You bring up a great point Steve and I have been on the fence on cleaning it. Honestly I can't tell you when the last time it probably had a "good" cleaning! Of course the barrels have had a patch or two down them but no real wipe down of the gun. I don't plan on selling or trading the gun as it will be handed down to my boys in time. I really don't even have an idea what this gun is even worth at this point. I have had several people tell me not to use a solvent based cleaner on this gun. I was told to clean it like a muzzleloader and use really hot water and dawn dishwashing soap followed up with a wipe down in gun oil. I guess the solvent based cleaners will potentially strip the Patina off the gun which is what you don't want to do? I am new to antique firearms and don't want to make a novice mistake. I will most likely follow Raimey's advice in the earlier post to clean the shotgun unless anyone else has some additional advice?
