What did the cowboy do?

[jdc606]

I personally did the same with my original 73 saddle ring carbine and the interior of barrel is as well as a hundred years ago, not shiny bright but in very good condition. And it is 134 yo.

Centurion. My brother is a big fan of Ballistol moose milk. Hot water can make steel rust in a hurry. What treatment did you or your great grand-dad use after the hot water flush?

 

[chris downs]

Sperm whale oil was a most prized gun oil. Other animal fats smelled bad.

 

[FrankenMauser]

I'll agree with some of this, and disagree with some as well. Yes there are a lot of people who didn't care for their tools as well as the should, but I think this is something that became more prevalent during the later 20th century.

I absolutely agree that a substantial amount of rot on surviving guns was caused by neglect after the firearm went into storage, or was abandoned in a shed, because it was "obsolete". (Whether as an heirloom or in the original owner's possession.)

However, I have come across many modern "misrememberances" in my research. One instance, in particular, illustrates this point:
I ran across several people in shotgun forums claiming that Basil Tozer (Practical Hints on Shooting, 1887, and other texts) never left a pigeon shoot without cleaning his guns.
If one actually reads his book(s), he never says that. In one, seeming out of place and off-the-cuff remark, he offers the advice, "It is best to clean the guns as soon as the pleasantries have ended, so as to keep them from being spoilt."
But the closest you get to it, otherwise, is, "It is far better to clean guns immediately after the day's work is over, (...)"

That's the kicker. People forget that it is advice, not necessarily his personal practice, and includes the qualifying phrases of, "best to," and, "far better."

The same thing shows up with nearly every other suggestion. There are qualifying statements, because we live in a dynamic world, and everyone has their own procedures.
At no point, does he ever say, "I clean my guns as soon as firing has ceased."

In a couple places in the 1887 book, he mentions that many of his contemporaries *preferred* waiting at least one day, sometimes more, after shooting, because the fouling from certain powders was easier to wipe from the bore - even though they knew that this had a, "deleterious effect upon the barrels."

It is like Fuddlore. Someone misquotes, misunderstands, or deliberately misrepresents what is being said, and it gets repeated by people unwilling or unable to research it for themselves, until it has been drilled into the heads of the masses (or focused minority).
Before long, it becomes *fact*, even though entirely false, contextually incorrect, or based upon a false premise.
In this case, it is the lack of direct statement that is ignore. Instead, the suggestion and best practice is taken as the word of god, and perpetuated as an absolute.


I see similar things with Blagdon (1900), Capt Money (1875-1894), and other authors; as well as letters and articles in period newsletters of the time (like Chicago Field, Hunter-Trader-Trapper, Fin Fur Feather, etc.).
Any time the subject of cleaning comes up, it is loaded with qualifying statements. Rarely, very rarely, does anyone actually say, "I always..."
Or, "My barrels are patched in the clubhouse before departing."
Or, "Never have I shot without cleaning before the night's end."

The following is purely my opinion: They would not be talking about cleaning so much and so fervently if it were not a subject that required constant attention.

There is a modern book, I believe it is Yardley's, which mentions the unorganized pigeon shooting done at roadhouses and inns while pigeon (and sparrow, and bat) shooting was an uncouth activity reserved for the poor (~1830-1860). Though pigeon shooting regained popularity with more wealthy crowds, the "unregulated" roadhouse and inn shooting remained until the 1890s. There is a quote from an old traveling salesman, remarking that the shotguns were always in poor condition, badly maintained, and he only ever saw one (muzzle loader) cleaned when it was "fouled and rotted so thoroughly" as to not allow the wadding to be forced down the barrel.

Even WW Greener complains several times about the [summarized from memory], 'excessive number of men that do not give proper attention to their guns ... and ruin them by not cleaning enough, or soon enough.'
Elsewhere, he remarks about a relatively new shotgun that came in for repair and was in such a poor state from lack of cleaning that it needed a new set of barrels. He did not believe that such a person should be able to own a gun. But they did.


I will absolutely agree with anyone that says we have a far greater problem with modern shooters being lazy about cleaning, than our contemporaries 130-160 years ago. But that doesn't mean that everyone took care of their tools in the BP era.

 

[Centurion]

Centurion. My brother is a big fan of Ballistol moose milk. Hot water can make steel rust in a hurry. What treatment did you or your great grand-dad use after the hot water flush?

Just animal fat. Like in the old days. And it was not my relative but the grand grandfather of a local old man. Judging the age of the man I was talking to, his relative maybe was living such kind of life at the end of the 19th century.

Anyway, we aren't fighting against the worst of enemies old weapons had, corrosive primers.

 

[ThomasT]

I have some of the Time/Life Old West series of books and from what I have read the cowboys may have owned guns but didn't wear them while working as cowboys because a shot from a gun could cause a stampede of the cattle. Cattle that stampeded could take a couple of days to round up or could even be deadly to a horse and rider who was in the wrong place when the stampede started. Guns were carried in the chuck wagon and retrieved if there was an Indian problem. But most were never shot.

A gun was an expensive investment and so was the ammunition. I suspect guns were fired a lot less than most think. A gun that was probably fired the most was a shotgun. It was used to gather food and keep raiders out of the hen house. Those were easy to clean and were probably wiped out before being reloaded and put away.

The wild west was not as wild as Hollywood would have you believe. There were suicides and heavy drinking in the western forts because of boredom. Or so I have read.

I have been able to look at a few old guns and all were rusted to some degree but would still function. Some were rusted out junk. The worst one was an early Winchester 94 in 30-30. It was a ruined rust bucket. And yes corrosive primers were one of the biggest problems. Those ate guns for breakfast.

Someone posted the advice from Colt on percussion guns to shoot a cap on all cylinders to make sure they were dry and then load each cylinder back up and the gun could be stored loaded and expected to fire when needed. No mention was made to clean the gun first and then reload.

 

[Hawg]

Hickock reportedly started his day by shooting out both of his Navy Colts, cleaning them, then reloading them and going on with his day.

But he wasn't a "working cowboy".

I've never seen anything historical about him shooting his guns every day. I have seen it mentioned that he cleaned them every day but not the process involved. How thorough was his cleaning? Did he unload them for a thorough cleaning or did somebody see him wipe them down on a couple of occasions and ran with it? Nobody know and likely never will.