How do you clean a barrel which does not have a hooked breech? The breech plug and the tang are one piece.

[drpatton]

I have a Pedersoli "Traditional Hawken Hunter" which doesn't have a "hooked breech"for easy barrel removal. Is there an easier way to clean this rifle or any one like it which doesn't have a hooked breech?

Not only do I have to unscrew the barrel tang from the stock, I have to remove the rear sight which is held in place by those screws. Is there an easier way?

 

[Pymahunter1]

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/578/1
Flush nipples

 

[ETipp]

Not sure what you are referring to but I have recently adopted an easier method of cleaning all my ML, especially the one with a tang screw. I'll be doing this for 5-6 times then remove the barrel one time.

I have a small chunk of leather I put between the hammer and the nipple.

I use a regular 16.9 FL.OZ drinking water bottle. Put a few drops of Dawn dishwashing liquid in it. Fill bottle with the hottest tap water, not boiling water.

Lean the rifle so the barrel is muzzle up, hold a dry towel around the muzzle of the barrel with one hand and slowly pour the water in with the other until barrel is full. Let it sit there for 10-15 minutes. Remove the chunk of leather from the nipple and pour water out. You can do this a second time if you want but I found no benefit in doing so.

I follow up with a rinsing of pure warm water, no soap.

Then I remove the nipple and run dry patches down the barrel to soak up any water until they come out dry.

Most of the time I use compressed air to blow down through the flash hole. That will remove any crud that may be trapped inside. Then run another dry patch down the barrel to remove any of the crud and water that may have been in the flash hole and pushed into the barrel by the compressed air.

Clean the nipple with a toothbrush and reinstall with a dab of oil on the threads.

Follow up with whatever cleaning solvent/bore protector you wish to use. Ballistol, TC13, or whatever.

Lastly, I always clean around the nipple area and the hammer then oil a patch and run down the barrel before putting the gun away, as well as apply a thin coat of oil on all exterior parts. Then I wipe down the wood.

With that said, what I personally do is first I remove the barrel, or on every 5-6 cleaning when the barrel is removed, I apply a heavy coat of Bore Butter on the underside of the barrel and in the stock cutout for the barrel. This forms somewhat of a seal that is easily removed by wiping. Then reapply a new coat and reinstall the barrel. I do this to keep any water from getting between the two and perhaps allowing rust to form. However, its easy not to spill any water while performing this process if you go slow. Even if you do, the towel should catch it before it can run down under the barrel and/or onto the wood.

I simply do not see why the barrel should be removed every time I clean my ML. But that's just me.

This guy uses the same basic process.

https://video.search.yahoo.com/sear...=753e189a7f2bff8b734bb1e263d0c93f&action=view

 

[MrTom]

I have a couple T/C sidelocks that I don't shoot too often anymore but for those I drilled out a nipple a bit and found some clear plastic tubing to fit tightly on the nipple, long enough to reach a pan of super hot water with Dawn dish soap in it. I set the butt of the gun on a towel, the tube in the water, then use a patch on the jag to start a pumping action that washes the barrel. After 25 full strokes I change the water to very hot, clear and repeat with a clean patch. Repeat the clean patch. Pull the tube from the water and run dry patches until one comes back dry, oil a patch and done. Replace the drilled nipple with a good one.

 

[edmehlig]

After I clean my Renegade ML's, I always use my Air Compressor to blow out any moisture/water where the nipple screws in, then run a clean patch down the bbl. Depending how much dampness is on the patch, I'll repeat with the air compressor and another clean patch. I then use the air compressor along the bbl to make sure there is no water under the ramrod guides, rear sight etc. then wipe everything down with a clean rag and oil the complete bbl inside and out. You'll be amazed at how much dirt comes out of the nipple as well when using the air compressor. Just make sure you have a good grip on the nipple. GRIN

 

[45-70]

I have a Pedersoli "Traditional Hawken Hunter" which doesn't have a "hooked breech"for easy barrel removal. Is there an easier way to clean this rifle or any one like it which doesn't have a hooked breech?

Not only do I have to unscrew the barrel tang from the stock, I have to remove the rear sight which is held in place by those screws. Is there an easier way?

you keep taking tang screw out you're going to start having problems

 

[ETipp]

you keep taking tang screw out you're going to start having problems

One reason why I went to the method I went to. The more times one is taken down, the more things wear out and cause problems.

 

[ETipp]

After I clean my Renegade ML's, I always use my Air Compressor to blow out any moisture/water where the nipple screws in, then run a clean patch down the bbl. Depending how much dampness is on the patch, I'll repeat with the air compressor and another clean patch. I then use the air compressor along the bbl to make sure there is no water under the ramrod guides, rear sight etc. then wipe everything down with a clean rag and oil the complete bbl inside and out. You'll be amazed at how much dirt comes out of the nipple as well when using the air compressor. Just make sure you have a good grip on the nipple. GRIN

Indeed. Using compressed air is very conducive IMO. For removing water is one good reason.

I also use compressed air before I load after the ML has been oiled and sat for a while. Remove the nipple and give it a good blasting. It removes any oil that may have collected in the flash hole.

 

[edmehlig]

Yep that too. I also fire a cap off with a patch pushed all the way down the bore and fire another one with the patch withdrawn a few inches as well to make sure all the oil is gone/burnt off. It may not be necessary but I don’t want to take any chances for a misfire when an opportunity arises.

Let’s not forget to tap the powder charge a few times diwn by the breech area before loading your bullet.

 

[rhbc13]

Remember most compressed air contains moisture unless run through a dryer or water trap of some type. Best to use a dry patch after that blast of air.

 

[WP79Vet]

To clean my TC Renegade, I like to remove the barrel, remove the nipple, put the nipple end of the barrel in a pot of really hot water with a few drops of soap, and then run a jag with a tight patch on it up and down the muzzle many times to pump water through the flash channel and the barrel at high pressure. That removes all traces of fouling from all parts of the weapon. Then I repeat with clean super hot water to remove the soap, while heating the barrel to the point that it's very hot to the touch. The heating is critical, because the heat evaporates all water that's on any part of the barrel or sights, which is the best way to prevent rust. That's the cleaning method we used on our M-14 drill rifles when preparing for inspections in ranks, in which no trace of oil, rust, dirt, or anything else was allowed on the rifles. If the barrel is really hot, it will even evaporate the water out of screw threads and other hard-to-reach places, thus protecting the rifle against future rust.... as long as the rifle isn't eposed to any more water, or even just normal atmospheric humidity.

To prevent rust from exposure to normal atmospheric humidity after cleaning with hot water, I make sure that all surfaces are coated with CLP, inside and out, paying special attention to screw holes, dovetails, and other places where metal surfaces meet. Then I clean the nipple, coat it with CLP, and replace it.

Before the next shooting session, I get rid of interior CLP that might interfere with primer or powder performance by removing the nipple, spraying it down with Hornady One-Shot ML cleaner and then drying it, and then running pipe cleaners soaked with One-Shot down the flash channel followed by dry pipe cleaners. Then I swab very thoroughly with a One-Shot soaked patch on a jag with a rounded end that's designed to get into the spherical powder chamber on a TC sidelock, followed by several dry patches. Then I replace the nipple, fire a couple of caps to get rid of any remaining CLP in the flash channel, and am ready to shoot.

 

[WP79Vet]

I have a Pedersoli "Traditional Hawken Hunter" which doesn't have a "hooked breech"for easy barrel removal. Is there an easier way to clean this rifle or any one like it which doesn't have a hooked breech?

Not only do I have to unscrew the barrel tang from the stock, I have to remove the rear sight which is held in place by those screws. Is there an easier way?

Not a good design... Etipp's method sounds like the best you can do without modifying the rifle. Be careful not to get any oil or water on the wood in those tang screw holes!

I wonder if there's a way to fortify the screw holes in the wood, since you will be removing the tang screws and replacing them so many times over the life of the rifle? If you're up for a little gunsmithing, here are two thoughts: 1) Put some slow setting epoxy in the tang screw holes (in the stock), then coat the tang screws (and maybe the side of the tang which is against the wood) with a release agent, put the rifle together, and let it sit for a few days to allow the epoxy to harden and bond with the wood. 2) Even more durable, but harder to do - find some tang screws that are threaded for metal holes which match your current wood-threaded tang screws, along with some threaded steel inserts that fit the new screws. Drill out the holes in the wood to accept the steel inserts, then epoxy the inserts into the holes. If you do a good job with a quality epoxy, that should allow you to remove and replace the tang for the life of the rifle without any degradation - provided that nobody goes ape and breaks loose the inserts while tightening the tang screws.

 

[earlwb]

Flush nipples comes to mind first. But before those existed I found some tubing that would fit on the nipple. I would stick thst into a pot of hot soapy water and with a patch and jag pull the water into the barrel and sort of pump it in and out. You couldn’t go fast of course. I could sldo punch off the tube and then do some faster scrubbing with the water in the barrel. With some guns removing the barrel from the stock was easy to do too. Then I stuck the whole barrel end into the pot of hot soapy water.

 

[Jbrown69]

I have a couple T/C sidelocks that I don't shoot too often anymore but for those I drilled out a nipple a bit and found some clear plastic tubing to fit tightly on the nipple, long enough to reach a pan of super hot water with Dawn dish soap in it. I set the butt of the gun on a towel, the tube in the water, then use a patch on the jag to start a pumping action that washes the barrel. After 25 full strokes I change the water to very hot, clear and repeat with a clean patch. Repeat the clean patch. Pull the tube from the water and run dry patches until one comes back dry, oil a patch and done. Replace the drilled nipple with a good one.

I have a screw in nipple with a hose that I put in hot soapy water then use a bore swab that is reasonably snug in the bore and pump the water till it is clear. Then I bore brush the barrel several times and attach a small vertical wire brush to the rod so I can scrape the breech area. Then the swab and water again. This cleans everything but the nipple. Dry and oil. You are good to go.

 

[pacanis]

I go hi-tek with my bore flushing now



I actually made this for my lever actions shooting BP to flush out the bore from the breech downward, but use it on my ML's too. I just made another tube nozzle to get into my new .32cal. Just heat up the tubing and pull it to a smaller diameter.

I use scalding water from the tap. I probably keep my hot water set higher than most. Sometimes I'll use a little dishsoap, but I'm not sure that works better than just the hot water.

 

[bronko220002]

This guy's a bit corny but knows his stuff. Check out this video.

The only thing I would be concerned about using this method is getting water between the stock and barrel. I would be sure that interface is sealed with patch lube or bullet lube. Or at a minimum use a funnel.