Pinned barrels come off just fine. It's not hard to do, but you do need to exercise some common sense. I have kids and dogs. No one, NO ONE, is allowed in the kitchen when I am cleaning a flintlock and dismounting the barrel. The fore stocks are very slender and would be easily broken in an "oops". Everyone is banished from the room until I'm done.
Lately, I've taken to using Bill Slusser's breech face brushes and his cleaning method. You can find it on YouTube. Simple and effective.
I still think they should come out of the stocks once a year. I do mine around the end of flintlock season.
The other thing that should be done that is often missed is pulling the frizzen off the lock to clean the gunk out that accumulates that doesn't easily come out. I don't like to dunk my lock. I clean it with a little dawn and water, and then set it on my pellet stove to dry while I do the rest. Then lightly oil and replace the lock when the gun is otherwise done.
