Mopping stick
A mop stick , also called a cleaning stick , is a cleaning device for firearms .
Originally, the mopping stick was a wooden stick with a soft cloth attached to the front end and which was used to clean a muzzle-loading cannon after it was fired. By pushing the dripping wet cloth back and forth at the end of the mopping stick, glowing remains of cargo bags and powder were extinguished and removed in order to avoid the risk of premature ignition when reloading. The water used for this was carried along in a kettle suspended from the gun axis. With the introduction of the low-smoke powder and the breech-loader , cleaning after each shot became unusual.
The cleaning rods were usually attached under the barrel of early military and hunting weapons as well as muzzle loading pistols. For rifles, steel cleaning rods were introduced into the German military around 1893, which were later made up of several parts. In the 20th century, they were replaced by space-saving aluminum-coated cleaning chains that allow brushes and tow to be pulled through the barrel. Today cleaning devices for handguns are sometimes referred to as mopping sticks.
