The Winchester Sutler, Inc -
Loading and Shooting and Cleaning
your Civil War black powder firearms
Page Updated: March 2013
E-MAIL: tws@shentel.net
ADDRESS: The Winchester Sutler, Inc. 270 Shadow Brook Lane Winchester, VA. 22603
U.S.A. |
The Winchester Sutler, Inc.  Providing Quality Civil War Reproductions - Since 1972 |
PHONE: 540 888-3595
Best Time To Call: 6:00 pm - Midnight EST 7 Nights a Week
FAX: 540
888-4632
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Information & Instructions for Civil War Reenactors to safely learn:
How to: Load * Shoot * Clean * Civil War Muskets and/or Revolvers
Supplies for Civil War Firearms for: Reenacting * Competition Target Shooting * Hunting
LOADING AND SHOOTING YOUR MUSKET
By: Hawkins
SAFETY FIRST
Rules to Live By:
1. Check your firearm to be certain that it is in a safe, useable condition:
- MUSKETS
- Breech and nipple screwed on tightly
- Lock is working smoothly
- halfcock does not fire when you pull the trigger
- fullcock is holding securely
- Hammer is screwed on tightly
- Barrel sound, dry, clean and empty. (Dry wipe your bore & spring your ramrod.)
- REVOLVERS Additionly Check:
- Cylinder rotating properly with no looseness
- Nipples and barrel tight, (Dry wipe your cylinders)
- Cylinder & inner workings clean & properly greased
2. Make sure that down range is clear to you backstop or 2,000 yards. YES! A musket ball will travel that far.
3. Wear hearing protectors and shooting glasses.
4. Use the recommended load of Black Powder. No Modern powder!Most gunpowder is black in color...that DOES NOT MAKE IT BLACK POWDER! Black Powder refers to a specific slow burning type of gun powder. Using a modern faster burning powder in a musket, Civil War revolver, or gun with Damascus barrels, will blow up the firearm & hurt you.
Historic note about the granulation of black powder:
If you read original documentation you will find reference to using 2fg powder. (The #FG or FFG or FFFG refers to how fine the powder is ground. The more "F's" the finer the powder.) At the turn of the century - 1900 - the standards for measuring the granulation of powder changed.
That which they called 2fg is now equivilant to what we now call FFFg.
In short... today... Fg is primarily used for cannons, FFg is cannon primer grade, FFFg is musket and revolver powder.
Reenactors shooting blanks like FFg
- because the larger grains burn slower causing more "blast" effect at the muzzle.
Competition shooters find better accuracy with FFFg
- because the finer granulation burns faster and more consistent.
5. Never load from a flask.(A potential hand grenade)
6. Never point the barrel towards yourself or anyone else.
7. Never have a live cap on the nipple during loading.
8. Always fire a couple of caps at a blade of grass before you load
to assure that your barrel is empty and dry.
9. Never thumb the bullet to start it. (Hold it by the sides)
10. Never palm the ramrod. (Use finger tips from the side)
11. Always make sure that the bullet is seated all the way to the bottom on the powder.
LOADING YOUR BLACK POWDER MUSKET
| Minie ball cartridges came in ten packs with 12 caps paper wrapped inside. Each load had a pre-lubed minie ball wrapped in
paper with 60 grains of "2F" black powder. |
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(Please note: FFg powder of the 1860's is
equal in size to FFFg black powder of today.)
The paper was similar to today's butcher paper. This was tied with a string. - You would rip the string on the powder end of the cartridge
- Pour the powder down the barrel
- Peal off the paper from the pre-lubed minie ball
- Ram the bullet till it seats on the powder
- Raise your rifle pointing down range
- Pull back the hammer to half cock
- Discard the spent cap from the previous firing
- Put on a new cap
- Pull hammer to full cock
- Aim with stock pulled firmly into your shoulder
- Squeeze the trigger
Avoid dry firing your musket. (Letting the hammer fall on the nipple without a musket cap on it) repeated dry firing will cause your nipple to mushroom (Get fatter) and then standard musket caps will not fit anymore...causing you to have to buy a new nipple
PREPARATION:
- Pre-measure your FFFg Black Powder into a * QuickCharge Tubes
(This handy all in one water proof "cartridge" allows you to rapid load easily.) About 40 grains in a 58 caliber for target shooting, no more than double that for hunting.
- Put your minie ball in the tube nose first, leave the grease rings exposed.
