Fouling shot? yes/no?

[Huntnut]

How many of you take a fouling shot before you go hunting? And if you do, do you load a full hunting load? Half load or just load powder with no ball to foul the bore? Or do you just wipe the bore down really good so there is no oil in the bore?

I always foul the bore before hunting. I have shot full/ half and just loose powder, but I allways makesure the bore is fouled before hitting the woods.

 

[gmww]

I've found my point of impact is different on a clean bore so I take a fouling shot. I try to do it the day before the hunt since I'm up early in the morning.

My fouling shot it with what I hunt with. I'm sure others have differing opinions. :grin:

 

[paulvallandigham]

I flush the guns with alcohol, now, before they leave home.

Fouling shots don't always clear the flash channels on percussion guns, nor do they burn out oils very well. ( In an empty barrel, there is no PRESSURE created to raise the temperature high enough to burn the oils.)Why dirty a gun just so you have to clean it before you put the next charge in it?

Flushing the barrel vigorously with alcohol gets all the oil out, leaves the barrel and flash channel clean and dry and ready for the first loading. On my flintlocks, I make sure to turn the gun on its side, over a bucket, or the kitchen sink, so that the alcohol runs out into the sink, or bucket, and not down over the stock, where it can remove both finish and stain!

If the gun is going to travel some distance to get to the field, I do run a cleaning patch down the barrel with my patch lube to coat the surfaces to protect from rust. But that is all. When I get to the field, I wipe that lube out of the barrel with a clean cleaning patch, and then load.

It works every time for me, and I no longer worry about misfires, or hangfires with my first shot.

 

[Huntnut]

I like your idea about cleaning the oil out with alcohol, but what about accurace. A clean bore is not going to have the same POI as a dirty bore most the time. Even my centerfire rifles I will note go hunting with a totaly clean bore becease my POA and POI are not the same as a dirty bore.

 

[mazo kid]

For a hunting load, I don't use a fouling shot. In working up loads, I take careful note of where the first shot from a clean, cold barrel impacts. You can do this over a period of time, using the same target so as to check grouping. Usually if a follow-up shot is needed it is up close and personal. For target shooting, then a fouling shot is used before firing for score.

 

[BrownBear]

I really hate the idea of wandering around all day with a fouled bore. And if circumstances dictate you can't clean that night or the next morning, then what. Two days with a fouled bore? Not for me, thank you very much.

 

[roundball]

How many of you take a fouling shot before you go hunting?

The last thing in the world I want to do with a clean hunting rifle is shoot a fouling shot to get it all dirty, then go sit in the woods with a dirty bore for several hours.
I sight-in any hunting rifle with all shots out of a clean cold barrel, then forget about it.

 

[rabjr]

How many of you take a fouling shot before you go hunting? And if you do, do you load a full hunting load? Half load or just load powder with no ball to foul the bore? Or do you just wipe the bore down really good so there is no oil in the bore?

I always foul the bore before hunting. I have shot full/ half and just loose powder, but I allways makesure the bore is fouled before hitting the woods.

Absolutely not.

 

[jtmattison]

No fouling shot. I work up loads with a spotless bore. I don't want to carry a dirty rifle around. If I forget to clear the flash channel with my air compressor before the hunt I snap a cap and run a dry patch through it.

HD

 

[Homesteader]

Add me to the "uh-uh" ( :nono: ) camp.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I expect to get only ONE SHOT at game, so that first shot has to be good. I sight the gun to hit POA on the first shot- not with a dirty bore. If I need a second shot, I either spend the time to clean my barrel back to " CLEAN", or get a lot closer for a finishing shot out of a dirty barrel.

I spent a lot of time finding out what I had to do with my flintlock to get consecutive shots to hit the same POA as my first shot. Cleaning the barrel between shots is the advice I got from the Slug gun shooters, and I spent considerable time at the Range at Friendship, simply watching those shooters clean their gun barrels between shots. I then focused on that activity with my own gun, and found out what worked.

Please remember that my interest in accuracy began with my original interest in shooting BP guns- Trick Shooting, and Exhibition Shooting. (See my article on "Off-hand and Trick Shooting" under "Articles" in the Member Resources section at the top of the index page to this forum. )

Like you, I have had the problem with modern cartridge rifles. There are other reasons for a change in the POI in modern rifles, than just the barrel being fouled a bit. But, that goes beyond the parameters of this forum. :grin: :thumbsup:

 

[biliff]

Don't have an issue with POI change so no need to foul the barrel.

