260. He will cause them to be frequently examined at other times, to prevent their being clogged with oil or lacquer, and to be sure that they are always ready for use.
He will strictly prohibit their being marked or otherwise defaced.
261. It is directed that the men who use them be taught to clean them properly, and to remedy any slight defects or obstructions to their use.
Chests not lined preserve them best, if there be no proper armory.
DIRECTIONS FOR CLEANING ARMS.
262. In taking apart and cleaning guns, there are required a screw-driver, wiper, wire-tumbler punch, and a spring vice. No other implements should be used in taking arms apart, or in setting them up.
263. Dismounting and Cleaning.—The rifle-musket should be dismounted in the following order, viz.:
1st. Unfix the bayonet. 2d. Insert the tompion. 3d. Draw the ramrod. 4th. Turn out the tang-screw. 5th. Take off the lock; to do this, put the hammer at half-cock, and partially unscrew the side screws; then, with a slight tap on the head of each screw with a wooden instrument, loosen the lock from its bed in the stock; turn out the side screws, and remove the lock with the left hand. 6th. Remove the side screws without disturbing the washers. 7th. Take off the bands in order, commencing with the uppermost. 8th. Take out the barrel; in doing this, turn the musket horizontally, with the barrel downward, holding it loosely, with the left hand below the rear sight and the right hand grasping the stock by the handle; tap the muzzle on the ground, if necessary, to loosen the breech. If an attempt were made to pull the barrel out by the muzzle, it would, in case it were wood-bound, be liable to split at the head of the stock.
The foregoing parts of the rifle-musket are all that should usually be taken off or dismounted.
The breech-screw should be taken out only by an armorer, and never in ordinary cleaning. The mountings, cone and cone-seat screw, should not be taken off, nor should the lock be taken apart, except by permission of an officer.