2.5 parts olive or coconut oil with 1 part beeswax and 0.5 part Murphy's Oil Soap.Shh
Shhh! What Brokennock and many others are saying when they state that they don't wipe between shots is that they are using a very moist patch around their ball. That moist patch lubricates the barrel for the ball and wipes the fouling from the bore onto the top of the load. Sometimes being in a very humid environment helps to keep the fouling moist and many shots can be loaded before wiping the crust ring from the breech. They don't wipe between shots because they have a different procedure that works for them.
Hoyt and Getz both use more original style rifling which builds up fouling much more.
It seems to me that a square cut muzzle would predate both a crowned or coned muzzle, therefor the necessity of a ball starter or loading mallet would also precede them. Or that the moment someone decided to patch a ball, the necessity would become apparent.
I think it's a silly thing to argue over. Some guns need one, some don't. Most of my guns need one, so i ain't giving it up.
I wonder if the mallets were meant for loading every shot, or.just for when things got dirty and "sticky," at which point some help was needed. If used with a gun with a metal ramrod the mallet could be used for those times when the ball got stuck on it's way down, even just short of the powder.I think the amount of guys that don’t use starters show they were ‘not necessary’. That’s not the same as not used.
Some of the first minies had a disk of lead placed in the hollow bottom. It blew forward driving the soft lead in to the groves. It wasn’t necessary but was used. Another thing that comes to mind is butt traps- patch boxes. American and Central European often have them, English French, Dutch and Spanish not so much. Military stuck them on then took them off. Not necessary but widely used. Fine cased pistols had loading mallets but also had ramrods.
loading mallets were issued with many military rifles.
The first thing I think of that’s needed on a ML is a ram rod, but some military rifles were issued sans ramrod, and the shooter carried one with his bag.
Queen Ann Pistols came without a ramrod as did Derringer pocket pistols, and some Scottish pistols . Queen Ann pistols had a key, but you still had to clean it. And if you lost the key you must have had a back up.
I think it's a silly thing to argue over. Some guns need one, some don't. Most of my guns need one, so i ain't giving it up.
What did the British use to wax the end of their enfield cartridges ?
My understanding is that, in general, a tighter fit increases the accuracy.
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