- Lube your bullet. 300Plus bullet lubricant is ideal for this.
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LOADING & FIRING - Did you read Safety first? (scroll up)- Pull minie ball from QuickCharge Tube, using teeth or fingers
- Pour powder down rifle barrel with muzzle away from face and body, and hand off to one side of muzzle
- Take bullet from your teeth and place it in the muzzle - base down - keeping fingers to either side of bullet
- Place cup of ram rod on nose of bullet, and ram bullet all the way down to seat firmly on top of powder charge
- Raise your rifle pointing down range
- Pull back the hammer to half cock
- Discard the spent cap from the previous firing
- Put on a new cap
- Pull hammer to full cock
- Aim (Pull stock firmly into your shoulder) look to see that down range is clear, too and behind your target
- Squeeze the trigger
PREPARATION:
Make Paper Cartridge Tubes, or buy Paper Ladys
TO MAKE PAPER CARTRIDGE TUBES for BLANKS:- Get a dowel rod near the size of your bore diameter (1/2" for .58)
- Cut butcher paper in strips wide enough to wrap around the dowel rod and overlap slightly.
- Wrap paper around dowel and glue edges together creating a long paper tube.
- Once the glue dries, slide the paper up the tube just a little, so that there is enough to crimp the paper over the end of the dowel like a penny wrapper.
- Put a spot of glue on the crimped end so that it will not unfold.
- Slide the paper further off of the dowel to a little longer than the volume of your powder charge - about 60 grains of FFFg Black for a 58 caliber Musket
- Cut paper
- Repeat steps 4 through 7 until you come to the end of the paper tube you made.
FILLING PAPER LADYS:- Stand your paper tube glued end down and use a powder measure, funnel, or flask to pour the powder charge into the tubes
- Put a spot of glue just inside the top of the Paper Lady, flatten & fold, or string tie the open end of the tube shut.
LOADING & FIRING: - with no projectile.- Tear paper at string or fold
- Pour powder down barrel keeping the muzzle of the barrel away from your face & body
- Discard paper.
Do not put any paper in the barrel. It is a projectile capable of blinding a fellow reenactor, or catching a field on fire. Also, burning paper embers in your barrel can cause your gun to go off the next time you load.. commonly known as a cook off!
- Keep muzzle elevated when you raise your musket to your shoulder
- Pull back hammer
- Remove spent cap
- Put on a new musket cap
- Aim (Pull stock snugly into your shoulder) look to see that down range is clear.
- Do not fire at a person... you could blind, deafen, or powder burn your fellow reenactors! - Squeeze trigger.
PREPARATION:
MAKING NITRATED PAPER:- Get a cake pan large enough to lay a sheet of paper flat inside of it. Put about 1/2" of water in the pan, set cake pan on stove, bring water to a boil
- Turn heat of stove down to simmer
- Stir in Potassium Nitrate (Salt Petere), one tablespoon at a time until you reach a super saturated solution (no more salt petere will dissolve.)
- Take one sheet of Onionskin Paper and thoroughly soak it in solution
- Hang soaked paper to dry on a string by two clothespins
- Turn off stove when you are done
Caution: this paper is highly flammable!
MAKING THE CARTRIDGE: - Purchase a dowel slightly bigger than your bullet
- Cut a long strip of the nitrated paper to wrap around once with a little overlap. Wrap nitrated paper around dowel and glue (paper to paper - not to dowel) with Sodium Silicate (Water Glass)
Do not use white or instant glues
as they become rock hard and ruin your barrel.
- Slide this paper tube a little so that you may fold the end as you would a penny wrapper
- Fold and glue
- Slide further until the desired length of cartridge...plus a little... is off the dowel
- Cut
- Fill the paper tube with correct amount of FFFg Black Powder (about 35 grains for a 50 caliber)
- Slide the pre-lubricated bullet base first into the paper tube and glue or string tie the nitrated paper. If you string tie, be sure that you have soaked the cotton string in the nitrate solution
LOADING & FIRING - with nitrated paper cartridges- Open breech
- Remove any debris from previous load
- Load whole cartridge...bullet-toward muzzle...into the back of the barrel
- Close breech
- Pull the hammer back
- Remove spent cap
- Put a new cap on the nipple
- Aim (Pulling stock firmly into shoulder)
- Squeeze trigger.
PREPARATION:
- Check your revolver to be certain that it is clean, empty, dry, and in good working order.
- halfcock does not fire when you pull the trigger
- fullcock is holding securely.
