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Thread: Lyman, cleaning/oiling the ante-chamber

  1. #1
    Boolit Mold
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    Lyman, cleaning/oiling the ante-chamber

    Hello,

    Iv'e read and implemented using a 30ish cal brush to scrape gunk out of the ante chamber when I clean my 54 caliber Lyman Trade Rifle, and since I have started (along with a few other tips I have received on this site!)I have noticeably better ignition. I haven't been oiling the ante chamber however, as my 54 cal cleaning jag can't reach in there.

    Do you guys oil the ante chamber in your Lyman's? If so how?

    thanks!

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
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    I'd think a small caliber bore mop would easily do the trick.

    I haven't oiled mine. After cleaning I run a patch with Ballistol getting the actual bore oiled.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
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    I do oil mine. I use a .30 cal bore brush and wrap an oiled patch around it. I also put a couple drops in through the nipple hole.

    Getting ready for the range I wipe all of it with clean patches/pipe cleaners, then run some alcohol through it. Want to make sure the patent chamber is squeaky clean before firing. Then pop 2 or 3 caps before the first loading.

  4. #4
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    after running an oiled patch down the bore, replace the jag with a .30 cal (or so) bronze brush and put an oiled patch on it and oil up the chamber.

    in essence, with any ante-chamber barrel, both the barrel and ante-chamber will typically need to be separately addressed for cleaning (with water or moose milk or LVL - those are my choices), they drying patches, then an oily patch (i prefer either LVL or breakfree). don't forget the touch hole liner, too.

    all of this effort will reap future rewards. promise.

  5. #5
    Boolit Buddy
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    Hi Guys
    I have had two of these breaches off the barrels . Both had a 1/2" deep sub chamber .350 in dia.. A 30 cal brush wouldn't touch the sides. Now a 35cal brush would work. For oiling I use a slotted tip ordinary cleaning rod .I make a long patch, put it in the slot, bunch it up in front of the tip and oil it up. Down the barrel it goes. This works and keeps the rust away.
    n.h.schmidt

  6. #6
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    you don't want to use a naked bronze brush - you want it swathed in a cleaning patch.


  7. #7
    Boolit Master
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    I have never went to any great pains to clean the paten breach that is what it is called. I just take the barrel off stick it in a can of hot soapy water and use the jag and patch and pump it till I have water coming out of the muzzle. then change to hot clear water do the same till the water come out clear. then with a dry patch wipe the bore. then with a patch soaked with wd-40. swap the bore till some squirts out the nipple. in over 30 years never had a problem with rust.

  8. #8
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    bob208 - yep, i hear ya - that works fine, as your history with yer gun proclaims. some folks, particularly those who use a hooked breech half stock that gets shot about weekly, don't like taking their barrels on and off as it can be hard on the hook and tang plug hole, which can cause barrel alignment issues. specially with the offshore guns and the metal used. i've had *many* GPRs and other hooked breech guns, and it's actually easier and faster to run patches down the tube, whilst preserving the breech hook and barrel tang. it's all good. the main thing we're stressing here is that one way or t'other that patent breech hole needs cleaning, lest it becomes a rat's nest - i've seen that with dozens of patent breeches i've pulled off other folks' guns.

  9. #9
    Boolit Grand Master bedbugbilly's Avatar
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    bob208 - I've done the same thing in cleaning patent breeches as you for all the years I've been shooting - rifle or shotgun (which technically has patent breeches on a double barrel unless it's built like an original flint fowler single barrel with a standard breech)

    rfd states it well - doesn't make any difference which path or road you walk, getting to the destination is the important thing and in this case, getting the recesses of a patent breech completely clean will prevent a lot of issues down the road. I have pulled many patent breeches on originals - some were as good as the day they are built and some were "basket cases" as far as curd, rust and damage due to not getting them clean over a long period of time.

    The patent breech was a great invention and it certainly made it easier to clean by pulling a wedge or two and pulling the barrel. Today, we are "obsessed" with cleaning (and nothing wrong with that), but you also have to remember that when the regional guns wee sued by our ancestors, frequent cleaning was not always possible - other than perhaps a wet patch or two down the barrel followed by a couple of dry ones and then an oilded or greased one. Most firearms were "utility tools" and while "shoots" did take place, they didn't spend a lot of time at the range as they had land to clear, crops to get in, miles to make as they took everything they owned and moved westward. We hear of barrels being "freshed" out and most assume that the rifling was worn - and of course the steel in a barrel varied greatly so perhaps that might be the case - I'll leave that to the metallurgists. But most "freshening out" of a barrel was due to use, corrosion, rust and other problems caused by poor cleaning practices or just plain neglect.

    A little off subject I know, but the point is - regardless of whether it is a standard breech or a patent breech, paying attention to the recess of a patent breech or the face of a stand breech and cap channel/priming hole is just as important as paying attention to the bore. More than one way to sing a cat so whatever works for you to keep it clean is the method to use.

  10. #10
    Boolit Master
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    The hot water thing works well....IF....the chamber was properly cleaned out to start with. My Lyman had some pretty good grease and gunk in it that hot water did not clean out (it was used when I got it, but, not fired very much). I ended up using a .30 bor brush with patch wrapped on it, some solvent and I chucked the cleaning rod in a hand drill run on low speed. I used 4 or 5 patches getting all the crud out.

    After that it was ok for cleaning with hot water, but, I still put oil in it between shooting sessions. And that has to be cleaned out before shooting.

  11. #11
    Boolit Master
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    my barrels got took off twice a week. I even had other barrels I would stitch off on my gpr stock never had any problems with wear on the hook.

    but for those that don't want to take the barrel off a plastic tube over the nipple with the end in the hot water works just as good. that is the way I clean my underhammers.

  12. #12
    Boolit Mold
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    Awesome, thanks for the replies everyone.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by bob208 View Post
    ... but for those that don't want to take the barrel off a plastic tube over the nipple with the end in the hot water works just as good. that is the way I clean my underhammers.
    not gonna happen for a flintlock touch hole - unless you remove the vent liner and replace it with a nipple.

    there is no pressing need to make cleaning any trad muzzleloader difficult. this is an easy chore that can be made far easier by using a common sense approach. immediately after taking the last shot at the range, the woods, the hunt, lavish the bore with some kinda fluid and a run in a few really well soaked patches that'll squirt the fluid out the touch hole or nipple. what fluid? water. or better yet, water with a bit of water soluble oil (NAPA, ballistol, LVL, etc). this process seriously mitigates the bp residue during yer journey back to the ranch, whence proper cleaning can commence. doing so also makes for far faster final cleaning, too, since the residue stays soft, if not nearly dissolved.

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BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
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