April 11, 2021, 09:00 PM | #1 |
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What did the cowboy do?
I generally drown my percussion revolvers while cleaning after a day at the range, but the cylinders have all been fired so no concern about wetting loaded chambers.
After a cowboy fires a single shot from his percussion revolver, did he clean the empty chamber before reloading? Was it a quick wipe of the chamber with a damp rag on a stick? |
April 11, 2021, 09:50 PM | #2 |
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From looking at antique examples of pistols that were real working guns, they didn't bother to clean them much anytime. Usually there is lots of pitting around the rear of the barrel, forcing cone and front of the cylinder. I've seen half a dozen original Colt percussion pistols that had barbed wire gouges in the barrel steel, from using the pistol as a lever to stretch wire. Many damaged from use as hammers. To a working cowboy his pistol was just a tool, like a pair a pliers, you didn't have a lot of downtime to do maintenance on your gun. You rode all day, ate supper and hit the sack till up at dawn.
They also likely greased over the chambers, to help seal the charge and also, if you did fire your weapon, the huge amount of Lube would keep the fouling soft for days till you could wipe it off. |
April 11, 2021, 10:27 PM | #3 |
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A local old fashioned store had a wall full of muzzleloading rifles and shotguns, most hideously plated in nickel, chrome, even gold. But the plating was over heavy pitting around the drum, where chlorate caps leaked chloride spray on the steel; seldom cleaned.
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April 12, 2021, 11:13 AM | #4 |
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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".
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April 12, 2021, 11:53 AM | #5 |
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I understand that the metallic cartridge era shootists unloaded and cleaned their pistols each night whether shot or not.
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April 12, 2021, 02:12 PM | #6 |
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That's what they *say* they did.
But "best practice" statements in a book rarely align with reality and practicality. I've been doing substantial research into shotgun history, and all it does is reaffirm my belief and understanding of what typical practices were in the BP era: 1. The average owner did not have a fine firearm. They had a cheap, working man's gun. Few cared about cleaning religiously, unless the firearm was truly a prized possession. If it was just a tool, putting cleaning off for a day, or two, or weeks, was not seen as a big deal. The rate of advancement in the field of firearms had many, many people approach the tools as if they planned on replacing their shotgun, rifle, and/or revolver before it could ever corrode enough to be an issue. They knew they could abuse it, because something better would be in the market within 5 years. -Today, we live in a world that has been stagnant and nearly standing still for the last 135 years. But in the percussion BP era, every week had something amazing introduced. Every year, something truly revolutionary came out. And, often, they were actually affordable. 2. People were busy. They worked (and played) long, hard days, and were dead-dog tired by the end of the day. If a gun was going to get cleaned, it would happen in the morning - or, more than likely while out on the trail, when the hunter/cowboy/prospector decided to bathe. One of the notable exceptions would be market hunters with punt guns. When they operated on the water, they had easy access and often swabbed the bore for every shot - almost treating them like cannon.
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April 14, 2021, 01:19 PM | #7 |
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Thank you
Thanks to all for sharing. A bit surprised to read a cowboy would neglect a tool, (his revolver) so costly when compared to a $30 per month salary. Also, the thought of lube covered cylinder chambers has me wondering. Any lube on a hot Texas day would probably be a fly magnet puddle in the bottom of a saddlebag, but I'm no expert on the topic.
Can anyone recommend a good book or two on the topic of "real cowboy life"? |
April 14, 2021, 01:37 PM | #8 |
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Accurate histories of American Cowboys are hard to come by as the myth of the American cowboy is so pervasive.
the Log of a Cowboy, Andy Adams, 1903 is getting close to source material and is highly regarded. Orphans Wanted, the Twisted Truth and Lasting Legend of the Pony Express by Christopher starts out very well, then the last quarter of the book slogs in details. It explains how the historical record of these times begins extremely unclear (hilariously so) and the how buffalo Bill got the ball rolling, and then it really got silly. Get em at the library... librarians are cool. So is history!
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April 14, 2021, 03:45 PM | #9 |
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If he broke a mainspring, he could whittle a wood spacer to keep it going.
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April 14, 2021, 08:44 PM | #10 | |
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April 15, 2021, 10:07 AM | #11 |
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I'm learning. Thanks.
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April 15, 2021, 12:57 PM | #12 | |
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April 15, 2021, 02:37 PM | #13 | |
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Which, once wet, is far, far worse for the firearm than any lack of cleaning.
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April 15, 2021, 02:54 PM | #14 | |
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What you need to look at are the "poor" people, who didn't have much in the way of cash. Tools cost money, and while it might not be a high quality gun, a "working man's gun" was still a sizable investment, could be a month's earnings, and so they tried to keep it in good working condition. there wasn't nearly as much of "if it breaks/gets ruined I'll just buy another one" back then as there is today. Not even close. Farmers and ranchers needed their tools to last, could not afford to be constantly replacing them, and generally took care of them so they would last. It's much more common that while cared for during the original owner's life, it was the sons or grandsons that inherited the "old stuff" that let it rot/rust into uselessness, something we still see today...
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April 15, 2021, 03:37 PM | #15 |
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It's much more common that while cared for during the original owner's life, it was the sons or grandsons that inherited the "old stuff" that let it rot/rust into uselessness, something we still see today...
Totally agree with this statement. |
April 15, 2021, 08:40 PM | #16 | |
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Located and am reading Log of a Cowboy. Also found an interesting website with real cowboys telling their stories, https://tinyurl.com/yf95czxh Have read a series of books authored by an old gal, Loula Grace Erdman. Her stories are of the settling of the Texas panhandle and the fighting along the western frontier of Kansas/Missouri before and during the Civil War. Have not found much specific to early gun ownership but those early settlers were all about surviving and "waste not, want not." |
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April 15, 2021, 09:13 PM | #17 |
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Here in my country an old "gaucho" (our cowboy) once told me that usual practice his grand grandfather used to do was to let some hot water go thru the barrel of his own Winchester 73 carbine. Such practice was performed at night if they shot the carbine by the day, with the same steel pot they use to heat up water for their coffee or "mate" (a local infusion).
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April 15, 2021, 09:17 PM | #18 |
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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.
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April 16, 2021, 05:07 AM | #19 |
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Heating up water to wash the Winchester carbine after using it.
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April 16, 2021, 07:12 AM | #20 | |
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April 16, 2021, 07:19 AM | #21 |
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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?
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April 16, 2021, 09:11 AM | #22 |
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Sperm whale oil was a most prized gun oil. Other animal fats smelled bad.
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April 16, 2021, 11:08 AM | #23 | |
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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.
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April 16, 2021, 11:30 AM | #24 | |
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Anyway, we aren't fighting against the worst of enemies old weapons had, corrosive primers. Last edited by Centurion; April 16, 2021 at 11:35 AM. |
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September 22, 2021, 11:52 AM | #25 |
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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. |
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