HOT (this blasts clean the Snail, and Patented Breech) after i steam it good i keep the muzzle pointed down so any moisture can run out, then push several dry patches through, Obviously the hot Breech end will evaporate ANY moisture QUICKLY, after a few dry patches i let the barrel sit and cool while i am rounding up my other gear. When cool, i put it back together and i am good to go. Dont forget to steam clean the nipple good as well. I have YET to have a hangfire using this method, this is foolproof in my opinion.

Hey, that is what I said! As a matter of fact you are the poster I got the idea of steam cleaner use from. Thanks.

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Originally Posted by oldracer

Hey, that is what I said! As a matter of fact you are the poster I got the idea of steam cleaner use from. Thanks.

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Yep that was from me! I wish i owned the Co that made them, no doubt they sold a BUNCH of little steam cleaners after i posted that, i know several that bought them.

I use mine EVERY cleaning session! I stil clean my barrels in a bucket of warm tap water. I use the little steam cleaner for the Snail/Breech plug, and Patented breech, The nipple, Lock, and hammer. Nothing cleans crud gunk like steam!

+1 to bubba's suggestion. In 50 plus years of shooting BP I have never used the tube method or any other "high tech" modern way of cleaning a front stuffer (if you want to that's fine but I'm "low budget" when it comes to cleaning).

Remove the barrel and nipple - or on a flint, just the barrel - set the breech into a bucket of hot soapy water and go to it. A tight wet patch will draw water up in to the barrel and just work it like a piston.

If you have ever been to Friendship, back on the shotgun area they keep a tank of water just for that purpose.

Not knocking how anyone cleans their BP rifles/pistols/shotguns as everyone has their own methods. But I can assure you that our ancestors didn't use all the fancy stuff that is marketed today and they got along just fine.

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Originally Posted by bedbugbilly

But I can assure you that our ancestors didn't use all the fancy stuff that is marketed today and they got along just fine.

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I can also assure you that this stuff wasn't available back then! Had it been, I'd be willing to place a VERY LARGE bet that they would have jumped on the Technology! Sorta like when cars first came out, pretty darn neat to drive instead of walk, etc. etc.

Good example, my Grandfather was a really good Carpenter (built many nice homes) he was born in 1912, never used any kind of power tool, he had tooth sets for sharpening the teeth on hand saws, i watched him rip MANY sheets of plywood when i was little kid with a handsaw. It was either a Christmas present one year, or maybe a garage sale find? But he acquired a skill saw, i asked him one day why he never used it? I remember his answer like it was yesterday, he said Nah, them things dont work good, and he didn't trust it (i think he tried it and didn't understand it?) He was cutting a bunch of 1X6 boards for my Grand mothers car garage, the boards had some moisture in them which kept binding the saw up, i asked him if he minded me getting the little skill saw out and giving it a try on a board? He almost acted bothered by it but he did agree, i ran an extension cord, grabbed the little saw and headed to the pile of boards, i set the depth, he marked one for me and i zipped through it like butter and made a perfect cut, he marked another, and i did the same thing, the smile, and puzzlement he had on his face was something i will NEVER forget! Needless to say i found a job that day, and every single time he had a building project! Moral of the story, don't think for a second that our ancestors wouldn't have used some of our modern technology, it simply wasn't available to them and they did what they needed to get by.

I dont agree with all the 'snake oil' cleaners etc. but i can TESTIFY that these little steam cleaners are flat out AMAZING! Pedersoli markets one, it is REALLY spendy, but does nothing more than this little cheap one i own! Its steam, it cleans!!

small zip tie will work. had to do it with mine.

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Originally Posted by 509thsfs

small zip tie will work. had to do it with mine.

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Work on what?
Edit : OK, figured it out.

I have made them for guys and don't use the nipple on the gun. I made a tube with the nipple threads and as big a hole as was feasible thru it this had a jagged tube o the back 1" long to lock the tube onto and a hex below that for an ignition wrench to snug it. I had thought about an o ring in a shallow groove to provide the seal needed but that groove would mean a smaller hole thru. then the mating thread for the nipple thread. This holds the tubing much more secure but you have to remove the nipple. Another way would be to sacrifice an old nipple and drill it out for a piece of hobby store brass tubing then flare one end slightly and chamfer the bottom of the nipple and solder in place leaving the 1-1 1/2" length sticking thru. I like these for range cleaning where it isn't always feasible to disassemble the rifle. I have a 2 liter pop bottle cap on my tube so at the range a 2 liter bottle of soap water can be used. If you go this route make a weighted end for the tube to help hold it down in the water. Either a loosly fit hole around the tube or a second vent hole is needed too stop a vacuum from forming also. Put these in the cap and any bottle can be used

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The question is, how do you folks keep the tube attached when it wants to expand? Small gasket clamp? Zip tie? Or something else?

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Or something else: I tried a similar flushing tube once at my cabin. {a 3/16 th. plastic tubing press fitted onto a knurled brass nipple} More diddling with than worth.