They don't need any more maintenance than any other gun. England is very rainy and their guns were exposed to gobs of moisture. They had them go in for yearly maintenance for that reason and primers were very corrosive. I'm pretty sure something along those lines is what Mr. Brown was referring to. I'm pretty sure that Spanish guns (which for the most part are copies of what the English produced) wouldn't fare any better in the same environmental conditions.

Socialism is almost the worst.