a little red after shooting

[jp grabski]

After shooting fff goex in a 20 gauge smooth bore or a .54 GPR,65 grs each. When I whip with a dry cleaning patch, every shot,there are a few,one or two,red beads about half the size of a BB on the patch. When you let the patch sit, 5 mins the red turns black the same as the rest of the patch. I clean both with warm water,Butch's Bore Shine till the patch is come out clean. Run dry patchs till the bore is dry.And then use Bore Butter till the patch comes out clean and leave a coating of Bore Butter.Where is the red coming from. I use a T/C .45 45grs fff goex and have never seen any red on the patch

 

[napolean]

Sometimes fouling will look red, It's just reaction to conditions, Don't worry about it and make more smoke.
Jon

 

[roundball]

Where is the red coming from. I use a T/C .45 45grs fff goex and have never seen any red on the patch

Low humidity / dry air results in red flecks showing in BP powder residue...not visible under more normal / high humidity conditions

 

[bkovire]

some other post say almost the same thing, it has to do with air moisture, temp humidity ect i'v read it's ok, noticed the same thing never payed to much to it gorex? could be. same stuff the club uses, nothing but, need to ask them if the 2f and 4f dose the same, if they have noticed this condition when cleaning? of course they/ we do a range cleaning, i do an other one when i get home.

 

[roundball]

I use Goex 3F and sometimes 2F in the bore, and always use 4F in the pan...red flecks on the patches, at the muzzle, at the vent, and in the pan.

 

[lonehunter]

we have noticed the red specks also, came to the same conclusion humidity(or lack of) was the common factor. However! Last weekend at the range two of my friends were shooting .54 cal loaded with ff, i was shooting a .45 cal loaded with fff. they had red specks, i did not! :hmm: All goex powder, i am positive i have seen it with the fff also in the past. Just thought i would add that to the mystery of the red specks. :hmm:

 

[paulvallandigham]

Its really not a mystery. The Red "flecks" are unburned sulfur.

If a hotter burning powder is used, you get higher breech pressure, and this cooks the sulfur more completely at the higher temperature. The same rise in pressure/temperature can be created shooting FFg, if a filler, or OP wad is used over the powder, and, occasionally, If a Very tight Ball/patch combination is loaded.

When you do have red flecks, as others have pointed out, they oxidize rather quickly, and are really not of any concern.

Check your POI however, as you will often see that Red Flecks correlate to lower placed hits.

Higher humidity actually helps all grades of BP burn hotter. Its the low relative humidity, experienced in cold winter weather, or in high arid plateaus, that is the main cause of the appearance of red "flecks".