Cleaning my Musket?????

Haversack62

Private
Joined
Mar 18, 2013
Hello everyone, First off Happy Thanksgiving to everyone on this site. Now for the ? Why every time I clean my 58 cal. and 69 cal. musket with solvent patches and then I run dry patches until the patch is clean thru my barrel. I then run a patch with oil to coat the inside the barrel. Once I remove the patch I notice the inside of the barrel is dirty. I was wondering if I am not cleaning it good enough or oil draws the powder residue out of the barrel. How to I get rid of it?
 
If fired with black powder you should clean it with hot soapy water. After that a little solvent, a clean couple of patches, and then oil it lightly.:thumbsup:
I have done what you told me. Then I would inspect the inside of the barrel once a month and when I re oil the barrel the barrel comes up dirty?
 
Clean it with hot water JUST after shooting, like when the barrel is still hot and the fouling soft. Put a patch on the nipple, softly lower the hammer on it, pour hot water into your barrel, cover muzzle with your thumb, turn your weapon up/down rapidly several times,pour water out. Repeat until water is clear.

Stand your weapon on it's muzzle for a bit, you can shake it to get the last few drops. Run a couple dry patches through to get the last water,run some oiled patches through and call it good. The fouling is pretty well removed, you will still have a bit at the back of the barrel. That's why they sell the scraper end for your cleaning rod. Use that once in a while, some of the more experienced users can give you a better idea of how often.

Get yourself a copy of the regs for cleaning/maintaining the original muskets, reprints are available from Regimental Quartermaster. That's what I use. Enjoy!!:D
 
The proper care and feeding of a Civil War Reproduction Rifle Musket

Shane Christen

I have recently been asked repeatedly how to properly clean a rifle after use in a Living History or re-enactment. My instructions are as follows.
In the field there are two ways you can go about cleaning the black powder fouling out of your weapon.
1. Take a dipper and fill w/ water, then place said dipper over fire until it is hot... hotter the better. Pour scalding water down the barrel, the inside of the barrel being the preferred locale. It is suggested that you do this w/ the weapon leaning against a tree or cracker box so your hands don't get burned by either the water or the soon to be quite warm barrel. Repeat the process until water runs clean out of the nipple. Then using dry patches on your ramrod proceed to wipe the barrel clean. Once this is accomplished make certain that your weapon is dry, inside and out.
2. If you have a brass brush and mop use the brush to loosen and get the majority of fouling out of your barrel then use the mop to clean out the barrel... NOTE: DO NOT CONFUSE POWDER WATER W/ COFFEE. It's been done, and while quite amusing to watch... can be detrimental to the health if the victim of the prank lacks a sense of humor. Use dry patches to dry the barrel and remember to wipe down the weapon.

When you get home it’s time to break out the toolbox as it's time for a thorough cleaning. Break down the weapon to it's component parts (remove the bands, barrel, butt plate, trigger guard, ramrod, lock etc I do mean broken down) and lay them out on a table... preferably on top of white newsprint so the wife doesn't have to ask why you got oil all over her kitchen table. Trust me guys, use the newsprint and don’t look twice at the bathroom towels either. As you break down the weapon wipe down each metal item w/ an oil cloth. Take the barrel to the bathroom, remove the toilet tank cover and set the barrel into the tank breach first. Take your ramrod or a cleaning rod and attach a mop, soak the mop in Hoppes Black Powder solvent or an equivalent and start swabbing out the barrel, if done properly there should be some good suction action going on. Repeat the process until the barrel is clean. Don't forget to check the ceiling height in the bathroom or you’ll end up telling your wife you were probing for electrical wiring. Don't do this part when the wife is home... trust me. After cleaning and drying the inside of the barrel; coat the barrel with Hoppes lubricant. Make certain to wipe excess water from the floor and put the dirty towels into the laundry ASAP... ideally before the wife returns and asks what in the hell you've done to her nice towels.
If the weapon is in need of polish, ash and spit work well. But in an effort to keep the wife from asking what you're doing w/ ash in her living room use Never Dull to polish the metal surfaces. Never Dull works well and you can work while watching a football game.
Take a bit of linseed oil, enough to fill your hand and wipe down the stock, pay particular attention to nicks and dings as the linseed oil will help protect the stock. Once the oil is dry it’s a good idea to run a cloth over the stock to pick up excess oil. I do this at least once per season, though I know others who do so after every event.
Now it's time to start putting the beautiful piece of art back together. I usually soak a patch w/ gun oil and lightly coat each screw and band prior to putting her back together. When I get to the lock I drop just three drops of sewing machine oil on the moving parts to keep them lubricated. Don’t go crazy with oil in the workings of the lock or you’ll end up with a mess.
Once your lovely weapon has been put all back together I suggest wiping down the whole thing with a silicone impregnated cloth. If you have a leather sling I suggest you rub that down with good boot oil. Do this at least once per season or you’ll significantly shorten the life of the sling.
Store her either in a gunsafe, guncabinet or a closet. Don't store in a cloth or plastic guncase as that encourages rust, you want her to be able to breath.
 
Follow Johan's instructions......I follow them when cleaning my Springfield and it has served me well!!
The thing I like about the Springfield is it has a screw below/near the nipple that can be removed to help the "foul" water out of the barrel instead of being funneled through the nipple. I always take that screw and the nipple and boil them in a separate cup, as long as I already have them off, I might as well....

On a side note, the thing I HATE about the Springfield is the fact that the barrel is not blued, thus more susceptible to rust.....I have tried the following, though not in combination with one another: A) Wiping the barrel down with a thin coat of oil, B) Using Baricade spray and C) Using some kind of "butter" purchased from Dixie Gun Works.....No matter what I do, after time stored in it's canvass case in my closet, it will begin to get discolored and or "brown".....
 
Clean it with hot water JUST after shooting, like when the barrel is still hot and the fouling soft

That is not always possible. It wouldn't hurt to run a wet patch to get a start. I try to do that after every 2nd shot when I'm on the range and do it again just before packing it up.
 
I have done what everyone has told me on cleaning my musket. I run dry patches until they come up clean. What I am saying is when I coat oil on a patch I run it down the barrel. When patch is removed the patch is dirty with looks to be black sometimes a rust color. Was wondering if this is normal ?
 
Leave out the Tampion and don't store it in a case but in a gun safe w/ a dehumidifier of some sort.

Haversack, have you run a scraper through at the bottom of the bore? If not you may have some caked powder at the breachface which you will need to get out.

Every once in a while I run an oiled patch down the bore of all my black powder arms, some will come up w/ a bit of color on the patch. Gives me an excuse to clean and drool on my ladies again.
 
Yes I use a scraper, Muskets are not in a case I have them hanging up in a room. Every-time I inspect them I wipe them down with a oil cloth. Maybe I should buy a dehumidifier.
 
The phenomenon described, where a cleaned musket has additional crud come out a week or two later is common. It seems BP residue creeps into the rifling and expansive cracks and works it way to the surface over the course of a week or two. Hence after cleaning as described, a patch or two down the bore in a week will take care of that "missed" debris. Avoid overdoing the oil as well. It does not improve things and do not use a penetrating oil like WD-40 for that purpose.
 
WD-40 will leave a build up of varnish on the metal. It is made to protect things like shovels and tools that don't have moving parts. Never spray it into a door lock or padlock. It will gum up the works. Never use it on any firearms. I use Remington gun oil spray that I get in the sporting goods section of Walmart.
 
I use Ballistol, is this stuff good to use?

All I use on black powder. Afterwards I'll swab the barrel with Bore Butter. I never use water.... or petroleum-based products. If you use the above method and still find rust apply (which is doubtful) EEZOX.

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The BEST solvent ever invented to clean black powder fouling out of muskets is plain old HOT, SOAPY WATER. There is nothing finer. Then that is follow by HOT CLEAN WATER to rinse out the remainder of the black powder fouling and soap residue.

I am of the opinion that IF you use your rifle or rifle-musket for Skirmishing, then the barrel should only be removed once a year when you overhaul your rifle or rifle-musket.

The reason for this is that If your barrel is glass bedded (and it should be if you are serious about Skirmish competition) it is not a good idea to remove the barrel from its "seat" in the stock. The theory being that it takes about 200 to 250 rounds to "fully seat" a barrel in a glass bedded stock.

Whether this theory is true or not, I cannot say but to be on the safe side, I recommend you clean your glassed rifle or rifle-musket while leaving the barrel in the stock.

Now, If you are just using your rifle or rifle-musket for shooting blanks, then your should completely break down your rifle or rifle-musket as described in the posts above.

Do not use a TOMPION for long term storage of your rifle. I have pulled tompions out of rifle-muskets to find the rifling that was in contact with the tompion rusted. So, never leave a tompion in a barrel more than a day or so.

While we are talking about long term storage, DO NOT store your rifle or rifle-musket in one of those plastic or metal gun cases that use that "egg carton foam" for padding. The foam has moisture in it that is has sucked out of the atmosphere. Leaving your gun in one of those cases will often result in a rusty gun if it is stored in the case a long time.

Never use WD-40 in a barrel. When it comes into contact with black powder fouling a whitish/gray sludge is the result that is very hard to clean out. Apparently, some re-enactors have gotten into the habit of instead of cleaning their musket at the end of an event, just spraying down the bore with WD-40 and not cleaning their gun when they get home. This is a BAD IDEA as allows the gray sludge build up in their bore.

The BEST oil I have found to prevent rust in a barrel when a rifle or rifle-musket is to be put away for a while is the BREAK-FREE oil sold at the gun counters at Wal Mart. The next best is REM OIL.


I do not recommend Ballistol because despite the hype about it, all it is, is a "water soluble" oil. In other words, moisture in the atmosphere can penetrate and dissolve it if you use it in your bore for long term protection from rust. I purchased a 5 Gallon can of the stuff and was very disappointed with the mediocre protection it provided. Keep in minds that the Kraut Army adopted Ballistol and then managed to lose two World Wars in a row-could it be because they had rusty guns? In other words, I don't trust Ballistol.

You literally have to adopt the habit of cleaning your gun immediately after you finish firing it and then cleaning it fully when you get back home.
 
A solvent is neither a lubricant nor a protectant. A solvent dissolves stuff so it can washed off, wiped off or otherwise removed. A lubricant helps stuff slide past other stuff with less friction. A protectant leaves a barrier to prevent or discourage the passage of air, water or other things from the atmosphere to the protected surface. Three entirely different substances doing three entirely different jobs.
 
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