Caring for a musket

[ky_yankee94]

Ok, surely you can tell i'm new. Some things are puzzling me... I'm a huge gun guy but never dealt with muskets before, so i was wanting to get some info. What are some ways to clean your musket after an event? Where can i get some powder and how much grains do i use? Feel free to message me with any tips.

Thanks,
Jacob Dunn

[rjwolfe]

Greatly depends on the type of musket.

[TheQM]

Jacob,

You are a member of the Western Federal Blues. I'm sure any number of people in your group can answer your basic questions concerning how to clean your weapon, as well as hook you up with a source for black powder and caps.

If all else fails, do a search on this and the A-C forum.

[flattop32355]

Ok, surely you can tell i'm new. Some things are puzzling me... I'm a huge gun guy but never dealt with muskets before, so i was wanting to get some info. What are some ways to clean your musket after an event? Where can i get some powder and how much grains do i use? Feel free to message me with any tips.

Whether a musket (smoothbore) or a rifle musket (rifled), the method of cleaning depends upon whether you're doing a simple field cleaning or a thorough cleaning back home, with a great deal of overlap. For a field cleaning, you need the ramrod, a worm or cleaning jag that fits on the screw end of the ramrod, a cone pick, cleaning patches, a small square of leather (1"x1" or slightly larger), musket tool, and water. Put the square of leather on top of the cone, and let the hammer down on it to seat it. Pour enough water down the barrel to clean, but not so much that it splashes out when the rammer is put in. Use the ramming end of the rammer down the barrel, and agitate the water with it. You can also flip it over to the worm/jag side to scrape the breech area. Remove the rammer and pour out the water. Repeat until the water is coming out fairly clean. Remove the cone (trust me on this....remove the cone). Put a patch over the cone seat and run patches down through the barrel with the worm/jag end. Flip the patch over to use the other, clean side. Repeat unti the patches come out dry and fairly clean. Gently scrape out the cone seat with the cone pick, making sure the channel into the barrel is opend, and dry the cone seat. Use the cone pick to clear the channel in the cone. If it's too clogged, you can put the cone in some hot water/coffee to break up the blockage. Replace the cone. If you have an 1861 Springfield, you also need to remove the cleanout screw from the bolster and clean the channel there, too. Be careful; it's a short screw, and easy to lose.

Some fellows like to run soapy and/or hot water down the barrel even for a field clean, and for sure at home. Some also use wire brushes, etc, that fit on the ramrod or cleaning rod. Taking the weapon apart to remove dirt and rust from the barrel bands and under the barrel/lock/buttplate is also done. The lock mechanism parts shouldn't need to be disassembled very often, unless it's gotten quite dirty or rusty. A light layer of sweet (olive) oil or Ballistol oil on all parts, and wiped off, then reassemble.

Powder, Inc. is a good place to get powder, and the cost includes all the shipping/hazmat fees. Many other vendors also supply powder. An 1853 Enfield, or 1861/1863 Springfield takes a 60-65 grain load of powder, though some folks use less. An 1842 Springfield uses 110 grains for roundball or 70 grains if rifled and using a Minie bullet.

If you're in the Western Federal Blues, there are people there who should be able to answer similar questions. Always a good idea to ask your NCO's and officers.

[TimE]

Here is a video on youtube that illustrates how to clean your musket. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjDOL77FZvo. Hope you find it useful.

[maillemaker]

Ok, surely you can tell i'm new. Some things are puzzling me... I'm a huge gun guy but never dealt with muskets before, so i was wanting to get some info. What are some ways to clean your musket after an event? Where can i get some powder and how much grains do i use? Feel free to message me with any tips.

Hi Jacob:

Welcome to the addiction of black powder shooting!

Lots of good advice above. Like you, I'm a life-long firearm shooter but I've only started shooting black powder in the last year.

For fantastic information on shooting black powder weapons, and to shoot competitively, I highly recommend the North-South Skirmish Association (http://www.n-ssa.org). They also have a forum where you can get great information concerning Civil War era firearm.

