Cap & Ball Pistol

The importance of Choosing the Right Wife

Several years ago I was given a black powder cap and ball pistol. It had been fired and put away without cleaning. All of the components were frozen solid and the owner was going to throw it away so he gave it to me. I spent a few evenings disassembling it cleaning and repairing it. Fortunately it was a Stainless Model so most parts were salvageable.  When I was done I put it in the safe. 

I decided that I would take it out and shoot it. I took it down the the range and blasted away. It was a lot of fun but boy did it get dirty! I decided that I would take it apart and clean it in my ultrasonic cleaner. 

I did the frame first but did not take any pictures. Then I put all the remaining pieces into a beaker and ran them through a cycle. I cleaned the parts in a mixture of Dawn Detergent and a small amount of Vinegar.  

Here you can see the parts going into the cleaner.

It did not take long for the solution to turn black and start to smell of sulfur (Left Side). 

After I finished cleaning I decided that I would put the parts in the oven on warm to dry them so that the steel parts would not rust. 

After the oven they got a light coating of oil where necessary and back into the safe. 

Why is this post titled the "Importance of choosing the right wife". Well I did all this cleaning in our kitchen counter and baked the parts in our oven. My wife does not even bat an eye when I have an ultrasonic cleaner cleaning stinky gun parts or brass on the kitchen counter. Nor does she think twice when she opens the oven door and finds gun parts. She just tells me that we are going out for dinner tonight with a smile.

 I am a lucky man!