 

I'm actually with Paul on this. I expect to take one shot, but for the shots I take it would not matter if the bore were fouled or not. I just don't take risky shots where the difference would come into play.

That said I also disagree somewhat with Paul on the alcohol. If you use cheapo 70% rubbing alcohol, the other 30% is water. In my experience with percussion guns, the stuff doesn't necessarily evaporate like we'd expect particularly in guns with patent breeches. I quit using alcohol some time ago and had a lot less misfires. I dry patch the heck out of my gun before going on the hunt and try to blow the channel clear. Then prior to going out the first morning, I will pop a couple caps in a safe location to make sure the channel is clear before loading. I don't think alcohol would be as much of an issue on simple breeched flint guns, but I just don't find that I really need it.

My $0.02, your mileage may vary.

Sean

 

[RC]

Add me to the "uh-uh" ( :nono: ) camp.

me too...site in clean, shoot clean...it's huntin ya know...it's THAT important!! :thumbsup:

 

[gmww]

When you fellas sight in clean are you talking down to the metal clean like I do when I put away my guns or?

I swab out between shots with spit 2 sides and dry 2 sides and shoot again. I've found my POI with this is different from my clean to the metal cleaning with oil.

That is why I will shoot a fouling shot and do my range spit/dry clean and load up for the hunt.

 

[rabjr]

I do pretty much the same you do except I use Black Solve on the patches but cleaning to storage clean, no just clean enough.

 

[roundball]

Don't have an issue with POI change so no need to foul the barrel.

Agree...and for the life of me I've heard this discussed for years and years now and never under stood it. IMO, if there's a significant POI change just after one shot and wiping the bore, then I submit that the "first shot components" haven't been completely experimented with and optimized yet.


And particularly in the case of huning...a fast second shot is really a totally overblown idea anyway:

1) An well placed patched round ball and the animal is is down within sight, no second shot necessary;

2) Or, the animal has a fatal hit but in it's "dead on its feet" mad dash it goes out of sight past some trees & brush, so a fast second shot is not possible;

3) Or, you've walked up to a downed animal, and decide you need a mercy shot...at 3 feet.


Sight a ML with a clean, cold barrel...then clean the ML and put it away showroom ready.
When its time to deer hunt, load it, go shoot a deer, and enjoy the hobby.

 

[rabjr]

In most cases I agree with you but I have first hand experience in needing a fast second shot. :haha:

 

[MercerLake]

:v I agree with Paul V. I use IPA 91% alcohol to remove all oil from the barrel and ignition channel (flint or Percussion), load, then wipe the bore with patch lube before entering the woods to hunt. I wipe the bore and flush with a squirt of IPA between shots in the field,then load as above. Never had a failure to fire using this method. :v

 

[paulvallandigham]

I don't buy rubbing alcohol. The Isopropyl Alcohol I buy here for less than $1.00 per quart, is 91% alcohol, and evaporates every time. I have denatured alcohol I bought for a paint thinner, but I generally don't have to use that much more expensive stuff to clean the barrel.

To answer Gmww's question- I clean between shots, depending on the temperature and relative humidity, using either one or two patches, with my own moose milk, and then follow with one or two dry cleaning patches to dry the barrel back to metal. There will be some small amount of residue in the gun, but I don't see much, if any, change in POI when the next shot is fired.

[Just a thought: I find that most changes in POI from the first to the next few shots are due to poor bedding in the barrel mortise, and sometimes, poor bedding of the Tang in its mortise. If those bedding issues are resolved, I can expect the consecutive balls to hit very close to the same POI. My rifle has been glass bedded at the tang and breech because of a crack in the stock there, that could only be mended by glass bedding the wood. I have no problems with a change in POI from one shot to the next -- a pleasant surprise and discovery that has appeared again on several other rifles I have, or have worked on for other shooters.]

I "read" the cleaning patches as I pull them off the jag, to decide how much crud is in the barrel, how much as been removed, and HOW DAMP the barrel is from relative humidity. That is how I decide whether to use one or two dampened cleaning patches, and one or two drying patches. I use both sides of a cleaning patch( I am CHEAP) unless the first side is so wet and damp its slick in the light.

My rule is, " When in doubt( that you got all the crud/moisture " out "), repeat!" The barrel tells me, when I push the next PRB down it, whether I made the correct decision, by how smooth, or jerky, is the effort to seat the ball down on the powder.