Originally Posted By: Rockdoc
At the risk of being a PITA, I'll ask again. What does the word "tow" in "tow and lime" refer to?
Steve


Tow is flax waste left over from the process of combing the straw. It looks like rope that has been unwound and separated into its individual fibers. Tow is a very old gun cleaning implement. Hanks of it were wound into a loose cord by hand, and twisted around the end of a ramrod to clean the bores of muzzleloaders in days past.

“I left long before daylight, alone but not lonely.”~Gordon Macquarrie