The amount of powder depends on what you are trying to shoot and what kind of firearm you have. Also, you have to "tune" black powder firearms to find the optimal powder charge and bullet that shoots best in your firearm. This is one of the fun things to me about black powder shooting. You don't just load up a magazine of ammo and call it good - you have to figure out what works best in your musket. For example, with my 1853 Enfield with a Whitacre barrel, I am finding a .575 sized Lee Original Minie (500 grains) shoots best with 49 grains of FF Goex black powder. But I want to try other bullets and that will entail working up an optimal load for them.

Many people have suggested I shoot FFF powder instead of FF. Since I went off and bout 15 pounds of FF I will be shooting that for a while! :)

You can usually find a place in town that will sell you black powder by 1 pound cans. However, you will probably pay about $26-$30 a pound locally. If you have friends that go to the N-SSA Nationals in Winchester Virginia twice a year, they usually stop by the Back Creek Gun Shop and pick up powder for folks back home ( http://blackpowderva.com/ ). They sell Goex for $14.50 a pound. They also sell caps at a good price, too. I'm a big fan of the German Dynamite Nobel caps.

Some people use black powder substitutes like Pyrodex. I have shot it and don't have much to say about it other than it seems to corrode guns very quickly if you don't clean immediately after shooting. Pyrodex is not allowed in N-SSA shoots.

Also be aware that the N-SSA folks are doing target shooting which entails much lighter loads than were generally used for military cartridges during the Civil War. Also note that authentic cartridges during the Civil War were paper and some styles of bullet were meant to be fired with the paper casing still around the bullet. The N-SSA does not do this - they only shoot "naked" lubricated bullets and many folks shoot "fantasy" bullets designed specifically for modern target shooting.

The best thing to do is find an owner's manual for your firearm (assuming it is a modern reproduction) so that you know what the manufacturer says is safe for the firearm.

As far as cleaning, black powder residue is water soluable, so hot soapy water will do the trick. I also use a cleaning solution my N-SSA team commander taught to me as "possum piss". It is 1/3 isopropyl alcohol, 1/3 hydrogen peroxide, and 1/3 Murphy's Oil Soap. I remove the barrel from the firearm, and I run patches of my cleaning solution down the barrel until it gets fairly clean, then I use a brass bristle brush, then I patch again until it comes clean. I remove the nipple and use a toothbrush and q-tips to clean the bolster and down in the threaded hole for the nipple. I also have a prick that I use for cleaning out the touch hole and scraping off stubborn residue from nooks and crannies. I finish up with Hoppes #9 and finally with oil.

You might consider also purchasing a "breech scraper" in the correct caliber for your gun. This looks like an oversized flat-bladed screwdriver. It threads onto your cleaning rod and allows you to scrape the face of the breech plug, which is hard to clean with either patches or bristle brushes. It is important because if you do not get the powder residue off of the breech face it can build up and become "coke", which can glow like an ember after firing and can cause a cook-off when you dump powder down the barrel. (This is also, by the way, why during loading why it is very important to keep the muzzle pointed away from yourself and to minimize your hand/finger time over the barrel while loading. Never "thumb your ball".)

The stock stays fairly clean so I usually just clean it up with a patch of Hoppes. Sometimes I use the toothbrush and q-tip to scrub the face of the hammer.

You may consider getting a special cleaning rod for cleaning your musket. I have a 58 caliber cleaning rod with an aluminum shaft and nylon crown bushing and a nice wooden handle on the end. This protects your barrel from scratching as a naked steel ramrod may do. I don't use the steel ramrod that came with the musket for either loading or cleaning - I bought a replacement brass ramrod for loading. This is not historical but I have a $500 competition barrel on my musket and so I'm going to protect it as I can during N-SSA shooting.

I've sent you a private message about other bulletin boards you may find useful. Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.

Steve

[S.D.Swart]

The book Lock Stock and Barrel, has a chapter dedicated to serviceing and cleaning your weapon. Bernard post is spot on for home cleaning. However as mentioned members of the Blues will have this knowlege too. See you at Shiloh, we turncoat on Sunday, and join the Blues in the counter-attack.

S.D.Swart

[cmshooter]

You will want to invest in some Ballistol oil if you don't use it already. The stuff is amazing, especially with clearing the BP and oiling in the process. It's good for the wood too and leather all in one can, and it wont hurt a thing. I use it on all my shooting irons including my more modern things it works GREAT! My sharps, coachgun, pistols all love it, and it makes the next cleaning even easier. Depending on what you are doing you mix it with water to go further when cleaning, I usually do 1/2 Ballistol 1/2 water for cleaning BP and like I said it oils in the process, very worth the money you wont regret it. Most sutlers will carry, a few gun stores, or you can order online. The smell isn't the greatest so I would suggest open well ventilated room, but it's no worse then Powder Blast or foaming bore cleaner. It's available in aerosol and bottle, I just use the bottle it works just fine and you get more product. If I am running low on oil I will run warm water through the rifle, pistol, etc before using the Ballistol and wasting a bunch of patches that is another great thing about the Ballistol is that is does mix with any water left on the metal that might have been missed and will prevent it from rusting up. This stuff is truly amazing, much better than the Hoppes or Remoil I had been using, it's the only thing I could find to protect my old blued pistols from rusting up since most of the finish is gone. Here is the website for more information on Ballistol it will make your gun cleaning experience much better. http://www.ballistol.com/

[TheQM]

Another good modern product is "Break Free CLP". I just use hot water and maybe a little dish washing soap, to clean my rifle barrels, but I use Break Free on the bolster, the cone, and in the fire channel. It does an outstanding job of removing the coke that builds up on these areas. Just put a little on, wait about five minutes, and wipe the coke away.

I'm also a Ballistol Fan, but only use it on the exterior on my weapons. I use the natural lubes, like Thompson Center's "Bore Butter" to protect the weapon's bores. "Other people's mileage may vary!"

[Quickstep]

I also use a cleaning solution my N-SSA team commander taught to me as "possum piss". It is 1/3 isopropyl alcohol, 1/3 hydrogen peroxide, and 1/3 Murphy's Oil Soap.

Hey, Steve--I use that formulation too, but was taught to use denatured alcohol not isopropyl. I guess if you've been using isopropyl and it's been working, it's doesn't really matter, but you can get denatured alcohol in big cans at the hardware store.

Also "possum piss" is extremely caustic and will strip away any oil you might have in or on the barrel, causing it to rust quickly, so always follow up with Ballistol or some other oil both inside and out. It is also highly combustible, so only use it outdoors and don't put it in a bottle to take to an event.

I usually rinse the barrel out a few times with warm water to get the worst of it out, then put the barrel in a 10 gal. bucket filled about half way with warm water with the breech end at the bottom. Add the possum piss, then run a patch on a round jag up and the down barrel in a piston pumping action with the nipple removed (and the clean out screw on the 1861 Springfield). It does one helluva job of cleaning things out.

Great post, by the way! Lots of good information there. Definitely a "keeper."

[Mike OTDP]

Steve covered most of it, but I'll add that I normally remove the barrel from the stock for cleaning. Remove the nipple (and scrub it with a toothbrush), put the bottom end of the barrel in a bucket of hot soapy water. I prefer Simple Green, mixed about 1:5 with water. Put a cleaner-soaked patch on your cleaning rod, pump it up and down. About 20-25 strokes. Have a towel handy, you'll spill water. This should clean out the barrel. Dry thoroughly. Have a bit of rope tied to your cleaning rod, it comes in handy if you get it stuck. Once dry, run a Ballistol-soaked patch down the bore, replace the nipple after a spritz of Ballistol, rub the barrel with the oil patch, and reassemble.