Ball Creep

[SDSmlf]

I obtained some Hoppes BP liquid.

So I can use it to lube the actual shooting patch uderneath the ball?

Use it as patch lube. How you apply it depends on if you are using pre-cut patches or cutting at the muzzle as you load. Just make sure the patch is relatively wet. How wet? Not dripping, but leaving a slight bit of moisture at the barrel crown as you load. You will know when you’ve got it right.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Thanks I'm cutting at the muzzle.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Can I enwetten them ahead of time and show them in a tin?

 

[XVIIc Wheelock]

If you are wiping you need to understand that a larger patch on a slightly smaller jag will let the patch "run over" the fouling going to the breech then bunch up and pull the fouling out when its with drawn. Using a TIGHT patch will push it all to the breech. This requires a lot of water to wash out.

Sound advice! Add to the larger patch/smaller jag...once it hits bottom, twist rod to ball up the patch, then withdraw.

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

Was shooting my rifle today and with each shot, fouling increased and the ramrod would not go quite as far down as it did with the shot before. Like one shot 1 the rammer would go all the way down. On shot 5 it would sit above the mark I made on the ramrod by about a halved inch.

Thoughts?

I use a fowling scraper for guns with a flat face breech plug. My RR has a mark 1" short of the breech plug. Stopping short will prevent stacking the fowling on the breech plug. You don't need that area clean anyway, cuz the powder and ball will be there.

Flintlocklar

 

[Baxter]

Yes. Don't let a wet patch sit on the powder too long - but you already know that.

 

[ADK Bigfoot]

Load. Shoot. Wet patch. Dry Patch. Load. Shoot. Repeat. All day long. I have shot competitions with fifty rounds per day and had no difference in loading from shot to shot. Very consistent bore condition, very accurate with tight groups and low standard deviations. Load. Shoot. Wet Patch. Dry Patch. Repeat.

ADK Bigfoot

 

[SDSmlf]

Can I enwetten them ahead of time and show them in a tin?

Yep. Or in a 35 MM film container (before they were made of plastic they were made out of metal) or prescription bottle if you want. For cutting at the muzzle you just have to use a strip of patch material that when rolled up will fit in your container. Some will store their cut patches or strip of material in a Zip Lock bag. The above all make it easy to add lube to patches or material and keep it there, though hardly PC/HC.

I find that with the smaller calibers (below 40) and their lighter charges that a wet patch that sits too long may foul enough of that small charge to impact performance. If you are going to load and let the gun sit loaded for an extended period, you may want to consider a wad over the powder.

 

[Goose]

I swab with isopropyl alcohol after every 3 shots. Never had any problem.

 

[Griz44Mag]

I swab with isopropyl alcohol after every 3 shots. Never had any problem.

Windex is great.... Load, shoot, wipe, load, shoot, wipe, load, shoot, wipe, til you are done, run out of powder, ball or balls....(especially for Brit)

 

[cannonball1]

Fleener, Are you still using the method of putting the powder and wad in before cleaning the bore on your target rifle? The last time I went to the shooting range I had bullet creep doing that method, but I got my best group ever. I may not have been using a wet enough cleaning patch.

 

[ADK Bigfoot]

I carry wet patches in one tin, dry patches in another (go to https://www.specialtybottle.com) so they don't get contaminated or dry out. (They even come in different colors so you can tell them apart. Greased patches go in another; if I am shooting a fowler, I carry wads in yet another.) Very handy and keeps me from having to hunt around in the bottom of my shooting bag.

ADK Bigfoot

 

[fleener]

I am still doing that, however, I have not shot any of those rifles since June......

Fleener

 

[Dr5x]

Was shooting my rifle today and with each shot, fouling increased and the ramrod would not go quite as far down as it did with the shot before. Like one shot 1 the rammer would go all the way down. On shot 5 it would sit above the mark I made on the ramrod by about a halved inch.

Thoughts?

THAT'S WHAT STUPID SCHOULTZ IS ON ABOUT ALL THE TIME. HE NEVER POINTS OUT THE CREEP THAT YOU SPEAK OFF BUT SUGGESTS THERE IS A THICKENING OF THE SAME RESIDUE ON THE SURDACE OF THE BORE ITSELF GIVING AN INCREASINGLY SMALLER BORE THUS AFFECTING ACCURACY.
TO ADD TO THAT NONSENSE HE ACTUALLY SPOUTS THAT ALL THAT MUCK MIGHT BE ELIMINATED BY A QUICK WIPE AFTER EACH OR MAYBE TWO SHOTS.
THERE IS DUMB AND CREATIVE DUMB
NEXT HE'LL BE YAMMERING ABOUT NOT PUTTING YOUR CIGARETTE AT REST BETWEEN DRAGS ON YOU CAN OF BLACK POWDER. WHY IS HE ALLOWED?

STUPID SCHOULTZ

 

[Grenadier1758]

Maybe its a good thing I am not a smoker other than the smoke I make with black powder.

Part of the problem we face is that we have a jag that is sold for the caliber of our rifle. We know that there will be fouling left in the bore and if we let that fouling build up it will make loading difficult at best and have an adverse effect on accuracy. Stupid us, we don't want to admit that the store bought jag is really too large. We also don't want to take a few seconds to put a couple of nuts on the threads so we can chuck the jag in our hand drill to run the jag over a file or some sandpaper. We are afraid that we will turn the jag too small and loose the patch down the barrel at the breech.

Now those folks that shoot all day at the range and never wipe between shots are also kidding themselves. Most of them use a very wet patch that wipes the fouling from the bore as they load the rifle between each shot. Since the rifle is shot quickly, the moisture from the wet patch doesn't really hurt the powder. Sure the chamber is filling with fouling, but what the heck, the bore is wiped between shots.

 

[Dr5x]

Maybe its a good thing I am not a smoker other than the smoke I make with black powder.

Part of the problem we face is that we have a jag that is sold for the caliber of our rifle. We know that there will be fouling left in the bore and if we let that fouling build up it will make loading difficult at best and have an adverse effect on accuracy. Stupid us, we don't want to admit that the store bought jag is really too large. We also don't want to take a few seconds to put a couple of nuts on the threads so we can chuck the jag in our hand drill to run the jag over a file or some sandpaper. We are afraid that we will turn the jag too small and loose the patch down the barrel at the breech.

Now those folks that shoot all day at the range and never wipe between shots are also kidding themselves. Most of them use a very wet patch that wipes the fouling from the bore as they load the rifle between each shot. Since the rifle is shot quickly, the moisture from the wet patch doesn't really hurt the powder. Sure the chamber is filling with fouling, but what the heck, the bore is wiped between shots.

ONE HAS TO BE REMARKABLY QUICK TO ADD A FEW DROPS OF EWATER TO AN EMPTY BREECH. THEN POUR POWDER ON TOP OF IT AND FIRE BEFORE THE WETNESS WHICH IS CLOSE TO THE IGNITION CHANNEL CAN PREVENT THE FIRING.
PUT SOME POWDER IN A SHOT GLASS AND SQEEZE TWO DROPS ON TOP. HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO ABSORB?
I'M NOT BEING A SMARTASS HERE. I REALLY WANTO KNOW. I'VE ALWAYS IMAGINED THE POWDER WOULD GRAB ON TO THE WATER.
I KNOW FINELY GROUND CINNAMON WILL LET THE WATER RUN OFF UNABSORBED IT COULD ALSO BE TRUE OF 2FF AND 3FFF.
WE ALL MAKE ASSUMPTIONS INCLUDING ME AND IT WOULD BE WISE TO CHECK THIS ONE OUT.
YOUR NEIGHBOR WILL HAVE A SHOT GLASS YOU CAN BORROW.

DUTCH

 

[azmntman]

Thats what its for. Good n damp, not dripping. Its of a consistency and chemical make up that its not gonna be "too slick". I do not use for anything but patch lube when plinking or target shooting, water n dawn is better for clean up.

Listen to me folks...after all which of you have EVER beat me shooting? Thats right. My groups have been so tight I only need one shot to most youse guys that shoot three er five. Mines tighter gentlemen.

 

[Walkingeagle]

Yup! My one shot groups never exceed 1/2” in size. Regardless of how far I shoot!!
Walk

 

[Don Steele]

Grenadier1758 makes an important point regarding the diameter of the jags we buy. I hate to tell some of ya'll but "50 caliber" ain't "50 caliber". Just about every "50 caliber" jag I have is slightly different from the others and behaves differently depending upon the wiping patch material I'm using, and which barrel it's in. Turning one down just a little is easy as he describes, and REALLY helps, especially so with flat breeched rifles ( as opposed to those with "patent breech". I shot patent breech rifles for 40 yrs before getting my first flat breech. NEVER had a problem with buildup in the breech area. When I started shooting my first flat breech rifle, I had all kinds of problems because I was using a jag/wiping patch combination that was simply too thick between shots. Using Dutch's dry patch system I was getting AWESOME groups, but my "slightly damp" wiping patch was pushing everything in the barrel down onto the breech face and eventually would develop delayed ignition. A little fine tuning of jag diameter and patch thickness solved that problem.

 

[FishDFly]

"Turning one down just a little is easy as he describes, and REALLY helps, especially so with flat breeched rifles ( as opposed to those with "patent breech".

One of the top shooters from Texas uses a slightly smaller jag and "2" patches to clean his rifles.

He is always at the top of the leader board.