J.K. Hawken Rifle 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.

• The Hawken barrel is held by two keys, so it is easy to remove, and removing it is the best way to clean this rifle. Remove the keys, lift the barrel out of the stock, and take the nipple out.

• Stand the breech end in a bucket of water and pump water up and down through the bore with a patch on a cleaning jag. This flushes out the snail breech channel, so no cleanout screw is needed. 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.

• 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.

• Once the bore is dry and protected, put the nipple back in and reinstall the barrel with its keys.

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

• 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.