cleaning my traditions kentucky rifle

I recently purchased my first rifle (traditions Kentucky rifle), and I was watching a video about cleaning the rifle after each use, I noticed in that video and all the other videos I've seen that you are meant to take the barrel off the gun, unfortunately I can only find videos on barrel wedged guns and mine doesn't have a barrel wedge, it seems much more complicated to take mine apart, but I notice that it doesn't really seem like taking the barrel off is mandatory to the cleaning process, so Is it possible to clean my gun without taking the barrel off?

It is not necessary to remove the barrel from a gun if it's pinned to the stock. Some guys do, but most don't.

What I do with pinned guns is to remove the barrel once, to give the underside of the barrel a coating of wax, and to seal the wood in the barrel channel. After that I don't remove it unless something is wrong or I am modifying something.

I have one and my cleaning process is to remove lock (careful the front lockbolt holds ramrod retention spring) leave front lock bolt in gun cover nipple ( if percussion) or flash hole (if flintlock) then swab barrel with warm soapy water,rinse,dry and oil. there is a small chamber at end of barrel that you will have to clean. I use a small caliber bore brush with rag attached to clean out.

My method is about the same as SB54Cal. I got tired of fighting the ramrod retaining spring flopping looses when my lock screw fell out in the cleaning prices. So I moved it forward some. Then I added another pen to the stock to hold it in place. I know others will by a small bolt with the same threads as the nipple. They swap it for the nipple during the cleaning process.

I put a piece of masking tape over the front lock bolt on my traditions when removing the lock to keep the screw in place so the spring doesn’t shift. Even if I’m careful I’ve turned the gun and that darn screw falls out and then it is spring fishing time.

You can get a flush nipple with tube. Remove the nipple and install the flush nipple with tube (you will want a tube barb to weigh the tube in the cleaning solution). This will do as well as removing the barrel, which you reall don't want to make a practice of in your pinned in the stock rifle.

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/66/1/FLUSH-CVA

Ditto what Dave M & Grenadier said. I took my barrel off and used car wax on the underside of the barrel and stock but the next time I did it I coated the barrel and stock channel with a polyacrylic finnish. I made my own barrel flush kit. I bought an extra nipple and drilled it out to inside diameter of the nipple. Once you do that you need to mark that nipple because it could be dangerous to fire a cap on it. I painted mine orange. I took the nipple to Ace hardware and found a piece of tubing that fit. I’ve used it for about 40 years with no problems.

I have owned a Traditions Kentucky rifle for several years and shot it a bunch in all kinds of weather. I’ve never taken the barrel out of the stock and don’t plan to.

Takes me about one minute to remove the barrel for cleaning. Just how I prefer to do it, not saying it's right or wrong.

kyron4 said:

Takes me about one minute to remove the barrel for cleaning. Just how I prefer to do it, not saying it's right or wrong.

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i've been doing that with my cva for thirty plus years and the pins are just as tight today as they we're the day it was assembled but because i knew i was going to be doing it this way when i built it i used tapered pins (i'm a retired machine shop worker)

I recently acquired a custom Southern "Poorboy" rifle from my local shop. The pins are too narrow to safely remove them without possibly damaging the stock. I plan on buying or building a "Flush" kit. In the meantime, I use a vacuum cap for a carburetor on the nipple. I fill the bore with cleaner and let it soak, then drain it out, remove the cap, and flush it out on a gun cleaning rack with the drum facing down. I finish with Isopropyl Alcohol, then a dry patch or two. I swab the bore with Bear Grease as a preservative.

I’ve done the same with a Flintlock with a removable Touch Hole liner. I find a nipple with the same threads, screw it in, and put said Cap on it.

I remove the nipple and clean out the screw then clean those areas using cotton swabs and pipe cleaners.

I use my air compressor and dry the lock mortise. Then clean and lube the lock and put it all back together. Don't forget to lube the nipple and clean out screw threads before reinstalling them! Anti-seize works well. So does modern Breech plug grease. However, to seal the threads on a drum and nipple set up (flat surface seating on a round drum), I use ¼” Teflon tape on the nipple. Not period correct like the Bear Grease, but it keeps the top of my barrel and lock plate cleaner.

Good Luck!

Walt

AyrtonF14 said:

I recently purchased my first rifle (traditions Kentucky rifle), and I was watching a video about cleaning the rifle after each use, I noticed in that video and all the other videos I've seen that you are meant to take the barrel off the gun, unfortunately I can only find videos on barrel wedged guns and mine doesn't have a barrel wedge, it seems much more complicated to take mine apart, but I notice that it doesn't really seem like taking the barrel off is mandatory to the cleaning process, so Is it possible to clean my gun without taking the barrel off?

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My first BP longrifle was a Traditions Pennsylvania Longrifle that I still have. You do not need to remove the barrel to clean your rifle and I wouldn't recommend removing it any more often than perhaps once a year for inspection. I would remove it the first time and apply some car wax to the underside of the barrel. I did that on mine and never had a problem with rust on the bottom of the barrel. Other than that, just leave it in place.

With a pinned barrel, every time you remove the barrel you take a chance on damaging the hole the pin is in. Most often it will be a small splinter of the stock that comes off the hole. So remove it rarely and be VERY careful when you do. Be sure to get a punch that is slightly smaller in diameter than the pin you are driving out and tap it out, don't smack it out. I didn't have a punch for about the first year I had my rifle so I used a finishing nail of the correct size, set that flat head on the pin, and tapped on the point of the nail to get the pin out. Be SURE that you only put the pin that came out of the hole back in it and don't mix up your pins. Although the holes and pins are supposed to all be the same size, you'll find that some fit snugly in the hole and some are loose. You don't want them loose. You also don't want them too tight or your liable to splinter the other end of the hole when you put the pin back in. If you put the pin back in the hole it came out of, you won't have a problem with this. If you have a pin that is too loose even in the correct hole, you can take the pin out, clamp it at the middle of the pin so half of it is exposed, and tap the tip to the side a couple of times. That will bend it slightly for a tighter fit, but be careful and go slowly if you need to do that.

If you decide to only tap the pin out far enough to release the barrel be careful the stock doesn't fall over and bend the pins that are sticking out the other side. I don't think it's worth taking that chance myself.

One final thing is to get some of the crayon-type wood putty and cover the ends of the pin with that so the pins are not visible without close inspection. My Pennsylvania Longrifle has a walnut stock, so I got a crayon of walnut wood putty to cover the ends. Otherwise the ends of the pins can be really shiny and I didn't like that.

Hope that helps!

AyrtonF14 said:

I recently purchased my first rifle (traditions Kentucky rifle), and I was watching a video about cleaning the rifle after each use, I noticed in that video and all the other videos I've seen that you are meant to take the barrel off the gun, unfortunately I can only find videos on barrel wedged guns and mine doesn't have a barrel wedge, it seems much more complicated to take mine apart, but I notice that it doesn't really seem like taking the barrel off is mandatory to the cleaning process, so Is it possible to clean my gun without taking the barrel off?

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This is what I do,it it has worked for 50 years.
On my CVA and my traditions Hawken. I take them apart. Remove the flash screw, nipple and drum.
Warn soapy water ( I use dawn, a few drops). Stuck the barrel in the water and with cleaning patches pump it up and down, it will blow all the stuffout into the water. Brass brush, clean patches until its clear and dry.
My kibler I do not take apart. I remove the lock, clamp the gun in a vise lined with leather covering g the jaws.. stick a tooth puck in the flash hole and brush and swab it, until it's clean.
Bore butter the patch and swab it in the barrel.
The cva and Hawken are easy to disassemble. The flintlock, not so much.
Hope that helps.
I also use antiseize on all threads. Drum, flash screw and nipple threads.
Less chance of then getting locked.
Hope this help
Mark

AyrtonF14 said:

I recently purchased my first rifle (traditions Kentucky rifle), and I was watching a video about cleaning the rifle after each use, I noticed in that video and all the other videos I've seen that you are meant to take the barrel off the gun, unfortunately I can only find videos on barrel wedged guns and mine doesn't have a barrel wedge, it seems much more complicated to take mine apart, but I notice that it doesn't really seem like taking the barrel off is mandatory to the cleaning process, so Is it possible to clean my gun without taking the barrel off?

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I also bought a bore endoscope,it wifi's to your phone, you can look all the was down the barrel.
Before and after.
The rust was surface only. Same barrel in both pics.