Cleaning rifle with pinned barrel

[azwidget]

Hey guys, my new Mongrel flintlock is here, and I have a cleaning question. My .45 percussion had a hooked breech, so it was easy to remove the barrel for cleaning.
The new flintlock is gorgeous, and I don't want to mess it up. What's the best way to clean it when the barrel is pinned and ya don't remove it?

Also, does every rifle get a name? How do you name it?

[kybackwoodsman]

i always use a cleaning/loading jag that will push a WET patch down and pull it back up. i like using really hot soapy water and or mean green. then hot clean water til patches come out clean. a few dry patches to mop out excess water then a patch or two soaked in 92 percent rubbing alcohol (have used good shine while in the field, shed a tear for the jug), alcohol eats water. then an oil patch (non petro based, olive oil works). warning do not use a dry patch on a dry barrel. again see last statement, been there save yourself the headache. mite want to plug the vent or nipple hole to prevent dirty water from leaking out. on a percussion rifle through cleanin of the drum and channel is a must. hope this helps.

[gunmaker]

Everybody has their own ideas widget, here's mine.  I pull off the lock, makes it easier to clean & oil it. Then plug the vent with a round toothpic. For years I've been using windex, cheap & easy to come by.  Scrub bore with a few patches until it is shiny & clean.  Use a pipe cln'r to clean out vent.  Oil with 3 in 1 or lite machine oil--Litely.  My bore lite tells me I'm doing o.k......Tom

[Dogshirt]

I have two with pinned barrels and I remove them from the stock just like the others. The only real differance is you also have to remove the tang bolt(s).

[Blackfeet]

I cheat a bit. I also remove the barrels for cleaning but turned special pins with a head to grab so that I do not have to drive them out each time. I do have headless pins from Mongrel for times that need to be PC.

[azwidget]

Thanks, guys, that's just the kind of info I was looking for!

Widget

[Blackfeet]

Another word of caution if you decide to remove the barrel. I clean in a 5 gallon pail and had the experience of driving the tang through the bottom that just happened to be over a crack in the deck and so had no support. Not a big deal but had to donate another pail. I am not sure but I believe that you can also cause distortion of a thin tang. I started using a block with a hole for the tang in under the breech plug to keep the tang from contacting and give better control.

[Hanshi]

Pinned barrels are no more difficult (for me) to clean than hooked breech barrels.  I don't like to remove pinned barrels.

[azwidget]

I cleaned my hooked breech barrel much like Blackfeet described.

Hanshi, my concern with the pinned barrel is to clean it without messing up or doing any damage to the beautiful curly maple on the .36 that I just got from Mongrel. How do you go about cleaning without creating a mess? Maybe I'm overly concerned, but this rifle is really special and I'd like to keep it looking fine.
Words of wisdom?

Widget

[halfstock]

AZ : If I was you I'd name her "Fancy".

[beowulf]

guess I`m just a bit warped  but with all that striping I`d call her tigger !

[azwidget]

So whats the deal with naming a rifle? Do yours have names, and how didja come up with them?

Widget

[pathfinder]

My .50 Southern gun "Pox",Birdseye maple stock,look's like she has "The Pox". my.40 smoothbore,"Ole Wormy"worm eaten stock. .32 Southern gun,"Ugly Betty",Very crudley made stock,not refined at all,but she has a GREAT personality.

Your gun wil let ya know what she want's to be called. Dont rush it. Most of us get real attatched to our favorite gun's,hence the names. I currently have 3 smoothbore's and 12 rifles that are my "favorite",but Pox is #1,the Bess is #1 smoothbore. The Bess hasent let me know her name yet.

[gunmaker]

Her names Bess, that's what she told me late last nite......he-he....Tom

[flintboomer]

A rifle doesn't "need" a name, but it may earn one.

One of my rifles was named Armbreaker because it was so heavy when I made it that I could barely hold it up. I shortened the barrel which changed the balance and it no longer has a name. Another one is my favorite, but it still has no name even tho I have been shooting it for at least 20 years.

How to clean the purty one? VERY CAREFULLY!