Lock care

[ZUG]

If you are going to shoot your rifle in a few days then you don't need to remove the lock and do a thorough cleaning but if you are not going to shoot it for 3 or 4 weeks then I would do a thorough lock tear down and cleaning. You hear all too often on this forum that a rifle owner is complaining of lock troubles and misfires then bad-mouths the lock/gun when the real problem is his/her poor maintenance. Come on folks let's get real!

 

[Sooty Scot]

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).

Worse? Sure looks terrible enough to me.
Is that a shadow where the tumbler shaft comes through the bridle, or is it really gapped that badly?

You managed a fine recovery. Were you able to teach your friend as effectively?

 

[Mad L]

Worse? Sure looks terrible enough to me.
Is that a shadow where the tumbler shaft comes through the bridle, or is it really gapped that badly?

You managed a fine recovery. Were you able to teach your friend as effectively?

Ya, camera photos don't really show just how bad is was and the after shot has too much shadow and the oil didn't help either. However, it is not shined and buffed, I just scrubbed the rust a burned on smut off - in real life it was night and day but still nothing like my well kept lock that has seen at least 2k live ball fired and gently cleaned after every outing.....but then I also polish the brass hardware too