Well, let me start with this disclaimer..... I was not there so I didn't see how they cleaned and protected their guns. But, if you just think of what they had back then, my best guess is that they would have cleaned with plain old water or possibly with soap and water. They would have dried their bore and coated it with some kind of oil or grease that would have been available to them. Whale oil was readily available in most locations and would have been a likely candidate for a protecting and lubricating oil. Lacking that, they would have used whatever kind of oil or grease they had. You can do the same today.....but why? Today, the good old soap and water remains the best thing with which to clean our bores but, we have much better products to protect from rust and corrosion available to us. Why not use them? It's just common sense.....for those of us who have common sense. Grandpappy used the products that he had to work with. Bear grease was one of the protectants that he had available to him and he used it with success. the way it works is that it puts an oxygen occlusive covering on the metal. It is exactly the same as using lard on your bore to protect it from rust. It will work but it is nowhere as good as a modern product that has a specific rust preventive in it. "Better living through chemistry."
For your amazement and amusement, here is my cleaning procedure:
Before leaving the woods, range, or whatever, I run a patch with some sort of solvent on it through my bore. Plain old windshield washer fluid (the cheap stuff) is good for this. I have been using a product called Rusty Duck for years simply because I have a bunch of it that a friend of mine gave me. If I didn't have it, I'd be using the windshield washer fluid. This initial wiping softens and loosens up the fouling and makes the final cleaning easier.
(1) Swab the bore with very warm soapy water until your patches come out clean.
(2) Rinse thoroughly with clear water.
(3) dry with several dry patches
(4) Spray the inside of the bore with WD-40 to remove all final traces of moisture.
(5) Thoroughly wipe out all of the WD-40 with some more dry patches.
(6) Swab your bore with a good gun oil that has a rust preventive in it.
Having done all of this, your bore is now finished and ready to be put away. But don't forget to clean the rest of your gun applying this same technique.
Even using modern improved products, I still go back a few days later and run another patch through my bore to check for rust. The products of combustion of black powder are pretty darn corrosive so I just include an occasional follow up to keep an eye on the condition of my bore.
You will notice that I said to thoroughly remove all of the WD-40 and that is because WD-40 is an excellent water displacer (that is what is made for, hence, the WD in its name ) WD-40 is touted as being a good rust preventor, however, there are better rust preventing products on the market. Personally, I like 3 in 1 oil for storing for shorter periods but if I am going to put my gun away for a month or more, I like to use Barricade. Barricade will, in a short time, turn to a grease. That is one of the ways it works as a good long term storage protectant but if you use it, you will need to thoroughly swab out your bore with a good solvent such as mineral spirits to get the grease out before you shoot your gun. If you use Barricade on your lock, you will need to wash it out with a solvent before it will work properly. The grease will likely make your fly stick and not work properly. You can just use some spray carb cleaner fluid to spray out your lock and then add a tiny drop of a good oil to the moving parts of your lock and it will be good to go. Barricade is great stuff but you need to know how to use it.
Now, I will include another disclaimer by saying that this is how I do it. I have found it to be an excellent way of cleaning and protecting my guns. I highly recommend it but it ain't the only way to do it. Others may differ with my method. Some may possibly be as good as my way of doing it but none will be better. I'm just sayin'....... :haha: