19th Century Gun Gleaning

[JayC]

19th Century Gun Cleaning

We have all read discussions about the best way to clean and lube black powder firearms today, using Windex, Ballistol, olive oil, Crisco, and such. Is anyone aware of any military publications or firearms owner's manuals from the 19th century that discuss recommended guncleaning procedures? I have always wondered what solvents, lubricants, etc. they recommended back then. It would be very interesting to see these on line in PDF or whatever. What was the common understanding of the term "gun oil" for example?

 

[brentn]

I never even heard or seen a manual for an original muzzle loader. I always thought they were sold in a box and that was it. Be interesting to see if there really where any manuals

 

[Phantom Captain]

I have a copy of the US soldiers manual issued by the Army for care and cleaning of the Springfield rifle circa 1863.

You will be surprised. For cleaning it recommends nothing but cold water down the barrel and then drying and oiling. It does mention the oil, I'm thinking sperm oil or something similar. That's it!

It's a bit more detailed than that and I don't have it with me this sec. I'll try to make a photocopy and paste or something for you guys.

 

[Cap n Ball]

My copy of Upton's Infantry Tactics 1868 says pretty much the same thing in regards to cleaning firearms.

 

[Phantom Captain]

Ok,

Best I could do without a scanner. Hope you can read it. I was wrong, it says to use warm water "if it can be had", otherwise cold was the order of the day. Sorry it doesn't specify anything on the type of oil. It just says oil. I still would assume that at the time this would be some type of sperm or whale oil. I may be wrong though.

 

[DMZ]

This is very interesting. Thanks for posting that.

I clean my 1863 musket by pulling the barrel and the nipple. Then put the breech end into a bucket of warm, soapy water. I then use an extended shotgun cleaning rod with a wad of cotton cloth attached to push and pull the water though the barrel, not unlike using a toilet plunger. Dry and oil.

 

[Phantom Captain]

DMZ,

No problem!

That's exactly what I do as well. Dad always cleaned his BP rifles with water and soap and that's how I was taught.

 

[JayC]

What about handguns? They would have been more likely to be packaged individually, I guess, so maybe they would have come with owner's manuals.

 

[StrawHat]

I am under the impression that unless you ordered it from the factory when you bought a firearm they handed to you and you walked out the door. Manuals and boxes? Most guns came in crates.

The crates were opened at the store (hardware, drygoods, etc.) and put on display.

Back then, cleaning a gun was a daily chore, learned from the one who taught you to load. That might be a father, brother or the friendly NCO.

I don't think I have ever heard of a manual for a Colt or Remington BP revolver. Perhaps they are a response to the legal trade.

Maybe I am mistaken, but I doubt think much was made of cleaning and the like except by target shooters (maybe).

Be interesting to hear what the reenactors might have to say.

 

[brentn]

Yea

Back in the civil war days when one actually had a revolver for a sidearm, I HIGHLY doubt that it went through much cleaning. I bet there were times when they left their pistols for a week with no cleaning at all.. I wonder if any of them ever blew up becuase of rust back then

 

[JayC]

I guess I was recalling stories I have read about factory letters and guns shipped directly to famous "westerners" like Bat Masterson, etc. I wonder whether those custom guns went out with factory-supplied owner's manuals.

I clean my TC Hawken just like described above, with the barrel removed and standing in the utility sink. The cylinder and nipples of my '58 Remington repro end up in the oven on an old cookie sheet after I wash them in the sink. I use Bore Butter and Ballistol for various purposes (and we do have olive oil in the cabinet but I have neve used it). That's what got me thinking about the old days. I guess whale oil is pretty likely. What was Jimmy Stuart using by the campfire in "Winchester '73," I wonder...

 

[Rex B]

In the 19th century, a firearm was considered to be an item whose functions were obvious. To provide a manual would have been a affront to one's intelligence. If you couldn't figure out something, you'd best ask a friend, in private.
Of course, all the usual safety precations and legal language that fill a modern manual would also be useless. Leave that out, and assume a minimal intelligence on the part of the buyer, and you could explain most 19th century firearms on an index card.

 

[oneshooter]

"Friendly" NCO??????

Oneshooter
Livin in Texas

 

[Old Dragoon]

Da** I'm Old...LOL!

I remember Whale Oil and I know we used a lot of it before it was taken from us by the Whale huggers. (I do agtree that too many were killed for just the oil. But some countries today are still killing them.)

I used Whale Oil to cut my browning jobs back in the late 60's early 70's. Then is was no more.

 

[Phantom Captain]

brentn,

Actually you are wrong. They cleaned their weapons daily. Their lives depended on them.

I remember reading an account of confederate soldiers by a European observer and he stated that even though they were skinny and malnourished, filthy and wore rags, and most had no shoes their muskets were bright, shiny and oiled like new.

 

[Phantom Captain]

Old Dragoon,

Hehe, I think my dad still has a tiny bit of sperm oil still in an original can laying around somewhere. I know it was very popular and made a great light gun oil. He said he loved it also and used it all the time when it was around. I remember oiling stocks with it as a kid and rubbing them til they were hot!

I use Ballistol. It's a great product. I know a lot of you guys use Olive Oil but I have heard not so great things about olive oil, particularly that it's not that great of a rust preventitive. All my BP cleaning and oiling is done with soap and water and Ballistol since it's non-petroleum based. In my experience I've found nothing as good as Ballistol for my guns.

I do really like Bore Butter as well, but mainly for bullet lube for my Springfield and as a pin lube on my cap and ball revolvers. I don't use it in place of oil for storage though. Only at the range. Once the guns are cleaned and rinsed with water I just oil them up with Ballistol, inside and out. I have used Ballistol for years and never have had any problems or rust!!

 

[StrawHat]

"Friendly" NCO??????

Oneshooter
Livin in Texas

Sure, can't you think of 5 or 6 of em?

Neither can I.

Suprised the sarcasm in my voice didn't come through, all that money for acting classes was wasted!

 

[John E Reb]

For cased sets Colt often pasted this instruction label inside the lid of the case.

Colt also offered this two page foldout with instructions, though I doubt it was included with every revolver.

For much higher resolution images of these go to

http://home.att.net/~confederate/inst1.jpg
http://home.att.net/~confederate/inst2.jpg
http://home.att.net/~confederate/inst3.jpg

Regards,

John

 

[hildo]

Interesting to see there is no soap mentioned anywhere on these old manuals. A modern day invention probably.
Lately I turned using warm water only on my revolvers too. The BP residue seemes quite easy to get rid off, even without soap. The warm water does not remove all oil I think since after the warm water bath the brown rust particles, which come so quickly when using soap, seeme to stay away. Long enough anyway to keep them in good shape while drying the guns before they are oiled.

 

[Dithsoer]

The following is from the Gunsmith's Manual, 1883.
"In olden times a bucket of water and a wisp of tow and a stout wiper had to be brought into requisition, particularly for the interior of the barrle, but now these things are mainly obsolete. A little benzine poured down the muzzle, after stopping the tube, will do the work of cleaning effectually and in a few minutes. Let stand a short time, then remove the plug from the tube and force the benzine out by running down a tow wad on the wiper-- all the dirt will go out through the tube with it, leaving you nothing to do but wipe the benzine from the bore with the tow. Benzine is especially valuable as a gun cleaner for two reasons: its peculiar fitness for detaching and carrying away dirt, and its highly volatile properties, which cause it to evaporate and leave the metal in a short time after the application. Its adoption has done away with the necessity of ever using a drop of water upon a gun, in any case, which is a matter of decided importance and advantage."
For locks it states that every trace of the old oil should be removed, either by rubbing with chalk or soaking in kerosine or benzine, and then oiled with "the finest grade of watchmaker's oil".

 

[ky_man]

I use the old fashion (i.e., 18th century) method of boiling water in the barrel, plugged with a toothpick. After soaking a bit, I dump the water and run a dry patch down with my jag. I repeat until patches are clean and then I run a final dry patch followed by a bore butter patch to lube. Hot water evaporates quickly, but watch out that barrel gets hot!

If you want to be PC, get some rendered tallow and use it on your patch and whittle your toothpick.

 

[4v50 Gary]

From my research, I doubt if the Civil War soldier used boiling water. At least I never read of it. Besides, wood fires are for making coffee, cooking and cleaning your clothes of lice - in that order.

 

[ky_man]

From my research, I have found many references to the use of boiling water to clean barrels, although my research has been strictly confined to the 18th century (1700's). Foremost, boiling water is a much better solvent for BP fouling than cold water, and evaporates quickly, in contrast to cold water.

Sir, you may be correct about the use of cold water during the Civil War, but I doubt the use of cold water was a uniform policy across either army. Heck, if the coffee was bad you could use it to clean your barrel just as well; also, I bet you could pi** in it just the same! I would imagine that CW troop encampments would always have a pot on the fire for various reasons, and that boiling water was used to clean barrels, but if I am mistaken so be it.

Most 18th century texts refer to using various aqueous solutions of various temperatures, along with a jag and flax or hemp tow strips, or flannel cloth. After the barrel was cleaned, it was lubricated typically by using some type of oil: neetsfoot, tallow, lard, etc.

For me, this is typical of the fascinating variety of tips, tricks and skills to be discovered when researching historic BP shooting. I wish I could cite my sources but I'm at work now and don't have access to them.

 

[Blasterbear]

Reprint

I have a reprint of the manual for the Krag Jorgensen and it gives a recipe for a cleaning solution. I suspect that if there are such manuals for the KG there are probably some around for the trapdoor.

 

[Jim K]

Oil from the ground was in fairly common use by the Civil War period, as was kerosene. Mostly it was obtained from oil "seeps", where oil oozed out of the ground. In spite of some erroneous ideas, Drake did not "discover" oil in PA in 1859; he knew what oil was and was looking for it. His was the first well drilled specifically to find oil. Prior "oil wells" while often exploited for the sale of the oil were actually dug or drilled to find water and were "spoiled" by the oil in them.

Jim