Cleaning Your Rifle

[Jon]

Hello all. I haven't posted much but wanted to hear everyone's thoughts on cleaning there rifle and pistols. I was thinking that if I'm going to shoot and hunt like a mountaineer that I should clean my weapons as such also. I have the tools to do just that but I always seem to resort to more modern techniques. What are the steps that mountaineer would have took to clean his weapon? Any thoughts?

[Rod]

I remove the lock, and stop the touch hole with a bit of twig or feather. Pour some warm water down the bore, cover the muzzle with my thumb, and slosh back and forth. Turn muzzle down, pull feather, and let drain. While it's draining, I'll clean up my lock with some wet tow and wipe down with an oily rag. Then I'll put some tow on the worm of my wiping stick (I should note that my wiping stick is not my rammer, it's a larger rod I carry in the bore of my rifle), dampen it, and scrub the barrel a few strokes. Then put some dry tow on, and wipe out, may have to do this a couple of times so that the tow comes out dry. Then put some oil on the tow and wipe the bore with that. I'll wipe down the exterior of the whole rifle with an oily rag, and reinstall the lock. It honestly takes less time to do this than it took me to type it---but I type slowly, too--but it really doesn't take much time. Most of the fouling will come out with the water that was sloshed in the bore, the tow just gets corners of the rifling, and the breachplug face.

The oils I use are animal oils I've rendered myself, I saved the grease from the Thanksgiving goose two days ago just for this. Bear oil is really good, so is beaver oil, coon oil, etc. I've never had a corrosion problem using animal fat---several years ago, I pulled the breechplug on my J. Henry rifle to check this, after quite a number of years cleaning this way. All I found was a bright, shiny bore, no build-up on the breachplug, no pits, so it works for me.

I've been questioned--and rightly so---on my use of tow. It was commonly used back east, where flax was grown, but I haven't found any mention of it being sent out west, so my use of it may not be quite correct. I will say that wooley buffalo hair works good, too, and may be more correct for what we do. However, years ago I bought a BIG bag of tow, and I'm working my way through that stuff, so it may be awhile before I get truly correct on that matter.

Rod

[Rod]

Here's my bag, the oil is in the Turlington's bottle, on top of the oily rag, along with some tow.

Rod

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[Duane]

I read an article by Rex Norman in muzzleloader magazine,where he mentioned that the strings at the end of the wiping stick were made wet,then used to wipe the bore.sounds likely to me..d

[taosdjango]

I'd like that article, what issue is it in?

[Duane]

Here you are, muzzleloader magazine May/June 2004

[Jon]

Thanks for the responses. I too have read about the wangs on the wiping stick being used to wipe the bore and also as a reminder that the wiping stick is indeed in the bore of the rifle. Rod, I've got plenty of coons around here. How do you go about rendering that fat into a usable oil?

[blackhand]

Remove as much meat as possible and cut the fat into small pieces (easier to do when cold/partially-frozen).
Place in a pot on low/medium heat and gently render the fat out, leaving "cracklins" behind. Some people add a little water to help the rendering start, some don't - I've done it both ways, and the result was the same. DO NOT BE IN A HURRY AND OVERHEAT THE FAT! A gentle simmer/sizzle is what you are shooting for.

Once the fat has been rendered, remove the "cracklins" and add water to the COOLED fat. Bring the fat/water to a simmer for 30-60 minutes, remove from the heat and allow to cool/solidify. Remove the fat disc, scrape the crud off the bottom (discard the water) and return to the pot for another 2-3 cycles of simmer/cool/clean.

At the end, you should have clean fat (white to slightly amber) with little to no odor. Store according to type - deer tallow will be hard/waxy and I store it at room temperature in "brick" form wrapped in plastic wrap (foil bread pan was used as a mold). Bear fat (or raccoon) will be softer and can be stored in jars at room temperature (Stored bear fat will eventually develop a layer of oil that can be collected and used to lube locks, while the grease portion can be used for patches). With bear fat, it is helpful to place the last water/fat step in the refrigerator to cool and stiffen, as the bear fat melts very easily (even from the heat of you hands).

[Jon]

Thanks Blackhand! Great info.. I'm going to give this a try.

[Old Solitair]

I know this is late but since I just got here.....

My approach to my rifle is in liking to what a mountaineer in the RMFT would have in the field for most of the year. That is not much. So no fancy cleaning methods. Hot water, maybe some soap, wipe down with some alcohol (if we can spare it) then finish off with oil of any animal. Bear is good and we cook down beaver tails mostly. I use a cork screw piece  of steel wire wrapped on my ram rod for a patch worm. Steel wire is a trappers tool and in inventory's. I made one in the field the other day when I lost my other one. cleaning patch of any material, I've cut my shirt before. Also grasses, but buffalo hair works real good. No Tow, wasn't available out here, like in the states. The wang thing never seemed to work so good. I use them to tie the wiping stick to the barrel to keep from sliding out.

All my balls are cast in the field from a bag mold. Most of the time ticking is used for patches, no micing of thickness, as is. Balls small enough to start with thumb, no starter. I also shoot shot from my rifle.

I may seem rough on my rifle but it has one me fine.

YMHOS

[Jon]

Thanks Solitair. Good info. I don't get to frequent the site as often as I want too but I appreciate your input.