Fouling scrapers and vent picks.

[nvbirdman]

I don't have a scraper.
I don't have a vent pick.
I have a nose pick.
You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friends nose.
BTW I heard that three days too late! :: :: ::

 

[Zonie]

Possession of Hawk and Eagle feathers is a Federal Crime.
I recall reading about some well wishing person sending Hillary Clinton a "Dream Catcher" once. A Dream Catcher is an American Indian object which has, among other things, feathers. Some of the feathers were from, a hawk.
I don't believe they tried to arrest Hillary but the woman who sent the present to her was decended upon as though she was Pubic Enemy number One.

I also read about a woman who was visiting a Zoo. Next to the Golden Eagle cage she spotted a feather and picked it up.
Some good soul turned her in and before she could leave, the Feds pounced upon her for having such a forbidden object!

Ah, such is the price of saving our endangered creatures and it is good to know that our Tax dollars are being spent to provide employment to people who have nothing better to do than harass innocent people.

As for a vent pick, every time I have had a Flash in the Pan, using the vent pick before repriming has solved the problem.
When I use the vent pick before priming, I never have a problem with incomplete ignition.

 

[roundball]

I used Google to find the Endangered Species Act and could not find anything specific about an individual feather...there were references to it being unlawful to have an entire bird in your possession without a permit, or to use feathers to make objects, feathered decorations, etc, that could be sold and so on, no no mention of someone just having an occasional feather.

I'll continue to pick up the occasional feather when the opportunity presents itself, because it is obviously not representative of a commercial operation, and in the extremely, extremely rare case I should ever be stopped and asked about a lone feather, I'll just deal with it

 

[musketman]

FYI, places like The Log Cabin Shop and the likes sells "FAKE" eagle feathers, they are called coupe feathers and are airbrushed white turkey tail feathers...

I got busted at the Cleveland Zoo before for walking out with a hand full of pink flamingo feathers, I needed them for salmon/steelhead flies...

Needless to say, they recovered them from me and that was it, but I still take a few zip-locks with me what I "VISIT" the zoos... :winking:

 

[SquirrelsaurusR]

I got busted at the Cleveland Zoo before for walking out with a hand full of pink flamingo feathers...

That's it, you're a convicted criminal! Turn in all your flintlocks, we don't need 'assault weapons' in the hands of deviants like you. ::

 

[crockett]

One more word on fouling scrapers. Some guns have a cone shaped breech. You need a scraper to match the type breech of your gun . I usually use one only in cleaning the gun at day's end. A few months ago there was an article in muzzleloader magazine of a Hawken that didn't have the breech cleaned for years because of the cone shape and it eventually lead to ignition trouble.

 

I don't use scrapers anymore because many won't fit the breech face. I switched to breech brushes that conform to any breech face and do a better job.
The Lyman with it's patent breech calls for a small, .32 bore mop. I put this mop in a .30 cal rifle rod to clean the breech AFTER I clean the barrel. You'd be surprised how much crude accumulates in that small breech hole.
The patent breech should be cleaned every time you're done shooting same as the rest of the gun.

 

[roundball]

I do the same thing...have one cleaning rod dedicated to a .30cal bore brush for my patent breeches.
Use it at the range periodically when the humidity is in the 90's, and then during cleaning after the range session

 

[Huntinfool]

My mentor tells me about a time when the Feds raided Friendship I believe some of you Greybeards may remember.

They hauled a bunch of people in to Chicago or some other big town not sure which one now. Most of the re-enactors had painted feathers and plastic claws and such purchased at one of the dealers that sells such stuff.

He told me that when they were turned loose they had to get their own rides back to the doins. It was probably during the Clinton Administration.

That being said I use a copper pick that is attached by a thong to my bag strap & a brush I made by drilling a hole in the base of the tip end of an antler and inserting about two inches of turkey beard.

Ya take the part down near the base of the beard and separate it so it's about an 1/8" to 3/16" thick. One short jake beard will make several brushes but mine seems to be lasting a long time.

Oh the copper pick was taken off of a 6 volt flash light battery. I think most of the new ones are made with something else but my mentor saved them for 25 years while they were being made of copper. It's just the right size and works perfectly, it's also easier on yer flash hole than steel or iron. i suppose single strand copper wire could be pounded into a usable pick.

YMH&OS
Chuck Goodall
"The Original Huntin' Fool"
&
Kanawha Ranger Scribe

 

[Griz]

I'll stick my .02 Cents in. I have, but never use breech scrapers. I use brushes. I have and use vent picks, digs, shovels....you know, what ever the latest term is. I also have and frequently use a nose pick Although, I DO NOT touch a friend nose at any time :nono:
:: :: :: :: :: ::

 

[Stumpkiller]

I prefer seagull feathers. No one gives a hoot about them beach rats (N'yuk, n'yuk). Their feathers are tough, too. Never thought to make a cyborg feather with a wire up the shaft. I've hammered out a bunch of 'forged' vent picks with propane torch heated clothes hanger wire. These have to be used with caution, as they'll ream the vent hole larger if you push too hard. I always carry two - one to chunk out heavy fouling and one to give away. They make a great winter-night project when the balls have all been cast and the lube tins are cooling on the windowsill.

Never used a store-bought official fouling scraper. I use a patch/tow worm, the double-helix corkscrew kind. It churns up the breech enough with a hank of solvent or spit soaked tow jammed in the tines.

Maxiball will learn that the gag threads spin off as useful and the serious threads get sidetracked into Bozoville. That's just one of the immutable laws of human interaction. ::

 

[Herb]

Today I pulled the breech plug from my Rice .40 cal barrel on my Jacob Wigle rifle so I could install a flash hole liner. I had drilled the flash hole about .089, coned it a little on the outside, shot this rifle a couple hundred times. Now, that hole is too big. Got tired of that big ball of fire coming out of the flash hole, especially with 65 grains of 3F. I used a No. 14 copper wire (I think-.080 diameter) as a vent pick to keep the hole open and push a hole into the powder column after loading. Prevented flashes in the pan. Put in a White Lightnin' 5/16 x 32, will see what difference that makes. The flash hole seems to be about .055 in diameter. But when I pulled the plug, the back of the barrel, behind the flash hole, had a solid plug of black powder residue. From now on I will use a scraper in cleaning. Think a breech brush might do well.

 

[silverfox]

True the hawk and owl feathers are a noooooo, nooooo, but if you can find peacock now not the long tail feathers they and guiney? fowl both have nice barred feathers only problem is them Feds. might not know the difference. Just a thought if you want good legal feathers. :master: :imo: