cleaning breech area

[RhodeHunter]

I bought this fouling scraper, because I found out that there's a necked down area at the bottom of the bbl. that the .54 cleaning jag won't get to. The description says, "Flat bottom scraper to clean the base of breech plug." So I order it and a breech brush (looks like a bronze paint brush). When I got the scraper, I was surprised that it is full bore size, and now I don't understand. Which part is the "base" of the breech plug? (Lyman Deerstalker).

nicholst55 says he uses a .36 scraper, and a .38 bore brush in his .54 GPR. How would you make sure the .36 scraper is centered in the bbl. to get into that hollow?

Is the scraper I bought useful? I would think the regular patch jag would clean the flat part at the bottom of the bbl., so why the scraper?

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d73/TerryLaPierre/scraper.jpg

[Boerrancher]

On the patent breech like you have, it is good to get in there and scrape them out every so often or you will end up with hang fires. The tool that you have is for a regular breech and not the patent breech. To clean the patent breach on your rifle you will need a 32 or 36 cal scraper. Don't worry about centering up there is usually a slight taper of the breech plug toward the center, if a 36 cal won't drop in and work then it is too big and needs to be smaller. I use a 32 cal pistol brush on my 50cal to get in there, and remove the build up of fouling. It is allot easier to deal with on a flint lock than it is on a cap lock. I am soooo glad my Crockett doesn't have the patent breech, like all my 50 cals do.

Best wishes,

Joe

[KCSO]

That if for a flat faced breech plug. If you have a cone shaped plug you need to grind it to fit. Better yer take out yor breech plug and polish it till it shines i polish mine down to tripoli. Then when you clean flush out the breech and the fouling won't stick. With proper cleaning a polished breech plug will still reflect light 10 years later.