Noob Questions Here!
 

Hello everyone!!

Very first post!!!:barmy:


I have recently purchased my first muzzleloader (.50cal Traditions Hawken Woodsman) to hunt with this fall. The regulations in my county don't allow for any breech loading firearm to be used so not only am I a brand new hunter at 33 years old, I'm also newish to rifles (owned a Romanian WUM-1 a decade ago) and 100% new to muzzleloaders.

After shooting and cleaning the gun do I need to oil the barrel to prevent rust? What care should be taken to prevent rust/corrosion?

I will be hunting from the ground due to financial restrictions (Just had a daughter and won't be able to afford a tree stand). Any tips to hunting on the ground?

When it comes to gear, I have the following so far:
Camo Backpack w/ water pouch
Green Gun Sock
Gun
Pre-lubed .015" Patches
.490 Horniday Balls
Powder
Powder Flask
Powder Measure
#11 Caps
inline capping tool
Ball starter
Extra Ramrod
Hoppes cleaner
Cleaning Patches

Getting right before deer season (have to save up some more):
Field Dressing kit (2 knives)
Camo (pants, jacket hat)
Blaze Orange
Compass


What other stuff should I pack/wear/use? Flashlight? Food? Shoes? Scent stuff? Deer cart(after field dressing)? Extra nipple?

Thanks guys for all the help in advance!!

I have two of the Traditions Woodsman Hawken Rifles. One flintlock, one percussion. Both are excellent shooters. My Flintlock has a 1-48 twist being newer. Told percussion was purchased the first year they were offered and has a 1-66 twist and is a true roundball shooter. But the new Flintlock is a good roundball shooter also.

You don't mention the brand of powder you shoot. I shoot Goex 2f in mine as I shoot a lot of Flintlock rifles. I shoot 90 grains of 2 or 3f as my hunting load.



This is my old rifle. And Semisane was telling me to try Liquid Wrench as a lube. It did pretty good.



This is with the normal moose milk lube I use... again just having fun.



This is my flintlock model. And would be the same barrel twist as yours.



When you have it cleaned just apply a good quality gun oil on a patch and swab the bore. This is the same steel as a modern rifle so protect it like a modern rifle. Before you shoot next time, swab the bore with isopropyl alcohol on a patch. This will pull the oil out. Then a few dry patches. Then load and shoot.

Check your rifle every so often with a dry patch and then re oil the barrel. It will last a life time.

When you clean your rifle, just remove the barrel and fill a deep sink with hot soapy water, dish washing detergent works well to clean black powder. Remove the nipple and put the breech end in the water and pot a patch on yor jag on the ramrod and move it up and down in the barrel changing patches perriodically untill the patch comes out pretty clean. Then run dry patches through the barrel till you get no more moisture, then put a light lube in the barrel and put the barrel back in the action and replace the nipple. The follow the advice of Cayugad. Some folks pour boiling water down the barrel after they clean it and the metal will flash dry from the heat. I never botheres with that.

If it is new and hasn't been fired before, make sure you clean all of their grease out of the barrel before you shoot it as well.
If you are going to use store bought prelubed patches more than likely you'll need to be prepared to swab the bore between shots, as they don't do a real great job of keeping the fouling soft and reloading can get very difficult (swabbing every shot is usually the most accurate as well). Just pack some damp cleaning patches in your container of choice, T/C #13 bore cleaner or similiar work fine. Some people simply put a dry patch in their mouth and use spit. Speaking of reloading, be sure to mark your ramrod so that you can verify you are seating the PRB (patched round ball) on top of the powder every time. If there is much of a gap between the powder and PRB it is the same thing as firing with a blocked bore.
A .015 patch and .490 RB are a great place to start, but keep in mind that you may need to adjust your patch thickness if accuracy isn't there with that combo.
I use the same cleaning method as Oldtimr, store with oil, and use isopropyl to remove it before shooting like Cayugad said as well.

Dianoga,

As Oldtimr says, a good flush with hot soapy water (just hot tap water) is all that's necessary for cleaning black powder and Pyrodex or Triple Seven residue from your barrel. If you don't want to use your sink, a clean bucket works fine. I bought a large stainless steel pot at a yard sale for a few bucks and dedicated it to that purpose. I swab my bore with a few patches saturated with any good BP solvent prior to flushing as that helps loosen any crud prior to flushing. Always remove the nipple first as you'll be able to flush the bore much easier by doing so.

After flushing with hot soapy water, I always flush again with hot clear water to remove any soap residue and then begin the drying process. Once you feel you've dried the bore thoroughly, use 91% Isopropyl alcohol to "pick up" any possible remaining moisture that the patches didn't absorb.

The best way I've found is to plug the nipple port with your thumb or finger and pour a couple tablespoons or so of the alcohol down the barrel and then plug the bore with a finger from your other hand (the one you poured with). Tip the barrel back and forth three or four times and then dump the alcohol out. Stand the barrel muzzle down on a towel for a few minutes to allow any of the alcohol to drain away from the breech. Now run a few more dry patches to remove any excess alcohol, there won't be much, it dries very quickly.

Pass a patch saturated with Barricade or Rem-Oil spray up and down the bore a few times and spray some into the nipple port. Wipe the exterior of the barrel down well and spray the sights down making sure you spray into and underneath the rear sight and into the dovetail of the front sight then wipe off the excess.You can clean the nipple with an old tooth brush and a pipe cleaner with either the solvent or soapy water. Dry it good and then give it a little spray and put it back in the barrel.

Wipe the exterior of your lock off and pay attention to the "hammer cup" as that tends to collect a lot of crud. I usually remove my lock and give it a good scrub with an old toothbrush and hot soapy water and then rinse it under hot running tap water and shake vigorously and wipe off the excess. I set my oven to 185-190 degrees prior to doing this and when it comes to temp, I then place my lock in the warm oven and give it 20-25 minutes just to dry any moisture I couldn't shake or wipe away. When you pull it out, let it cool to room temp and then spray it with a good rust preventative spray lube and let it drain on a paper towel for a bit. Wipe off the excess and put it back on the rifle. You're now ready to put it to bed until the next shooting session.

Side note...
When you get ready to shoot again, use an alcohol saturated patch or two to remove any oil residue from the bore. Remove the nipple and pour some alcohol in a small container (an old pill vial works fine) and drop it in while you run a few dry patches in the bore. Blow the excess alcohol out of the nipple and put it back in. Snap a cap and make sure all's clear. Now you're ready to load and shoot.

A nipple wrench is the only thing I saw that's missing from your list of muzzleloading accessories. Looks like you have everything else. Also, you didn't mention what powder you're using...

BPS

I only shoot triple seven powder 2F &3F as I don't prefer to put water down my guns barrels. You will/should using black or pyrodex powder as described above, but not necessary with T7.

I just use a couple of saturated patches in a citrus household cleaner till clean. Soak the breechplug in same cleaner. Brush the bore then wipe again, dry an put down a patch of lucas oil for rust prevention. Clean out plug with pipe cleaners an reinstall. Easy, simple and doesn't take long...works for me!!

He doesn't have a removable breech plug like you do. The best way to clean out the breech channel in his gun is to flush with soapy water. Even if he uses T7.

Your right...I missed the type of gun, still don't like putting water down my barrels tho, even the TC .54 Renegade!!;)

No water for me also. I've been using centerfire solvents and oils for what seems like year-1 of the early 90s.

I've been flushing with soap and water since 1980, and never had a problem with rust.

I use a few drops of Ballistol in the last hot water rinse, and it prevents any flash rusting.