Cleaning your gun

[Jotjackson1]

How often should you remove the sideplate and clean the internals?

 

[Okie Hog]

About once a year.

 

[exMember]

I remove my lock every time I go shooting. Fouling works behind it and into the internals and will rust/corrode the parts.

 

[Hanshi]

I make it a practice to remove the flint lock off a gun every time I clean it.  And If it's fired even once it gets cleaned.  Rarely is there any fouling to speak of inside the lock but I still wipe it and lube it.  On percussion guns I don't remove the lock with every cleaning, just periodically.  I also do not remove pinned barrels unless the gun gets wet or otherwise when work needs to be done or once every year or two.