Cleaning rifle barrels by both forces American Civil War ?

SocialistBlitz · May 10, 2024

Matthew Amt said:
What are you going on about, in such a rude way? I thought you were trying to imply that cleaning a musket takes too long *in combat*, and I said, No, they did not try to clean them in combat, i.e., while bullets are flying. (Except possibly trying to knock some fouling out quickly, which takes only seconds.) You replied very rudely that you did not mean cleaning during combat. I replied that "Otherwise" it only took about 15 minutes to clean a musket, meaning NOT while fighting. You now see to be talking again about cleaning during combat. If you can't understand English, I'm not sure I can help you.

Also, could you please be more respectful to experienced people who are trying to answer your questions?

Matthew

sorry I should rephrase what I said "yeah you don't think I know that only a autistic insane person would try to clean there rifle with the enemy fireing bullets at you well its eithier that your a neat freak Im just saying cleaning your rifle in general is time consumeing" when I said you and your Im not saying that you were that person cleaning the rifle in the middle of combat I.e autistic/neat freak I was going for the "you would have to be stupid to do that" meaning. I was not trying to insult you I was trying to give you an example on why a personh would do such a thing the reason why I back lashed was because you said this "Or your spelling?" and yes I should rephrased what I meant better

SocialistBlitz · May 10, 2024

SocialistBlitz said:
sorry I should rephrase what I said "yeah you don't think I know that only a autistic insane person would try to clean there rifle with the enemy fireing bullets at you well its eithier that your a neat freak Im just saying cleaning your rifle in general is time consumeing" when I said you and your Im not saying that you were that person cleaning the rifle in the middle of combat I.e autistic/neat freak I was going for the "you would have to be stupid to do that" meaning. I was not trying to insult you I was trying to give you an example on why a personh would do such a thing the reason why I back lashed was because you said this "Or your spelling?" and yes I should rephrased what I meant better

about the time consuming in combat thing

OpanaPointer · May 10, 2024

"Watch the younger ones. They just keep loading and loading, they never fire!" Grizzle old Sgt. Killrane (sp?) to LtCol. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain at the Battle of Little Round Top.

The exploding powder would go SOMEWHERE if it couldn't go out the barrel. Pictures of burst rifle barrels make me nervous.

Chlodio · May 10, 2024

OpanaPointer said:
"Watch the younger ones. They just keep loading and loading, they never fire!" Grizzle old Sgt. Killrane (sp?) to LtCol. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain at the Battle of Little Round Top.

The exploding powder would go SOMEWHERE if it couldn't go out the barrel. Pictures of burst rifle barrels make me nervous.

The problem there was the percussion cap. Some soldiers never learned how to attach the cap properly so the weapon never fired.

Historically there is evidence of rifles found with multiple rounds loaded, but I think that line was written with a nod to SLA Marshall who should no longer be taken seriously.

OpanaPointer · May 10, 2024

I know of one case, without history attached. A friend bought a "Civil War Era" long gun and brought it home to clean it. The ram rod wouldn't go all the way down. I rigged a drill bit on a long rod and ran it with a drill. Then a rod with a screw welded to the end. The screw bit into the ball. Pulled it out. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. No more balls. I convinced my friend to have some NDT* run on the piece before he tried to fire it. Good thing, there were small cracks. Might have blown Up/Down/Sideways on him.

*Non-destructive Testing

OpanaPointer · May 10, 2024

Slight derail: A friend bought at TVA* kit and built his own muzzleloader. We took it out to a wood lot to try it out. While we were mercilessly killing the rampaging maple trees a county sheriff walked up behind us.

"AHEM!"
"Oh, hi!"
"You're making a lot of noise, people are calling."
"New toy, officer."
He looked at the long gun and asked if he could load it. Woody gave him the kit and he looked it over.
"Ah, there's the problem. You're supposed to cut the measure down by 2/3s for this gun."

Loud gunfire gets you noticed. Good thing the officer knew his ... guns.

