Lock care

[Crow#21957]

I took a couple locks out of rifles today and they look awful.I dont think there was rust just black cruddy and other stuff. How do you take care of yours? I'm thinking put them in a plastic container filled with some cleaner like lacquer thinner. Soak for 3 to 4 hrs. Remove blow out with air then spray with LPS.
Is this ok. I don't really want to completely disassemble but I can them. What's your thoughts?

 

[Gtrubicon]

Drop them in water, scrub em up with a tooth brush, dry them, oil them, reinstall them, get em dirty again.

 

[64Springer]

Tear them apart and scrub every part till bright and shiny.

This gets rid of the black cruddy gunk that's sandwiched between parts.

Lightly oil/grease and reassemble.

 

[Notchy Bob]

If you are able to disassemble them (...and then put them back together), that's what I would do. You'll need screwdrivers that fit the screws, and a mainspring vise. The hammer is sometimes a bugger to get off the tumbler, and you can probably just leave it on for cleaning. If you want to get the hammer off, there are right ways and wrong ways to go about it, which we can discuss if needed. I would poke holes in a piece of cardboard to retain the screws, and label the screws according to where they go by writing on the cardboard.

For cleaning cruddy old locks, I use kerosene. Put the parts in a pan with enough kerosene to cover and let them soak for a while, maybe just a short time, a couple of hours, or maybe more. Kerosene won't hurt the metal or the finish. I then use a toothbrush to clean off each individual part. For more aggressive cleaning, use a small brass-bristle brush. All of the gunsmith suppliers have these. Wear gloves if you are worried about toxic effects of kerosene. I don't bother, most of the time, but you don't necessarily want to be like me. Wipe each part dry, then wipe it with an oily patch, then reassemble the lock.

If you find you need to clean off rust, bronze wool works pretty well if you don't want to damage the finish or patina.

Good luck with it.

Notchy Bob

 

[Crow#21957]

Thanks. I just u st got the screw orioles straightened up.i dud use toothbrush in the past. I've used soapy water too.I have had locks apart quite a few times. Do have main spring g vice. I'm think I nkibg I might just try to Polish most of the parts after cleaning. Then oil like you say and reinstall. I've got a lot to learn about hardening parts and tempering and what really gets me is whrn the say final fitting required. Although I've done alot of unmentiobables.Thanks for the advice you have helped my confidence in how I'm doing things.

 

[garypl]

To keep a lot of the crud from seeping down into the lock internals I smear a mixture of beeswax & canuba wax softened with some olive oil along the top edges of the lock where the lock meets the barrel and stock. This keeps most of the crud from getting down inside the lock.

I remove the lock every time I shoot and normally there is just a little black crud where the lock bolster touches the barrel - the rest of the internals are clean. A quick wipe with a wet patch followed by an oily patch and then wipe any residue away from the outer edges of the lock mortise and you are done.

I also smear some of the wax mixture along the stock/barrel joint in front of the pan area, going several inches toward the muzzle as well as around the breech where the tang hits the stock, to keep liquids out of the wood under the breech/tang. Smear it in to seal any microscopic gaps and wipe off the excess and you can’t hardly see it is there unless you look for it. You could probably use any good paste wax to do the same job.

 

[Crow#21957]

Thanks Gary please good advice

 

[necchi]

I took a couple locks out of rifles today and they look awful.

Maybe try asking in the "Firearms" section of the forum.
This is "The Craftsman" section,, there's a lot available here,, if ya look,

 

[Grimord]

I put the entire lock (fully assembled) in my Ultra-sonic cleaner for 30 minutes, then blow off all the liquid with my air compressor, then lube with either "Barricade" or graphite depending on the weather. In cold weather, or for hunting, I use the graphite as it does not get stiff in cold weather.

 

[ZUG]

All the above answers will work. As for me I prefer to dissemble the lock and give it a thorough cleaning then dry it completely and oil/grease it and then reassemble. This way I am sure to keep rust at bay for a longer time between use.

 

[Flintandsteel]

Lacquer thinner will take out any amount of lubricant in the lock.

 

[Dusty_Traveler]

I bought a small ultrasonic cleaner off Amazon and I have been wearing it out cleaning gun parts. Disassemble the lock, fill the cleaner with HOT tap water, add a few drops of dishwashing soap, let it run for 10 minutes. Dump water out, refill with plain hot tap water, 10 more minutes. Dry, reassemble lock with RIG, and its SPOTLESS.

 

[NorthFork]

??????

Ultrasonic cleaners? Full disassembly?

You all do you. I don't really care, but man you all are making this harder than it needs to be.

Real BP and Pyrodex are water soluble. Yes Dawn/Palmolive help break the surface tension and dissolve excess crud.

Pull lock after every shoot. Throw into pan/pot/bucket of soapy water. Leave for 10 minutes. Scrub with toothbrush. Rinse with HOT water. Blast with WD-40. Let dry. Oil/grease appropriately. Done.

No rust. No Crud. No fuss.

All that said, I NEVER use WD-40 in the aerosol form. I buy it in bulk 1 gallon metal cans. It is different. I use a WD-40 branded pump sprayer to disperse it. I can SOMEWHAT see where the myths of WD-40 gumming up the 'works' of guns is true if all you ever have been exposed to is aerosol WD-40.

 

[Dusty_Traveler]

??????

Ultrasonic cleaners? Full disassembly?

You all do you. I don't really care, but man you all are making this harder than it needs to be.

 

[NorthFork]

View attachment 235192

I figured as much.

 

[Sooty Scot]

If it's greasy "crud" the above advice is good. If rust, try Evaporust I found mine at Meynards big box construction store) works wonders - w/out harming the metal. It leaves a black coating, but that scrubs away easily.

 

[Mad L]

First: I clean my locks after EVERY shoot. I have Never pulled one of My locks and found it rusty or even black and cruddy.

With that said; a friend gave me one of his rifles to clean, been shooting for maybe 4 or 5 years, ONLY shot blanks (Civil War Reenactments), and when I asked what oil he uses he replied "What's that?".
He had never pulled the lock, he didn't even know it could be done.

The following photos are not really that clear but if you zoom in you can see the rust, just surface rust luckily.
I just soaked it in a mixture of Ballistol and Break Free (because that is all I had) for a couple hours while I worked on the barrel (also had rust, and Lots of crud) and had lunch.
Then I went at it with a brush, rinsed in water, flushed with alcohol, and then a goodly amount of Baricaid Oil and let sit overnight. Then wiped off the oil and reassembled.
(you really have to zoom in on photos, it was much worse then they show).

 

[Rob M.]

Some interesting replies ....in both directions . I don't remove a lock every time I shoot , to each their own ...After the bore has been swabbed with water , 15 patches usually , brush the pan and surrounding area clean with water , tooth brush works great ! they have old looking wooden tooth brushes at rendezvous andcDixie carried one for a while , then I drybthevsame area with cotton cloth , same as my patching , material ... I oil swab the dried bore then with the oil patch I used on the bore I wipe the pan , frizzen and surrounding area with it and then wipe the entire length of barrel with it and call it done . usually 8-12 minutes . Every once in awhile I'll remove the lock and first thing I look for is the seal at the touch hole , its obvious after a shooting spree , then quick inspection of the lock guts and main spring . There is never crud . Drop of oil where mainspring rides tumbler , wipe off excess then return lock to.mortice .

 

[necchi]

here ya go,,
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/lock-maintenance.167097/#post-2395875
where it should be,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Mike Payne]

normally when I clean my rifle I just take the lock out run hot tap water over it while I scrub it with a toothbrush. Let it dry then oil it and reinstall.
Three or four times a year I will take it apart and give it a thorough cleaning. I have used this method for well over thirty years and had no problems.