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Do ANY of you guys remove pinned barrels...

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I never remove my pinned barrels for cleaning. I only pull them if I need to for maintenance. It really isn't necessary to pull my barrels for cleaning. My breechplug is flat faced.

This is my method for cleaning:

I shoot flint rifles so I plug the vent hole and stand the rifle up and pour water down the bore and let it stand. With the lock removed I clean it first making sure it is clean inside and out.

I then pour the water out that is in the bore and scrape the face of the breechplug to remove the gunk that is attached to the face of the breechplug. I then run a brush up and down the bore a few times. I then run dry patches untill they come out clean and dry.

Next I load a patch with Hoppe's # 69+ and run it down the bore. If it comes out clean I am finished. If it comes out a little dirty I run two dry patches and another Hoppe's #9+ and repeat this process untill the patches come out clean.

It is a personal choice as to whether you remove the barrel for each cleaning but consider this: Lets say you shoot once an week. There are 52 weeks in a year. You remove the barrel each time you shoot. The pins are slid in once and out 52 times a year. That means they are moved 104 times a year. Once out and once in. Metal pins rubbing on wood has to cause at least some wear on the wood over a period of years.

Some of my muzzleloading rifles are many, many years old and have had tens of thousands of shots fired through them, but all still have perfect bores when examined with a drop in bore light.
 
I stand to correct myself on the Hoppe's product that I use. It is not Hoppe's #69+ it is Hoppe's # 9+, which is formulated for cleaning black powder. I guess I had Tink's # 69 Doe in Heat on the brain.
 
I plug the vent hole and stand the rifle up and pour water down the bore and let it stand. With the lock removed I clean it first making sure it is clean inside and out.

I then pour the water out that is in the bore and scrape the face of the breechplug to remove the gunk that is attached to the face of the breechplug. I then run a brush up and down the bore a few times. I then run dry patches untill they come out clean and dry.

+1 about that.
I never remove the pins. In addition to the quoted procedure, I do this: I rub a coating of Minwax Paste Finishing wax on the wood surfaces before I start cleaning. When I am done, I buff off the wax - which has protected the wood during the process. Then there is a step that was suggested by the man who made the gun: apply a light coat of type A transmission fluid the the exterior surfaces of the gun. Then wipe off the excess with a clean, dry cloth.
It works for me.
Pete
 
I use tranny fluid as well but I use Type "F" which is sort of waxy. Protects both wood and metal.
 
I never ever remove pins from any of my barreled smoke machines. I'm 55 years old. I plan on getting in at least another 20. Why should I chance mucking things up for no reason when I'll be dead before the rifles are?
 
In over 30 years of shooting I have never pulled a pinned barrel to clean the gun. I have pulled a barrel to make repairs to stocks or barrels but never to clean the gun. A toothpick in the touch hole and pouring hot soapy water in and out is good enough for me.

Many Klatch
 
Osayo,
I do not Pull the pins and barrels either. Im sure there could be some rust under the barrel over the years, But have never seen any on originals that were taken care of that was a problem.
One thing i do now is coat the underside of the barrel with tru-oil. Once dried its like armour and i dont think anything will touch it. A good coat of wax into the wood and should be good to go for the life of the gun.
I guess ill see how it works in a few years.
 
I'm dealing with 120 inches of rain a year, so I use many of the preventive measures described. But after a good soaking, I always pull the pins, barrel and lock to get things good and dry inside the stock inletting. Yeah, I know. Seal the stock with Tru Oil and grease the barrel, and fill the barrel channel with grease...... :yakyak:

I care too much for my guns to count on any of that as an alternative to a little extra work pulling the pins and making darned sure there are no hidden problems. It's easy to pull the pins and doesn't hurt a blessed thing but my free time.
 
BrownBear said:
I'm dealing with 120 inches of rain a year, so I use many of the preventive measures described. But after a good soaking, I always pull the pins, barrel and lock to get things good and dry inside the stock inletting. Yeah, I know. Seal the stock with Tru Oil and grease the barrel, and fill the barrel channel with grease...... :yakyak:

I care too much for my guns to count on any of that as an alternative to a little extra work pulling the pins and making darned sure there are no hidden problems. It's easy to pull the pins and doesn't hurt a blessed thing but my free time.

Going through what you do, Can't blame ya for tearing them a part and checking.
 
I figure I must have put the pins into and removed them from every longrifle I've built at least 30 times while I'm building.
As long as I use an undersize pin and a tiny hammer to get them started out of the holes and then pull them with a pair of pliers no damage that I can find has been done.

For this reason I don't hesitate to remove the barrel from the stock every time I clean it. By being able to submerse the removed barrels breech in a bucket of water while I'm pumping the bore with a patched cleaning jag I know its clean and its easy to wipe the powder fouling off of the exterior of the barrel.
 
i remove the barrel maybe once a year after hunting seson to repack the wax or whatever I had in the stock inlett, I have had many in the white barrels with some patina to one degree or another and never found any great degree of rust starting, I would give this one a toss up and call it a personal choice thing.
 
Zonie said:
I figure I must have put the pins into and removed them from every longrifle I've built at least 30 times while I'm building.
As long as I use an undersize pin and a tiny hammer to get them started out of the holes and then pull them with a pair of pliers no damage that I can find has been done.

For this reason I don't hesitate to remove the barrel from the stock every time I clean it. By being able to submerse the removed barrels breech in a bucket of water while I'm pumping the bore with a patched cleaning jag I know its clean and its easy to wipe the powder fouling off of the exterior of the barrel.


Yeah, it's not rocket science to tap a few pins out without hurting the gun. But If the gun is shooting where it is surpposed to be and the barrel channel is sealed, bottom of the barrel is greased up, in a lot of cases it's not needed everytime. Not all of us clean our guns exactly like you do. :v
 
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