mauser06

im planning to buy a tc hawken maybe tomarow...i figured out everything i need but i dont know about cleaning supplies....what do i need to clean a muzzleloader properly?? i will problay be shooting powerbelts if my gun likes them if that matters....if not i will probally go to a patch and ball...if it even matters what i shoot....thanx alot...if i buy the gun tomarow id like to order tomarow night...but the cleaning supplies i can buy at walmart or dicks i think so i wont have to add even more for shipping and then the suppliers jacked up prices on some things....anyone want to make me a list of things i will need to clean my flintlock properly? thanx alot

Mark whiz

well.....
I would suggest you get LOTS of cleaning patches - 2.5" round work great.
Plus the normal bronze bore brushes and cleaning jag.
A nylon brush, like a toothbrush, is great for cleaning out the ignition area, etc.
For solvent - I just use a 50/50 mix of Simple Green detergent & water.
A package of GOOD pipe cleaners make nipple/flash channel cleaning easy
And you' ll want a good preservative after cleanup - I like CLP

That' s enough to get you going.

eldeguello

You need...

eldeguello

You need a cleaning rod, jag tips of the appropriate caliber, a lot of 2.5X2.5 cleaning patches, water, and some kind of preservative to oil the cleaned bore with. Clean by pouring 2 quarts of boiling water through the bore, dry it out with four to six of the dry patches, which also wipes ourt all the lossened fouling, then LIGHTLY oil the bore to prevent rust. The CLP Mark recommends is excellent. I never use a bore brush, but the nylon (toothbrush) for getting fouling off the outside is a good recommendation too.

Despite what anyone else might tell you, the above is ALL you need to do to maintain any gun (breech or muizzleloader) that uses BP or a substitute. I have been cleaning mine this way since 1968, and have never had any rusty bores!![8D]

mauser06

wow......that sounds too simple!!! so my cleaning rod and patch jags i have now will work....and i have oil.....and what hunter/shooter doesnt have a toothbrush to clean with!?? one more thing.....my toothbrush has oil and hoppes ect on it from before....do i need to retire my clean tooth brush to clean the powder pan and them areas so no oil gets in there or just wipe it dry? also what about cleaning at the range? anyone want to get into that?? do i need anything diffrent? i see things that go on the end of your ramrod to clean..will any ramrod take the attachment? i have a percussion cap pistol basically for looks..maybe ill shoot it one day..but the ramrod doesnt come apart at all..but its really old and its a pistol..maybe rifles are diffrent....thanx alot...im picking the gun up this week i hope....between me and dad working its hard to find a day to go.....he was down yesterday and had the owner set it back for me though...i cant wait

Mark whiz

It' s just that simple. If it wasn' t, the mountainmen of old would have had 1 hell of a time surviving! Personally, I use the Simple Green/Water patching rather than the hotwater mainly because I use a scoped inline and that makes it a little more difficult to stick in the water.

That toothbrush you have should be ok - but I would de-grease it before hitting the powder pan with it. A quick soaking in a little alcohol should do the trick.

For range shooting, I like to run 1 or 2 spit-patches through the bore after each shot. This keeps fouling down & the barrel condition stabile for good accuracy comparisons. And yes, a spit patch is just that...........just lick a patch and work both sides through the bore using short, fast strokes. No drooling is necessary [] [:-] .

About all muzzleloaders use ramrods with 10-32 threads in them - so just about any jag or brush attachment made specifically for BP stuff will usually work. But don' t expect any attachment from a centerfire cleaning kit to work on the ramrod - as they are cut to 8-32 threads and won' t fit.

mauser06

wow.....i thought there was a pain in the butt process to clean and such....i love cleaning guns(dont ask why...and im real anal about it and if they dont shine they arent mine! lol) i thought BP would make me hate it....sounds rather simple...so i learn to take my gun apart and im good to go with this muzzleloading stuff! i ant wait to get my gun so i can order my supplies and get shooting!! october will come fast and i will get to hunt with it too i plan! i cant wait!! i think friday if dads not busy i will pick up the gun....order my stuff friday night...have them next week and be shooting as soon as a guy i know has time to take me and teach me....i think i can do it from all tehe reading...but hes been hunting forever and will teach me neat tricks and easy ways of everything and teach me how to do it all properly im sure.....i cant wait....i might not even hunt with my rifle this year if i can shoot my flintlock good enough!

Briman

If you can easily remove your barrel- as with a hawken- it should just be 1 or 2 barrel keys, take the barrel of. I put the barrel breach end in a bucket of boiling water- then take a large patch on a jag and worrk it up and down the bore- the somewhat tight patch-to-bore fit will pump the water up and down the bore through the flash hole. Change the patch a couple of times- it dosn' t take very long to get it clean. This will also get the barrel really hot which is a good thing- I stand the barrel muzzle down on some newspapers overnight to drain it, and the hot barrel helps the rest of the water evaporate quickly. The next day I' ll run a patch with a tiny amount of Birchwood casey sheath down the bore- never had a speck of rust yet.[8D]

Briman

And keep your frizzen, flashpan, flashhole, and flint really clean while shooting by wiping them off after every shot- they tend to get covered with gooey soot- this will reduce the number of misfires.

mauser06

thanx alot.....what do you mean by wipe the parts down? like what would i use? just a dry piece of cotton material or ive heard alcohol...ive read so much i really dont know whats right....i do have my gun now...it is a tc 50 cal hawken....i ordered everything but powder tonite..and i am very particular about my cleaning...what would you wipe down the frizzen pan flint ect with? thanx alot