Blowing down the barrel?

[Dave K]

All I can say is, IMHO there is no good reason to wrap your lips around a barrel, other than to mimic Daniel Boone or Davey Crockett that you may have watched as a kid.It seems some folks just love to watch the smoke coming out of the nipple or vent.It really proves nothing,except to assure yourself by the smoke, that you have indeed shot the gun. I have not found blowing down the barrel, to soften fouling. To do so, I run a damp patch down the barrel to soften and remove the fouling. At the same time I can hear the "hiss" of a clear vent or nipple. I too, am wrapped up in the romance of muzzleloaders. But, blowing down my barrel is just more romantic than I need to be with my guns. :winking:

 

The old gentlrman that taught me how to use these things was to old to care or be impressed with Fess Parker or any of the T.V. programs that we watched when we were kids. The Old Colonel had shot muzzleloading guns before we were even thought of. Anyway, this was common practice in the 70's and 80's. I don't remember exactly what year the NMLRA came up with this rule but when they did, it didn't catch on very quickly. Most of the guys west of the Mississippi River that I shot with at muzzleloading events just wasn't about to load a rifle or a fowler without blowing the thing out first. I do remember the cracker barrel cussin' of the NMLRA when they did make the change. :hatsoff:

 

Besides Dave, it tastes great. Well.... once you develop a taste for it, anyhow. :grin:

 

[tg]

"Simple logic begs for it"

And human nature will always deny it...

and Robin...how do you know if your trowser are loaded?

 

[Stumpkiller]

How many of you guys own a bore light.

I own one. But I never use it while shooting.

Oh, I misunderstood. I didn't realize you blew down the barrel only after thoroughly cleaning the gun, indoors, and after running the rammer down to make sure there was nothing above the breech except air.

In that case I approve of both.

Anyway, this was common practice in the 70's and 80's.

As was disco, taking the drugs Extasy and cocaine, and recording telephone conversations without notifying the other party. None of which are considered good ideas now. :nono:

 

[roundball]

How many of you guys own a bore light.

I own one. But I never use it while shooting.

Oh, I misunderstood. I didn't realize you blew down the barrel only after thoroughly cleaning the gun, indoors, and after running the rammer down to make sure there was nothing above the breech except air.

In that case I approve of both.

:hatsoff: :rotf:

 

[Zonie]

I gotta agree with Stumpkiller as long as everyone can agree that we have to make sure the strangers kid at the range watches us wash the barrel.

 

What's the difference Stumpy? In either scenario the rifle is EMPTY. And your comment about trends and fashions in the "70's and "80's has nothing to do with a long standing safety measure of blowing down the barrel. I appreciate your attempt at humor but I think it is confusing the issue.

 

[Stumpkiller]

The difference is one you know is empty and the other you assume it is empty. One has no shooting materials (ball, powder, prime or primers nearby), the other is "recently and potentially hot".

Here's a reply (so far) from Eric Bye

Charlie,
I have heard back from one of the people I asked about blowing down the muzzle - Jim Fulmer, immediate past president of the NMLRA and a crack shot with many, many years of experience. His unedited response to me is below. Hope this helps some. If I hear from the others (two of whom I have found out are sick right now) I'll let you know.
Best wishes,
Eric Bye, Muzzle Blasts Editor
----- Original Message -----
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2006 12:27 PM
Subject: Re: blowing down muzzle


Easy I watched it happen, It is a habit and a bad one, as soon as you shoot you drop the gun and blow through the barrel on the firing line a good friend excellent shot, knows better type person , shot , ( it flashed only flintlock, drop the gun and tried to blow through the barrel, guess what it was blocked with an object that could have came out anytime it wanted after a miss-fire, he was lucky it wasn't a hang-fire.) It maybe an urban lengend but it was said a guy shot himself in the back of the throat with the same occurance except it was a hang-fire. My best words on gun safety is you don't wrap your lips around na modern barrel why would you want to with a muzzle loader. JIM

My comment on trends of the 70's is that we change our value system. The drug Extasy used to be legal, now it's not. Blowing down the barrel used to be allowed at NMLRA shoots, now it's not. DDT used to be everywhere, now it's not, because we found it to be worse than what it solved. Same with the puff in the business end. What exactly is it supposed to accomplish, anyway? Fresher breath? Softer fouling? Blow out embers (which I still doubt it will do; flames blow out, embers burn hotter). I haven't done it in the 30 years I've shot m/l and I can load repeatedly without needing to wipe between shots. Why take the risk?

It's not a safety measure. It's an unsafe act. It's no more a safety measure than sticking a knife blade deep in your leg muscle so you won't cut a finger. :shake:

 

Stumpkiller, I thank you for being straight forward and posting an honest opinion. I don't agree with the last few lines or the comparison of blowing down the barrel is like sticking a knife in your leg. (That was a little extreme)
But, I guess we have given the topic a pretty good discussing. I salute you for your opinion although I do not agree with it and as I have given my conclusion and the logic behind it already, I won't reiterate it. My concern is, how many hands have to be disfigured from a real problem that does exist before the NMLRA will revisit this ruling. Of course, as I said before, the blame is always other than ramming a ball down on a hot barrel.
Don :hatsoff:

 

[Stumpkiller]

We'll have to accept each other's opinion as we're not likely to convince one another to change.

Charlie :hatsoff:

 

[coehornboy]

Stumpkiller (and everyone else):

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

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

:hmm: 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.

The issues about safety, personal choice, etc, may never be settled in this forum. I guess that this is up to the individual. :grin:

I looked this up because I am not a chemist...and also because I am always fascinated how many particular "effective" habits of previous eras are developed and passed on for generations.. :v

 

That was very interesting. I didn't know I was putting that much water in my bore every time I shot then blew down it. I better stop that practice. :grin: Stumpkiller, Coehornboy and all the guys that have contributed in a gentlemanly fashion, thanks for a lively conversation and I wish you all well with whatever methods you choose. I pray we all keep our wits about us when in the field.
Safe shooting and lots of 10x's to ya,
Don

 

[kentucky bucky]

There is alot of hot air BLOWING on both sides of this issue!!!!!! :haha:

 

[Slamfire]

Even allowing for muzzle loaders being a fairly small percentage of the UK population, I am still far more likely to be killed by my trousers than by barrel blowing.

Blow or don't blow it's your choice, but please wear trousers. :blah:

Some fellows in Great Britian wear skirts. Just cause they call 'em somethin' else don't change the facts. :rotf:

 

[Huntinfool]

I doubt that we'll ever get answers to our questions Cooner.

Mine was: Exactly who got their brains blown out by blowing down a barrel.

Yours was: Do I understand you correctly that you NEVER inspect the bore of a muzzleloader with a bore light or in any other instance look down the bore of your rifle?

The answer to yours is even more pertinent. If the answer is: "I'm never going to look down the bore of a muzzle loading barrel" it's just not believeable. If the answer is: "Yes, I have looked down the barrel of a muzzle loader and I will in the future" then that person's head is in line with the bore and the issue has been dealt with honestly.

Instead of answering the questions, we'll always get evasions by reieterating what the 4 Commandments of Gun Safety are.

You doubt wrong Mr. Voyageur.

Ok fellows, I hesitated to answer your question but here's your answer. I didn't want to admit that the Darwin award went to someone from my home state.
The incident happened June 5, 1995 a man and his son were at a shoot and his son had popped 2 or 3 caps and the rifle didn't go off. His dad took the gun from him and said you must have dry balled it or maybe you didn't even load it at all. And as was his practice he blew down the barrel to check and when he did the gun fired after a very long hangfire.

I was going to get the whole article for you but for some stupid reason the newspaper's library refused my new account I just set up. A friend of mine the President of our local ML club has a copy of the article. All I could get was the headline from the Charleston Gazette.

HARRISON MAN DIES IN SHOOTING ACCIDENT

and killed himself at a muzzle loading competition Saturday in Harrison County. Raymond H. Cunningham, 47, was checking his muzzle loader rifle after it failed to fire when the incident occurred, a state police spokesman said. Cunningham...
Published: June 05, 1995
Words: 86


The WV ML Assoc. sent out fliers about this incident and I have read the article. Sure you may say he did a stupid thing but if he had obeyed Rule # 1 of safe gun handling he'd still be with us today!

I believe that is about the time the NMLRA started their ruling about blowing down the barrel I may be wrong.

In answer to Cooner's ? no I don't use my bore light to look down my ML barrel. I've only used it to look down the barrel of my modern guns from the breech end!

I say better safe than sorry. :hmm:

Chuck :hatsoff:

 

[Claude Mathis]

The incident happened June 5, 1995 a man and his son were at a shoot and his son had popped 2 or 3 caps and the rifle didn't go off. His dad took the gun from him and said you must have dry balled it or maybe you didn't even load it at all. And as was his practice he blew down the barrel to check and when he did the gun fired after a very long hangfire.

That's why we mark our ramrods at different places, so we can tell if it's dry ball, loaded, empty, etc. :shake:

Checking to see if the gun is loaded by putting it in your mouth = Darwin Award!

 

[Mike Brooks]

popped 2 or 3 caps

There's the real root of the problem, those cap locks are pure evil and invention of Lucifer! :grin:

 

[tg]

"The incident happened June 5, 1995 a man and his son were at a shoot and his son had popped 2 or 3 caps and the rifle didn't go off."

As stated by others this is hardly an answer to the question, we were talking about blowing down the barrel after the gun DID go off.

 

[akapennypincher]

I Volunteer as a Safety Officer at a Public Shooting Range, where if you were to be caught blowing down a Barrel of a firearm, you would be asked after the First Ofense to Stop. Second Offense, you would be told to pack up and fine another place to shoot.... :nono: