help with cleaning and patch size

[Turtle Dave]

Hello everyone: I have a TVM kit southern rifle,45 cal.,36inch straight colerain barrel.

I just spent the day shooting and making every mistake possible, It was a learning experience par none. I have some questions that are really basic.

I cleaned the rifle by filling the barrel with almost boiling water. let it sit about 10 minutes. dumped it out (it seemed cLear). shouldn't it b dirty? refilled the barrel with same water mixed with ToTW's barrel solvent. let sit dumped out, clear again. then swabbed out barrel about 10 tmes at least, and pajtches were filthy. After the water, shouldn't the patches be relatively clean? How many times should it take to clean the barrel? then dried the barrel and swabbed with bore solvent wet patches till somewhat clean(always a little stuff on the patch). dry swabbed till patches were again somewhat clean. Then swabbed with barricade wet patch to protect. this seemed awfull laborious, unless this is normal

I noticed that when loading or cleaning the 1st inch or so in the barrel is really hardto get past, then ball and patch go easily down. Why is this.

Now patch size. I shood a 440 ball with a .015 thickness patch. in looking to make my own patches i read on the forum to use pillow ticking. Well the ticking bought was it seemed too thick to use.
What help can you give in picking patch material?
Also what size do I cut the patches (square it presume)? same as the lubed ones I bought(wonderlubed for 45 cal)?

Sorry for the length of this cry for help and any help is really appreciated.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I cut my own patched from cotton baby blanket flannel I buy at Wal-Mart. I use a large pair of antique tailor sissors but any will work. My patches are about 1 1/2" to 2" square and work fine. I'm guessing your jag is too large, it does not need to be tight. The cleaning is done on withdrawl when the patch bunches up into the rebate behind the jag. Jags can easily be turned down using a drill and file. Just take a little at a time until it works. BTW you do not need to fill the barrel, just swab with soapy (some will argue this is unnecessary and I'll argue back it is :slap: ) water, change patches until clean, rinse, dry, lube.

 

[timothy prouty]

If you can take the barrel off the stock put it in a bucket of hot water and laundry detergent and Murphy's Oil Soap and plunger up and down to draw the water in and out of the barrel that would clean the barrel the Murphy's Oil Soap or stop it from rusting try that hopefully that will help you I take a piece of Pixie glass an inch and a quarter by 12 inches long and then I take a piece of pixie glass an inch and a quarter Square . Take a rotary cutter uncut the pillow ticking and take the quarter inch square and cut them up into squares before I do that the strip's I cut I put Thompson Center or butter on it put it in the oven 100 degrees and melted onto the material then I take it out I hang the strips on a coat hanger too cool going to cut them up into squares and I do that with all my rifles hopefully that will help you and go shooting. Don't forget put a pieces on aluminum foil very you already know that but just in case

 

[SgtErv]

Check out the post titled "cleaning a long rifle" - Very helpful.

What kind of cleaning patches are you using? A cut up 100% cotton tshirt works best for me.

Is your jag tight? These are not all created equally. Track of the Wolf carries the best ones in my opinion. If it is kind of loose, make your cleaning patch a bit bigger.

Are you pumping the water? Try filling the barrel halfway, then ramming a cleaning patch down there. This casuals the water to sort of jet through the rifling, think dish sprayer. Be careful doing this; hold an old towel around the muzzle so as to not get fouled water on your stock.

Are you wiping between shots? This will keep the fouling to a minimum. Just dampen a patch and run it down between shots. Barely damp. May want to follow it with a dry one.

Ditch the wonder lube, imo. It is sooo hard to clean up after. To each their own here, but mink oil tallow is easy to clean.

Normal bore solvents don't do much. I'd stick with water, soap, and WD 40. (See below)

Dawn dish soap and warm water first. Then use WD40 on a patch to get the rest of the water out. Then use dry patches, then barricade.

Your patches should come out completely clean before storing it. A rust spot is much harder to remove than fouling.

Another trick is to use a bore mop with a patch wrapped around it. It's a really snug fit but it gets down in the rifling grooves.

It usually takes me an hour to clean, honestly probably about 20-30 patches or more. In the end, though, the patches are spotless. It can be done.

You'll get better at cleaning the more times you do it and find all kinds of little tricks to help you hasten it.

Best of luck man! Keep shooting - I promise cleaning gets easier. :thumbsup:

 

[Col. Batguano]

Stay away from the really hot water too. For some reason it seems to induce flash rusting. Just use lukewarm water. After I run about 20 pumps through he bore with warm water and liquid dish soap I start the drying patches. Usually about 6-8 of them yields a clean and dry bore. The I hit it with a sopping wet with denatured alcohol patch. 6 more drying patches, and blast shop air from the compressor through both ends of the barrel. A couple more drying patches (just to make sure I'n not pumping high humidity air through it), and a pretty saturated patch full of oil (I use Break Free). Repeat the patch treatment (no water this time) for a day or two following just to check it No rust the next time I pull it off the rack.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Hello everyone:

I have a TVM kit southern rifle,45 cal.,36inch straight colerain barrel.

Flint or percussion?

I cleaned the rifle by filling the barrel with almost boiling water. let it sit about 10 minutes. dumped it out

Too hot and too long.

(it seemed cLear). shouldn't it b dirty?

Are you using real BP or a substitute?

I noticed that when loading or cleaning the 1st inch or so in the barrel is really hardto get past, then ball and patch go easily down. Why is this.

You are forcing the patch material into the grooves.

Now patch size. I shood a 440 ball with a .015 thickness patch. in looking to make my own patches i read on the forum to use pillow ticking. Well the ticking bought was it seemed too thick to use.

Wash the pillow ticking.....if it's to thick try drill cloth.


Sorry for the length of this cry for help and any help is really appreciated.

Keep reading past posts all the answers are there....also, don't forget to check your gun periodically for rust.

 

[Turtle Dave]

Thanks everyone for all the help. Hopefully I will be of help to others as I learn. So far this hobby is all consuming.

Again thanks

 

[Rick Boylan]

So far this hobby is all consuming.

Again thanks

It's a labor of love. :v

 

[Jim C]

So far this hobby is all consuming.

Again thanks

It's a labor of love. :v

:thumbsup: