How do You Clean Your Fullstock cappers?

[luieb45]

I've been thinking about building a southern mtn. in caplock when I get around to it maybe this summer. Just out of curiosity, what's a good way to clean these?

 

[Zonie]

I guess I'm one of the few but I remove the barrels from my full stock rifles to clean them.

Yes, that includes removing the lock but cleaning up the inside of it isn't a bad thing.

The other folks usually position their full stock guns upside down on a bench to keep the water from running down under the barrel but I'm sure they will give you other helpful suggestions too.

 

[Dave K]

Like Zonie says. I usually also put a hose on the large part of the nipple, to get the water further away from the gun. If you look at all, it is easy to find a hose that will give you a snug fit, on that large end of the nipple where it joins the drum or bolster. I also just take the lock off and put it in the kitchen sink. I may remove the barrel every couple years. I have never found and cruds there as I am sure to clean the barrel in the location of the lock, while the barrel is in the stock. The nipple usual only comes out of my barrel once, that is when it is replaced. I think I replaced it a couple of times. :wink:

 

[Tom Compton]

I drilled out an old nipple and attached a piece of clear gas hose. Remove the shooting nipple and screw in the modified one. a nut or minie ball on the other end of the hose keeps the end in a soda can or cup half full of water.\
TC

 

[luieb45]

I've heard some people let soapy water soak in the bore, does this work well?

 

[Zonie]

I'm not sure why anyone would intentionally put soapy water into their bore and let it soak.

Yes, I use soapy water when I'm cleaning my guns bore because I use lubes like Bore Butter and Stumpkillers Moose Juice. The soap is in the water to make the oil clinging to the bore water soluble so it will rinse out with the pressure flushes that are to come.

By the way, I remove the nipple before starting any of this.

This is done with the first couple of strokes of my wet soapy cleaning patch.
Once done I set the breech into a bucket of water and work my patched jag up and down the bore to pump clean water thru the flame channel and the breech. I change patches often while pumping to rinse out the remaining soap, the now soluble oil and the fouling that has accumulated from shooting the gun.

Once new cleaning patches come out clean I then use dry patches to dry as much water from the bore as possible.
I then heat the breech over my wives gas kitchen range to dry out any remaining water from the threads, nooks and crannies down in the breech. (Remember, I remove my barrel from the stock before doing any of this).

While the barrel is still hot I run a patch soaked with Barricade down the bore and then use that same oily patch to wipe off the outside of the barrel.

I clean the nipple separately with plain water and an old tooth brush.

Getting back to your question about letting the soapy water set, it sounds like someones idea of trying a lazy mans way of cleaning.
Most corner cutting lazy approaches I've ever tried backfired and created more problems than they got around.

 

[Dave K]

Again, I agree. Years ago, when I started all this, I used soaps and detergents to clean it with. Then it dawned on me that all the people that were using these guns when they were new, probably didn't have much soap for themselves let alone the gun. I have been using straight water now for years and Ballistol is what I use to protect the metal. If I am home where my air compressor is, I will blow down the barrel both directions to make sure it is dry. But I still always come back everyday with a lubed patch and send it down the barrel just in case. I haven't had trouble with anything at all and this has been going on for 25yrs. I am sure there are other ways that work for others, but this works for me.

 

[luieb45]

So how do you clean it with just water?

 

[Vtsmoker]

TOW sells a kit for cleaning full stock rifles that is the commercial version of what 40 Flint describes. Wrap a towel around the muzzle and flush through the nipple hole. Use warm water in the bucket, it evaporates quickly so you don't get moisture left behind. You can also heat the barrel with a hair drier as mentioned to remove any moisture left. You will get flash rust so oil as quickly as you can. A can of compressed air used for cleaning electronics can be used to dry external areas like the nipple area if needed. It can be purchased anywhere computer stuff is sold. You can also "spray" the air into the nipple hole to dry the bolster and breech.

 

[Dave K]

I use a jag with a patch on it. Depending where I am, in a deer camp or at my home, I have used the hose on the nipple to get the water away from the wood and I have poured water down the muzzle. I have stuck a tooth pick or wood plug in the nipple (vent if a flinter) and filled the barrel with water. Then with a quick removal of the wood plug and a quick push of the patched jag on the ramrod,I sent the water and cruds flying out the nipple (or vent). Everything comes clean in the barrel or nipple at the same time. I will probably repeat this maybe 1/2 dozen times, until the patch and water looks clean. Then I dry the bore with 1 patch and then use several with Ballistol to lube the bore. Many times I will also use a brush with a patch on it and then a jag with a patch on it. Everything I use in BP is water soluble,so I really don't need a detergent. Many like to use it though and that is ok.I will repeat the Ballistol patch the next couple days, just to be sure it is not rusting and it is clean. The important thing is to do something that works for you and this works for me. :wink:

 

[Rusty Spur 82]

I put warm water with Dawn dishwashing soap in my bore and let it soak for 5 or 10 minutes.I found that it just helps to really soften the residue up and makes a quicker job of cleaning for me.I have to admit though,I am lazy.I guess that comes from working 10-12 hours a day,6 days a week for the past 17 years before I retired. :wink:

 

[Tom Compton]

So how do you clean it with just water?

All BP residue is water soluable. Nothing else needed. Then dry and oil.
TC

 

[Zonie]

I assume you don't use any oil or grease type lubes on your patches?
IMO, water alone won't cut either of those lubes.

 

[fitter]

Good point, however soap in itself is corrosive as you probably know. A conumdrum perhaps.

 

[Rusty Spur 82]

True,I have read that soap is a corrosive but then again,I even wonder about using water that goes through a water softner like I have.Something that I have often wondered about.I sure do make sure the bore is totally dry before I run a patch with Barricade down the bore.Hopefully that will eliminate any salts and corrosives I put there.Shoot often/clean often,shouldn't be a problem.

 

[David W.]

True,I have read that soap is a corrosive but then again,I even wonder about using water that goes through a water softner like I have.Something that I have often wondered about.I sure do make sure the bore is totally dry before I run a patch with Barricade down the bore.Hopefully that will eliminate any salts and corrosives I put there.Shoot often/clean often,shouldn't be a problem.

Fear not to use soap, as the small amount used will take about 250 years of daily cleaning to ruin a barrel. Water is also corrosive. In fact, a simple cleaning patch will eventually wear down the lands. The only way to keep a barrel in "Like New" condidtion is to never shoot it! :hmm:

 

[CrackStock]

I doubt that Dan'l or Davy dropped their barrels out of their stocks for cleaning, so I figure that we likely do not need to either.

I often use Dutch's dry patch system at the range and the same or spit patch for hunting, so soap is not really needed. Even if some soap is desired, a very tiny amount is enough to break the surface tension of the water and enhaces cleaning.

If cleaning is needed in the field, I would pull the lock and plug the nipple or touch hole (depending upon whether I was using flint or cap) so that water would not dribble onto the lower portions of my gun. A quick stop at the creek near where I parked the truck would allow me to dip some water with a tin cup bent to make a convenient pour down the bore. The gun would rest against a tree while I cleaned the lock and took care of the game and stowed me hunting gear. After a few moments to soften the crud, I would dump and refresh the water in the bore a couple of times until the water ran clear and then run a few patches until these came out clean. I used alcohol to dry the bore a bit followed by dry patches and protect the bore with the preservative of the day. Rig 2 Sportsmans Oil, Ballistol, Break Free, 20W50... All have given good service.

2 ugly chips on the forearm of my own Southern Mountain lead me to not disassemble my fullstocks unnecssarily. :redface:

CS

 

[paulvallandigham]

I assume that you understand that you can clean your barrel in a HORIZONTAL position with water and soap patches, provided that you put the barrel on a rest with the top of the barrel DOWN, and the stock UP. I do this when cleaning my gun at the kitchen sink. This protects the stock finish from being damaged by having BP crud drip down on the stock.