- Cylinder is lining up with barrel and has no play
- Cylinder pin & inside of revolver are well greased
Avoid dry firing your pistol. (Letting the hammer fall on the nipples without pistol caps on them) repeated dry firing will cause your nipples to mushroom (Get fatter) and then standard pistol caps will not fit anymore...causing you to have to buy a new set of nipples
LOADING YOUR REVOLVER:- Pull the hammer to half cock and stand pistol muzzle up and pointing away from your body and face
- Put correct amount of FFFG powder in one cylinder (about 20 grains FFFg Black Powder for target shooting in a 44 caliber)
- Fill the rest of the cylinder with corn meal or use Hagzilla Monster Lubricated Wads
- With fingers to either side, place proper size round ball or conical ball on loaded cylinder. Do not thumb the ball!
- Rotate the cylinder to align with the loading lever
- Press ball in using the loading leaver, (this compresses the corn meal)
- Be sure to seal the cylinder with lubricant to prevent chain fire and lubricate bore. 300Plus works very well for this. (We keep 300Plus in a clean squeezable mustard container for this use) Repeat steps 2 through 7 for each cylinder
- We advise not putting the pistol caps onto the nipples until just before you are going to shoot
FIRING YOUR REVOLVER:- Assuming your revolver is on half cock, put pistol caps on the nipples,(slightly squeeze the sides of the pistol caps if they are so loose that they will not stay on the nipples, or use #10 size pistol caps...they are slightly smaller.) Rotate cylinder as needed
- Point your pistol down range, and carefully pull the hammer back to full cock position
- Aim look to see that down range is clear, too and behind your target
- Squeeze trigger.
The Variables
- Assuming your firearm has an excellent bore, (It doesn't - what can I do?)
- A sealed walnut stock (glass bedding)
- Your lock is fast and smooth, (It isn't - what can I do?)
- What you load into your gun becomes the critical factor for accuracy.
- Your bullet should be made of clean, soft lead, (soft enough to cut with your thumbnail) having no defects in molding. A good flux such as Leadex will get the dirt out of the lead you are using to mold and make the molten lead flow better
- Weighing the bullet with a loading scale will help determine if air pockets exist
- Running bullets through a sizing die will correct the outside diameter variances which occur during molding when the mold's temperature fluctuates (Cast your bullet .002 larger than you plan to use and then size them down two-thousandths)
- If your bullet is to small, it will tumble
- If your bullet is too large, you will beat it out of shape ramming it down to the powder charge...destroying its aerodynamics and accuracy
- Seams in your bullet may cause it to fragment
- Exact measurement of FFFg powder (3F powder is smaller granulation burning faster and more consistently than 2F)- Powder Measures
- Keeping your powder charges dry - QuickChargeTubes provide a water tight, convenient method to carry you pre-measured powder with your lubricated bullet
- Fouling (A build up of burnt black powder residue in the barrel, most often caused by a bad bullet lubricant.) Fouling in the barrel can cause you to have to beat a bullet down the barrel, rather than the smooth two to three strokes it should take. Beating bullets down your barrel will cause deformations in bullet shape. ruining the aerodynamics. A good anti-fouling lubricant such as 300Plus, is recommend
- A Black Powder Cake in your barrel. Black powder is highly hygroscopic, as are the primer by-products. Muskets need to be completely cleaned with a solvent specially designed to neutralize and remove those hygroscopic residues. MooseMilk is specifically designed for cleaning black powder firearms. Inadequate cleaning of you bore, bolster, and nipple area will allow a cake to build up in you firearm. This cake can prevent the fire from the cap from reaching the powder. causing hang fire, or in some cases, no firing at all. Even more important, black powder cakes cause rust. Rust devaluates your gun and creates safety hazards.
WHAT OUR GUNSMITH CAN DO FOR YOU
Getting accuracy out of a musket using minie balls is not rocket science or voodoo. All of the following is not going to make a better shooter out of you. That takes practice. The following does give you the ability to shave points. Lets say that on a good day you can shoot an 89 on a standard 50 yd N-SSA off hand target.
89
+2 points for glass bedding
+2 points for stock work
+2 points for lock work
95 points puts you in the running.
But more important, if you miss, you know that you did it, not the rifle.
BAD BARREL
- Rough Bores -
Some bores may look rough and shoot well. A rough breech area can cause lead being stripped from bullets during the sudden expansion of the slug during firing. Lead fouling can build up and cause a whole laundry list of problems. Cleaning about every 10 rounds will help this. A rough or belled muzzle is a lost barrel. Your slug can not exit the muzzle in exactly the same way on each firing - therefore, your bullets are flying to a different point on your target each shot.
- Your barrel can be re-lined. This is done by boring out the core of the barrel, inserting a steel liner and THEN rifling this. This method works as well, as a new barrel and has the benefit of retaining external barrel markings... COST: $200.00 to $250.00 ... TIME: 6-12 months.
- New barrel - reproduction Italian musket barrels are listed in our catalogue. Check pricing.
- Old Breach plus New Barrel An alternative is to take your breach and put an entirely new barrel on it... COST: for a musket is approximately $300.00 (Call for an exact price quote. 540 888-3595) ... TIME: - 6-9 months. This is still cheaper than buying an Italian barrel, and you are getting the best of custom work.
BAD STOCK
- Glass Bedding - Wood comes from trees. Trees suck moisture from the ground. Even though the wood in your gunstock is from a long dead tree - it still absorbs and exudes moisture from the air. As this happens, your stock will press on your barrel in different locations. Remember that an .001 change in barrel location will move your point of impact approximately 2 inches at 50 yards. This is especially problematic due to the long length of musket stocks. The following is a list of solutions:
- Glass Bedding the breach area, tang bolt, and trigger guard base: This will also prevent the tang bolt from being screwed too tightly or loosely (which leads to up and down shot strings... COST:$65.00 ... TIME: 2-3 months
- Relieving all wood and furniture from the rear barrel band forward, and seal all end grain wood Stops moisture absorption and changing group points... COST: $25.00 ... TIME: 2-3 Weeks
- Pinning non-band spring clamping bands so that they do not press on barrel (1863 Springfield, all Enfields, etc...) ...COST: $7.50 per band. ... TIME 1-2 Weeks.
Civil War Breach Loading Carbines present different problems that can also be helped by the above. Please call for estimates 540 888-3595
LOCKS
- A grindy, crunchy, heavy, trigger pull is death to accuracy.- We take your lock and:
- Grind inside of plate level.
- Engine turn (jewel) inside of lock plate and all bearing surfaces for better oil retention and slickness. (Looks nice too)
- Install an adjustable setscrew on face of tumbler for an adjustable trigger pull.
- Recut, polish, and blue all screws.
- Balance all parts.
- Re-harden parts if necessary.
YOU GET ALL OF THE ABOVE FOR ... COST: $85.00 (.69 cal. = $95.00) ... TIME: 2-3 months
* FOR LONGARMS & PISTOLS *
Seeing your sights easily is very important to making your bullet hit its intended target. GlareGone can give you that edge with no unsightly permanent change to your firearm.
WIPES OFF - with just a cloth - no chemicals needed.
GLAREGONE BLACK -
is a flat black aerosol sight spray for those bright sunny days when the glare from your barrel blinds you.
GLAREGONE ORANGE - No Longer available.
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GlareGone is specially formulated to not gum up in the can. More than 4,000 cans have been tested, and the only problems encountered were nozzle clog.
(We will send a spare nozzle if you need one. Mail a note to us with a S.A.S.E. having 57 cents postage)
- #SSP1 Glare Gone Black 8 oz. Aerosol can...$9.50
- #SSP2 Glare Gone Orange No longer available
- #MLD4 Lyman Scale for weighing bullets & powder...$55.00
- #MLD5 Lyman 505 Powder Measure with table mounts, dumps a measured powder charge at the twist of a crank...$85.00
- #MLD6 Brass Powder Measure hand held, single charge...$16.50
- #FLK2 .31 Colt Type...$19.50
- #FLK3 .36 Remington Type...$21.50
- #FLK4 .44 Remington Type...$21.50
- #FLK5 .36 Colt Type...$23.50
- #FLK6 .44 Colt Type...$23.50
- #FLK7 Mississippi Peace Flask...$27.50
- #FLK8 Walker Adjustable Flask...$45.00
NOTE: Do not load a recently fired firearm directly by flask. A hot spark could ignite the power stream from the flask... causing the flask to explode like a hand grenade. |  |
- #PLdySm 135 empty paper tubes...$12.50
- #PLdyLg 250 empty paper tubes ...$22.50
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 Picture of Paper Ladies
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The safest, watertight, convenient way to carry your pre-measured powder with lubed minie ball or patch & round ball. Great for hunting and target range.
