>45 fouling

[ssonb]

I have a 45 cal Tenn/Kantuck style longrifle with the flat style groves and lands in the bbl. I can at most get three shots off before the PRB will fail to seat on the powder load...I have tried Goex fff, pyrodex fff,KIK fff and 777 fff all foul the barrel quickly..I tried wiping the bore between shots but I wind up with the crud being pushed down to the bottom and causing misfires. I have a .50 cal that I shoot with the same powders but I get eight to ten shots before feeling the restriction of a fouled bore. I am fairly new at this and am still learnin.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I wind up with the crud being pushed down to the bottom and causing misfires

Strongly suspect you have the wrong sized jag on your rod. With the right sized, and shaped, jag, the cotton cleaning patches will not push crud down the bore. Can you send a pic of your jag?

 

[Col. Batguano]

You might need to use a bore scraper too. How close is your touch hole to the breech plug face?

water based lubes (like spit patches swab the bore each time you load. I can shoot 20-30 shots without cleaning when I use spit patches. If I go to oil patches like pre-lubed ox yokes I need to swab every 5 shots or so. But when it's way below zero out water patches don't work. They freeze to the muzzle and you can't get a ball in there! face.

 

[Dane]

Not enough info for a proper answer, except to say this..... Barrel fowling is a function of your load. Patch/ball/lube. A tightly patched, properly lubed load will not foul your barrel.

I can shoot literally all day without running a cleaning patch, unless the gun sits for a while.

A loosely patched load, will fowl consistently, shot to shot.

This all assumes that you have a good, unpitted barrel.
Hope this helps

 

[ssonb]

Thanks for the replies.I have shot percussion for a few years without any problems except in 45 cal ?? The bigger bores would go almost all day long without fouling.. The plug has a groove in the face to channel the flame from the touchhole liner to the charge..The gun had set for a couple of years and had a light powder dust rust in the bore with no pitting..

 

[tecum-tha]

Too tight a patch and jag combination, imho.
Chuck jag (with the cylindrical back portion)into drill mounted into your vise or bench. Let rotate and file with a fine file some material off.This is essentially a crude lathe. Control diameter with digital calipers. Jag + patch should go down quite easy into the barrel, not hard. On the return trip, the jag will bulge up the patch and this will take out the crud. It also helps to use thicker patching which is more absorbent. Especially at the breech plug face.
Write down the jag diameter in booklet, so when the jag wears down eventually, you will easily create the same jag diameter again.
Another factor is the wetness of the wiping patch. It needs just be wet enough to not get stuck. This can vary slightly depending on outside temperature and barrel temperature.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Barrel fowling is a function of your load.

Agree. Shooting with bp will foul your barrel. Fact of life.

 

[bpd303]

Another problem is the method used to wipe the bore. Once down and back up is the best way. If the patch is pushed back & forth it will cause the fouling to be pushed into the breech instead of removing it.

 

[Billnpatti]

Let me recommend www.blackpowderrifleaccuracy.com

Order a copy and carefully read and follow the instructions. You will find that your rifle will shoot quite accurately and you will not have the fouling problems that you are experiencing.

 

[stinkyfeet]

Tight PRB in all my 45's with a bore cleaner lube I can shoot all day long without running a cleaning patch down the barrel. Try a tighter patch or a different lube. I use TOTW bore cleaner for patch lube clean as ya go..

 

[Vaino]

My .45 flint LR w/ a very smooth Douglas bbl doesn't foul much and after a dozen or so shots, all that's req'd is a run down of the bore w/ a wire brush and a dump of the debris. Has worked for many yrs now and the TH doesn't get clogged.......Fred

 

[Dphar]

I have a 45 cal Tenn/Kantuck style longrifle with the flat style groves and lands in the bbl. I can at most get three shots off before the PRB will fail to seat on the powder load...I have tried Goex fff, pyrodex fff,KIK fff and 777 fff all foul the barrel quickly..I tried wiping the bore between shots but I wind up with the crud being pushed down to the bottom and causing misfires. I have a .50 cal that I shoot with the same powders but I get eight to ten shots before feeling the restriction of a fouled bore. I am fairly new at this and am still learnin.

If it fouls this bad with T7 then you likely have a rough or pitted bore.
A pitted bore will drastically increase the fouling build up. Rough bore too. Both also greatly increase loading forces needed.
A 45 should not foul any worse than a 50-54 unless its really overloaded, significantly more than 1/2 ball weight of powder.
Best answer would be to use a water based lube for target work and a ball .005 under bore size and a .015-.018 patch. But I would not use a water based lube with Pyrodex.

