Hey, just wondering, what's your cleaning routine for your muzzleloader? I know there's many different ways of doing it, but what's the easiest and does the best job? I have a cva optima and was kinda overwhelmed by the billions of cleaning tools. What's necessary?

We all go through a religious cleaning routine but it all depends on how you feel as to whether or not your gun is clean and protected from rust. Here's a few ways I clean my guns:

http://mamaflinter.tripod.com/id9.html

http://www.cva.com/videos.html

Another good visual:

http://www.castbullet.com/misc/clean.htm

Cap locks, knock the wedge pin out, remove nipple, insert barrel in pail of hot soapy water andpump with cleaning rod with proper jag and patch. Remove from dirty hot water and inseart in clean non soap hot water and pump again. Remove barrel and allow to dry while wipeing down other hardwear and wooden wear with damp cloth. When the barrel is dry apply oil to metal parts and wax to wooden wear.

Inline remove bolt & breach plug install cleaning tube insertfront of barrel in pail of hot soapy water and pump with
proper Jag and patch. remove barrel from dirty water and inseart in clean hot water and repete. remove and allow drying time while cleaning bolt andbreech plug. Apply oil to all metal parts clean stock with plastic cleaner and protectant.

Simple easy cheap and quick, dollar store dish soap and 150F hot water.

Al

Traditional rifles

Insure that the rifle you are about to clean is UNLOADED!! I can not stress the importance of this. I had an incident where a friend claimed he could not get his rifle clean. When I checked it, it was loaded. So if you did not hear that rifle go off and know 100% that the rifle is unloaded, check it. Put the ramrod in the barrel. The ramrod will all but disappear in an unloaded rifle.

Cock the hammer to the half cock position. Now knock the wedge pin(s) out of the stock to release the barrel. And remove the barrel from the rifle. This is a good time to wipe all the fowling off the outside of the barrel with Windex or some other kind of cleaner, and a cloth in the nipple/bolster breech area of the barrel. It is not necessary to remove the nipple from the rifle just yet.

Have your water source ready. I use a plastic coffee can as they do not rust. I fill that ¾ of the way to the top with VERY HOT (to even boiling if necessary and you can wear gloves to do this) water and then give it a squirt of your favorite dish soap, or cleaning product that will be water soluble. Now immerse the breech end of the rifle barrel under that water level so the nipple is covered. Dip a cloth patch of appropriate size into the water to saturate it. And with a tight fitting cleaning jag, work that wet patch down the bore of the rifle in short strokes. Working to the bottom or breech of the barrel. Bring the patch back up and out of the barrel.

Let the water run out the nipple of the barrel, and if you can remove the bolster clean out screw do so. You have actually cleaned the fowling now out of the nipple since you left it in for the first of the water patches.

Repeat this step #3 with a second and third patch. NO MATTER HOW CLEAN THEY LOOK. You should also not that with the removal of the nipple and in some cases the bolster clean out screw, an increased of volume water is moving out the openings and you pump those other patches through. This is cleaning out the bolster for you.

Now pull the barrel and make sure all the water has drained out of the barrel as possible. I now like to dip a fussy pipe cleaner in solvent and push that into and past the nipple port threads as deep as I can get it to go into the breech. Then work that back and fourth to insure that there is no fowling in that area of the rifle. If the bolster clean out screw is out, so the same thing with the pipe cleaner in that area. You should be able to force that pipe cleaner all the way into the breech. Simple check the depth you have moved that pipe cleaner into the breech and then hold that against the outside of the barrel. It might surprise you how deep you have moved into that area.

With a strong solvent patch, I now like to swab the bore of the rifle. Pay special attention to the breech area. Turn the tight fitting patch in a clockwise direction once, being careful not to unscrew the jag head. Some rifles have a cone shaped breech design. It may be necessary to put a breech/cone scraper attachment on the ramrod and reach in there and physically scrape that cone clean. Often times this can be done with a 30 caliber cleaning brush on your favorite rifle ramrod. All you want to do is clean that cone. Normally it is clean.

