What are the effects of humidity on BP fouling? Is high humidity better or does dryness decrease the buildup?
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Humidity?
- Thread starter Smokey Plainsman
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Brokennock
Cannon
While black powder itself is not hydroscopic, black powder fouling is. It will absorb moisture out of the air which can cause soupy glop in ones pan if a flintlock among other potential issues of adding water to powder fouling, while still shooting, or if the gun needs to sit unfired for a bit after having been shot and reloaded.
Depends on your definition of better. High humidity is a double edged sword. It keeps the fowling soft, which makes loading a bit easier, but as said above, it is easily absorbed by the powder residue which can cause problems in the flash pan of a flintlock. If you pay attention and wipe the flash pan often, you should not have a problem with it. On the other hand, low humidity will not soften the fowling and it can be more difficult to load after a few shots, and may require swabbing after each shot, and more prone to blocking the flash channel in percussion guns or the touch hole in a flintlock.
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No Deer has explained it.
Tom Compton
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No contradiction. Softer fouling in the bore per op question. Soup in the pan is an additional observation.
Rat
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Brokennock broke me neck....or nocked me down. 
What I meant was that you can fire more shots without cleaning in high humidity, than low. I remember an account of a rifle being demonstrated for an army, (the Ferguson perhaps?) and as it was a rainy or drizzling day, the rifle performed exceptionally well, as the humidity kept the fouling soft.
What I meant was that you can fire more shots without cleaning in high humidity, than low. I remember an account of a rifle being demonstrated for an army, (the Ferguson perhaps?) and as it was a rainy or drizzling day, the rifle performed exceptionally well, as the humidity kept the fouling soft.johnfrommd
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+1 for my experience. In Louisiana, fouling stayed much softer than in Maryland.
Myself, I would rather do a full cleaning between shots than sweat like a dog while doing anything other than physical labor/exercise. I have been spoilt rotten, I know. I would drop sweat in the pan off my forehead if I was still back in the mid-west.
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