* THE ULTIMATE ANSWER TO MUZZLE LOADING QUICKLY! *
Why use a vinyl plastic tube when you have been getting along perfectly well with a powder flask, charger, or rolled paper cartridges? Let's pose that question another way. Have you ever witnessed a powder flask explode from someone pouring a charge directly into the barrel. Have you ever wished that you could stuff another charge down faster, without fumbling for a flask, measure, ball & patch separately? Ever try going through the manual of arms in the rain with paper cartridges?
QuickCharge Tubes:
- Can increase your loading speed.
- Puts bullet, powder, & patch conveniently in one hand.
- Has no small parts to loose.
- Has no moving parts to break.
- Are water resistant (Squeeze tube when inserting bullet).
- Will firmly hold a minie ball, conical slug, or patched ball.
- Reusable, field tested for more than 2000 reloads.
- Color coded for different calibers.
- Flexible - Example: One tube fits .44, .45, & .50.
- Powder will not stick to tubes.
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IMPORTANT! As black powder firearms vary in age and condition, and as they are subject to various loading and safety procedures, The Winchester Sutler, Inc. nor any of its distributors or dealers, do not and cannot guarantee the safe or proper use of the above listed products in any manner.
QuickCharge TARGET Tubes: Packaged 50 to a package |  |
| # | Caliber | Max. Capacity FFFG Black Powder | Color | Price |
| 1101 | .36 - .40 | 30 Grains | White | $9.50/per 50 |
| 1102 | .44 - .50 | 45 Grains | Yellow | $9.50/per 50 |
| 1103 | .54 - .58 | 60 Grains | Red | $9.50/per 50 |
| 1104 | .69 - .75 | 90 Grains | Black | $11.00/per 50 |
QuickCharge HUNTING Tubes: Packaged 20 to a package |  |
| # | Caliber | Max. Capacity FFFG Black Powder | Color | Price |
| 1505 | .36 - .40 | 85 Grains | White | $9.50/per 20 |
| 1106 | .44 - .50 | 135 Grains | Yellow | $9.50/per 20 |
| 1107 | .54 - .58 | 175 Grains | Red | $9.50/per 20 |
| 1108 | SHOTGUN | 1¼ oz./ 3½ Drams | Black/Red/Clear | $14.00/per 20 |
THE CAPACITY OF TUBE IS NOT THE SUGGESTED LOAD!
#1103 QuickCharge Tubes work as a cartridge casing in Smith Carbines.
You must drill your own flash holes
#1106 QuickCharge Tubes work as quick loaders for Sharps Carbines
using ringtail bullets
Hollow Point Swaged Minnie Balls 577-580 Diameter 425 Weight Made from pure soft lead $43.00 per Box of 145
(Temporarily out of stock)
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#SMB2 .515 Smith...$9.50
#SHB4 .544 Ringtail Sharps...$9.00
300Plus Bullet Lubricant & Pistol Cylinder Sealant
* The Clean Lubricant for black powder firearms *
With 300Plus, you can load and fire the 300th round
just as easily as the first round down a clean barrel.
300Plus is an anti-fouling bullet lubricant specially formulated to keep your barrel clean. This is very important because if your barrel becomes fouled and you have to start pounding your bullets down your barrel - you are deforming them and loosing accuracy.
300Plus derives its name from the following test. We loaded up more than 300 rounds of .575 minies with 50 grains of fffg, and dip-lubricated just the grease rings (did not fill the base). We fired 300 consecutive rounds from a .58 caliber rifled musket - without cleaning - and the rifle used was still printing in the black on a 50 yard target
300Plus:- A minie ball & maxi ball lubricant
- A stiff round ball patch lubricant
- A black powder pistol chamber sealant & lubricant
- Non-toxic
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GETTING THE CONSISTENCY RIGHT:
For Spring and Fall shooting, 300Plus is the perfect consistency straight out of the container.
- In Winter when it is below freezing, you might want it a thinner consistency - add Crisco.
- On real hot Summer days you might want your lubricant a little stiffer - add BEESWAX.
300Plus Contains no paraffin or other petroleum products!
WARNING: Paraffin and other petroleum products can cause "Cook offs". It is neither fun nor healthy to have your musket unexpectedly fire while you are loading.
HOW TO USE:
- FOR MUSKETS:
Slowly warm 300Plus to a liquid state, and dip the base of your minies in to the lubricant to fill the grease rings. (This is real easy to do if you have already loaded your powder into QuickCharge Tubes with the minie ball inserted into the tube nose first - grease rings out) and set aside to cool on a smooth clean surface. (Try a sheet of aluminum foil.)
- FOR PISTOLS: After you have loaded you cylinders with powder, filler, and ball - cover the ball with a liberal amount of 300Plus to prevent "chain fires". (We keep an old cleaned mustard container full of 300Plus in our pistol shooting box.) "Chain Fire" is when the flame from one cylinder going off causes another cylinder to cook off. Because only the cylinder you intended to go off was lined up with the barrel, any other cylinder going off is a real dangerous situation.
- FOR PATCHED ROUND BALL: If you like a really stiff patch lubricant, warm 300Plus to a liquid state and soak your patches. (For soft patches, use MooseMilk)
#3301 8 oz container of 300Plus Bullet Lubricant...$6.75
Hawgzilla Monster Pistol & Rifle Lubricated Wads
Load directly on to the Powder - Under the bullet
To lubricate your barrel and prevent "Chain firing" in pistols.
("Chain Fire" is when the flame from one cylinder going off causes another cylinder to cook off. Because only the cylinder you intended to go off was lined up with the barrel, any other cylinder going off is a real dangerous situation.)
These lubricated Wads are twice a thick as those offered by our competitor. This makes them more stable and less likely to tilt. Also, Revolver shooters seem to like the extra air space they take up.
Do NOT use for firing blanks! At close range, these could take out someone's eye. Please specify Caliber
Available in:
36 Caliber 44 Caliber 50 Caliber
$9.50 per Package of 100 wads.
Not available in 58 Caliber. See 300 plus above for minnie ball lubrication. See MooseMilk for Round ball with Patch lubrication.
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- #MLD1 Lee Ingot Mold with handle...$16.00
- #MLD2 R.C.B.S. - Sold Out - no longer available
- #MLD3 R.C.B.S. Lead Dipper...$16.50
- #MLD8 Electric 10 lb. Capacity lead melting pot...$59.50
- #MLD9 Lee Electric 10 lb. Pot with bottom pour spout...$62.50
* SHOOT A CLEAN SOFT BULLET *
Make fluxing your lead the easiest step in your bullet casting. Dirt and other foreign matter in your Lead may be why your bullets are casting with irregularities and hollow cavities. Faulty bullets are not accurate, and may separate in your barrel. - Use Leadex to flux the impurities our of your lead.
- Leadex does not make smelly or toxic fumes.
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(Be sure to mold in a well ventilated area, as molten lead does produce hazardous fumes.)
HOW TO USE:
- Once your lead is melted
- Add about one teaspoon of Leadex to every five pounds of lead
- Stir it in
- Skim the dirt and debris off of the surface. (Don't use your good silverware, this spoon will be ruined for food use forever.)
#4402 12oz. Leadex...$6.00
Black powder is highly hygroscopic (water gathering), as are the primer by-products. Muskets need to be completely cleaned with a solvent specially designed to neutralize and remove the hygroscopic residues.
-
Inadequate cleaning of you bore, bolster, and nipple area will allow a cake to build up in your firearm.
- This cake can prevent the fire from the cap from reaching the powder...
- ...causing a hang fire,
- ...or no firing at all.
- Even more important, black powder cakes cause rust.
- Rust devaluates your gun and creates safety hazards.
YOU NEED
| 1. A Modern Musket Cleaning Rod | Why a Cleaning Rod - Can't I Use My Ramrod
We advise use of a one-piece aluminum cleaning rod with both the cleaning jag and the handle pinned on.
Screw together rods can unscrew in the barrel. Retrieval of the lost piece can be real difficult.
Wooden cleaning rods get dirt embedded in the wood and grind away at your rifling.
Ramrods offer very little for you to grab onto, and they often break when used this way.
One-Piece Aluminum Cleaning Rod $17.50 v/s Replacement Ram Rod $28.50 |
| 2. A Brass Cleaning Brush | A brass brush is your safest choice. Stainless steel brushes can scratch the inside of your barrel - promoting future cleaning & shooting problems. Nylon brushes can melt in your barrel if your barrel is hot. |
| 3. Cotton Cleaning Patches | Use the Right Size and Use 100% cotton. (.58 = 2 ½" x 2½"). |
| 4. Black Powder Solvent | Do Not Use Anything With Ammonia or Hydrogen Peroxide. We use MooseMilk. It is safe in your barrel, and won't ruin your stock finish.
Black Powder is hygroscopic - attracts moisture. Moisture on steel promotes rust.
Black Power residue contains sulfur. Ammonia mixes with sulfur to create a nasty acid.
Sulfur mixed with Hydrogen Peroxide creates sulfur dioxide. Another steel eating formula. |
| 5. Musket Nipple Wrench | Pliers or a wrong size wrench could round the shoulders on your nipple, making it near impossible to remove it. |
| 6. Nipple Pick | Preferably Stainless Spring Steel. Because it is flexible, strong, and unlikely to break off in your nipple. |
| 7. Old Tooth Brush | Clean and free of other chemicals. |
| 8. Black Powder Compatible Oil | Not "3 in one" or other household oils which attract moisture. |
CLEANING YOUR MUSKET
- Use a good black powder solvent designed to neutralize & remove the highly hygroscopic residues which result from firing your musket. We suggest MooseMilk Black Powder Solvent & Patch Lubricant
- Leave a spent cap on the nipple.
- Pour about a half ounce of solvent in the barrel
- Put thumb over the barrel, and shake it all around
- Use a Musket Cleaning Rod with a Brass Cleaning Brush of the appropriate size to scrub the barrel
- Pour out the solvent
- Pull hammer back
- Remove spent cap
- Run 100% cotton cleaning patches of the appropriate size, one at a time, on a cleaning jag, down your barrel, until they come up dry
- Alternate solvent saturated patches with dry patches until you come up clean
- Scrub the outside of bolster with an old toothbrush and solvent
- Unscrew nipple using a Musket Nipple Wrench
- Clean inside of nipple with Musket Nipple Pick, brush, and solvent
- Wipe dry. Grease the threads of the nipple and screw back into bolster tight
- Oil all metal parts of your gun including bore.
Be sure the solvent you use
will not harm your stock finish or chemically eat your steel barrel.
DO NOT USE PRODUCTS CONTAINING AMMONIA OR HYDROGEN PEROXIDE
They combine with the sulfur residue and create steel eating mixture containing:
sulfuric acid * ammonia sulfide * sulfur dioxide
All of the above can eat through the engine block of your car!
Has been in production since 1954
The Winchester Sutler, Inc.
Has more than 30 years experience using this product continuously.
We have found nothing else on the market as safe & efficient.
Contains no ammonia or hydrogen peroxide!
Neutralizes & removes both black powder and primer residues.
Will not harm your stock finish so you don't have to take your gun apart.
(Exception: Extensive soaking of linseed oil stock finish will leave water marks.)
MooseMilk also works on nitro & cordite fouling.
MooseMilk is a fantastic patch lubricant.
It also stops corrosion of brass cartridge casings.
MooseMilk is: non-toxic, non-flammable, non-explosive
OIL YOUR MUSKET AFTER CLEANING!
MooseMilk as a Musket Cleaner.
Long ago the developers of this product discovered that trying to produce an all in one cleaner and oiler would not work. The oils would retain some of the black powder residue, and the barrel of you musket would get eaten by those corrosive and hygroscopic particles.
Clean your gun with MooseMilk.
MooseMilk Black Powder Solvent & Patch Lubricant
- #2202 - Moosette, 8 oz...$5.00
- #2203 - MooseMilk, 16 oz...$7.50
- #2204 - Maxi-Moose, 32 oz...$12.50
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MUSKET CLEANING ROD:
Important features of our musket cleaning rods:
- Solid aluminum rod - because screw together rods can un-screw in your barrel. With a muzzle loader, you are not getting the lost part of the rod back out of your barrel easily.
- Not a wooden rod - because the wood can swell from moisture, get embedded with crud that will tear up your rifling, and is easier to break.
- Has a pinned on brass patch tip - because a screwed on tip could come un-screwed and be lost in your barrel
- The tip is drilled and tapped for a common size shot gun brush - A part you will be replacing fairly often
- Has a bushing - to center the rod and protect the muzzle and rifling from wear.
