Heavy Sigh

[Rebel]

As long as you are able to seat the next ball without excessive force on the rod, you don't really need to wipe the bore, unless you are target shooting for the best groups you can manage. But you don't want to use a dry patch in a fouled bore. That is a recipe for disaster. Stuck jags are no fun.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I can go 15 shots without wiping between with a .53" ball, 0.015" patch and Goex FFg in my .54 flinter using Moose Snot. I go five on the dry-lubed moose milk patches without needing to wipe. I never need to wipe between shots when using moose milk applied just before loading. Depends on the condition of your bore, the humidity, blackpowder you use, and your lubing techniques.

The only way to know is to have a ball puller ready and try. If you need a short starter and a lot of force to load the first shot in a clean barrel the chances are you'll need to wipe between every shot.

One trick that helps with all my rifles is to pre-lube the bore evenly but lightly with a greased patch. Like oiling the pan before adding the food.

 

[jimbo15563]

I learned the dry patch lesson the hard way. I pulled the tip off my ramrod and had to shoot it out with 4F thru the vent hole. Then I had to buy a new ramrod.

Jimbo

 

[riarcher]

I like to use 2 parts 91% alcohol, to 1 part windex when I swab between shots leaving the vent open (no pick). Just a drop or two to dampen the patch. This way it dries pretty quick and stops the patch/rod from sticking and blows the vent clear. When extracting the rod pull it rather quickly to suck the vent clean.
I'm lucky with my smoothie, without the rifling in the barrel, and patches well lubed with borebutter I never need to swab between shots (knock on wood). But I always "pick" my vent when loading.
If you're dry patching between shot I'd suspect you're packing the fouling down into the breach and clogging the vent (went through that myself years ago).
Anouther thing I found, if I get a lot of fouling in the barrel after a shot or two I'm doing something wrong. Sometimes changing the granulation of the powder makes a really big difference (I've even had instances where 2F burnt significantly cleaner than 3F--- and vise versa). And of course using way too much powder leaves lots of crud in the bore.
I use ONLY true blackpowder, synthetics may be different? I don't know. :m2c:

 

[Twisted_1in66]

so then a lubed patch, then a dry patch between every shot will have to do. OR DO I EVEN NEED TO DO THAT?

How do I know if I need to run patches between shots? It was mostly just paranoia that got me stared in the first place.
Damascus

It's actually very easy. If every ball loads as easy as the first ball, you don't need to wipe. Your patch lube is doing its job pulling the fresh fouling off and shooting most of the gunk the patch is picking up out the end of the barrel. That keeps the barrel clean.

If you don't use enough lube on your patch, or if you spit patch, you will find that you have to start hammering the ball down the barrel after just a few shots. If you find yourself having a hard time getting the patched ball down the barrel, you better wipe after this shot.

I used to spit patch, and still will if I'm in a hurry, but then I'd have to run a couple of cleaning patches down the barrel after two or three shots to be able to keep loading the rifle. I cooked up a batch of Moose Snot, and as long as I use a decent amount on the patch, I never have to wipe between shots.

So, if it's sticking, better wipe it. If it's not sticking when loading your gun...keep shootin' it.