Blowing down barrel after each shot

[jtmattison]

Everyone,
Let's play nice.
No need to get into a heated discussion that was already covered a while back.
Let's agree to disagree and go on with our lives.

To blow or not to blow? To each his own I always say.

:snore:

HD

 

[gmww]

Here is the blow tube I purchased while visiting C. Sharps in Mt. I've never used it but as you can see it could easily be used to blowing down a barrel.

 

[dlemaster]

While I can see the logic of both sides of this discussion, I chose to not blow down a barrel but use a damp patch. It has worked for me for over 40 years.
I don't understand bringing into the discussion a blow tube as used in a breech loader. Yes I do own a C. Sharps '74 Model in .45-110 and use a blow tube to soften fouling. But using a blow tube in a breech loader actually dictates that the gun is unloaded and the action open to even use it. To me it's an apples to oranges comparison. But then again maybe I missed something, wouldn't be the first time.

Regards, Dave

 

[gmww]

I bring in the blow tube to show that if you really want to blow down the barrel without wrapping your lips around the muzzle this would be an alternative.

 

[jtmattison]

Speaking to the use of a blow tube in a Sharps. Wouldn't the majority of the moisture from your breath be caught in the tube itself and not make it into the barrel to soften fouling?
Why wouldn't you just use a damp patch instead?

HD

 

[gmww]

I'm not sure as I don't use it. However, beings your breath is about 100% humidity, I would assume moisture is going into the barrel even after condensing in the tube. In my case since I'm full of hot air it wouldn't be a problem!
:rotf:

I guess a quick test would be to stick a tube on the nipple and blow down the barrel through the blow tube.

For me I like the KISS priciple. I load like I'm hunting. Spit patch between shots and then lubed conical or lubed patch and ball.

 

[dlemaster]

Your right, if the tube is too long. That is why the BPCR shooters keep the tube length pretty short so that more of the moisture laden air makes it to the bore rather than condensing in the tube.

gmww
I see your point now. I pretty much only shoot flintlocks now and I tend to get tunnel vison when thinking about muzzle loaders. My apologies.

Regards, Dave

 

[buckknife]

Jim we all like to think that we could never screw up when shooten frontstuffers.Lord knows none of us have ever dry balled or double loaded or shot a ram rod down out the barrel.I am guilty of dry ballen a couple of times.I had a brain fart one day that involved blowin down the barrel.Got distracted.Ive found out since then there is no need for me to blow down the barrel.
Ive had no problems with fouling,or pluged nipples or vents.Never have had the powder catch fire because of hot ember.I do try to keep that muzzle away from me and give it at least a few seconds between shots.I dont swab between shots and if for some reason it did ignite the powder when loading id rather take that chance instead of what i was doing before IMHO.

 

[Stumpkiller]

IF YOU"RE NOT BLOWING DOWN THE BARREL, YOU BEST SWAB BETWEEN SHOTS. If you like your hands.

Yeah. They're great. But I like the inside of my head even better and would prefer the roof of my mouth to never have a sky-light. Started muzzleloading in 1976 and have NEVER had the powder flash when being loaded. I will go 5 or 10 shots without spit-wiping and use lube to keep the fouling soft. I never put my palm over the rammer as some folks do. I load loose enough that I can seat the ball by gripping the rammer.

Thanks for looking out for me, but I have to pass on any safety tip that involves pointing a gun at my head. I've dry balled plenty, proof I get confused or out of sequence, so I guess I'm at high risk for mistaking a pan flash for a shot and getting a hang-fire upside the tonsils.

Maybe I'm just lucky to live in Humidity Valley where the air has plenty of moisture all on it's own.

 

[hobbles]

My turn
just adin a post in line

If you have a patched round ball in your weapon and you blow down the barrel, I don't think your breath is goin past the patch, and if it did, If there was a hot spot behind the patch, I think it would have already went off, You don't need to put you lips on the barrel to blow down it, Now this is all happening after you fire the weapon any way, You blow down the barrel after you fire your shot and after you check the cap is removed, If you get that wrong, Well, I think it's just nature's way of correcting her mistakes, Have a nice evenin,,

 

[coehornboy]

This is what I originally posted:

I questioned whether blowing air down the barrel would add enough moisture to soften fouling. I found the following online:


Quote:Question -
I have recently come to understand from several different references
that our exhaled breath has a moisture content of about 4% by volume
of exhaled air.
This would be equivalent to a Relative Humidity value of 100% (the
saturation limit for air). If our exhaled air has a moisture content
of 4% by volume, and assuming 500cc (ml) of air in every exhaled
breath would it not be mathematically correct to calculate
.04 x 500 ml = 20 in order to conclude that every breath of exhaled air
has approximately 20 ml of water?

Yes, but you must keep in mind that this is water VAPOR, not liquid water.
20 mL of water vapor at body temperature and atmospheric pressure is a lot
less material than 20 mL of liquid water.

Richard E. Barrans Jr., Ph.D.
Assistant Director
PG Research Foundation, Darien, Illinois




Now, 20ml of water is equal to 4 teaspoons of water. However, as stated above, this is water vapor, or water suspended in air. I would imagine that if even only 1/4 teapsoon of water was tranferred from the water vapor (i.e. your breath) to the fouling (about 6%), it may keep fouling soft.

 

Mother Nature does have her ways. :rotf:
Anybody ever fire a rifle and had it kick your shoulder? Then say, "Hekj, I just had a flash in da pan!" :shake:

OR

Have a Flash in the pan and say, "Shirt! I just got one heckle of a bruise from THAT shot!" :shocked2:
Anybody? :rotf: :rotf:

Blowing down the barrel AFTER ya shoot da gun is not a health risk.

 

[T-bone]

Mother Nature does have her ways. :rotf:
Anybody ever fire a rifle and had it kick your shoulder? Then say, "Hekj, I just had a flash in da pan!" :shake:

OR

Have a Flash in the pan and say, "Shirt! I just got one heckle of a bruise from THAT shot!" :shocked2:
Anybody? :rotf: :rotf:

Blowing down the barrel AFTER ya shoot da gun is not a health risk.

..... and if ever in doubt as to whether your rifle has fired, simply drop your "marked" ramrod down the bore. ("Marked" ramrods DO NOT LIE!!) :applause: :hatsoff:

 

[roundball]

Under active shooting conditions such as a range session or hunting, I follow one of the basic safety practices of not allowing the muzzle of my rifle to point at any vital parts of my body.

My belief is that if I allow myself to routinely have the muzzle point at my vitals, then sooner or later through forgetfulness, excitement, distraction, etc, I may forget the condition of my rifle, have an unintentional discharge and kill myself.

Back at the house, during and after cleaning, with no loading components around, not in a live fire, loading/unloading environment, I'll drop a bore light down a bore, inspect a bore, etc...but at the range or hunting with live components being handled in an out of the bore, I don't let it aim at my vitals.

This includes putting my mouth / head over a[url] muzzle...in[/url] addition, I've proven to myself that it's absolutely not necessary what-so-ever as I shoot just fine every week without doing it.

Seems like this thread has shaken out the way it always does:

One camp subscribes to basic safe gun handling practices across the board, like most of us grew up with, and won't allow the muzzle to cover their vitals while engaged in shooting/hunting scenarios;

One camp scoffs at the idea that any safety issues are associated with the routine practice of blowing down the bore of a muzzleloader;

Both views have been expressed ad nauseum...and those who follow basic safe gun handling practices will continue to do so...and those that enjoy blowing down the bore will continue to do that.

And everybody knows that blowing down a bore is certainly not a requirement to succesfully shoot muzzleloaders or everybody would have to do it.

So out of curiosity I was wondering if anything new of actual value can come from this thread as it continues to deteriorate the way it's trending?

:v

PS: Even if it now gets locked/retired...not to worry...the same question will surface again in a few weeks :grin:

 

[hobbles]

I was readin the news paper yesterday, I read one person got killed crossing the street, nother got killed while riding his bicycle, A few got killed while driving their cars, And I got a call from a friend out west and was told a friend of mine died from a heart attack while having sex with his wife, He was 6'2 or 3, in his 40 ies and in good shape, (no one expected that from him) Also I got this from NASA today, "
Space Weather News for May 10, 2006
[url] http://spaceweather.com[/url]

HERE THEY COME: More than 60 fragments of dying comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 are racing toward Earth. "
What's a man to do, I guess a man should know his limitations and act accordingly,,

 

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :hatsoff:

 

[buckknife]

What is sad is that they know it is a unsafe practice,yet they promote it on a website that reaches around the entire world.Not a care in the world who might be reading it and thinking of trying it out.IMHO threads that involve unsafe gun handling like this one should be shut down before they get started.Inlines are a no no but putting your mouth around a gun barrel is ok? :shake:

 

Bucknife, you make the assumption that it is an unsafe practice. I know for a fact it is a safe practice. In fact it is a practice that will prevent accidents if one knows what they are doing. If ya don't know how to operate the machinery, leave it be. What the heck is an inline anyway, and what does it have to do with "traditional" muzzle loading techniques?
The initiator of this post asked a valid question which happens to be a hot point in the Muzzle loading community and has been since the NMLRA came up with this modern rule that serves no purpose but to put peoples limbs in peril. Like Hobbles stated earlier,.... well you figure it out. :winking:

 

[buckknife]

Probably dont wear your seat belt either :youcrazy:

 

[noahmercy]

Food for thought: The modern materials we use for muzzleloading are highly unlikely to leave behind any embers. Perhaps the rough cloth and, especially, tow used many years ago were inclined to leave small particles that held a spark. Maybe the powder also had more coarse particles in it occasionally. (A small bit of molten sulphur on the breechplug could pose quite a hazard.)

However, these days, neither of these situations are likely to be encountered due to the refinement of textiles and the homogenizing standards of powder production. In point of fact, how many shooters at NMLRA events have experienced blow-ups upon loading due to embers setting off the powder since they instituted their "no face over the muzzle" policy?

Keeping fouling soft is a good thing. However I live in an arid region and with proper lube and loads I can go as many shots as I'd like without having to swab, and I load with the ramrod only...no short starter. I'm up to 60 shots sans a cleaning patch so far (the humididty was under 30% that day), and I could have gone more.

And sure, pointing an unloaded gun at your head is perfectly safe. So is cleaning an unloaded gun, and yet every year, dozens of people mangage to kill themselves or others doing just that. And trust me, some of these folks are VERY gun savvy and have years of experience. It only takes a nanosecond of inattention or distraction or an unnoticed mechanical failure to set up a disaster.

These conclusions beg the question: with no legitimate reasons to blow, and several sound and logical arguments against it, why do some still do it? Heck, even some period literature warned against doing it. (And I bet it wasn't lawyers who wrote it, either...)

Is it like folks who still rev their car engine before shutting it down? (That holdover from decades past is no longer necessary, but I still see people do it fairly regularly with fuel injected cars.) Pointless, but habitual?

Or is it just that some folks hate being told what to do and rebel against it by doing the opposite? I know some don't wear their seat belts for this very reason. If you don't belt in, I'll tell ya' right to your face that you're idiotic for not doing it...I have several family members who wouldn't be here if not for those little uncomfortable bands of nylon. We wear 'em because we're smart and don't want to throw our lives away for some ego trip...not because the law says to.

I'm fully aware won't change any minds and might even offend some of you, but I wanted to have my say. Not every safety rule is a bad thing; written to take away your fun or mold you into an unthinking drone. Some of them are just good common sense.

:thumbsup: