Enfield or Springfield

[glenhunter]

As a matter of discussion, which musket (repro) would resist rusting to a better degree given the same amount of care and carried and fired exact amounts , the chromed barrels of the US Springfields or the blued barrels of the Enfields? Any and all help is appreciated.
Thank you
gh

 

[captaindrew]

They will both rust pretty quick out in the elements if you don't stay on top of them but the blued barrels are a bit more forgiving and give some protection. Springfields aren't chromed by the way they are polished bright.

 

[Stony]

Enfield

 

[BarryR]

I re-enacted for years with my trusty 1861 Springfield...No rust...Every battle I would stick wax in in the primer and fill the the barrel with boiling water, dump it, repeat till it comes out clean..(Very hot to handle !!) Then bore butter..Another battle, repeat...Worked for me...Your mileage may vary...

 

[WJC]

I re-enacted for years with my trusty 1861 Springfield...No rust...Every battle I would stick wax in in the primer and fill the the barrel with boiling water, dump it, repeat till it comes out clean..(Very hot to handle !!) Then bore butter..Another battle, repeat...Worked for me...Your mileage may vary...

Interesting method. Was this your own discovery? From a book or video on guncare? Or something done 'in olden times'?

 

[BarryR]

Interesting method. Was this your own discovery? From a book or video on guncare? Or something done 'in olden times'?

It was shown to me by my pards in my unit when I joined..I was sitting there cleaning with trusty No.9 or Black Powder Buster, when they showed me...I still use that method today with my Black Powder Ruger Old Army..

 

[WJC]

It was shown to me by my pards in my unit when I joined..I was sitting there cleaning with trusty No.9 or Black Powder Buster, when they showed me...I still use that method today with my Black Powder Ruger Old Army..

Thanks for your response.
I was brought up on Hoppe's No. 9 and never would have thought of that method! Thinking about it now that you've mentioned it, it is obvious that Hoppe's hasn't always been around and there must have been some other way to clean bores before.

 

[captaindrew]

Thanks for your response.
I was brought up on Hoppe's No. 9 and never would have thought of that method! Thinking about it now that you've mentioned it, it is obvious that Hoppe's hasn't always been around and there must have been some other way to clean bores before.

# 9 isn't the best choice for black power, learned that the hard way. Any kind of petroleum product makes the fouling much worse the next time. Stick to hot water and very light oiling with something non petroleum, I've been using Balistol with good results

 

[WJC]

# 9 isn't the best choice for black power, learned that the hard way. Any kind of petroleum product makes the fouling much worse the next time. Stick to hot water and very light oiling with something non petroleum, I've been using Balistol with good results

Thanks for your response and another great tip!

 

[mofederal]

The Springfield. I have carried both. I prefer the Springfield.

 

[captaindrew]

I have both and like them both. I like my Springfield but I learned two lessons the hard way when I started using it. One, like I said before go light on the oil. I was afraid with the bright finish of it getting rusty so I wrongly figured the more oil the better. The second is the cleanout screw is there for a reason. the combination of too much oil (and the wrong kind of oil) and not taking the cleanout screw out and cleaning that out every time the cone area got so fouled it started misfiring and you wouldn't believe the time I had cleaning it out. With the advice and help of some other Springfield owners once I figured it out I never had any more trouble with it.

 

[Craig L Barry]

As I read this, the question is "which finish resists rust better"...obviously the blued finish.

 

[gary]

Blued or polished white, treat it with Rig Gun Grease and buff it in.