Another strong solvent swab is now worked down the barrel. Pay attention to any signs of fowling on that swab. If there is any, then another patch with solvent is put down. If the patch comes out clean (as normally they do) put some isopropyl alcohol on a patch and swab the bore.

If you have access to a air compressor, I like to blow forced air through the nipple port and bolster clean out screw area.
Now start to dry patch the bore of the rifle. Do not stop until you can check that patch and note there is no moisture on it. Also the patch should show no signs of fowling.
Swab the bore of your rifle now with a patch saturated with your favorite gun oil. You want a good coat on that. Set the barrel off to the side, to cool. As it cools it will draw the oils into the pores of the metal.

Now is when I clean the lock. Check the nose of the hammer for old caps. Remove any stuck cap pieces from the nose of the hammer. Fill that with solvent and let it sit a few seconds. Now with Q-tips wipe its nose. Keep cleaning until the nose of the thing is clean.
Solvent a patch and slide that behind the hammer and clean all the lock area you can get to. Pay special attention to the inside of the bolster where the nipple goes back to. Make sure that is nice and clean.

Wipe out the stock of the rifle.

Wipe down the outside of the rifle with the oil patch you used to swab the bore. Pay special attention to the bottom of the barrel. People often forget this area only to find rust at a later time.

Replace the nipple and bolster clean out screw. Wipe your rifle prints off the barrel and replace it in your stock. Now while gripping only the stock put the rifle away. Your rifle is clean.


INLINE RIFLESThere are two ways I clean them. A lot of it depends in whether the scope comes off or now. The main way is …


Insure the rifle is unloaded. If you are not 100% positive, check that rifle.

Break the rifle down to as many pieces as possible, according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.

Place all the small fowled parts in a water soap solution to soak. These include the breech plug, the hammer striker, etc..

Remove the scope if possible. Pay attention here to insure you do not loose any part from the scope rings (voice of experience here).

With the barrel now broken down, I like to swab the bore with Windex or any other favorite solution to remove as much of the fowling as possible. Usually two patches are enough. I always like to work from the breech to the muzzle so I do not move any more fowling then necessary over the breech thread.

I take the rifle and parts to the sink where I have a solution of dish soap and water. Here I pour water down the muzzle of the barrel with a cup. I then turn it over and do the same from the breech side. I then set the barrel over the bath container and squirt dish soap into the breech area. I slide part of the breech brush in to the breech and again apply soap to it. Cover that area with your hand, and work that soap and water into a thick foam. Now rinse that area again with water.

Take an old tooth brush and again, a little soap, and scrub the back end of the rifle getting all the fowling off the breech area of the rifle. Rinse again. Set the barrel to the side.
I now like to take and clean the bottom of the rifle scope free of fowling if there is any. Pay attention to the rings and make sure they are clean also.

Clean the breech plug with the tooth brush and soap. Work that plug until it is spotless. And clean the hammer striker or any other parts you might have. Be sure and rinse the soap.

Now back to the cleaning bench where I run solvent patches through the bore of the barrel and over the parts I cleaned, including the scope. I want to make sure there is no sign of fowling anyway.

Visually inspect all parts and the bore of the rifle.

With an air compressor, blow out the breech plug. And I like to wipe all parts off with a patch with some alcohol on it. Then some dry patches to make sure there is no hidden water on them. The same of the barrel. I like to swab the barrel with an alcohol patch and then dry patches until I am sure it is dry.

After that I swab the bore with favorite gun oil. I also wipe off the scope, and all other parts except the breech plug. Wipe the outside of the barrel off as well as the scope.

Now apply a good coating of the tape or breech plug grease. What ever you use when you shoot. I use Slick 50 one grease. I then like to put the plug back in the rifle since I shoot so often. BUT if you will not shoot that rifle for an extended period of time, you might be better served to place all those small parts in a zip lock baggie. With a paper punch and some duct tape, tape a corner of the baggie and punch a hole through the tape and bag. This will give the bag strength. Now a small piece of string and tie that to the trigger guard. You now have a clean rifle and all the parts ready for the next time.

I also put a small amount of the Slick 50 on the lug screws. As I screw them in to hold the barrel to the stock this helps protect them from rust and it helps them in removal the next time.