#CLR1 .58 cal. 3 Band Rifle...$17.50
#CLR2 .58 cal. 2 Band Rifle or Carbine...$17.50
#CLR3 .54 cal. Sharps Rifle or Mississippi...$17.50
#CLR4 .54 cal. Sharps or Gallagher Carbine...$17.50
#CLR5 .50 cal. Smith or Maynard...$17.50
#CLR6 .44 cal. Pistol...$12.50
#CLR7 .36 cal. Pistol...$12.50
#CLR8 .69 cal. Musket Rod...$18.50
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| .36 cal...use modern .38 | .54 cal...use modern 12 ga. |
| .44 cal...use modern .45 | .58 cal...use modern 16 ga. |
#WACC1 Stainless spring steel
Musket Nipple Pick...$.50
#WACC2 .58 all wood Tompion...$2.00
#WACC7 .58 1855 (E.O.A.) Worm (for pulling lost patches)*...$6.00
#WACC8 .58 1855 (E.O.A.) Ball Puller*...$6.00
#WACC9 Powder Measure (marked in 10 grain increments) with funnel and nipple pick...OUT OF STOCK
#WACC10 Enfield Nipple Protector with chain & ring...$5.00
#WACC11 EOA - Musket Nipple Wrench...$9.50
#WACC12 EOA Pistol Nipple Wrench with screw driver...$7.50
#WACC21 2 Blade Crescent Musket Nipple Wrench...$9.50
#WACC13 Ram Rod Extender*...$4.00
#WACC14 Brass Brush to screw on ram rod*...$4.00
#WACC15 Wool Swab to screw on ram rod*...$4.00
#WACC16 Brass bore scraper for ramrod*...$6.00
#WACC17 Brass bore scraper for our .58 cleaning rod...$6.00
#WACC18 Brass bore scraper for .69 cleaning rod...$7.50
#WACC19 3 Blade Crescent Musket Nipple Wrench...$9.50
#WACC20 Closed 2 Blade Musket Nipple Wrench...$9.50
*these items are threaded to go on Euroarms ramrods
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Solid Brass Ramrods $39.50 | Save wear on the lans in your barrel. Instead of using a steel ram rod, use brass. For: Springfields, Mississippis, Zouaves, Enfields: be sure to length of barrel and specify gun
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THE TOOLS - What do I really need
Worm - Everybody should have a way to extract lost cleaning patches.
Screws on the ramrod and is used to retrieve cleaning patches.
This is not a cleaning jag!
Ball Puller - for people shooting lead - (Hope you never need it)
Screws onto the ramrod and is used to retrieve stuck minnie balls.
Stainless Steel Nipple Pick - keep one in your hat - (a safety pin will work in a pinch)
Musket nipple wrench - do not round the shoulders of you nipple with a pair of pliers.
- The modern WACC11 is the easiest to use.
- The reproduction crescent & closed style have screw drivers.
Tompion - keeps rain, bugs & dirt out of your barrel
A Modern one-piece Cleaning Rod Screw together cleaning rods could unscrew in your barrel and are near impossible to retrieve. Flat slotted cleaning rod tips are not the right shape to clean the bottom of your barrel.
Brass Shotgun Brush - 16 ga. shotgun brush for .58 caliber.
100% cotton cleaning patches 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" - You can cut them from old 100% cotton "T" shirts.
Good oil (Do not use 3in1 oil as it attracts water vapor to lubricate)
YOU SHOULD NEVER USE OR BUY THE FOLLOWING - if you have been taking good care of your musket.
Bore Scrapper - for people who have a cake in their barrel and are using the wrong cleaning solvents.
Ram Rod Brush - is a great way to break your ram rod. (Replacement cost is $30.00 - $40.00 verses buying a modern one-piece cleaning rod for $17.50)
Ram Rod Swab - as you will need a hand full of these to really clean you musket, this is incredibly expensive. And once again you are risking breaking your ram rod. (Buy a modern one-piece cleaning rod, a shotgun brush, and some cotton patches.)
Ram Rod Extender - to get more reach and tork... and you will be even more likely to break your ram rod)
YOU HAVE INVESTED AT LEAST $500.00 IN YOUR MUSKET
TAKE PROPER CARE OF IT
Clean your gun between skirmishes.
Never fool yourself into believing:
- that hot soapy water is cleaning your gun. (It will ruin your stock) You need a black powder solvent.
- a flat slotted shotgun cleaning tip will clean the bottom of your barrel - it is the wrong shape.
- a worm with a patch on it, is cleaning your gun - worms were designed to retrieve lost patches.
- Any cleaning solution will work - products containing hydrogen peroxide and/or ammonium will chemically combine with the black powder residue in your barrel, creating an incredibly strong acid that will dissolve the steel of your barrel.
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Updated: March 2013 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED |