Cleaning My Weapon

[brown]

Re: Cleaning a flintlock

Thank to everyone for some great information. As for Curt, I think you hit on my primary concern with a 3lb hammer.

[Kace]

Re: Cleaning a flintlock

4) I installed and used a flash guard at Wilson’s Creek out of respect for the event rules, but didn’t notice a lot of difference with it except that it made it a lot more difficult to clean around the pan and frizzen spring. I’ve since removed it and put it back in the possibles box, since the primary use of my ’16 is living histories... at least until the next Pea Ridge, Shiloh or Fort Donelson comes along. I am not real fond of flashguards, both from the authenticity standpoint but mostly from the fact that it makes it a lot harder to clean around the pan and frizzen. Flintlocks are a lot messier than percussion guns when it comes to powder residue all over everything, and you need to be scrupulous about your cleaning in order to keep it functioning. I do carry the guard in my pocket though, in case the eventmeisters require their use.

As for blanks for my M1816 flinter, I usually load 85 or 90 grains of FFFg. About 5 to 10 grains of that goes in the pan, the rest down the bore.

I carried my Bess for a lot of years doing F&I. I would like to reiterate Tom's #4. While the Flash Guard is not period having one installed when firing in ranks will keep your pards a lot happier and safer. Not having a flash guard may not be as dangerous as a using a 6-wing cap, but old sparky throws quite a bit of burned powder around.

You may want to load your cartridges a bit heavier at first till you get a feel for how much you really need to poor into the pan for priming.

If you have been firing a while and are not getting good spark, you can also re-knap your flint with a musket tool as a quick field fix. After owning and firing for a number of years and notice a reduction in spark, think about having the frizzen rehardend by a blacksmith.

Kace

[teddy99]

Enfield Help

Hi,
I was wondering if you guys could help me. My euroarms Enfield is miss fireing when I go from full cocked hamme ready to fire to back to half cock safe posistion any anwers of suguestions. Please I have a Safety Issue.
Thanks Ted Hubbard,

[Johan Steele]

Re: Enfield Help

Remove the lock and send it to Lodgewood. If your half cock is slipping it is something they can fix for a nominal fee. THen pick up a copy of Craig Barry's excellent, The Civil War Musket: A Handbook for Historical Accuracy-Lock, Stock and Barrel. Instructions for proper cleaning and maint are inside and it is well worth the money for all of the other good info.

Hi,
I was wondering if you guys could help me. My euroarms Enfield is miss fireing when I go from full cocked hamme ready to fire to back to half cock safe posistion any anwers of suguestions. Please I have a Safety Issue.
Thanks Ted Hubbard,

[high_private78]

Re: Enfield Help

In my past experiences, when I had the same problem with ANY of my Euroarms firearms, it was that the tumbler was worn down. After speaking with my gunsmith, he noted that the steel used for the tumbler(s) was not hardened correctely and that after normal repetitive use it just simply wore down. Hope this helps.

Jason Reasor

[Hairy Nation Boys]

Re: Enfield Help

I had the same problem. Sent my to Lodgewood and they said exactly what Jason stated. They are great to work with and they do excellent work.

[DJCasey]

Re: Enfield Help

I had the same problem twice that turned out to be two different problems. The first time, Lodgewood was fortunately at the event as I knew nothing about locks. They just took the lock out and tightened all the screws and it worked fine. If you have tried this already, the second time it happend, it was a bad sear spring. It had gotten week and was not holding properly. It would still hold, but any pressure on the hammer, such as going to shoulder arms, would set it off. When I figured out it was the sear spring, it snapped in two as soon as I took it out. The metal was obviously weak. I ordered a new one from Lodgewood (it was MAYBE 3 bucks) and fixed it myself, and it has been cocking safely and tight for many years now. I am almost glad this happened as I now understand how my lock works. If you are not sure what part is which, do a Google search for Enfield lock parts. That is what I did and was able to find some helpful resources.

[Rob]

Re: Enfield Help

There are several possible problems; it could be any, or all, of them.

1. Tumbler/sear screws not tensioned correctly. (Too tight, and the hammer catches in the half-cock notch when firing. Too lose, and the piece will fire from the half-cock position.)

2. Sear spring too weak.

3. Sear nose and/or half-cock notch worn.

4. Tumbler binding on the wood - this is more common than you would think. (The hammer will catch in the half-cock notch when firing, or, in some cases, will not have enough torque to fire the cap, because the wood acts as a brake to slow it down.)

[65thgainf]

How Bright Should "Bright Work" Be On A Rifle

On rifles that are not blued. Just how bright should the hardware be ? Are they delivered too bright from the manufacturer ? I saw a few this w/e that had the markings removed and had a dull look (almost like a silver paint appearance) vs the polished, as delievered appearance. What is the correct sheen for a model 1842 Springfield ?

[Charles Heath]

Re: How Bright Should "Bright Work" Be On A Rifle

. What is the correct sheen for a model 1842 Springfield ?

The phrase "national armory bright" does come to mind. Try following the US Army maintenance instructions (linked to this forum) using period materials and see how it turns out. You'll be surprised at what level of shine a good hand finish can have.

[Craig L Barry]

Re: How Bright Should "Bright Work" Be On A Rifle

David K. Fox writes in the new April 2007 Camp Chase Gazette (p. 54) of finding twenty Springfield Armory produced US 1861s untouched in a crate in New York City. He describes the finish as polished a "dull national armory bright" and having not a speck of corrosion. "Replicas" he writes, "never quite get it right".

My understanding has always been that "armory bright" was not a chrome-like finish. The reproductions are probably over polished. The better question is, how was the finish on the metal parts maintained by soldiers in the field? Period accounts offer some clues.

Sam Watkins of the 1st TN makes mention in "Co Aytch" of his comrade's Enfield that was named Florence Fleming. Pvt Watkins says he ends up with this particular Enfield after his comrade is killed in battle. He proudly describes Florence Fleming as "the brightest gun in the whole army". I interpret that to mean very shiny.

Leander Stillwell of the 61st Illinois writes in "Story of a Common Soldier" that he was required to keep his M-1854 Lorenz "as bright and shiny as a silver dollar" in order to pass inspection. He does not say the finish was to be maintained as issued, but instead consider the words he decides to use here (shiny as a silver dollar) and why (to pass inspection).

Allowing that none of these descriptions are of a newly issued or re-issued US Model 1842 the overall question is much the same. If your portrayal is of a Civil War soldier in the field or on campaign, the relative brightness of any polished finish would likely vary from "armory bright" to "bright as a silver dollar" depending on the maintenance provided by the soldier and the inspection standards of the unit.

[Charles Heath]

Re: How Bright Should "Bright Work" Be On A Rifle

Before folks implode at the mention of "ordnance sergeants" and muskets in the same breath, this well circulated article by Phil Katcher fills in a good number of blanks:

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Ba.../ordnance.html

No pun intended.

[Craig L Barry]

Re: How Bright Should "Bright Work" Be On A Rifle

Removed the potentially controversial term "ordnance sgt" from above post so that the thread does not get off track...instead, the point for consideration here is simply in period accounts the metal parts on a musket were polished by the soldier so that the musket would pass inspection. And the terms used in at least one account to describe the finish strongly suggest the metal parts (except the butt plate) were highly polished to a coin luster. "National armory bright" would be duller on the luster scale than a "silver dollar".

A final point, (one that is covered in "Civil War Muskets: A Handbook for Historical Accuracy") is that there would very likely be a degree of variation in a field polished finish, based on the standards of the unit, the finish on the metal parts to begin with and the level of enthusiasm of the soldier for the task. Leander Stillwell (and at least some others) clearly got some amount of satisfaction out of maintaining the metal finish to a high luster. One can not assume from this particular account that his unit standards were universal throughout the armies. We know that they were not. Other accounts describe the cleaning of the musket as a necessary chore to be completed before moving on to other pursuits. The aesthetics of the finish were not a priority as long as it passed inspection.

[LibertyHallVols]

Re: How Bright Should "Bright Work" Be On A Rifle

As they say, a picture is worth...


There are a few more pics in this thread:
http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/...ead.php?t=8966

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: How Bright Should "Bright Work" Be On A Rifle

Hallo!

In brief and to over-generalize...

"Unmolested" originals speak the loudest.
Photographs of "unmolested" originals speak the next loudest.

At the armory, the "bright" iron/steel metal parts (versus blackened, heat blued, or color case hardened) were polished to a "sheen" by metal-on-metal burnishing.

From there there is how Civil War soldiers maintained their arms in the field.

Beyond that, is what has been done since then in the past 140 years or so by family members, collectors, dealers, museum staff, and reenaactors...

Yes, the Italian reproductions tend to suffer from modern polishing in the from of abrasive disks and pads that impart a non-period "bufifng wheel" mirror bright finish.

Of course, operationalizing and agreeing on terms such as "dull," "bright," "sheen" or "mirror bright" can be another discussion..

Curt