I do plug the TH, or nipple socket, and pour soap and liquid soap( a few drops) down the barrel to help dissolve and emulsify the carbon residue, and unburned grease and oil in the barrel.

I stand the gun upright on its butt, leaning against the counter top and a drawer, partly pulled out to prevent the gun from sliding off the counter top edge. I clean the lock, and I stow other gear while letting the barrel soak.

Then I pour out the crud, work the bore over with a bore brush to get into the corners of the grooves, then flush that crud out, when I rinse the soap and crud out of the barrel.

Use some kind of pouring cup to carefully pour the water down the barrel for rinsing. I wrap a towel around the muzzle to catch any water than might spill over.

Then the gun goes UPSIDE DOWN on my dish strainer, which is tipped slightly toward the sink. That insures that any wet in the bore goes into the sink, and not back down on my stock. I use VERY WET cleaning patches, with soap added to them, to clean the bore better in this horizontal position, if I see any evidence of dark black streaks on my cleaning patches when they come back out of the bore.

I read the patches, and Have, on more than one occasion, had to go back to using some water in the bore, and my bronze bore brush to scrub out the remaining crud caught in the corners of the grooves. ( Didn't give the soap and water enough time to sit and do their job :shocked2: :nono: :idunno: :surrender: :bow: :grin: ).

I Lift the muzzle up when putting a sloppy wet patch on my cleaning jag down the barrel, and then lower the muzzle so that any water will flow back out the muzzle into the sink.

I run wet patches into the barrel until I see them coming out clean. Then, I run dry patches until they also come out clean. Then, the barrel gets a light coat of oil for storage.

NO WATER, SOAP or crud gets on the wood of my stock, unless I forget and grab the stock with a wet hand! :blah: :nono: :shocked2:

Remember to wipe off any residue on the barrel, both near the muzzle, and back at the nipple, or TH in a flintlock. I wipe down the entire barrel and stock, just assuming that at some time during shooting, I have managed to get residue on all of the gun. I use a wax/oil mix to protect the barrel, and other metal parts during storage- only because the wax seems to hold the oil to the metal better, and longer, than a simply coating of oil alone.

I hope this helps. You can buy or make a "gun cleaning " rack if you insist, to help hold the gun horizontal and upside down on your counter top for these purposes. I have found no need for doing so.

I remove the nipples on my guns every time I clean, so that I can clean them separately. I use a toothbrush to crub the cooked on crud off the stainless steel nipples, soak them in a glass of water with a drop of soap in it, to clean the insides of the nipples, and use that brush to clean the thread. Then they are dried, visually inspected by holding the nipple up to the light, and looking through them. If needed, I run a wire down the nipple to knock out any debris, and to measure the diameter of the hole in the nipple to check for wear.

When I finish with the barrel(s), I dry the threaded holes in the bolster, running a pipe cleaner down the flash channel to first dry it, and then oil it lightly, and apply a drop of oil to both those threads and to the threads on the nipples, and screw the two together manually. When I hit bottom, I THEN use my nipple wrench to firmly tighten, but not crush, the nipples into place. "Firmly tighten" means that you tighten the nipples down so they can't be turned out by using your fingers, but not so tight that you have to draft a friend to hold the gun while you try to turn the nipple out with your nipple wrench! :shocked2: :nono: :hmm: :hatsoff:

 

[Dave K]

How did you learn to open a drawer partially to hold the gun in the crook of it? Was it a rough learning experience? It wasn't for me, as no damage was done, but that is how I learned when I heard the gun sliding, right before smacking the floor. :redface:

 

[paulvallandigham]

I made the mistake thinking that the corner of my countertop would work as well as opening a drawer.

It didn't. :idunno: :surrender:

Nothing broken, but I was not thrilled by the slipping gun, nor the mess I had to clean off the floor. :hmm: :shocked2: :haha: :thumbsup: