Cleaning a flintlock, what cleaners

[formernuke]

As well as the previous mentioned hunting rifle I also ordered a flintlock or 2.

I do not want to use soap and water to clean them with.

So my question is what solutions, solvents, oils etc do you guys use besides soap and water?

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[Outpost75]

Why not soap and water? That is the MOST effective for black powder!!!

After water cleaning use a polarized water displacing oil. Plain olive or lard oil can be used if you want to be traditional.

[bubba.50]

a few drops of Dawn in a bucket of warm water has worked for me for years. don't see no need to monkey with the formula at this late stage of the game.

[scattershot]

Well, if you don't want to use soap and water, I've had good luck with windshield washer solvent. You will need to gently heat the barrel and oil it well afterwards, with a non- petroleum lubricant like T/C Bore Butter.

[formernuke]

No soap and water because I will not do any cleaning at home, rather at the range which doesn't always have water available

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[waksupi]

I use water, and use less than two cups to clean a firearm. Cheap and easy.

[SSGOldfart]

I use water, and use less than two cups to clean a firearm. Cheap and easy.
Okay I'll bite you want to pass on the details??
Lots of cleaning solvents on the market,just watch out most are water based, I use the tried and true,few drops of dawn in a pot of hot water,you could get by with hoppies# 9, but remember to lube after cleaning.

[reivertom]

BP and substitutes have a lot of corrosive elements that need to be dissolved and rinsed out with water. I use a diluted dish soap and very hot water. After you shoot, it is smart to run a patch down it with a BP solvent just in case something comes up and you can't clean your barrel soon, but when I get home a soap and scalding water finishes the job. Hot water evaporates quicker if you let it heat up the barrel. I then run a patch wet with Ballistol down the tube for storage.

[dromia]

I take a small spray bottle filled with 4-1 water to Youngs 303 (Aquoil) and another one of Pocket Rocket water displacing fluid, a few Aquoil wetted patches followed by a couple or so of dry ones see's to the bore. Spray the lock and lock area with Aquoil, wipe of and spray with Pocket Rocket and you are good to go. When you get home after a few hours if you want you can wipe out the pocker rocket and oil as normal, I use Youngs 303 neat.

[Col4570]

Ready mixed Screenwash very cheap and effective followed with an oily rag.Cleaned my Sharps last Sunday with it.

[smokeywolf]

reivertom is using the same method I use.

[bubba.50]

if ya can't/won't/don't want to take them home & clean them right mayhaps BP shootin' is not the hobby for you.

[Bad Ass Wallace]

Local auto shop sells a product called "Start ya Bastard" which is an aerosol can of ether. Very handy first pass cleaner!

[waksupi]

Okay I'll bite you want to pass on the details??
Lots of cleaning solvents on the market,just watch out most are water based, I use the tried and true,few drops of dawn in a pot of hot water,you could get by with hoppies# 9, but remember to lube after cleaning.


Pretty simple. Plain ol' cold water. Toothpick in the vent, and pour in maybe a half cup of water. Let sit for a few minutes to loosen the worst fouling on the breech end. Then put a finger over the muzzle, and tip back and forth several times. Dump it out, and give it a good scrubbing with a fairly tight patch. Repeat. Usually takes me three times to have a clean bore. Then an old toothbrush to help clean the lock, and fouling from the wood and barrel on the breech end.

[FrontierMuzzleloading]

soapy water.

You need it to kill the corrosive salts left behind.

[Maven]

If soap & water aren't what you want, try either Mr. Flintlock's Patch Lube & Bore Cleaner or Winchester Sutler's Moose Milk.

[bubba.50]

ya could do like the old buffler hunters & just pee down the barrel to clean it.

[Omnivore]

Ask a hundred people about cleaning your BP firearm and you'll get a hundred different answers. That should tell you something.

I've used nothing but Balistol and hot water for years. I started out with the "Hot Soapy Water" and soon realized that plain hot water is as good or better. Haven't used any kind of soap for ten years.

If you're carrying solvents into the field, you can just as well carry water (which by the way is one of the best solvents ever).

If you only use water, no one can sell you anything, which should tell you something right there about the advice that comes from marketers. Some people can in fact sell snow to the Eskimos too. "But THIS is Super, Special Snow, see...Not just any snow you happen to have lying around..."

Peeing down the barrel would certainly be an option. So you can bring water with you, drink it, and still use it for cleaning. Win, win.

Don't forget the possibility of having a patent breech. They're less common in flinters, but they're still used. If you use a full bore patch and jag for swabbing, it isn't reaching down into the smaller breech chamber. I carry a smaller, extended jag in my rifle's patch box for that purpose. The manufacturers don't seem to address this little quirk, from what I've seen.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

I clean a half dozen guns on one camping jug of water at the range without any problem while I am no where near 2 cups it doesn't take that much water

there are chemicals sold by cva and other companies that clean a muzzle loader with out water but they are not any faster and cost a lot for no better performance than a bit of soap and water.

[rfd]

Pretty simple. Plain ol' cold water. Toothpick in the vent, and pour in maybe a half cup of water. Let sit for a few minutes to loosen the worst fouling on the breech end. Then put a finger over the muzzle, and tip back and forth several times. Dump it out, and give it a good scrubbing with a fairly tight patch. Repeat. Usually takes me three times to have a clean bore. Then an old toothbrush to help clean the lock, and fouling from the wood and barrel on the breech end.

this is my method as well. there is no need for soap or other chemical "cleaners". bp dissolves quite nicely in tepid tap water if you allow it to do its thing. fwiw, an excerpt on ml cleaning from noted gunsmith peter a. alexander's book "the gunsmith of grenville county" ...

http://i.imgur.com/eHoUqRz.jpg

[pietro]

No soap and water because I will not do any cleaning at home, rather at the range which doesn't always have water available




Can you fill an empty jug with water ?

