Could somebody go through the process of the best steps to take when cleaning the hawken after shooting several rounds? Thanks Borty

Remove the wedge pin and take the barrel off.Remove the nipple.Soak nipple in rusty duck or Thompsons cleaner while you are cleaning the barrel.I clean the barrel in a wash basin sink,but any sink will do.Put a plug in the sink drain and fill the sink with warm,to slightly hot water and some dish soap if you are shooting regular black power or pyrodex,777 plain water will be fine.Fill the sink till it is a couple inches past the nipple screw hole when you stand your barrel staight up in the sink.Now the bottom of your barrel should be submeraged past your nipple hole.Get your ramrod with your cleaning jag on it and run a patch up and down through your barrel,you will create a vaccum and water will be sucked up through the barrel.Do this briskly and all the fouling will be cleaned from your barrel.Then change to clean water and repeat to rinse.When finished thourghly dry barrel inside and out by wiping and running dry patches down the clean barrel,I also blow down the barrel to expell any water near the nipple hole that the patches didn't reach.Now apply a light coat of rem oil to the outside of the barrel,and run a lightly oiled patch down the barrel and the one dry patch down the barrel to soak up any exsess oil.Now clean your nipple that has been soaking in the cleaning solvent with a tooth brush and a nipple pick or pipe cleaner.Rinse and dry thouroghly.Make sure you also clean any fouling in and around your hammer,and also lightly oil it.Now screw your nipple back in and put your barrel back and insert your wedge pin and your good to go.Before you load and shoot on your next outing run a couple of dry patches down the barrel to make sure there is no oil remaining in the barrel,then you may want to fire a cap or two and you will be ready to load and shoot.Hope this helps,I just cleaned one tonight and it takes all of about ten minutes to complete.

dvdegeorge has it very well covered. The only things I do different is when I remove the nipple, I also remove the bolster clean out screw on the side of the bolster (if your rifle has one).

After the hot soapy water bath, I then take my barrel outside and pour about a coffee pot full of hot boiling water down the muzzle of the barrel, letting it run out the nipple and bolster clean out hole. Then get a glove or towel and grab the barrel and bring it back to where you are cleaning it.

Here I dunk a bore brush in solvent and I work that up and down the barrel at least 15 strokes. It will amaze you, what that bore brush will knock loose in a hot barrel. After that I run solvent patches up and down that very hot barrel. They will finally come out clean.

Then take a pipe cleaner and poke that down the nipple hole and into the bolster clean out hole. Then I blow down the barrel and run dry patches until they all come out bone dry.

After that I run a patch with some quality gun oil such as REM OIL or Birchwood Casey Sheath on it to coat the inside of the bore. Next I put a little dab (and I mean little, you do not want to cover any flash hole here) of anti seize compound on the threads of the bolster clean out screw and the cleaned nipple. I then replace them.

I then take some Q-tips and dunk them in solvent and scrub around the bolster and nipple area of the rifle getting all the fowling off from inside and under the bolster until the Q-tips come out clean.

After that I wipe the barrel off with the same patch I ran down the bore of the rifle and re-assemble the rifle.....

Both guys above are right BUT things change depending on what you're putting down that bore throat.

Dvdegeorge gets away with soap -- gets away with a jag instead of a bore brush because George is probably using a lubricant in the bore to keep fouling soft AND he's probably using powder charges mild enough to not produce leading. He obviously is not using copper-clad bullets or plastic sabots.

I know poster Cayugad is mostly-always reaching for the max...lol He'll buy those monster 500+ grain bullets & try to knock down a thick steel sheet wall he has standing up in his backyard around 90 yards from where he shoots... lol again!

My sidelock cleaning is more similar to Cayugad's because I toy with so many different bullets/powders. I'll use a weak cleaner at first to remove 90% of the crap. Anything in a small spray bottle like alcohol or Windex will work. Then I remove the nipple & reach for a small funnel that fits in the muzzle. I'll pour 15-20 ounces down the funnel with semi-hot tap water. You'll see chunks coming out the empty nipple hole.

I'll have my ramrod, bore brush & two patches right next to me & use those immediately to dry the bore best I can to avoid flash rust. I scramble over to my cleaning bench & use stronger cleaners to remove according to the type of bullet I shot -- or how much powder I burned because heavy powder charges of a powder like 777 will leave behind leading, plastic or copper in your rifling that a jag CANNOT remove... must be a bore brush for that. Stuff like lead & plastic need removal after most range work where 20 shots or-so are fired. Copper-cladding generally can wait for around 75 shots or-so. It's residue is much thinner than lead or plastic.

After that's clean, I'll use a displacing cleaner on a patch to remove the solvent leftovers. It could be alky again -- could be Kroil, Ballistol.... even yucky WD-40. I'll dry-patch that (always use a brush) ... then reach for top-notch storing oils like Birchwood Casey Sheath, Rem-Oil/Teflon, Breakfree CLP. However, I never dry-patch storing oils because I keep my clean breechplugs, nipples, bolster screws in a sandwitch baggie hanging from the muzzle in my gun safe.

I generally put a sheet of paper towel on my safe floor & hang my clean rifle muzzle-down for a week. Any remnants of excess oil will drip out onto the paper towel. Then I turn the gun over muzzle-up for the remainder of the time.

When cleaning breechplugs/nipples, I do it over the sink but block the sink hole because sometimes holding the nipple with pliers or needle-nose pliers ain't good enough.... they occasionally drop while brushing them with a toothbrush or cleaning the insides with a paper-clip end... or something similar like a sewing needle or safety pin. Automotive Brake Cleaner in a spray with the long red straw-like nozzle attachment is used more on guns than your car brakes.... lol. Works great on nipples, breechplugs... etc. Don't get this stuff on your gun anywhere. It destroys finishes real fast. Also watch out for Brake Cleaner splashes from the hard stream spray. Don't get it on your clothes either.

Small threads like nipples & screws need anti-seize with 777. Shotgun Choke Tube Lube in huntin'/gun stores are squeeze tubes with a nice small head that releases very little at a time... perfect for stuff like itsy-bitsy bolster screws, nipples.

[Great point forgot to mention that I apply some of the purple TC gorilla grease on the nipple threads.

This is ALL I do to clean a bore-it has workled perfectly for me for over 40 years of BP/ML shooting. I use Birchwood-Casey Sheath after the bore is dry. I have totally given up on all commercial solvents. Water is all that is needed to clean a ML of all BP fouling!

Hot soapy water here. I also remove the nipple and clean-out screw. Dry everything, oil it down. She's good to go. Before I load her up again, I remove the nipple and clean-out screw again to run a pipe cleaner through after I've dry patched the barrel. Have never had a mis-fire.