Fouling Scraper?

[luieb45]

I am relatively new to traditional muzzleloading and use pyrodex so I get that ring of crud that pyrodex usually creates. Would a fouling scraper help?

 

[silverfox]

Fouling scrapers are slowly going away like the dinasours. They are made to clean a flat breech and most modern barrels don't have flat breeches. They have patent breeches and the bore scraper will not clean them. That is another story.
Your ring in the barrel will need a bore brush or bore mop or even a good tight jag and patch to wipe it off the barrel. So get a brush and save the cost of a breech scraper as it isn't needed for your problem. Any good solvent and a couple of passes should remove the ring.
Fox :thumbsup:

 

[Bob Gular]

Hadn't gotten that memo. Aside from the store boughten iron there are a growing number of custom guns out there (and right here) that don't have patent breeches. The fouling scraper is here to stay.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Fouling scrapers are designed for traditional flintlock breech faces and work well on them. I have one for each traditional rifle and fowler I own. I had no idea that they would soon no longer be available. Damn! Nobody tells me anything anymore. You might knock the fouling ring off with one, but a good cleaning is what's needed.

 

[rabjr]

I agree, I have a scraper for each of my guns. But I have regular breech plug faces, none of my guns have patten breeches.

 

[mazo kid]

Yep, out of my 35 (+ or -) muzzleloading guns, only one has a patent breech....a Lyman GP pistol. Luie, you don't mention what you are shooting, so if a patent breech gun, then no, a breech scraper won't do you any good. A good cleaning usually suffices, that and a small bore brush to clean out that small chamber. Emery

 

[wkndman]

Hello,
OK, now I'm wondering if I need a scraper for a .32 cal with a hooked snail??(Tradition,T/C) type breech. Not knowing a patent breech, other than the connected tang round kind of TOW, I've never seen the inside of one to know which is flat, round or otherwise. The scrapers offered are all flat that I've seen?? Also, is there any good way to see 32" down there without a bore light?
Thanks, Dave

 

[Birddog6]

Fouling scrapers are slowly going away like the dinasours. Fox :thumbsup:

:rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: Yes, and black powder is a thing of the past & we will probably never see a real flintlock again !! :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

 

[silverfox]

Okay guys sorry about that remark. But down here and with most of the commercial guns T/C, Traditions, and David P. being in such high numbers out there I didn't see much need for scrapers.
I know you custom builder and Flinklock makers are prone to using standard breeches that are flat and they can use them. It was just a new guy and probable a factory gun that would not need one. Just a good cleaning.
Fox :hatsoff:
Thanks for keeping me straight

 

[Birddog6]

Not problem. It should also be noted that I used a .36 cal breech scraper to clean the patent breeches of the GPR's I used to have.(seems like I turned it down just a tad) Took the scraper & rounded the tip to fit the contour of the patent breech.
Also, T/C used to make & sell a patent breech scraper for their rifles as well, don't know if they still do or not. Reason being a bore brush in the patent breech will do a good job except at the end of the patent breech & the bore brush will not reach that area to clean it.

Anyway........ keep on loading & firing !!

Keith

 

[luieb45]

I have a Kassnar Kentucky rifle which is basically an old cheap cva but made in Hungary. But I won't get a fouling scraper for it since it has an undersized bore. But I am getting a Traditions Kentucky so I think it would work for that since I don't think it has a patent breech.

 

[Dphar]

I have shot muzzleloaders for over 40 years with all sorts of breeches and have never owned a fouling scraper and am not likely to buy one at this point. I started shooting MLs before they were invented I think and thus learned to "
get by" without one.
If some one just has to clean the breech face a wadded up wet or damp patch pushed down with a worm and turn it a few turns. The scraper is just another gadget to sell people. Its not necessary to anyone but the people that sell them.

Dan

 

[crockett]

Check with the manufacturer of your firearm on what type of breech face you have, flat or coned. If there is a side drum then I'd say it isn't that big a deal but if it is a patent breech with the straight line to the breech- if that area gets packed with residue you might have a problem and a scraper made for whatever breech shape you have could help.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Hi Dan. I can get my guns really clean without a scraper too. But a proper scraper gets into the corner of the barrel and breech face and still pulls a little crud out. If I hit the area with the scraper first, then flush with water, it just makes it easier. Especially out in the field.

I recall seeing scrapers as a kid back in the 'fifties and was told they were common items going way back. Now I wonder if that's true or maybe it was a regional thing and just common in New England. Dan

 

[rabjr]

Well I'll use the gadget. Last thing I do is cut corners cleaning my guns and a wet patch followed by a good scraping, more patches, works for me.

 

[luieb45]

When my new gun comes in I will definitely have to pick up a fouling scraper. It surprises me though that they even have one at the farm store since the only muzzleloading stuff they normally have there is for inlines only.

 

[Tumblernotch]

I don't use mine very often, only if doing a lot of firing when the weather conditions cake the residue real bad. I discovered long ago that the factory scrapers often just skip over the residue and don't always remove all the fouling. When I started making jags I decided to make a scraper that would work better. What I did was make a standard scraper and then relieve the back side of the cutting edge with a chamfer, much like a drill bit. I was amazed at how well it dug in and cut the crud out. To this day I've never seen a factory scraper with this feature.

It's handy when needed, but I rarely ever use it, and I've not seen many other shooters use one. I sold a few a couple of years ago. I guess they thought it would be a handy addition to their shooting boxes. And like other tools we use on occasion I guess it is.

 

[hanshi]

Most of my guns have a flat breech so I frequently use scrapers and they give me a good start on cleaning. Would call them a necessity; more like a labor saver.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Yup, a labor saver and a gun saver. Truthfully, the difference between a traditional flatbreech flintlock and the more complex systems in terms of ignition speed isn't really worth the complication. :thumbsup:

 

[Dphar]

Hi Dan. I can get my guns really clean without a scraper too. But a proper scraper gets into the corner of the barrel and breech face and still pulls a little crud out. If I hit the area with the scraper first, then flush with water, it just makes it easier. Especially out in the field.

I recall seeing scrapers as a kid back in the 'fifties and was told they were common items going way back. Now I wonder if that's true or maybe it was a regional thing and just common in New England. Dan

If someone has some 1960s Dixie Catalogs this could likely be cleared up.

Dan