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NSO5389

32 Cal
Joined
May 8, 2020
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Hi all! New guy here, got my first cap lock about a month and a half ago. I recently put together a Traditions Kentucky rifle .50 cal kit. I know there are better out there but didn’t want to sink a lot of money into something I may not be very interested in.


My first question is to ask for any general tips and tricks the more experienced guys can give me to enhance my black powder experience. I also picked up or built from pieces these cap n ball revolvers
Pietta 1851 .36
Pietta 1851 .44
Uberti 1849 pocket
Uberti 1847 Walker
so any black powder advice is welcome!

My main question is about keeping my rifle clean, the cleaning kit I have for my cartridge guns is not suited well at all for this rifle. So...is there a good starter type cleaning kit anyone would recommend for my Kentucky Rifle? I would also be open to putting my own kit together if that would be a better option.
 

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Howdy and welcome to the forum. When I started shooting these things there was no internet and very little information out there. So I bought 2 cleaning kits and pieced the rod sections together to reach the bottom of my barrel. My first rifle was a 45, so a nylon 45 brush was handy. Don't get a metal brush, you'll have trouble getting it out of the barrel. That and hot water and dish soap is all I used for years. And oil it lightly afterwards.

Most folks use hot water and dish soap on a cloth patch to clean the powder residue from their barrel. I have switched to cloth patches also, as you can't find bore brushes in 58 cal. You'll need a jag fitting your cleaning rod.

Check out Track of the Wolf, and google muzzle loading supplies for more information.
Good luck, welcome to the Addiction.

Black powder residue is corrosive and needs to be cleaned at your earliest convenience.
 
If you type the word 'cleaning' into the search option you'll get a lot of threads on all aspects of cleaning. The using boiling water or not thread is always a popular one.
 
Most of us don't care for the commercial kits for cleaning muzzleloaders. Many are too flimsy and you want a rod good for loading as well as cleaning. Be sure to start off with a good cleaning rod as offered by October Country or Track of the Wolf. They have the cleaning jags and other accessories.

Bob has good information in his link. Be sure to read that.

@Cruzatte has some good input in his list. Of course you will need to substitute percussion caps for flint and you will want some kind of powder horn or cap for your powder can to pour powder into your measure. A percussion cap capping tool is useful as it will be easier to use than fumbling around with your fingers and the tiny #11 caps you need. Get a spare nipple. If you must use a substitute black powder get a Hot Shot or Spitfire type nipple as these are more reliable with the difficult to ignite substitute powders.

Go to the fabric department of your local Wal Mart or fabric store, buy yourself a couple of yards of 100% cotton flannel (make sure to read the fiber content label). Wash it in hot water, dry on a hot setting. This will fluff up the fabric, and tighten the weave. Detergent is not necessary.

After drying, cut the fabric into 1½" (more or less, exact dimensions don't really matter, but this is handy) squares. Put these into a zip lock bag. These are your cleaning patches. Add water as needed to each individual patch, and run it up and down the barrel after firing each shot. Simple.

As far as tools go, you'll need
  • a proper fitting jag
  • a good fitting screwdriver for the cock jaw screw
  • a piece of 1/16" wire for a vent pick (handy, a paper clip, safety pin, or piece of broken guitar string will do)
  • an extra flint, or two
  • a ball screw (to extract the ball after you've discovered that you forgot to load powder)
  • an adjustable powder measure
  • a few strips of patching, or cut patches (Whole threads have been posted about lubes. Check those out.)
  • a sharp knife if you decide to cut the shooting patches on the muzzle
  • a short starter (optional)
  • a priming horn, or flask (optional)
Welcome to the wonderful world of flint locks!

Properly fitting screwdrivers are important whether you are using a flint lock rifle or percussion lock rifle.

I am a firm believer that a good cleaning/working rod is essential. Whether you use 8-32 threads or 10-32 threads is less important than using steel threads in your jags. The flannel material is best for cleaning. Pillow ticking, denim, cotton drill cloth or canvas will ultimately be chosen for your ball patching material.

I use the warm water with a small amount of dish soap to clean the fouling. Cleaning is very important as all fouling is quite corrosive. Be prepared to clean, dry, remove water and lubricate with a rust inhibiting lubricant. Many here use Barricade.
 
You might also check out Eastern Maine Shooting Supplies. I got my cleaning/range rod from them as well as brushes, jags, and cleaning patches. Good prices and better products.
 
Main thing always powder first primer last.
No matter which powder treat all as corrosive and clean immediately and thoroughly.
Soapy water always worked well for me.
Good oiling and swab before next shoot.
Ball and patch don't need to be hammered in.
Revolver cylinder bore doesn't always fit barrel bore so check if not accurate.
Good idea to insure proper arbor fit on open top revolvers and don't hammer in the wedge.
 
Get a GOOD set of hollow ground screwdrivers, a GOOD nipple wrench and a GOOD range rod.

Past that, the basic method is plain old, soapy water. Some like it hot, some not.
 
Hi all! New guy here, got my first cap lock about a month and a half ago. I recently put together a Traditions Kentucky rifle .50 cal kit. I know there are better out there but didn’t want to sink a lot of money into something I may not be very interested in.


My first question is to ask for any general tips and tricks the more experienced guys can give me to enhance my black powder experience. I also picked up or built from pieces these cap n ball revolvers
Pietta 1851 .36
Pietta 1851 .44
Uberti 1849 pocket
Uberti 1847 Walker
so any black powder advice is welcome!

My main question is about keeping my rifle clean, the cleaning kit I have for my cartridge guns is not suited well at all for this rifle. So...is there a good starter type cleaning kit anyone would recommend for my Kentucky Rifle? I would also be open to putting my own kit together if that would be a better option.
Good advice here.
TOW sells excellent rods. I have the long and shorter steel muzzle guards and have worked super for years. Both have great wooden handles too. Great range rods well worth the money. Eastern Maine good for cleaning patches as has been said. I like the flint cleaning kit TOW has.
Clamps firmly to the touchhole.
Nice to see ya here.
 
Hi all! New guy here, got my first cap lock about a month and a half ago. I recently put together a Traditions Kentucky rifle .50 cal kit. I know there are better out there but didn’t want to sink a lot of money into something I may not be very interested in.


My first question is to ask for any general tips and tricks the more experienced guys can give me to enhance my black powder experience. I also picked up or built from pieces these cap n ball revolvers
Pietta 1851 .36
Pietta 1851 .44
Uberti 1849 pocket
Uberti 1847 Walker
so any black powder advice is welcome!

My main question is about keeping my rifle clean, the cleaning kit I have for my cartridge guns is not suited well at all for this rifle. So...is there a good starter type cleaning kit anyone would recommend for my Kentucky Rifle? I would also be open to putting my own kit together if that would be a better option.
Forgot to mention TOW has a nice kit for perc rifles that fits into the nipple threads just fine. Works great too.
 
In a nutshell: 1. Get a good one piece metal cleaning/range rod. 2. Clean with water and patches. 3. Dry the bore thoroughly with patches. 4. Finish drying with a patch soaked with denatured alcohol. 5. Patch out the alcohol. 6. Coat the bore with rust preventative (I like "Barricade"). 7. Before you shoot again swab the bore dry and use a pipe cleaner to clean out the nipple and fire channel.
 
In a nutshell: 1. Get a good one piece metal cleaning/range rod. 2. Clean with water and patches. 3. Dry the bore thoroughly with patches. 4. Finish drying with a patch soaked with denatured alcohol. 5. Patch out the alcohol. 6. Coat the bore with rust preventative (I like "Barricade"). 7. Before you shoot again swab the bore dry and use a pipe cleaner to clean out the nipple and fire channel.

‘ere she is.
 
I recently bought a small hand held steam cleaner. It really blasts all the crud out of the inside of a muzzleloader barrel. Highly recommend for keeping your gun clean.
 
I’m new here so I’d listen to these other guys first. That said, here’s what I do. I shoot at least one of my muzzleloaders nearly every day. (Have a short range at my house). For normal daily cleaning, I just run a wet patch followed by dry patch until they come out clean. That typically takes 5-6 patches if I’m just shooting a few balls that day. Before I put the gun away, I run a very light coat of some form of rust preventative (usually ballistol or hoppes BP solvent) and I put her away. Every few weeks or so I pull the nipple and do the hot water thing, dry thoroughly, and the another light coat of rust preventative. At the moment I’m shooting a crocket 32 and a 54 gpr. This works for me and I haven’t seen any rust.
 
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