Cleaning kit suggestions wanted.

I am looking for a cleaning kit for all of my rifles and pistols... something that would cover from .32 cal to .50 cal.

This fall I am actually going to shoot all of them after assembling, tweaking, and buying what I have now..... a rather exciting prospect to me!

What I have is a .32 Crockett, 2 1851 Navy (brass and steel frame, both in .44 caliber) 2 1858 Remington (again, brass and steel frame in .44 caliber) and 7 .50 caliber rifles.... Pedersoli Frontier flintlock, Traditions Pennsylvania in cap and ball, Traditions Kentucky, Traditions St. Louis Hawken, Traditions .32 Crockett, Traditions .50 caliber Mountain, Cabela's .50 caliber Hawken, and a Traditions Frontier in .50 caliber.

The question comes from having some very long barrels.... Pedersoli flinter is actually 39", and is the longest of them all.

I will need something to clean the patent breech, so I have read .22 cal will do that.

Cost is a factor in a all in one kit as I am retired, living the life I dreamed of, but not wealthy.

Any suggestions?

I also have some modern cartridge rifles that I would like to keep clean.
I know.... soap, very hot water, etc, but looking for something that will reach that danged patent breech to clean it out also,

Thanks in advance, and yes, I still like Traditions even with the minor issues I had during the assembly of them..... they keep getting better and more mine daily.... heheheh

railshot

My Lyman GPRs have a patented breech and I use a .38 caliber brush that fits my cleaning rod..... I wrap a cleaning patch around it soaked with bp solution, send it down, give it a twist or 2, pull it back out (the brush hangs onto the patch), send a dry patch to soak up the solution, and finally send an oiled patch on the brush for rust prevention.

My rod is from 'track of the wolf'.

Goodluck and shoot straight

Kit?

Proper jag for each bore and a mop for each bore. My "rod" is a full length (48") wood rod with a threaded tip to fit the jags.

And all of my rifles and smoothbores come with a suitable "back-up" rod for loading and cleaning in the thimbles under the barrel. From the image I see yours do as well.

NO to the very hot or even tepid water ... room temp water or as straight out of the cold tap is all you need! Hot water promotes flash rusting.

By "kit" what I meant was something along the lines of the Remington "kit".

Something that would cover everything I own, which includes a few modern firearms.....
I think I will just pick this one up for now, and move on.

Thanks for the input everyone, as usual, much appreciated.

The small diameter jointed aluminium rod is not a good idea for muzzle loaders.

railshot said:

By "kit" what I meant was something along the lines of the Remington "kit".

Something that would cover everything I own, which includes a few modern firearms.....
I think I will just pick this one up for now, and move on.

Thanks for the input everyone, as usual, much appreciated.
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I've never seen such an assembly sold whenever I've needed cleaning implements. I think you'll likely have to purchase jags, ball pullers, fouling scrapers, bore mops, and brushes (if you want them) for each and every caliber gun you own.

One thing you could do would be to look for a sectioned cleaning rod. That way you'd have one rod to fit several long arms by adding or removing one of the sections. Get a cone shaped muzzle protector for the rod.

I have a bunch of different cleaning kits along with several different rods for my muzzleloaders and unmentionables most of the time I use a one piece aluminum rod I made or a wooden ramrod I also made with a pinned tip on my large bore muzzleloaders. On revolvers an pistols I use a single section of shotgun rod or short piece of a wooden ramrod.

My opinion: buy two GI military cleaning rod kits. I prefer the .30 cal M1-M14 kits, buy a loading-cleaning jag for each caliber, a small patch worm for lost patches, a large and small bullet puller, and a muzzle bushing to keep the rod centered in the barrel. The advantage is that everything fits into a small package, and you can use as many sections of rod as you need for each barrel length. The "T" handle also helps.

railshot
Your best bet for cleaning the guns with the long barrels is to buy a "range rod".
Track of the Wolf has them with 44 inch length rods. They come with either #8-32 or #10-32 threads so you will need to know what your various screw on tools like the jag, barrel scraper, ball remover etc. have on them.

If your starting out from scratch I recommend buying the tools with #10-32 threads on them. The threads are much less likely to break.

Here's a link to the TOTW site:

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/33/1

While your there, also check out the various tools they sell. You should have a cleaning jag for each caliber gun.

Dixie Gun Works has some range rods for a cheaper price but they are made out of a synthetic (plastic) material. I much prefer the steel rods. According to the Dixie site, their range rods only come with #8-32 threads which is another negative in my book.

I agree on the TOTW range rod with 10-32 threads. I have used mine for a couple of years and itwas a good investment. Mine works on my 32 cherokees and my CVA Kentucky rifle very well. They will also have plenty of jags in your calibers. Best to put your own kit together and have exactly what you need. I use a Plano tackle box to keep my range stuff in the kind with the trays that lift up not period correct but works on a budget would love to have a wooden range box like some on this site but all things in due time.

Thanks again everyone, sincerely.
It has now been over 40 years since I have actually fired a BP anything, which is why I came here to get opinions.
Back then, I knew nothing, and still have much to learn again....

Zonie, thanks for the link and heads up.

I will be going in that direction for sure, as I like the guide that is incorporated into the handle, very clever in a common sense way if I may say so.... heheh, I just may try to build my own based on what I see.
After doing some soul searching and research, I can understand the value of the guide-muzzle protector, and why it is actually quite important, particularly if the rod itself is made from stainless.
The prices listed to me are quite reasonable, so going this route for sure.

Cruzatte said:

One thing you could do would be to look for a sectioned cleaning rod. That way you'd have one rod to fit several long arms by adding or removing one of the sections. Get a cone shaped muzzle protector for the rod.

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Sectioned cleaning rods scare me. Too many edges to cause muzzle or bore damage.

Flint62Smoothie said:

NO to the very hot or even tepid water ... room temp water or as straight out of the cold tap is all you need! Hot water promotes flash rusting.

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Second that on the hot water.
Sometimes useful, but I rarely use it. Have not used hot water for several years.
70% Isopropyl alcohol is 30% water, and that is what I use a lot, along with Ballistol diluted with water.
If you try the alcohol, avoid the 90% Isopropyl-it has too much alcohol and evaporates a little too quickly in my opinion.

Dibbuk said:

My opinion: buy two GI military cleaning rod kits. I prefer the .30 cal M1-M14 kits, buy a loading-cleaning jag for each caliber, a small patch worm for lost patches, a large and small bullet puller, and a muzzle bushing to keep the rod centered in the barrel. The advantage is that everything fits into a small package, and you can use as many sections of rod as you need for each barrel length. The "T" handle also helps.

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If you use a sectioned rod, be sure the joints where the sections screw together fit each other EXACTLY ( Not likely ).
If they don't, the joints will wear and chip away at the crown on the muzzle each time you move the rod in or out.

Certainly everyone should own some sort of metal range rod, and to my mind the ability to have both straight and T handle.

However, and I know I'll be in the minority here, but for regular cleaning I use a long 5/16" hickory rod with a pinned 5/16" and 3/8" on the ends and use a muzzle protector. On longer barreled guns it is real inconvenient/impossible to use a handle on a typical range rod- you have to choke up on the rod in use and never liked the grip on the hands with the metal rod- very slippery, whereas the wood gives a better tactical feel/grip. The wood rod wear issue is utter nonsense to me.

railshot said:

What I have is a .32 Crockett, 2 1851 Navy (brass and steel frame, both in .44 caliber) 2 1858 Remington (again, brass and steel frame in .44 caliber) and 7 .50 caliber rifles.... Pedersoli Frontier flintlock, Traditions Pennsylvania in cap and ball, Traditions Kentucky, Traditions St. Louis Hawken, Traditions .32 Crockett, Traditions .50 caliber Mountain, Cabela's .50 caliber Hawken, and a Traditions Frontier in .50 caliber.

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Personally I think you need at least 3 separate cleaning rods if not 4
You need a small diameter rod for the .32
The larger calibers will need a larger diameter rod and the longer barrels will need a longer rod.
You can clean a pistol with a rifle rod but it's a pain in the butt.

What you do not want are rods that are assembled in pieces. especially aluminum rods. They will eventually break, they cannot withstand the force of getting a patch stuck.

Also, I've never needed a brush to clean a patent breech, in fact I recommend strongly against it. To each their own as some will disagree, but I have never needed one.

railshot said:

By "kit" what I meant was something along the lines of the Remington "kit".

Something that would cover everything I own, which includes a few modern firearms.....
I think I will just pick this one up for now, and move on.

Thanks for the input everyone, as usual, much appreciated.
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Just my experience, Railshot. For care of some other firearms and knives I've had, other than my muzzleloader, I bought some "kits." Namely, two gunsmith screwdriver sets, a jag set, a TORX screwdriver, various sharpening stones, sets of flat and hex heads, etc. For me, the majority of the kit components have never been used. Of course, I simply may have made incorrect choices. Did that for one of the gunsmith screwdriver sets purchased.

When I not that long ago I got into muzzleloading, that opened up a new world of tools needed. I have gone the minimal route so far, and only purchased the specific tools for my Trapper pistol. Less expensive to start (for me), and I have all that I need. I'm most satisfied with this approach.

wiksmo

Flint62Smoothie said:

NO to the very hot or even tepid water ... room temp water or as straight out of the cold tap is all you need! Hot water promotes flash rusting.

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At home or the range I’ll use whatever water is available, however, when I am in hunting camp I’ll risk the possibility of flash rust (have yet to have a problem with it) from using boiling water to clean. The most important thing for me when hunting is a clean dry barrel, and the heat from boiling water gets you there. The only fail to fire I ever had while hunting occurred when I used ‘canteen’ temperature water to clean. Loaded the gun about 6 hours later, and at the end of the day it would not light up. The charge had become fouled. The ‘tent’ temperature during this hunt was from the low thirties to maybe mid teens, so not sure what ‘room’ temperature would officially be.

Flint62Smoothie said:

NO to the very hot or even tepid water ... room temp water or as straight out of the cold tap is all you need! Hot water promotes flash rusting.

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First time I've heard that evaluation re. using very hot water. Really? I do use hot water each cleaning.

And what is flash rusting? I really like to avoid that bad 'ole rust stuff. Thanks for whatever explanation you give.

wiksmo