Cleaning Jag

[50cal.cliff]

I sure hate to make this post as it really shows my ignorance to this subject. I have been around guns all my life, but this is my first venture into black powder. Recently posted pics of my 1st 50 cal. I built and finally got the .490 Speer balls I ordered. (Any body ever use Speer before?)So hopefully will be making a post of First Smoke, before long.
OK here goes! I keep reading everybody talking about running a patch with my cleaning jag down the barrel after a few shots or between shots. Am I missing something? I understand a slotted cleaning tip as you would use with any other rifle. The patch goes through the slot and that's what holds it. But how do you keep from losing a patch off a cleaning jag?
:surrender: :surrender:
Be gentle on the pilgim boys!! :rotf: :rotf: Remember I got no role model with this BP!! :rotf:

 

[GreyWhiskers]

Cliff,

The jag is just undersize of the bore. It has "jagged" edges on it to hold the patch from coming off when pulling the ramrod back out of the barrel. A pic of it would do better than my explanation.

Dont be shy to ask questions. We all had to at one time or another. Go make smoke. :grin: GW

 

The patch is tight enough not to slip off.

 

[spottedpony]

the shape of the jag, and its relation to bore size does a good job of grabbing the patch and holding on to it, but it is important to use a caliber specific jag.
Occasionally a patch does get lost down the bore, so a worm is another sometimes essential item to have. Add to that a ball puller, for the rare occasion you have to pull a ball. & the list goes on LOL.
In addition to the .490's you may want to try some .495's also, and experiment with various patch thicknesses. The right combination of ball/patch will have a marked effect on accuracy. both my rifles (a .45 and a .50) prefer tight ball patch combinations, in the 60 i use a .495 ball & .018 patch, & thats what shoots best in this particular rifle.
If you shoot alot, you may want to consider casting too, with a minimum outlay of $$ you can set up an inexpensive casting operation, and have the advantage of building up a supply of "ammo" to have on hand. Its kind of gratifying too, to shoot good groups with rb's you've cast yourself.
Needless to say, the list goes on, and on, & once your hooked, you'll always be looking for something else you "need" :rotf:

 

[2172]

Cliff, a good question, at least, one I asked when I first started. Sometimes, a patch does come off...there is a little screw-in doohickey called a patch retriever, with a couple of wire arms that you put on the rod and which will let you snare and retrieve a patch...if patches never came off, there would be no need for the device..
Hank

 

[snagg]

Cliff:
As I was reading down the posts to your question I figured someone would have to mention the patch hook. And Hank beat me to it. :grin: For sure you'll want to buy a patch hook as eventually a patch will end up in the bottom of your barrel.

snagg

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

Hey fellow .50 cal., how ya doin?

The only thing I use a jag for is to seat the PRB or 370 gr. Maxi's that I use in the charcoal burner. Basically looks like the end of your ramrod.

Now a good quality patch worm is a whole different story, so here goes:

Since I only use a range-rod, I have all kinds of thing-a-ma-jigs to go on the end ot it. The one I use the most is my patchworm. It has a small barb on the end of a heavy-duty coil of metal that's a little thinner than a metal coat hanger.

To run a dry patch down the bore, I simply use two patches and push them all the way down to the bottom, then I twist the handle of the range-rod to snag the patches good. When cleaning or oiling, I use the same patchworm, this time with a pumping action up and down. This cleans-out all the crud using pressure!

If I lose my patches down at the breech because I forgot to twist the handle, I TWIST THE HANDLE. Every once in a while I'll send a third patch down and this also helps snag the first two.

I realize that using a patchworm isn't how they did it in the "Old Days". Everybody just used the end of their ramrods. Upon watching and helping a Flinter try to get his jag/patch combo unstuck, I realized why Chuck Dixon told me to just use the worm...We couldn't get the thing to budge! After I gave-up, three of four guys man-handled the thing til the wooden ram-rod snapped in half, still jammed down the bore. Then someone came out with a ramrod puller, still no luck. The poor guy had to hang it up and take the gun apart when he got home . This WON'T EVER happen to me, cause I don't use a jag for cleaning :winking: .

Don't ever be affraid to ask questions. The only stupid question is the one you forgot to ask! :haha: . Hope this helps. All the best, Dave

 

[50cal.cliff]

:bow:
Ok I get it now. I allready have a selection of all the little dohickeys as one of you called them. :haha: I understand that wierd looking worm a little better too ! :rotf: :rotf:
I knew enough about BP to know I din't have any of the accesories that I needed for BP. My wife give me this kit for Christmas. Real good woman, (hey she's put up with me for 30yrs. now)!
Anyway I was having some trouble with back and still had to do assemblly and had some problems with that. By the time I got the chance to go to sporting goods store it was getting close to end of deer season and all the stores were trying to clearance out there remaining muzzleloader supplies. So I obliged them with what ever I could find that was useful with my 50 cal.. Could not find any roundballs in my caliber though. Everything around here tends to lean towards them new-fangled inliners! :shake:
I know, I said a nasty word!! :nono: I would love to see someone take up some video hunts with a traditional muzzleloader! I think after a few episodes and you would see a resuragance of traditional! I mean, where else can you actually do the same kind of hunting our forefathers done! You see this isn't my first rodeo, I just borrowed the Hawk and didn't know better so cleaned it sort of like a conventional rifle.

