Gave in to the nervous nannies

[Mad L]

Some of you need to put down the hobby/lifestyle of muzzleloading and walk away forever. How do you cope with all the unforeseen dangers of general life? I don't care what YOU do, nor do I care what the NMLRA says is kosher.

If I shoot a muzzleloader and feel the recoil, see the smoke, see the impact on target (be it paper or steel), THEN, and only then, do as I was instructed in the mid 1980's as a young lad surrounded by experienced 'greybeards' to blow down the barrel to make sure the nipple/flash hole was clear and to extinguish any embers. How am I in any danger????? The darn powder has burnt. The ball or conical is long gone. How am I going to shoot myself in the head? If YOU don't know that your firearm has gone 'BOOM' after a deliberate trigger pull, then I don't know what to tell you.

We are surrounded by ambulance chasing lawyers who protect the dumb. Don't fall prey to their antics. If YOU don't want to blow down the barrel after a shot, then fine. But If I do, leave me to it. It's my life I'm risking according to some of you, not yours.

But...that little guy in barrel that yelled at me, I heard he can be a sneaky little varmint!
That is also why I bury my powder six feet beneath a tree at least a quarter mile off my property and any neighbors' property so I don't blows no one up from a static discharge....and in case that that tiny varmint climbs out and goes a lookin fer it!!

 

[Coinneach]

Some of you need to put down the hobby/lifestyle of muzzleloading and walk away forever. How do you cope with all the unforeseen dangers of general life? I don't care what YOU do, nor do I care what the NMLRA says is kosher.

If I shoot a muzzleloader and feel the recoil, see the smoke, see the impact on target (be it paper or steel), THEN, and only then, do as I was instructed in the mid 1980's as a young lad surrounded by experienced 'greybeards' to blow down the barrel to make sure the nipple/flash hole was clear and to extinguish any embers. How am I in any danger????? The darn powder has burnt. The ball or conical is long gone. How am I going to shoot myself in the head? If YOU don't know that your firearm has gone 'BOOM' after a deliberate trigger pull, then I don't know what to tell you.

We are surrounded by ambulance chasing lawyers who protect the dumb. Don't fall prey to their antics. If YOU don't want to blow down the barrel after a shot, then fine. But If I do, leave me to it. It's my life I'm risking according to some of you, not yours.

Well said that Man !

 

[Coinneach]

And I sir am that weirdo

Ditto

 

[Coinneach]

OK. i am going to break the promise i made myself and respond to a contentious discussion.
HI my name is deerstalker and i blow down the barrel of my muzzleloader. whew! i feel so much better admitting my sin!
also i would like someone to explain to me how a tube down the bore and then into my mouth is safer in the impossible event of a discharge.
Hot gas directed into my mouth and esophagus, then expanding into my lungs turning them into fried fritters via a tube is going to make me wish a ball had gone through my head.

The only thing that concerns me about being seen blowing down a discharged Barrel is that people might call me a "******** specialist"......

 

[tenngun]

The only thing that concerns me about being seen blowing down a discharged Barrel is that people might call me a "******** specialist"......

Don’t worry about them. You can take it, after all it takes big balls to shoot ml

 

[Cruzatte]

I've stayed away from this discussion so far. And I'm going to break that promise to myself now.

Hi. My name is Cruzatte, and I don't blow down the barrel. And I never have. Never saw the reason to either, since I always carry around some cotton flannel cleaning patches, and either water, or moose milk to moisten these patches. I figure they're damp enough even on a 98°F. Kansas summer day to put out any potential fires in the breech of my recently discharged flintlock rifle or fusil.

Blowing down the barrel and swabbing between shots is like wearing a belt and suspenders.

OK. Carry on. I'm going to sit down, now.

 

[Codger Craig Wilcox]

Way back when I wore a much younger man's clothes, I had a friend who was a History prof at U Maryland. He had x-ray pics of many, many muskets from Civil War battlefields. Each one of the x-rays had anywhere from 5 to 15 Minie balls and powder charges inside. He is also the man that got me started in the NSSA in 1960, and gave me the 1863 Springfield I used at that time. (Awesome firearm, BTW!)

It appears that, on the battlefields, a soldier might have had a bad load which didn't react to the primer. And thus reloaded. And reloaded. And reloaded again.

In the noise and turmoil of the battle, he would not have noticed a lack of discharge, causing him to reload sometimes many times. And was shot, or retreated, or realized his weapon was at fault, and picked up a dropped musket to rejoin the fight. Many reasons amidst the noise and stink of a battlefield.

At a range where many are firing, it is sometimes possible to note that your firearm might not have actually fired.

You can do whatever you wish on the range, as long as it doesn't affect me - I prefer to NOT blow down my barrel. And if my fresh powder charge gets ignited by an ember, well, I guess my fingers will get burnt. But not my head.

 

[colimr]

Please forgive me if I seem a prude but my relationship with my ml is not to the bj level yet . I have seen in cannon fire a wet mop is pushed down the barrel I have been told to extinguish any embers and cool breach before the powder is loaded so possible ember ignition is not in doubt .I could be wrong but I don't believe mopping is done only to clear fouling. My point is cannoneers don't blow down the barrel. For the dirty ole men don't go big barrel little barrel blowing LOL could blowing down a barrel causing more consistent ignition be because the touch hole passage is being cleared of residue ? Has any barrel blowers tried blowing at the opposite end to compare results Think Quigly down under I know movies , wrong type gun ease of mouth placement etc....

 

[French Colonial]

"Has any barrel blowers tried blowing at the opposite end to compare results Think Quigly down under I know movies , wrong type gun ease of mouth placement etc...."

Every BPCRS shooter I ever knew started by using a blowtube to blow down the barrel, some later switched to bore pigs or damp patch wiping.

When you can answer why BPCRS shooters use blowtubes (Its not embers obviously) then you will gain understanding of muzzleloaders.

 

[Pete G]

Every BPCRS shooter I ever knew started by using a blowtube to blow down the barrel, some later switched to bore pigs or damp patch wiping.

When you can answer why BPCRS shooters use blowtubes (Its not embers obviously) then you will gain understanding of muzzleloaders.

Because they saw someone else doing it!

 

[deerstalkert]

this argument is right up there with "Maryann or Ginger"
and before someone says there is no parallel, think of the danger factor with both of them!

 

[colimr]

Maryann all the way

 

[JamesA]

As the title says finally got tired of arguing with the nervous nannies at our gun club.

I started muzzleloading in the 70's and everyone that I shot with (at this same club) blew down the barrel and used spit patches and I have been doing it and (back when I could see) winning matches.

For those that do not know, the moisture in your breath keeps the fouling soft and a spit patch wipes the bore on the way down and even with a tight ball and patch combination (think short starter) you can still shoot all day long. If you question this, find a BPCRS shooter and ask him why he uses a blow tube (although bore pigs have some proponents), and if he's not using one or the other his scores suck.

After forty years the only damage the empty gun has ever done to me was sometimes I noticed that my lips were black on the way home (wondered why the waitress looked at me strange).

Anyway her is my solution
View attachment 154755

7/16 OD vinyl tubing with some white duct tape wrapped around it. So far, I have used it on a .45, .50 and a 54 and the duct tape has enough wraps that it has sealed on all three of them.

Personally I regard it as an unnecessary evil and will not use it unless at the bench and the nannies are singing their song, (you know the one "You'll put your eye out" .

Hate to let them win but I am pretty sure Simon Kenton had vinyl tubing so there you go.

I don't consider myself a "nanny", I just don't like the taste of gunpowder. I don't care how hard you wipe it, there is still a residual taste. Having said that, I use the tube on the nipple and send smoke and junk out the muzzle. Just my opinion.

 

[French Colonial]

Because they saw someone else doing it!

Says the man who has never shot BPCRS competitions

 

[smoothshooter]

If you are THAT stupid as to not know that your gun has went off, you should not be shooting.

And, exactly where was this? When? I hear stories it was a guy loading for his wife and she had a misfire. I load my own guns. At best, a Darwin award story.

I blow down the barrel after every shot, just like I wipe off the frizzen and flint and pick the vent. I blow until smoke stops coming out. I've been doing it for over 40 years. Some aunt Mary is not going to tell me how to safely shoot. This is like most Americans today; all form and no substance.

It is not as risky as it looks, but it makes for pretty bad optics at a public range, or someplace where younger or less experienced shooters or bystanders are. Imagine the father who has been drilling gun safety into the head of one or more children, especially the part where you never point the gun at yourself or someone else, and as the family watches someone fires off their gun and then sticks the muzzle in their mouth.
I personally never felt the need to blow down the muzzle of my gun. If I did I would fix up a blow tube of some sort to do it with.
I do believe that a lot of the guys that blow down the muzzle do it partly for the shock value to bystanders, though.

 

[ord sgt]

While you may not like it, we try to make firearms safety a priority when teaching kids and it's hard to make the point with the muzzle of a gun in your mouth.

Try blowing down the barrel while on the firing line at Nationals. See what happens.

 

[tenngun]

Yeah, Try and throw a hawk with a 4.5” cutting edge. Because we all know belt axe makers had a 4” maximum.
Or try shooting a fusil with a rear sight, because we know they were never added to fusils
Blowing down a barrel is mentioned historically so it’s not a ‘saw some one else doing it’ thing.
You play by their rules on their field.
It’s a lawyer/insurance thing, or optics thing. It ain’t a safety thing.
I would much rather have a person who blows down an empty barrel next to me then someone who didn’t know is their gun fired or not.
An exception could be cape guns and multiple barrel guns, reloading one fired barrel

 

[Mad L]

Blowing down the barrel and swabbing between shots is like wearing a belt and suspenders.

OK. Carry on. I'm going to sit down, now.

Suspenders (bracers) is for holding up your trousers (breeches) and a Belt (or sash) is for carrying your tools and pouches.

 

[smoothshooter]

Suspenders (bracers) is for holding up your trousers (breeches) and a Belt (or sash) is for carrying your tools and pouches.

I happen to be wearing a belt and suspenders as I type this.
And wearing short pants to boot!

 

[Cruzatte]

Suspenders (bracers) is for holding up your trousers (breeches) and a Belt (or sash) is for carrying your tools and pouches.

Exactly Dear Old Dad's point.