Sharp Shooter

What is your cleaning method? I dont have one yet because I have not shot my rifle and cleaned it much. I would like to try to pump HOT water and soap down my barrel till it comes out clean by checking with a solvent patch. When it is clean I plan to dry it and run a rust preventave patch down the barrel. While all that is in progress the nipple will soak in solvent. That is a method I plan to try. How do you all clean your muzzleloaders?

cayugad

How I clean my Hawkins


The easy way to clean a T/C Hawkin Rifle is remove the wedge pin and take the barrel from the stock. I use a coffee can for the next step. I get some VERY HOT water (I have one of them taps in my home that you can make instant soups and coffee from) and put a squirt of dish soap in the coffee can. Then fill the coffee can about 3/4 full. Have your nipple wrench, patches, alcohol, solvent, bore brush and gun oil all with in reach of your chair.

I put the breech of the barrel with the nipple still on mind you, into the soap and water. I did a patch into the water and lay that over the muzzle. Now push a cleaning jag on a long ramrod through the patch and start swabbing the barrel. You will see the air and suchin the water from the pressure you are making. As you work that jag up and down it will clean the nipple at this point for you.

Work one patch all the way through the rifle barrel then force the water still in the barrel out through the nipple. At this point I take the nipple off the rifle barrel. I leave it on for the first swabbing because it will loosen the fowling around the nipple and make it easier to turn off, plus it cleans the inside of the nipple free of fowling.

With the nipple off the rifle and if possible the bolster clean out screw too, put the barrel back in the water and work a second patch through the barrel. This time really work that water good and hard through the rifle. It will really get some force behind the down strokes with the nipple out. Many times, this patch will actually come out clean. So do not be surprised. If it does then go to the next step. If not, send a third wet patch through the rifle. Some will rinse the barrel with fresh hot water at this point. If the was was real soapy, this is not a bad idea.

If your patch came up clean, then saturate a patch with solvent. Swab the barrel with the saturated patch. Solvent many times will actually come out the nipple hole and bolster clean out hole, so make sure you do this in a place where the better half will catch you and give you the devil for your foolishness.

Now put your bore brush on the rod and dunk that in the solvent and give the barrel about 5-10 strokes in the bore. This will free up anything else that might be in there.

Now another solvent patch is necessary and keep running solvent patches until they come up clean. After that, wet a patch with alcohol and swab the barrel real good with an alcohol patch or two. After that I like to run a couple dry patches through the barrel to make sure the barrel is bone dry.

Now put a excellent quality gun oil on a patch and swab the barrel with that oil patch. Work that in short strokes all through the bore. At the breech I like to turn the whole patch on the rod clock wise one full turn to put a little extra oil down there. Then remove that oil patch and save it.

Set the barrel to the side to cool. It may still be rather hot from the water bath believe it or not. Now take the stock with the lock attached and wipe the inside of the stock out with a damp water patch. You need to make sure the fowling in there is removed. With a solvent patch wipe the lock down real good. Work the patch behind the hammer as it likes to collect there. Also take a Q-tip as saturate it with solvent and scrub the inside nose of the hammer out, and keep doing that until you get all the fowling out of the nose of that hammer.

After that take the oil patch you set aside and have already lost so you need a new one, and wipe the lock down, and the trigger assembly too. Now hold the barrel at the muzzle and wipe the barrel down from the breech towards your hand getting all the prints off it. When your sure you're further up the barrel then the stock, replace the barrel into the stock. Wipe the wedge pin with the oil patch and re wedge the barrel from right to left.

Wipe the rest of the barrel off, and the ramrod and your done for the major stuff. To keep the brass nice and shiny I use Brasso Cleaner and I polish the brass on the rifle every do often. The wood stock I like to wipe down with a little murphy's oil soap on a paper towel damp with some water.

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Sharp Shooter

I like that method! I think I will try that. What is a bolster clean out screw? Where is it?

cayugad

If you look at your muzzleloader, the nipple actually screws into a small channel on a hump called the bolster on the side of the barrel. Some rifles, not all rifles, on the side of that bolster have a screw that can be taken out. Many people who have bolster clean out scews do not ever remove them. I do because there can get to be a fowling and powder build up in there. Also it allows me to pump water with more force through the barrel with that screw taken out. When I clean it, I just push some fuzzy pipe cleaners into that with some alcohol sprayed on them to make sure that is nice and dry in there....

sabotloader

cayugad

Actually cayugad - CVA is now producing a pipe cleaner that has bristles (for the lack of a better term)and they work excelently for cleaning - regualr pipe cleaners are really to soft - better than nothing, but these CVA's are a cats meow.

cayugad

where did you see these at Sabotloader?

sabotloader

cayugad

I am pretty sure that i picked up a couple of packages at Sportsmans Surplus.

Here is a picture:

http://www.cva.com/products/access_clean.htm

Sharp Shooter

Bass Pro Shops has them to.