Do you take your lock off with every cleaning

[pharmvet]

I have always been anal about taking screws in and out of anything once it is completed. I just dont like the idea of them loosening with repeated in and out. My question is : Do you guys routinely remove your locks when cleaning? If so, after years have you noticed any loosening, or impressions left in the wood either from your side plate or from your main springs from getting the screw too tight from time to time.

 

I take my locks off and clean'em 'bout every 2nd. or 3rd. time I clean my rifleguns. I jest put tha bolts back in and "snug'em" back up.
I find no "need" to tight'n so much thet "impressions" are left in tha wood from tha sideplates!!

YMHS
rollingb

 

[Cmabie]

I take my locks off my guns each time I shoot them as, sometimes, monthes go by between the times that I shoot the guns. Black powder residue can work down around the sides of the barrel and the stock. If one can remove the barrel it is a good idea to clean the barrel sides, too. If the barrel is pinned into the stock, and the rifle is sighted in, removing it causes some problems as the the bedding of the barrel will be disturbed. Black powder residue can work in behind a seemingly perfect fitting lock. A little soap and warm water does the trick. Dry the lock and oil it before putting it back on the gun. Usualy lock plates are hardened and there will be no problem with threads in the screw holes being stripped or wearing out. The lock screw threads may need hardening by heating then up until the glow red and quenching them in some type of light oil or water at room temperature. If you are careful, Casenite can be used to harden the lock screw threads. I do not tighten the screws too tight, just snug enough. Be sure to clean the rifle barrel with the same care. I use Micro bedding under the back of the barrel to insure a good tight fit in my wheellocks, flintlocks and caplocks. Also wipe out the lock mortise with a damp cloth. :thumbsup:

 

[Rebel]

I remove the lock from flintlocks each time i clean. I take the caplock locks out once in a while to check them and oil them.

 

[sebago]

I remove and clean my guns' locks every time after shooting. I just put in a sink full of hot soapy water and scrub with an old toothbrush. After that I rinse it off under the tap, pat dry and spray on some Rem Oil. No problem and no rust ever.

 

[musketman]

Take off every time, clean, oil and check for loose screws...

 

[roundball]

Yes, if I clean a rifle after shooting, I clean the lock.

...AND...on flintlocks, I also remove the frizzen pivot screw to clean, dry, and lube that pivot area & screw.

Like someone else mentioned, I may not use that particular rifle or smoothbore again for months so when I put one up, I want it showroom ready and never have to worry about it.

 

i take them out on my flintlocks every time . keeping the inside clean and rust or residue free keeps them fast

 

[Deadeye]

Yep, I take them out everytime, never noticed any problem from doing this. It's not necessary to snug them up more than snug.

 

[Hawkeye]

Yep, every time. Been doing it for about 35 years and haven't worn out a gun yet.

 

I'm about the same as Hawkeye and many of the rest - long time shooter with BP guns and clean locks every time they're used.
: No gun damage.

 

[Musketeer]

I remove the lock every time, as well. It not only allows you to thoroughly clean the lock, but also makes cleaning the barrel easier :imo:. Makes it easier to get the flush tube and pipe cleaners in and around the vent. :thumbsup:

 

[Rat]

With Bess I remove the lock every time, and like most others do not tighten the lock bolts down with a heavy hand. I think a tiny bit of grease on the bolt threads will eliminate any wear, or oil.

Taking off the lock just allows me to clean the little nooks and crannies, and the side of the barrel better, and clean in and around the touch hole better...even though I never use any water on my firearms and have no use for a flush-tube.

With my percussion guns, both military type rifle-muskets, I only pull the locks once in a while.

Rat

 

[fatboy]

I take mine off and clean it after every shooting. I bought a longrifle that was made about 25 years ago in .36 and it sat unfired for about 9 or so years. When I got it the trigger worked hard, so I took the lock off and of course it was rusty inside not destoyed but needed a good cleaning and I polished the parts back up the best I could with emery and a stone and has a nice pull now. some times you may even want to pull the trigger and clean once a year or so and lube w/wd40 :imo: :thumbsup:

 

[scroggwe]

I take my locks off every time I shoot on both flintlocks and percussion locks. I almost always find some blackpowder residue on the back of the locks and on the barrels behind the flintlocks. I have been shooting blackpowder for 20+ years and have never had a problem with my locks by removing them for cleaning.

 

[madstone]

Some of my ML's are so old their lockplate screws had to be faced off. The wood shrinks after decades! (I don't own many guns made after Winchester's menopause of 1964.)

As I usually, though not every time, dismount the barrel for cleaning,( I am regularly caught by "Mother Williams" cleaning my ML's in her tub!) I can see whether the lockplate needs cleaning. Depending on your guns' design/fit you can tell whether it catches a lot of fouling between the plate and barrel. Hence the value of good fitting of parts to parts and wood? The triggers don't catch much residue, nor dampness. Clean and oil them twice as often as common sense dictates?

BP residue is very, very corrosive, as you know. You wouldn't let your bore go w/o addressing the presence of fouling , would you? No more than you'd hunt in the driving rain with your 30-06 and then just wipe off the outside?
I'm trying not to sound "teacher-ish". I was a "schoolmaster"as well as a gunsmith before I retired. Now, my age and infirmity necessitate lots of medicine so my advice might be "foggy".

I have some archaic tables of the proper torque for various screws in ctg rifles. Most factories can provide them? As overtightening the lockplate screws can put pressure on the barrel they can affect accuracy. (I bet Daryl, who is the best source of stat's in here, I think, can help, here!)Same with overtightening the trigger gd. screws on the ctg guns.

Some brutes might constantly torque down every screw on their guns, with herculeum strength, and shift the fit of trigger/sear. etc. I suppose some of these parts could wear to "polish" then be shifted off to points of contact less appropriate. Shift bbl/lock, too. This may be reducing the argument to absudity?

One rumor about WD-40. Some gun-gossips say it removes all the water and oil and leaves a surface, after evaporation, that is conducive to corrosion and freezing up> I don't know if this is true but it isn't wood-friendly! It might clean the metal extremely well and leave a clean surface for the next corrosive element to attack? Most say great to clean, then oil!

Take it out and burn some powdre. Then dis-assemble and see where the soot and fouling accumulate. Let this be your guide to the frequency of removing the lockplate and triggers. Your reluctance to subject screws to repeated working and torqueing is not a bad thing. It shows you are thoughtful about what you do! With this kind of awarenes you can't go wrong.

Flashguards can protect a cap-gun but a flintlock obviously fouls the side of the barrel. It's hard to get down at the lock/bbl area. Hence they need to be dismounted (bbl)almost every time?
Did this make sense? Everyone else seemed to think you should remove lockplate everytime. I bet they know more than I do!! Better listen to them! :yakyak:

 

[frenchfusil]

If I was using it for reenacting, I do take the lock of when I clean it. The reason is when loadign as fast as I can the pan often will be overprimed resulting in large amounts of fouling all over the lock.

Mkui Medal
Guerre Abenakis

 

[musketman]

If I was using it for reenacting, I do take the lock of when I clean it.

Anytime black powder is burnt, the gun should be cleaned, inside and out...

It is better to over clean than it is to under clean... :winking:

At the very least, take the lock off and look to see if it needs cleaned...

 

[ryoung14]

Hmmm.... I got away from taking off the lockplates of my T/C percussion guns because I never found anything there that needed cleaning. Now they come off once in awhile for lubrication and that's about it. Barrels always get dismounted for cleaning and the tang comes off too unless the gun's going to be used in the next day or two. The inlines get a thorough teardown each time; but they really need it.

As a precaution, I give the lockplate edges and backside (not the mechanism) a thin coating of bore butter before re-assembly. Thought being that anything that does lodge in there would face a lube barrier and would wipe off easily.

Been awhile since I pulled a lockplate. Might be time to see what's going on.
Bob

 

[berickson]

on my flinters i always clean the locks. just real hot tap water and a tooth brush'll do it. then oil and put back. one thing i found with all my flinters is the fit at the touch hole, lock and barrel is usually poor so i run a small bead of grease there to seal it. i varathane the inside of the lock area too so the grease and oil won't soften or punk up the wood.the grease keeps manure out of the lock- i was having trouble with the 1/2 cock not setting properly until i started the grease bead thing. beeswax would probably do just as well but it's -15 degrees outside and i can't find no bees. ::