Will have to say though, when, he told me about the hot soapy water in the sink I though he was pulling my leg. I think I used a bore brush from shotgun and my large caliber cleaning rod with extra patches. Told him when I took it back that I had cleaned it per his instructions, but wanted him to check it as didn't want it to be my fault if I didn't get clean enough and it sit a while and would be ruined next time he got ready to use. I offered to pay for powder and balls I had used, but would't take a dime, (good buddy)! That experience was what got me hooked on BP. And I even missed the deer with that gun. I think that is what drew me back to it again. I want another chance at that big six point again. Only this time it will be with my gun and hopefully I will have the knowlege and experience to bring him home this time. With all my medical problems and trying to get two kids raised up it has taken several years to get me back around to it though.

Yeeeeha!!!!!! I feel like a kid with a new toy, and can't wait to go out and play!!!!!! :v

 

[bob1961]

:applause: :applause: i think alot of them other gun shooters just don't want to take the time to have fun and learn how hard it was back 200 years ago....i see dem guys on tv huntin shows shooting fake muzzleloaders at deer at 150 + yards wit dem tubie tangs on dem plasty stocked whatever they are "dem not guns in my mind" :rotf: ....but to me there's nuttin better then shooting a deer wit a gun i made myself after i counted there eye lashes on both eyes befer pulling the trigger :thumbsup: ....how many of dem guys can say they built dem liners themselves :rotf: none that i know of....after i'm done wit my .54 lancaster i'm trading in my .22 wit a .36 flinter i'm building next fer small game and turkey :v ................bob

 

[paulvallandigham]

YOu can clean a ML rifle by using the normal patch jag, as described by several people above, and over sized cleaning patches. These are made from flannel, or pocket drill. For a .50 caliber, stick with the 3 inch square patches or larger. You can also clean the barrel with patches pushed down with a bore brush. The needles of the brush will pierce the cleaning patch, and hold it as it goes down and back out the barrel. In all my years with BL shooting, I have never HAD to use a patch puller jag. I have mine, and I used it to pull a shooting patch out of another guy's gun that he was inappropriately trying to use as a cleaning patch, but I have never had to use it on any gun of my own. A precut ball patch, or shooting patch, is usually too small to use for cleaning the barrel. Often the patch is too thick for your cleaning jag, too.

The final tool sold for cleaning, is the cotton Swab, which is cotton fibers wound in heavy gauge wire, atached to a threaded fitting to screw into the ramrod. Swabs are nice, but get dirty fast. you can wash them, and they dry quickly, too. I have used them with oversized cleaning patches to clean barrels, but invariably, I will have to use my cleaning jag, or bore brush to get some minor amount of crud out of the barrel that just won't come out using the swab. I leave the swab on my shotgun cleaning rods, as they do a good job of cleaning those large surfaces. For my rifle, I have put the swab away, and have two rods, one with a jag on the end, and the second with a bore brush on the end of it. They do all the work to clean the gun.

 

[CrackStock]

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/(S(rl...s/tableList.aspx?catID=6&subID=49&styleID=152

If a a picture is worth a thousand words, then I have just put you onto a website worth millions.

Good luck,

CS

 

[50cal.cliff]

:surrender:
Guys I get it now! Thanks for all the advice I will take all in to consideration!

 

[windwalker_au]

cliff heres a pic of one on my 50 ramrod
bernie :thumbsup:

 

[shmrck1]

But how do you keep from losing a patch off a cleaning jag?

Cliff,
It's magic!!!!!
Something God only allows blackpowder folks to
do.:hmm::rotf::rotf:
snake-eyes
:v

 

[50cal.cliff]

:rotf: :rotf: :rotf: Well hush my mouth.
I guess I otter be able to learn that trick by about next month or so! :rotf: :rotf:
Just call me a pilgrim, till then! :redface:
:rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

 

[spudnut]

Don't try useing a brush in the bore till you have a lot of experience Ive seen many of them break off :shake: ..Mark

 

[mmahlock]

The trick to using a brush is that when you reach the breach rotate the rod in the direction of the threads i.e. tighten the rod on the brush until the brush bristles "cam over" and then it pulls out just like it went down.

Another good tool is a breach brush.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I made ny patch puller out of a worn-out bore brush when I started BP muzzle-load shooting. I've had to use it once, and it saved me a trip home from the campsite when a cleaning patch somehow came off the jag at the breech. my kit will always have one in it. and a good bore brush. :thumbsup:

 

[mmahlock]

My preference is for the corkscrew style patch worm. The type that I like is the one where the worm part is wrapped around the base not the one that is soldered to the base. The wrapped around type is generally made of spring material with some flex the soldered type are pressed and deform rather than flex.

 

[lightsky]

your trouble is you're using a jag for a breach loader.
get one for a muzzleloader and a patch puller.
if you do ,chances are you won't loose any more patches,if you do you have the puller to get it out. :thumbsup: