Cleaning between shots?

[Dphar]

The person who taught the hunters safety class I took my daughter to last weekend did make a legitimate point about using a wet patch and taking the time to swab between shots and that was it helps to prevent flashes from dumping powder on an ember. Either the moisture or the time given to allow it to extinguish helps. It is always good to reminder to not load from the horn do rapid loading and all the safety rules.

A number of people have suffered injuries of varying severity from shooting too long without a through cleaning.
The first I remember was in the 60s when a shooter at Friendship shot himself through the wrist or hand while loading a pistol with heavy fouling in the breech.

Dan

 

[Dphar]

I run a wire brush down the bbl

I'm surprised no one else jumped on this comment. :shocked2: So, I'll put on the black hat.....again. :wink:

There are other threads on this subject. Pushing a wire brush down the bore of an ml is asking for trouble. As in not being able to pull it back out with the force of a team of Clydesdale horses.
Not reccomended at all, ever, never-ever. :shake: I can only guess that an undersized brush is used by Flet. A damp patch is much more better and reliable.

Large bore guns do not have the problems that a 22 or even a 30 cal may have in this regard.
The longer bristles on the large diameter brush will flex and allow the brush to change directions in the bore.
But do it with a 22 and it may take a hammer strike to get it moving again. I first saw this when a guy stuck a brush in his M-16.

Dan

 

[buttonbuck]

I have not wiped with a dry patch yet but it sounds like a good idea.

 

[Lazarus]

Might give 3F a try...you may find 3F burnin a little cleaner and crisper in your .50. May also wanna give Hoppes 9 Plus a try, too, for patch lube.

Can only speak for my experience with such combos in a .50 but have been pleased with bore consistency and accuracy with such a recipe.

 

[roundball]

I run a wire brush down the bbl

I'm surprised no one else jumped on this comment. :shocked2: So, I'll put on the black hat.....again.
Pushing a wire brush down the bore of an ml is asking for trouble.
As in not being able to pull it back out with the force of a team of Clydesdale horses.
Not reccomended at all, ever, never-ever. :shake:

Actually, that's not correct...caliber size bore brushes are made for a wide range of muzzleloaders and work just fine.
They are a very helpful tool, and the only times I've ever heard of any problems is indeed when a shooter tries to use "Clydesdale" force to pull one out as you suggested...THAT's the only no-no.

A brush...particularly when new and the bristles are their longest and sharpest, can momentarily hang at the bottom of the down stroke because the sharp bristle points are all straight out against the bore walls.

When that happens, all that's required is to simply rotate the ramrod clockwise which starts to curve the bristles...effectively making them shorter...which breaks their grip against the bore walls and you simply pull the rod and brush back up out of the bore.

I routinely use bore brushes and there's no problem if one momentarily hangs as long as the shooter knows how to take it out properly.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Disagree. Brushes can cause impossible hang-ups that necessitate the Clydesdales.
There was a long thread on this recently. I might look up later today when I get over the lazies.
However, I'll fall back on my standard advice: watever works for ye. Go fer it.

 

[J.G. Terry]

I regularly shoot custom built up Hawken style rifles. If the bores are swabbed between shots there are misfires afterward. It's necessary to fire caps after each swabbing to get the rifles to function correctly. Swabbing between shots has been suggested for best accuracy. Would appreciate some help on how to swab successfully without the misfires etc. with this type of breech.

 

[roundball]

Disagree. Brushes can cause impossible hang-ups that necessitate the Clydesdales.

You're more than welcome to disagree all day long.
:grin:

And I'm sorry you've obviously had that bad experience.
:grin:

However, there's no disputing the fact that muzzleloader bore brushes are made for use in muzzleloaders and people use them successfully all the time.
And the problem you described of getting a brush hung up and then requiring such force to get it out is the result of user error...improper use / operation.

It's not the brush's fault...no more than it would be a dry patch's fault if a user ran a dry patch down a dirty bore and got it hung up.
:wink:

 

[Zonie]

My method for swabbing the bore is designed to remove the fouling without causing chunks of it to fall down into the breech.

Using a cleaning patch lightly soaked in water and squeezed out to remove the excess I place it on a cleaning jag and run it down the bore to the breech.

There, I let it sit for a count of about 5-10 seconds and then pull it at a moderate speed completely out of the bore.

This is followed with a dry cleaning patch, once down and then back out.

The first patch wets the fouling in the bore on the way down. Giving it 5-10 seconds for the water to soak into the fouling and soften it makes it ready to remove.

Pulling the jag/patch back at a moderate speed allows the patch to scrape off the softened fouling without jumping over any.
This patch by the way comes out totally filthy.

The dry patch dries any water that may be lingering in the bore where it will contaminate the next powder charge.

The worst method I've seen used is the guy who uses a patch that is too dry and then proceeds to pump the rod/jag/patch rapidly up and down the bore.

All this does is to knock the fouling off of the bore and then cram it down into the breech where it can block off the flame from the ignition source on the next shot.

Equally bad is when the shooter takes the word "swabbing" literally and uses a dripping wet patch. He too often pumps the rod/jag/patch up and down the bore not only knocking the fouling down into the breech but then drenching the fouling with his dripping water.
The following dry patch he runs down the bore doesn't stand a chance of drying out the mess he's created in there.

As for how often I 'swab' the bore, let me say I shoot for fun, not to win contests.
If a slightly fouled bore is going to effect my shots accuracy so be it. Tightening my groups 1/4 inch by going thru the trouble of wiping between every shot doesn't rate too high with me.

That said, I don't swab between every shot.
I note each time I load the gun how hard it is to ram the ball down the bore.

When I feel some moderately heavy resistance I go ahead and load and fire that shot. Then I go thru the bore wiping I described above.

Works for me. :grin:
It might work for you too.

 

[CrackStock]

Do not lube, but rather use spit or water to ease the loading process so that you are not gooping up your bore.

Less going in means less to need swabbing out...

CS

 

[BrownBear]

That said, I don't swab between every shot.
I note each time I load the gun how hard it is to ram the ball down the bore.

When I feel some moderately heavy resistance I go ahead and load and fire that shot. Then I go thru the bore wiping I described above.

That's my approach too.

I'm a field shooter rather than a range shooter, and with or good snowshoe hare/ptarmigan populations and generous limits, a good morning of opportunities and a bad morning of pointing might net 25-30 shots. If I have to swab between shots (same method as you, too), I'll change components until I find an accurate combo that lets me go something over 10 shots between swabbings. Wet lubes generally don't live up to the task, but each gun has it's own personality and might require a different lube or patch.

 

[hanshi]

Me too. Swabbing on an "ad hoc" basis makes sense to me. Few times have I ever swabbed more frequently than every 5 to 10 shots.

 

[CrackStock]

Swabbing should be ideally done by clean loading of the next shot.

CS

 

[msgt]

I use equal amounts of rubbing alcohol/hydrogen peroxide/Murphanys Oil soap successfully for everthing. When range shooting I keep a damp patch on the loading rod when I seat the ball. I stay one shot dirty. Whatever you do, do it the same every time.

 

I had my brass brush (today before range time) come out of it's crimped threaded base, inside of the bore. Panic! So, I made a much longer eared patch retrieval tool and out it came.

 

[Zonie]

Your lucky.

Some folks have had a heck of a time trying to get one of those brushes out of their bores.

A word to anyone thinking about buying a bore brush:
Never buy the kind where the brush is crimped into the threaded retainer.
The twisted wire type that loop thru the threaded end are much better.

That said, I don't use brushes. They sometimes hang up or get caught in the bore and in general they (IMO) are a PITA.