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Blowing down the barrel?

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Stumpkiller said:
I'm still here . . .

Then I ask for you to be kind and turn around before you blow so the muzzle isn't pointed behind the line of fire. I'm not comfortable being in front of your muzzle OR my own.
:haha:

When my muzzle isn't pointing "down-range", it's pointed "up". (which makes it much easier for me to "blow" into after firing :grin: )

The only way I can imagine this would make you "uncomfortable", is if you were looking over my shoulder to see what I am doing. :shocked2: (no wonder some of you are so easyly distracted with your "own loading"! :rotf: )

T-bone
 
I blow down the barrel after every one shot, looking at the vent hole (i have flintlock) - dos the powder smoke go out by blowing or not.
And i quicly clean the barrel after every one shot by 2-3 mouvments of the ramrod.
I just have to do both things. I use black powder "Vesuvit", made in Czech Republik. I can get here only this one. The quality of this powder is... not excellent. After a shot the burned powder is stiff and often clogs the vent hole.
And it is the answer for Your question. Try to use some black powder of bad quality, and it will be just necessary to keep watching the vent hole: is it still clean or cloged up after the shot.
I was not surprised, when i found in XVII century regulation for our musketers, that the blowing down the barrel after every one shot was the obligatory step on the battlefield.

best regards
bartek :hatsoff:
 
Bartek, Thanks for the historic information on this thread. Could you look up the document that you found about the soldiers blowing down the barrel? I believe this was a traditional practice with the fellas that actually lived with there guns and has been handed down through the ages. I don't believe it was just a Fad in the 70's and 80's. Thanks for any research shared here.
Thanks
 
No problem Don :hatsoff:
It is amaizing, how "down-to-earth" (do i write it correct? :) ) were old timers about using their guns. One example: it was obligatory for every one musketer to take 8 balls (not 7 or 9) in the mouth and keep them in the mouth direct befor the battle.
Experienced musketman prepared his matchlock gun to fire (with patched ball) about 18 seconds. Most often only first fired ball was patched. All next were loaded without the patch, it was faster, about 15 seconds. So:
8 x 15=120 seconds, it is exactly 2 minutes. And 2 minutes - it was the minimum time needed by cavalry (enemy or our), to get the enemy line. These guys did exactly know, what they did.

I was watching many times guys here using "Vesuvit" or home made black powder and blowing down barrels after every one shot. They had real reason to do it, just like me.

By the way, I'm still waiting for news from You, friend :)
 
Let's look at this a second.

We all know when we are on the range or woodswalk, we absolutely need to be very careful. We are not shooting spitwads.

Yet, everyone seems to screw up from time to time, even after years of experience. Sometimes the screw up can be kept fairly tame, but I suppose even fixing a screw up can be a dangerous proposition. Other times, one can narrowly escape disaster, and in the rare case there is injury or property damage.

For some reason, ther are occasions when we just don't pay attention to what we are doing. It can be a distraction from another source, or, it can be a subjective loss of focus. The times I did the wrong thing I don't think it was because someone was jawing at me. It was because I lost my attention to what I was doing, due to excitement or preoccupation with some other thought, none of which we should ever let happen.

The reason I mention this is because almost every centerfire hunter I know, who has been hunting a long time, has had a mishap of injury or near injury due to an accidental discharge. I am extremely careful with centerfire firearms and I don't intend to ever let this happen.

Could it be a we are little less careful with B/P firearms?

Regards, sse
 
Well fellers, this is the first day I've gotten to see this thread. This ain't necessarily a reply to Bartek's post, I'm just putting in my 2 pence here at this point.

Over a period of more than 30 years of shooting ML's I've been guilty of blowing down the barrel from time to time. I still do it after washing out the barrel after I'm done for the day, basically to blow out as much moisture lingering around the cone of the touchhole or the bolster in my percussion guns that my dry patch can't reach. But one day several years ago while shooting I got to talking with somebody and forgot where I was at. I was sure that I had fired and went over and blew down the barrel. It was plugged. I blew harder, still nothing came out. Then it hit me, maybe I didn't shoot. I took the gun to the line, primed, and touched 'er off. "BANG!"

Now, when I blew into it, it wasn't primed. And obviously there wasn't a hot ember in it or it would have cooked off when I dumped the powder in it. But it still scared the manure out of me. It broke me from eating gun barrels on the line. Like I said, I still will blow after washing the barrel. I know it's unloaded then. But when you're at the range and talking, etc., well...

If you're hunting and fire a shot, you can be pretty sure it's unloaded, but, I can tell you, it can be a hard habit to break and you will find yourself doing it at the range and at the very least you may find yourself kicked off of it. At the worst...

As for your breath softening the fouling, that's a joke. If you have breath that wet, you're going to have to run a dry patch down anyway to wipe your slobber out. If not, you're going to wet your powder. Blowing into a fresh fired bore can also loosen a flake of unburned powder or residue and lodge it into the backside of a coned touchhole requiring you to run a wire into it anyway.

If you insist on blowing anyway, try this: Keep your face away from the muzzle and blow across it like we used to blow across pop bottles to make sounds when we were kids. Enough air will go into the barrel to expel the smoke still in there.

As for a cannon discharging when ramming the load; If properly swabbed and wormed, there shouldn't be anything in there. But, over the centuries, cannoneers knew they couldn't be sure, so the gunner wore a leather thumbstall and kept his thumb over the vent while it was cleaned and rammed to make sure fresh oxygen didn't get in. I have a book written by a cannoneer who describes one such man who was mortally wounded while thumbing the vent and although he was dying and sinking to the ground, he kept the vent covered while his comrade rammed home a fresh charge. The writer made the point that the man knew his duty was to protect that comrade from a pre-mature discharge. Hot embers weren't the only danger to those men. They often fired so fast that the barrels grew dangerously hot. And flannel powder bags are not the best insulators. I have also read of modern artillery cooking off due to overheated barrels. The limits on how often reenactor artillery crews can fire has greatly reduced the possibility of cook-offs.

This has been an interesting thread. Lot's of pros and cons with logic to both. But as for me, with the exception of maybe blowing water out I think I'll leave the barrel blowing to the Hollywood cowboys.
 
KanawhaRanger said:
But one day several years ago while shooting I got to talking with somebody and forgot where I was at. I was sure that I had fired and went over and blew down the barrel.

And that my friend,.... would have been the "time" to drop your ramrod down the barrel to find out "where" you were at in your loading proceedure. (don't you agree?)

When in doubt, as to whether the rifle is loaded or not, ALWAYS check with the ramrod.

Ramrods don't "lie", and neither does the bellow of smoke from the muzzle, or the recoil felt at the shoulder.

A single-shot muzzleloader that has "fired" is 100% safe, unless someone can demostrate to me how they can get it to fire agin without "reloading".

No one is telling anyone they have to blow down their barrels if they don't want to, and those of us that do, know "how and when" to do it safely.

Anyone that watchs my loading-proceedure, will probably be "utterly horrified" that I don't wear a helmet while riding horses either. :rotf: :rotf:

T-bone
 
KanawhaRanger said:
But one day several years ago while shooting I got to talking with somebody and forgot where I was at. I was sure that I had fired and went over and blew down the barrel. It was plugged. I blew harder, still nothing came out. Then it hit me, maybe I didn't shoot. I took the gun to the line, primed, and touched 'er off. "BANG!"


All this proves is that you are human like the rest of us. Apparently there are those here who are convinved that they are above making any mistakes and something like this could never happen to them. I hope they are correct for their sake. :winking:
 
A single-shot muzzleloader that has "fired" is 100% safe, unless someone can demostrate to me how they can get it to fire agin without "reloading".

You're correct. No one was ever shot with an unloaded firearm. There are LOTS of cases of folks who shot themselves and others with firearms they mistakenly thought were unloaded. We had three of those in this county in just the last two months. That's the point we're trying to get to you. People make mistakes. Guns never do. They're just cold little machines that need you to think for them. But thinking a gun is unloaded doesn't make it so. That's why most of us treat all guns as if they were loaded so we don't have an accident. If we knew these things were going to happen but still went ahead they'd be called "purposes" instead of "accidents".

Lets look at it as a probability return: I'd rather take the 1:1,000,000 chance I will burn my fingers by pouring powder on a live ember than the 1:10,000,000 chance I take a patched ball up the nose while lifting a gun to my mouth.

Not to mention what might happen when your buddy slaps you on the back for just having shot a 10X and causes you to break out your front tooth with the muzzle.
 
Dale Brown said:
KanawhaRanger said:
But one day several years ago while shooting I got to talking with somebody and forgot where I was at. I was sure that I had fired and went over and blew down the barrel. It was plugged. I blew harder, still nothing came out. Then it hit me, maybe I didn't shoot. I took the gun to the line, primed, and touched 'er off. "BANG!"


All this proves is that you are human like the rest of us. Apparently there are those here who are convinved that they are above making any mistakes and something like this could never happen to them. I hope they are correct for their sake. :winking:

Simply dropping the ramrod down the bore, removes any chance for a "mistake". (wouldn't you agree?) :winking:

T-bone
 
Stumpkiller said:
You're correct. No one was ever shot with an unloaded firearm. There are LOTS of cases of folks who shot themselves and others with firearms they mistakenly thought were unloaded. We had three of those in this county in just the last two months. That's the point we're trying to get to you. People make mistakes. Guns never do. They're just cold little machines that need you to think for them. But thinking a gun is unloaded doesn't make it so. That's why most of us treat all guns as if they were loaded so we don't have an accident. If we knew these things were going to happen but still went ahead they'd be called "purposes" instead of "accidents".

Lets look at it as a probability return: I'd rather take the 1:1,000,000 chance I will burn my fingers by pouring powder on a live ember than the 1:10,000,000 chance I take a patched ball up the nose while lifting a gun to my mouth.

Not to mention what might happen when your buddy slaps you on the back for just having shot a 10X and causes you to break out your front tooth with the muzzle.

I've never blown down the barrel of a muzzleloader that I "thought" was unloaded, but I do blow down the bore of a muzzleloader that I know has fired (thus rendering it "empty").

I don't have any teeth, and I don't shoot "10X's", so I guess this removes any chance of that type of accident. :grin:

What's the "probability return" of getting killed in a car accident while driving to and from a "shoot"?

Ther are more chances of being killed in accidents while doing things we take for "granted" everyday, then when we are doing something we "pay attention to" and is only done a few times a month.

Attention to detail when shooting, and checking with a ramrod when in doubt before blowing down the bore, is far less dangerous than driving to a shoot.

When can we expect the NMLRA to introduced a "ruleing" to prevent the possibility of their members being killed in a car accident on the way to one of their shoots?
Personaly, I'll feel much safer when that happens. :rotf: :rotf:

T-bone
 
Well, we have gone from discussing blowing down the barrel right after firing the weapon to discussing going over and picking up a cold gun and doing so in an attempt to find something remotely dangerous about blowing down the barrel right after firing it. It is simple. If you don't want to, then don't. Those that do want to, have fun and the rest get out of their way. I never asked you to keep me safe from my own actions, and I don't think anyone else here did either. If I don't swab between shots, I blow. Since I swab between every shot these days, you don't have to protect me from myself anymore!

Where do people get the idea that they have the right to make those kinds of choices for others anyway? I don't smoke anymore either, but it wasn't the price or the propaganda that got me to stop. It wasn't because some folks did not like it either. I quit because I decided to.

The logic used by the save/control everyone side of this argument makes me want to go back to blowing instead of swabbing just to not be part of that mindset. Heck, I may take up blowing before I swab!
 
Where do people get the idea that they have the right to make those kinds of choices for others anyway?

I had to go back through and look. I never once told anyone what they should or should not do. I said it was a safety infraction and a poor practice to be into.

So, did you think I said you shouldn't do it?

Don't blow until the gun goes off. :rotf:
 
T-bone said:
Dale Brown said:
KanawhaRanger said:
But one day several years ago while shooting I got to talking with somebody and forgot where I was at. I was sure that I had fired and went over and blew down the barrel. It was plugged. I blew harder, still nothing came out. Then it hit me, maybe I didn't shoot. I took the gun to the line, primed, and touched 'er off. "BANG!"


All this proves is that you are human like the rest of us. Apparently there are those here who are convinved that they are above making any mistakes and something like this could never happen to them. I hope they are correct for their sake. :winking:

Simply dropping the ramrod down the bore, removes any chance for a "mistake". (wouldn't you agree?) :winking:

T-bone

Sure, unless your "mistake" is forgetting to "drop the ramrod down the barrel". Then you're just the latest dead idiot.

Now, I'm not calling you an idiot, because we know you are incapable of making a mistake. I'm refering to everyone else in the world. :rotf: :v
 
Dale Brown said:
T-bone said:
Dale Brown said:
KanawhaRanger said:
But one day several years ago while shooting I got to talking with somebody and forgot where I was at. I was sure that I had fired and went over and blew down the barrel. It was plugged. I blew harder, still nothing came out. Then it hit me, maybe I didn't shoot. I took the gun to the line, primed, and touched 'er off. "BANG!"


All this proves is that you are human like the rest of us. Apparently there are those here who are convinved that they are above making any mistakes and something like this could never happen to them. I hope they are correct for their sake. :winking:

Simply dropping the ramrod down the bore, removes any chance for a "mistake". (wouldn't you agree?) :winking:

T-bone

Sure, unless your "mistake" is forgetting to "drop the ramrod down the barrel". Then you're just the latest dead idiot.

Now, I'm not calling you an idiot, because we know you are incapable of making a mistake. I'm refering to everyone else in the world. :rotf: :v

You make it sound as if you've actually seen the ground "littered with dead idiots" at shoots you attended prior to the NMLRA introduceing their ruleing in the late 80's.

I'm sure such a "sight" was very traumatic to you. (I hope you get well soon) :rotf: :v :haha:
 
T-bone said:
Dale Brown said:
T-bone said:
Dale Brown said:
KanawhaRanger said:
But one day several years ago while shooting I got to talking with somebody and forgot where I was at. I was sure that I had fired and went over and blew down the barrel. It was plugged. I blew harder, still nothing came out. Then it hit me, maybe I didn't shoot. I took the gun to the line, primed, and touched 'er off. "BANG!"


All this proves is that you are human like the rest of us. Apparently there are those here who are convinved that they are above making any mistakes and something like this could never happen to them. I hope they are correct for their sake. :winking:

Simply dropping the ramrod down the bore, removes any chance for a "mistake". (wouldn't you agree?) :winking:

T-bone

Sure, unless your "mistake" is forgetting to "drop the ramrod down the barrel". Then you're just the latest dead idiot.

Now, I'm not calling you an idiot, because we know you are incapable of making a mistake. I'm refering to everyone else in the world. :rotf: :v

You make it sound as if you've actually seen the ground "littered with dead idiots" at shoots you attended prior to the NMLRA introduceing their ruleing in the late 80's.

I'm sure such a "sight" was very traumatic to you. (I hope you get well soon) :rotf: :v :haha:

I do appreciate your sense of humor. :grin:

Actually, it only takes one accident to ruin your family's day.
 
Dale Brown said:
I do appreciate your sense of humor. :grin:

Actually, it only takes one accident to ruin your family's day.

I fully agree,.... and an "accident" can happen any place, at any time, no matter what we're doing (or, "not" doing), and isn't limited to those of us that blow down the bores of our empty muzzleloaders. (I'm sure history will bear this out "if" anyone cares to check) :hmm: :haha: :v

I wish life was so simple, that I could lay my "ramrod" on the highway, in order to easily verify my safety when prepareing to drive somewhere. :winking:

T-bone
 
Ok kids,

This is the subject that will never die, but lets step back from the issue for a minute...

The act of loading a muzzleloader it self looks unsafe to a modern shooter.

A loaders hands weave to and fro near the muzzle of the weapon, a short starter puts your HAND over the muzzle of a loaded firearm, we carry a 1/2 pound of exploives on our hip, a smaller "hand genade" from our necks if we are a flintlock shooter.

There is that whole "getting the ramrod out of the ferrels" without letting your hand cross the muzzle in any way...

Heck... the local range won't even let me load from the pouch anymore... based off of some accident with "modern muzzleloader hunters" setting off a can of some wonder powder that they had open on the bench while shooting (pilgrims with gloified bolt action guns)... so because of these "weak links", we have to load from a special loading station FROM BEHIND THE SHOOTING LINE :youcrazy: and carry the LOADED (but unprimed) weapon 20 or so feet to the shooting line... stupid, stupid, stupid... and I have to "break" the new rules to be able to carry a little bit of 4F to prime my finters or matchlocks on the firing line...( they never thought about ML that didn't use a cap or primmer when they wrote the new rule... :shake: )

So... my point is this, most of you load in a way that scares the pee-wadding out of those who don't understand the way a muzzleloader works...

I bet many of those of who would never blow down a barrel because of the first rule of gun safety uses a short starter with their rifed gun without a loading mallet to keep your hands clear. You might even sneak your hand across the muzzle when in a hurry to get that rod...

As for blowing down the barrel, I still do it. I wouldn't at a NMLRA match as I know it's the rules.

I've seen a ball past through a shooters hand in a rifle match years ago (he did not believe in blowing down the barrel),the spark in the barrel let him pour, short start, he was in a hurry as he was shooting for time and score, so he snuck his hand across the barrel to get to his ramrod quicker... BANG, the ball entered the bottom of the fleshly part of his hand and came out between the web of his thumb and finger... He ended up with one heck of a scar and no lost of his hand's fine motor skill.

So, in my case, I'm sold on blowing.

I know many of you are not.

If you see me at a match, I'll follow the rules of the range.

Cheers,

DT
 
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