Use a jag that is undersized for the bore and a large patch 1.5 to 2" square. Just heavily damp not dripping. When pushed down it will ride over most of the fouling and will bunch up and catch the fouling as it is pulled up out of the bore.
Just do no make the jag too small or you will lose the patch.
If the patch is too wet it will wet the breech and cause ignition problems.
Dan

 

[Patocazador]

I have a 45 cal Tenn/Kantuck style longrifle..I have tried pyrodex fff, and 777 fff all foul the barrel quickly.

How do you get the 777 and Pyrodex to ignite in a flinter?

 

[hanshi]

....and speaking of water based lubes; the best way to minimize fouling and to shoot, shoot, shoot instead of wipe, wipe, wiping is to use a patch lube that can also be used to dissolve and/or loosen fouling. We're really talking WET lubes, here, and not GREASE lubes which, by the way, combine with bp fouling to form a substance that us scientists refer to as "gunk". Along with a fairly tight prb fit this will keep the bore free of fouling accumulation. You'll find that, at the range, even plain water is a superior patch lube - it dries out in minutes so don't use it in the woods. One of the best is "Black Solve", a concentrated blue liquid that is mixed with water to create a gallon of lube/cleaner from a half pint bottle. Don't really know what it is but I've used it as a patch lube and cleaning solvent for years. It may be simply a common liquid, or combo, available from the grocery or auto store. But it is cheap and effective. Key words: wet and tight. IMPORTANT: NO WATER BASED LUBE (LOAD) SHOULD BE LEFT IN A BORE OVERNIGHT; you can get away with leaving a load in a gun for a long time if the lube is an unsalted, non acidic, stable grease/oil with NO free oxygen ions. Soapbox now removed.

 

[Snakebite]

I totally agree Hanshi. IMO, Black Solve is the best. It's hard to find sometimes, I think DGW is one place to find it. I use a damp Black Solve patch on my range rod when I load and then when I'm done, I run a few patched down the barrel at the range. When I get home, I pour a little down the barrel and tip the rifle up and down then pour out the water and it's amazing how much fouling comes out. A couple more swabs then drying patches and then WD-40 patches. That's worked for me for over 35 years.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Use a jag that is undersized for the bore and a large patch 1.5 to 2" square. Just heavily damp not dripping. When pushed down it will ride over most of the fouling and will bunch up and catch the fouling as it is pulled up out of the bore.
Just do no make the jag too small or you will lose the patch.
If the patch is too wet it will wet the breech and cause ignition problems.

:thumbsup: Those are the instructions every shooter needs. Fortunately, when you order jags for a given caliber they are pretty much standardized these days and require no modification. Commercial patches are usually about 2" square so a newbie can just start using both without concern about the trial and error that led to the combination working for him.

 

[ssonb]

Easy 4f black powder in the flash....Thanks for the responses I have ordered some Old Eynsford powder and since it will not arrive until next week I will use some of the water based patch lubes at this weekends shooting session...I believe some of you are right and I am using too much oil based lubes on my patches..I am going to fire some loads thru a chronograph to see what the velocity is on some of the loads,Its fun but not really needed to shoot a BP rifle with a PRB.

 

[Billnpatti]

I use spit to lube my patch when shooting in matches. It is a great lube and about as cheap as you can get. In the woods, I use a patch lightly moistened with straight Ballistol. Both work great for me. :thumbsup:

 

[M. De Land]

That would explain why simple windshield wash for cold weather works so well.
It is comprised of soap, water and alcohol, with the added advantages of being plentiful and cheap.
This solution loosens and dissolves BP fouling and has the added benefit of pushing it down the barrel ahead of a patched ball to create a barrier between the fresh powder and the dampened patch.
It works the year around ,not freezing in cold weather nor drying out to fast in hot weather. Mike D.

 

[Drue Rice]

If un-traditional means are allowed a brush attached to the ram rod does a great job on fouling between shots.

I use a 45 caliber brush attached to a range rod and brush between each shot, I also use a Crisco, beeswax and canola oil lubed washed pillow ticking patch, I rub the patch material in the lube cake until the lube shows through on the opposite side then I cut the patch at the muzzle.

I'm using FFg Goex about 67 grains, and have yet to have a problem seating the ball on a charge.

You have to invert the muzzle to let the fouling drop out after brushing.

Just some thoughts of another rookie.