I'm a pretty religious firearms cleaner, or, as some might say, obsessive. That's probably a good thing, because even my old, old, old guns are in good shape. But this morning, I got to thinking, which is usually a bad thing when it involves me.
Back in the day, what did the black powder shooters do about cleaning their weapons? Now, I know that a fella riding out on the range probably shot his gun very rarely, but what about, say, Civil War soldiers? How often did those rifles see a brush? Now, obviously it happened, because I've got my great great grandfather's rifle and it's in pretty good shape. Given where it's been, it had to see some serious use.
Did these guys sit around the fire with a kettle of boiling water, waiting to swab out their barrels after a battle? And if some trapper in the hills out west did fire off a few rounds from his Lightning, how soon did he clean it?
It's these little tidbits of history that keep me awake. I'm glad I thought about it this morning and not last night.
Back in the day, what did the black powder shooters do about cleaning their weapons? Now, I know that a fella riding out on the range probably shot his gun very rarely, but what about, say, Civil War soldiers? How often did those rifles see a brush? Now, obviously it happened, because I've got my great great grandfather's rifle and it's in pretty good shape. Given where it's been, it had to see some serious use.
Did these guys sit around the fire with a kettle of boiling water, waiting to swab out their barrels after a battle? And if some trapper in the hills out west did fire off a few rounds from his Lightning, how soon did he clean it?
It's these little tidbits of history that keep me awake. I'm glad I thought about it this morning and not last night.