How to clean flintlock pistol without removing barrel

I had a chance to shoot my first kit build-Pendersoli Kentucky flint pistol in .54. Very happy that the thing fired, and at least some of my shots were on paper. Still have several trips to the range to work more lead through the new barrel before I take a file to that tall front site....

Meanwhile, I have a cleaning to do now, and I hope to get tips here. On my rifle I’m able to easily remove my hook-breach barrel for cleaning, which I do every time. But this pistol is a bigger deal to remove the barrel, and I hope not to have to completely disassemble it every time for clean up.

Without removing the barrel, how does one use hot soapy water without getting the whole gun soaked? Pouring even a little water down the barrel is gonna be a sloppy mess with a patch but is that the technique here?

Anyone aware of a video out there where someone cleans up a Kentucky-style flint pistol without removing the barrel?

Remove the lock. Use a toothpick to plug the touch hole. Using a small funnel at the muzzle and a towel around the stock at the muzzle. Fill the barrel with soapy water. Wipe the fouling off the lock. Dump the water from the barrel and fill it again. With a soapy patch wipe the surfaces of the lock down and remove the flint from the jaws. Dump the water from the barrel and fill it again. You should not be seeing grossly discolored water. Grease the threads on the jaw screw. Wipe off the flint and inspect for the sharp edge. Knapping can be done to freshen up the edge. With a damp patch, wipe the bore to remove any remaining fouling. Wipe the barrel by the touch hole. The patches should no longer be black after a few patches. Use a dry patch to remove most of the water from the bore and the surface of the lock. Using an alcohol soaked patch or WD40 soaked patch to remove any remaining traces of water. Running a patch with Ballistol may surprise you by pulling up some traces of fouling. For storing, I like to use a patch soaked with Barricade. The Barricade leaves a thin rust inhibiting film in the bore. Reinstall the lock. Store muzzle down to let any left over oils drain from the breech and touch hole.

Grenadier1758 said:

Remove the lock. Use a toothpick to plug the touch hole. Using a small funnel at the muzzle and a towel around the stock at the muzzle. Fill the barrel with soapy water. Wipe the fouling off the lock. Dump the water from the barrel and fill it again. With a soapy patch wipe the surfaces of the lock down and remove the flint from the jaws. Dump the water from the barrel and fill it again. You should not be seeing grossly discolored water. Grease the threads on the jaw screw. Wipe off the flint and inspect for the sharp edge. Knapping can be done to freshen up the edge. With a damp patch, wipe the bore to remove any remaining fouling. Wipe the barrel by the touch hole. The patches should no longer be black after a few patches. Use a dry patch to remove most of the water from the bore and the surface of the lock. Using an alcohol soaked patch or WD40 soaked patch to remove any remaining traces of water. Running a patch with Ballistol may surprise you by pulling up some traces of fouling. For storing, I like to use a patch soaked with Barricade. The Barricade leaves a thin rust inhibiting film in the bore. Reinstall the lock. Store muzzle down to let any left over oils drain from the breech and touch hole.

Click to expand...

Thanks much for this!! My job for later today...

Be sure to grease all the threads. I use RIG grease.

I never had much luck using a toothpick, they usually leak and sometimes break off. What I do is remove the touch liner and plug the hole with a M8 x 1.25 bolt wrapped in Teflon tape.
An even better set up is to cut the head off of the bolt and drill a 1/8 hole through the bolt and slip a length of tubing over it and pump it into a container of water.
If you are one of those who believes that removing a touch hole liner is a unforgivable mortal sin, I offer my sincere apologies for my sinful ways .

Some touch hole liners can be removed and others cannot. The Chamber's White Lightning can not be removed once installed without using an easyout and then the liner is destroyed.

You are correct,the White Lightning liners are not removable but I cut a screwdriver notch in mine and it is now removable, I have done two like this and have had no problems. I'm sure the OP has a removable liner. If your rifle does has a non removable liner your only option is a leaky toothpick

Better option than a leaky toothpick...Small Bamboo picks for Kabobs sold in your local grocery have worked well for me...c

A removable liner is just another word for “projectile”. If you’re white lightning is thick enough for a screwdriver slot, it’s not doing it’s job anyway.
WAAAAAAAAY too thick.

Thanks guys.

The job is done this time, but I definitely want to improve the process. It was, as several mention, very hard to get a seal that held back water. Once I did, as I pushed down the barrel with a cleaning patch, pressure quickly pushed out whatever sort of plug I could fashion at the vent hole liner (VH), so I ended up just dipping a cotton cleaning jag (looks like a 2” cotton ball) in hot water several times, then moved on to the WD40, etc.

RE the VH liner... I do remove my VH liner in my rifle every time, soak it in a black powder solvent, clean with a cotton swab, then coat the threads with this purple grease that I bought for this purpose (from Track of the Wolf). With as much manure as that removes, so long as I’m careful with the threads, I personally can’t see changing that procedure.

I’d like to be able to screw in a “plug” as described above, but I am anxious about finding the exact right thread -not one that seems “close enough.” I thought about taking the VH liner to a hardware store and turning it in/out of one of those thread size tools they often have.

Anyway, thanks much to all who have offered their advice! I know the remove vs not remove the VH liner is a hot button for many, but it’s great that on this forum, folks can disagree with civility!

I missed the instruction to pull the vent hole plug when wiping the barrel. Your modification is fine.

Grenadier1758 said:

Remove the lock. Use a toothpick to plug the touch hole. Using a small funnel at the muzzle and a towel around the stock at the muzzle. Fill the barrel with soapy water. Wipe the fouling off the lock. Dump the water from the barrel and fill it again. With a soapy patch wipe the surfaces of the lock down and remove the flint from the jaws. Dump the water from the barrel and fill it again. You should not be seeing grossly discolored water. Grease the threads on the jaw screw. Wipe off the flint and inspect for the sharp edge. Knapping can be done to freshen up the edge. Dump the water from the bore and remove the plug before wiping with a damp patch. With a damp patch, wipe the bore to remove any remaining fouling. Wipe the barrel by the touch hole. The patches should no longer be black after a few patches. Use a dry patch to remove most of the water from the bore and the surface of the lock. Using an alcohol soaked patch or WD40 soaked patch to remove any remaining traces of water. Running a patch with Ballistol may surprise you by pulling up some traces of fouling. For storing, I like to use a patch soaked with Barricade. The Barricade leaves a thin rust inhibiting film in the bore. Reinstall the lock. Store muzzle down to let any left over oils drain from the breech and touch hole.

Click to expand...

Oops, I missed the instruction to dump the water from the barrel before wiping the bore with a patch. The water soak removes a lot of the fouling but not all the fouling. That takes a damp patch.

Taking the vent liner to a hardware store to check the thread pitch and diameter is a good idea. I have found that the clamp that seals the vent and tube can be very messy and I keep loosing the rubber o-ring seal and now the seal won't fasten properly to the clamp.

I get a leakproof seal of the flash hole by draping a a layer or two of Saran Wrap over the tip the toothpick before inserting into the flash hole. It also helps to cut the sharp tip of the toothpick off to prevent it from penetrating the Saran Wrap.
I like pouring an ounce of MAP down the barrel, plug the muzzle with my thumb, invert a few times, dry patch, lube, done.

Art Caputo said:

I get a leakproof seal of the flash hole by draping a a layer or two of Saran Wrap over the tip the toothpick before inserting into the flash hole. It also helps to cut the sharp tip of the toothpick off to prevent it from penetrating the Saran Wrap.
I like pouring an ounce of MAP down the barrel, plug the muzzle with my thumb, invert a few times, dry patch, lube, done.

Click to expand...

What is MAP please? I've read that acronym a few times but don't know what that is?

Murphy's Oil Soap, rubbing Alcohol, Hydrogen Peroxide.

Mixed in equal proportions. You can use 71% rubbing Alcohol or the 91% denatured
Also use the weakest percentage of hydrogen peroxide formulas for sale.

Store in a dark bottle or the hydrogen peroxide becomes water and you have MAW which cleans without all the foam.

Grenadier1758 said:

Murphy's Oil Soap, rubbing Alcohol, Hydrogen Peroxide.

Mixed in equal proportions. You can use 71% rubbing Alcohol or the 91% denatured
Also use the weakest percentage of hydrogen peroxide formulas for sale.

Store in a dark bottle or the hydrogen peroxide becomes water and you have MAW which cleans without all the foam.

Click to expand...

Ah... thank you. I knew it was some combination of stuff, and I new that Murhy's oil soap was one of the ingredients, but I couldn't piece together that AP part of that one.

I like to turn my rifles with pinned barrels upside down in my range box which has rifle size notches cut in the top to hold for cleaning. Pistols can be held upside down when swabbing the barrel out. This helps keep the water out of the stock from flash hole leaks or muzzle over runs.
Also I see no advantage to using any form of peroxide which is a super oxidizer when plain warm soapy water will do the trick perfectly with no danger of rusting anything.

Grenadier1758 said:

Murphy's Oil Soap, rubbing Alcohol, Hydrogen Peroxide.

Mixed in equal proportions. You can use 71% rubbing Alcohol or the 91% denatured
Also use the weakest percentage of hydrogen peroxide formulas for sale.

Store in a dark bottle or the hydrogen peroxide becomes water and you have MAW which cleans without all the foam.

Click to expand...

In this way, an old french recipe called "1813":
1 part ammonia
8 parts demineralised water
1 part methyl alcohol
3 parts black soap (Murphy's Soap can also works).