How often did our ancestors clean their guns after using BP

[HWooldridge]

I realize there is no way to know - and just like today, maintenance is up to the individual user, but I find it difficult to believe everyone did a hot water wash and oiling at the end of every day, after firing a shot. If a hunter killed a deer and immediately reloaded his muzzleloader, he probably would have hesitated to waste the charge that same night, especially if hostiles were in the vicinity.

Hickok supposedly fired his ‘51 Navy’s every day - did he pull them apart, wash out all the residue then wait for everything to dry before oiling and reloading? If so, he would have been defenseless for a fairly long time.

Cartridge ammo made the unloading easier - both pistols and long guns - but the other variables remain. A couple of guys are out in the bush for several weeks and killing game every day, that needs to be cleaned and butchered. The horses come first, then the meat processing - by the time the day is over, it’s a chore to just crawl into a bedroll. Did the guns go a week without cleaning?

Most of us are not relying on our BP guns for protection so we have the luxury of taking our time, but I wonder if the oldtimers observed the same practices - or were their lubes better at protecting the bores for a few days?

I ask this because I have a Colt 44-40 SAA from 1904 that is tight mechanically but the bore and the exterior have quite a bit of pitting - the rifling is also worn and faint. Makes me think the old girl may have been shot and not cleaned very often.

I sometimes test my homemade BP on a steel welding table inside my shop, and if it’s damp weather, there will be raging red rust forming within 24 hours. Of course, there is no lube on the plate - just powder residue, but I’d hate to see a rifle bore in the same condition.

[deces]

That is a good question, I know solvents have changed with time and not for the better.

[M-Tecs]

Hickok had more than one 51 Navy and he had other firearms so if he felt there was a threat, I am sure he had a loaded firearm handy.

I have been wondering the same thing with a slight twist of how the mountain men and those that were very remote for extended time periods dealt with this practically in subzero temperatures.

Black Powder is more hygroscopic than corrosive. Pyrodex is truly corrosive. I know of three rifles that weren't cleaned for a week after firing Pyrodex and the barrels were toast. On the flip side I have seen guns fired with BP that weren't cleaned for extended time periods with no or little damage.

Lots of the cowboy shooters shooting BP do very minimal cleaning (if any) for days on end. Spraying with Ballistol and wiping the big chunks off is it. The cowboy lever guns shooters tend to only do a complete teardown once or twice a season.

I am sure there are detailed accounts of the cleaning methods of the time in some of the old journals but I am not aware of them. My guess is they used sperm whale oil or rendered animal fat like some use Ballistol today.

[HamGunner]

I have no idea as I have not read anything specifically related to how gun care was carried out in the past BP days. Looking at old BP guns though, it does appear that there were a whole lot that were rode hard and put away wet more than just a time or two.

Myself, I doubt that most really tore the weapons down and done a hot water and soap job on them right away if they were out and about or tied up with other important duties or chores. I would think though that a good decent quick swabbing and then a quick greasing/oiling of the bores and cylinders at the end of the day would likely make do for preventing corrosion of the vital parts if it was inconvenient to really tear down and deep clean a weapon for a while.

I have shot my 51's and a .32 Squirrel rifle a lot the last couple of years, especially after I started making my own caps and BP. I do completely dismantle and deep clean them after my day is done and I have settled in for the evening. After doing it a good many times, it still takes me at least an hour to clean a revolver and the rifle, as I do take care to clean everything well.

Although, I think I could easily swab and oil the bores and cylinders and wipe off the outside deposits enough to prevent corrosion to most of the important parts, in likely 5 min. I imagine that would be good enough to get by with if real cleaning was very inconvenient or there was just not time to really do it right.

[GregLaROCHE]

During wartime, soldiers used to piss in their barrels, if no water was available to clean out the fouling, so they could keep shooting.

[indian joe]

Dont forget that those old guns suffered a lifetime of corrosive primers - likely did as much damage or more than the powder residue.

[Bent Ramrod]

Not nearly often enough, if the relics I find are any indication.

[dondiego]

They most likely didn't use hot water to clean with. Any water available would work.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Not very well, and not very often would be my guess. Thousands upon thousands of weapons were made for use in the Civil War, and how many survive to today? And how many of those are in good condition?

DG

[rintinglen]

Bear in mind the when cartridge firearms came around, the "Old fashioned" percussion guns of the civil war became much less desirable and for many years, they were simply wall hangers, or just junk. It is not surprising that many were recycled or scrapped, especially when time and circumstance did not allow for cleaning and the bores were allowed to rust.

Now, a method of cleaning used in the Civil War was to put a small piece of leather over the nipple and hold it in place with the hammer, then pour left over coffee or hot water into the barrel, let it set for a few moments, then holding a thumb over the muzzle, shake the weapon back and forth, drain it and then do again. Swab the bore with a dry patch, then an oily patch, and reload. It was supposed to work pretty well. I would expect that the mountain men and settlers would do something similar.

[Adam Helmer]

I have read much history of the Mountain Man era circa 1820-1835, more or less. Mostly the folks I read about did use water to flush out the bore, when they had time. The Hawken brothers in St. Louis did a brisk business of "Freshening" (recutting rifleling) in mountain mens' Hawken rifles annually. The rebore job resulted in a shiny, and Larger bore for the next season. A new bullet mould was provided and all was well.

My last visit to my local gun shop and viewing the used muzzeloader gun rack disclosed that many folks still do not properly care for blackpowder arms. Just saying times have not changed much....

Adam

[megasupermagnum]

There are military manuals that detail how they did it. They were as strict, likely more strict about clean firearms than they are today. Every military did it differently, but the big ones (British, French, Spanish, etc.) had written standards.

Civilians, same as today did whatever they pleased. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any written instructions. Even journals at best only briefly mentioned cleaning, at least I've not seen it.

I've never read about anyone, military or civilian using anything but water. Sometimes warm, sometimes not. Sometimes with soap, mostly nothing. Lube was anything and everything from bear grease to olive oil to whale oil to beeswax.

The only real difference I've found that they didn't seem to do is clean with patches. I've never seen a pre civil war muzzleloader patch jag. Instead they seemed to universally use worms for loose material, presumably flax tow, but any loose material works. I've tried it, and I don't find much difference in cleaning, it's just another way to do the same thing.

[TNsailorman]

I would guess that it was sorta like today. Some cleaned their guns after each use and took very good care of them. Others were too lazy, tired or did not have time and neglected them with the resulting damage. In the War of Northern Invasion, most of the riflemen were on the move much of the time especailly after a battle. Either advancing or retreating. My granfather still used a muzzleloader when he was young because it was cheaper than cartridge rifles and because he could shoot it much cheaper than buying cartridges which were expensive in his time. Flints were readily available and black powder too and both were fairly cheap compared to loaded ammo. He kept his muzzleloader hung over the kitchen door--at least that is what he and my great grandmother told me. james

[JoeJames]

" My granfather still used a muzzleloader when he was young because it was cheaper than cartridge rifles and because he could shoot it much cheaper than buying cartridges which were expensive in his time. Flints were readily available and black powder too and both were fairly cheap compared to loaded ammo. He kept his muzzleloader hung over the kitchen door--at least that is what he and my great grandmother told me."

Things were tough in the Ozarks too, my dad's cousins used the family Plains Rifle - 42 caliber, to squirrel hunt with until they were drafted in WW2.

Cousin had a gun shop/pawnshop. He said a very high percentage of muzzle loaders he bought or traded for were still loaded. His standard practice was to run a cleaning rod down it to see where it bottomed out. Usually it came up short. People don't change much; I expect they'd clean with hot water and then oil it. When dried they'd load it again until ...

[HWooldridge]

The act of reloading a muzzleloader after a shot will help push some of the junk back down the bore - but the cartridge guns don't have that automatic assistance. My pet theory is that people might have run a lubed patch on top of the fouling, in an attempt at waterproofing until such time as a more thorough cleaning opportunity was possible. I have personally run a patch with straight Ballistol through a fouled barrel on overnight hunting trips that lasted 3-4 days and the bores didn't seem any worse for wear. Of course, I did perform a full cleaning routine after getting back home.

[Hannibal]

I'd guess that bore degradation was just something accepted as normal and a new rifle was a given every so often. How often the rifle was replaced would depend on the habits of the user and available resources. ($)

I'd further venture to guess that it wasn't recorded because no one ever thought it would be of interest. Just another thing to deal with living in that time and those conditions.

[405grain]

"the War of Northern Invasion"
Kind sir: I believe the proper term is "the War of Northern Aggression".

Signed, The descendant of many members of the 53rd North Carolina

Though there's extensive evidence to the contrary, I would like to believe that mountain men took care of their longarms as if their lives depended on it.

[JoeJames]

[QUOTE=405grain;5534665]"the War of Northern Invasion"
Kind sir: I believe the proper term is "the War of Northern Aggression".

Signed, The descendant of many members of the 53rd North Carolina


Captain Phillips Battery of Tennessee Artillery and 3rd Confederate Cavalry reporting in. War of Northern Aggression is the proper phrase. My great grandfather in the 3rd Cavalry had great pleasure in acquiring two 36 Caliber Navy Colts from a Northern Aggressor.

[gunther]

Back in the 1980's a friend, who was a better shot than nearly all of us, left a custom flinter and a blued Ruger Old Army in his car trunk all summer. Trunk gasket leaked. A mutual friend got the cleanup job on the flinter, and I got handed the Old Army. They had both been to a shooting match before they hit the trunk, uncleaned. The flinter cleaned up nice. Took a while for the stock to come back to normal. Kept on shooting lights out. The Old Army suffered the loss of the bolt spring. The rest of it was as good as new. Wish I had known at the time that Bill Large had line bored it for over-the-log matches, and talked buddy out of it. I have seen one other bolt spring rust out in a gun cleaned regularly but not disassembled. The fellow who built my rifle remarked that most damage was done by cleaning too much. He told me to shoot it every day or two and it would be fine. I didn't have the faith to try it. Or the time to shoot every day or two.

[indian joe]

I'd guess that bore degradation was just something accepted as normal and a new rifle was a given every so often. How often the rifle was replaced would depend on the habits of the user and available resources. ($)

I'd further venture to guess that it wasn't recorded because no one ever thought it would be of interest. Just another thing to deal with living in that time and those conditions.

They proly did what some of us would do with a wore out barrel
cut an inch off the end to get rid of the ramrod wear, reset the front sight and go round again
if that wouldnt do it, fresh out the rifling one or two calibres, recut the mold to suit.
Easy with a frontloader - not so easy with the new fangled catridge guns