That said, at the range, I always flush out the bore with a cleaning patch soaked in Moose Milk (Ox-Yoke Bore Cleaner), for several strokes while also ensuring that the cleaner dribbles out of the ignition hole - then dry the bore with as many clean/dry patches as it takes, before lubing the bore via running in another new patch, loaded with BoreButter 1000+.


.

[Fly]

Funny where these ideas come from. Very sure ole George Washington used soap & water back in the day.

Fly

[country gent]

I use balistoll and water to clean black powder. Windex with vinegar works good also for wiping quick cleaning. I have a spray bottle of ballistol water in my range box a couple squirts brush and patch usually 3-4 patches to a clean patch. Once home I wipe down and clean again with shooter choice for lead or stubborn fouling. Then I protect the barrel inside with a patch and the bullet lube Im using. The outside gets wiped down with oil.

[OverMax]

After wash with Lehigh Valley Lube & Bore Cleaner (Track of the Wolf product)and a hot hot water rinse & reasonable dry patching. I simple rod my barrels with Mink Oil Tallow (Track of the Wolf product) between weekly shootings or Barricade a moisture displace'er for year long storage. (barricade has solvent/s)

Recommended barrel cleaners.
1. Dawn detergent dish soap.
2.Murphy Oil Soap.
3. Ballistol Sportsman oil.
4. Lehigh ValleyPatchLube & Bore cleaner (Track of the Wolf product)

[SSGOldfart]

if ya can't/won't/don't want to take them home & clean them right mayhaps BP shootin' is not the hobby for you.could be some really good advice,

I know for years we boiled our cap&ball revolvers,after shooting but I've been using my own lube for about a year now and I clean them with dry patches,
the front stuffer still gets hot water and dawn dish soap,after your done with the muzzleloader,what you have left in the pot works great to get rid of squash bugs in the garden ,just let it cool so you don't kill your plants.[smilie=1:

[John Boy]

No soap and water because I will not do any cleaning at home, rather at the range which doesn't always have water available
Lehigh Valley Lube and Bore Cleaner ... https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/156/1/LUBE-LEHIGH

http://lehighvalleylube.com/index.html

[formernuke]

this is my method as well. there is no need for soap or other chemical "cleaners". bp dissolves quite nicely in tepid tap water if you allow it to do its thing. fwiw, an excerpt on ml cleaning from noted gunsmith peter a. alexander's book "the gunsmith of grenville county" ...

http://i.imgur.com/eHoUqRz.jpg


I'm thinking a slight modification to this, bring a couple gallon jugs of water with me to the range some tubing and couple of fittings and I can make a natural siphon. Follow the rest dry, lube, take a clean rifle home and not have to worry about mini me getting into the dirty water.

Thanks

[rfd]

it's SO easy to perfectly clean any bp trad muzzleloader with just plain ol' water.

bp residue readily dissolves in air temperature water - everyone messing with bp guns from the 17th to 19th centuries knew that and used just that.

the only deviation i'll employ, is after a shooting session at the range or a woods walk, i run a sloppy wet patch with a 1:6 mix of ballistol:water down and out the barrel using the gun's ramrod, then spritz the lock with the same mix. this allows the bp to soften without concern for steel/iron rusting during the drive back to the ranch where the real cleaning gets done.

for the actual cleaning, read waksupi's post. follow up with some kinda oil down the bore and then wipe down all the gun's steel/iron with an oily rag.

done. don't need nothing else.

you wanna make it less easy, more time consuming, and more expensive, have at it. :)

[Standing Bear]

FIRST! Real BP only.

Now about cleaning. Water - ambient temperature. 2 or 3 wet patches, spit is good. Plug the touch hole and fill the barrel w plain tap water. Now clean the lock and put up some of your stuff - targets, frames, etc. Pour water out and wipe w 2 or 3 water wet patches. Refill barrel and put the rest of the stuff up. Dump water and wipe w wet patches till clean. Now a healthy dose of WD40 (water displacer ). That eve or next day dry patch and then gun oil.

Damn! That's too hard, complicated and expensive ain't it?

P.S. wash and dry your used patches w your jeans. get a mesh bag used for ladies delicates or tie knots in a section of ladies nylons if those things can still be found.

[Wayne Smith]

My barrel has a patent breach and pulls out of the stock easily (Lyman Great Plains). I fill a plastic dish pan with soapy water, put the breach of the barrel in the water, and with a tight wet patch simply suction water in and out of the barrel like a pump. Dry and oil. Easy.

[mazo kid]

"No water at the range".....then take an empty soda bottle and fill it with water. The water doesn't have to be hot, the heat just dries the bore quicker. As others have said, the salts in BP residue need to be flushed out. Can't get any cheaper (or better!) than that. The detergent just cuts the grease from lubed patches, if you use them.

[dbarry1]

Local auto shop sells a product called "Start ya Bastard" which is an aerosol can of ether. Very handy first pass cleaner!

Appropriate product name! Had pancakes coming out my nose on that one! :O)

[siamese4570]

I use the soapy method like everybody else when I clean my rifles. Another cleaner that works well is the blue window cleaner sold at walmart. It's a windex knock off. I use this on my stainless old army. Just melts the fouling off. You can try that.
Siamese4570