Kibler Fowler Kit — Cleaning Your Gun After Use

• Clean the bore at the end of each day of shooting. Black powder fouling left in the barrel will cause rust.

• Plug the touch hole with a toothpick.

• Pour water into the bore until it is about one-third full. The water temperature does not matter much. Jim does not use soap. Some builders like to add a little Dawn dish soap, but it is not critical.

• Put your thumb over the muzzle and slosh the water around so the whole bore gets wet. Let it sit about 5 to 10 minutes, then dump it out.

• Run cleaning patches on a cleaning jag. Wrap a rag around the touch hole area so water does not squirt onto the stock, because it will stain the wood. Keep patching until the patches come out clean, then run a dry patch.

• Run a couple of patches with a rust preventive such as WD-40, Ballistol, or Barricade. Lubricating Lock Oil also works.

• Wipe the outside of the barrel and the other metal parts with a light coat of rust preventive.

• You do not need to remove the barrel for routine cleaning. Most builders leave it in the stock. For a more thorough cleaning, you can occasionally remove the barrel, stand the breech end in a bucket of water, and pump water through the bore with a cleaning jag. If you remove the barrel, take care not to damage the barrel pins, and keep their ends rounded.

• Clean and lightly lubricate the lock as described in Lock Care and Use.

• There is no set number of shots before you have to clean. Some shooters run a cleaning patch after every shot, and some go longer. Always do a full cleaning at the end of the day.