*Tennessee Valley Arms

Oldandeasilycofused · May 10, 2024

Fascinating, seeing as the only rifle barrel I've ever cleaned was the default 7.62 when I served in the Australian army (conscript; 1968-70). We used a pull through, a long, strong cord, small square of cloth cloth and rifle oil.--And the barrel had better be cleaned.

After being on exercise for a few weeks, immediately on returning to camp we would chuck our rifle in a 44 gallon drum of range fuel for a bit. Then the weapon would be wiped down with a clean-ish cloth and the barrel cleaned. Came out quite well.

efftee · May 13, 2024

I shot an 1851 Enfield 3 band muzzle loader for years. I had to clean out every 3-4 shots with a wire brush otherwise you needed Popeye forearms to ram the bleeding round down the spout. I found balls much more accurate than minnie's but I reckon it's the quality of lead that's available today (that meant the minnie didn't expand that much). Best lead comes from church roofs. Don't let the police catch you though or you'll be wearing a lead ball around your ankle.

Tercios Espanoles · May 13, 2024

SocialistBlitz said:
very time consuming If you're in combat

British soldiers would urinate into the barrels of their muskets and give it a quick scrape with the ramrod when opportunity presented itself during battle. I suspect Americans did the same, though I've never seen a reference to it during the ACW.

efftee · May 13, 2024

Tercios Espanoles said:
British soldiers would urinate into the barrels of their muskets and give it a quick scrape with the ramrod when opportunity presented itself during battle. I suspect Americans did the same, though I've never seen a reference to it during the ACW.

I might try that next time I shoot. The Range officer might object though. Plus my eyesight isn't that great at short distances.

OpanaPointer · May 13, 2024

efftee said:
I shot an 1851 Enfield 3 band muzzle loader for years. I had to clean out every 3-4 shots with a wire brush otherwise you needed Popeye forearms to ram the bleeding round down the spout. I found balls much more accurate than minnie's but I reckon it's the quality of lead that's available today (that meant the minnie didn't expand that much). Best lead comes from church roofs. Don't let the police catch you though or you'll be wearing a lead ball around your ankle.

Put the brush in a variable speed drill motor. Start slow and pick it up in pace with the resistance. Lazy, over and out.

Uranium235 · May 13, 2024

efftee said:
I shot an 1851 Enfield 3 band muzzle loader for years. I had to clean out every 3-4 shots with a wire brush otherwise you needed Popeye forearms to ram the bleeding round down the spout. I found balls much more accurate than minnie's but I reckon it's the quality of lead that's available today (that meant the minnie didn't expand that much). Best lead comes from church roofs. Don't let the police catch you though or you'll be wearing a lead ball around your ankle.

Is it an original or a reproduction? I think an original 1851 would be too valuable to be out shooting, did you mean an 1853?

A lot of 1853 reproductions (or 1861 Springfields) are made with the wrong rifling, which won't stabilize a Minie/Burton-type ammunition.

As for cleaning, not all black powders are created equal, some commercial black powders or black powder substitutes leave a lot more residue than would be historically accurate for 19th-century western black powder.

efftee · May 13, 2024

Uranium235 said:
Is it an original or a reproduction? I think an original 1851 would be too valuable to be out shooting, did you mean an 1853?

Sorry yes of course, 1853 and no not an original. A friend of mine has an original and has shot it once or twice, but is a bit hesitant to shoot it regularly. I don't blame him.

Interesting what you mention about the Minie and rifling, might explain why I always found balls much more stable. I was led to believe that some of the fittings on mine were possibly original parts...who knows though.

OpanaPointer · May 13, 2024

I know where you can find hundreds of civil war era rifle barrels. Common knowledge about Grant's Farm, St. Louis is that round the few hundred acres of land Anheuser Busch owns is a steel fence. The verticals are all rifle barrels. Civil War era? That's what they say. Wasn't there myself.

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Cleaning rifle barrels by both forces American Civil War ?

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