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A "must?" Good grief. Never heard that before. Actually I've never even seen a blow tube. Is it plastic? If we want to I'm mileage our ancestors we don't use plastic anything. This thread is getting silly. To end it on the correct note, I hereby declard require that all members here never put their mouths on their muzzleloaders. Besides being illegal under federal law and enforceable by ATF, all.blowing, sucking, kissing, or licking of any black powder gun
Allow me to correct and finish. (My dog stepped on my tablet and posted before I was ready.) I meant to say that punishment for violations shall be the perpetrator being g banned from ever again watching Davy Crockett shows and further that the.portion of the gun having been slobbered on small be removed with an approved hacksaw wielded by an authorized federal officer of the court. And so be it. No further discussion on the matter is needed.
 
Now I know we are not supposed to load a Muzzleloader from the flask but instead from a measure. My question is, has anyone had a measure of powder ignite while loading and under what circumstance IE: dumping it in straight after firing, having it go off after swabbing the barrel then loading. Only personal experience please, not hearsay. Cheers
 
I agree. But (and there is always a 'BUT' 😉 ) at ranges where there is a rule against it I obey the rules. I blew down the barrel after each shot for many years and thousands of times. I agree, once you shoot yer rifle you know it is unloaded. BUT, in the heat of competition it is possible (very rare but possible) to hear someone elses rifle go off thinking is it yers. A hot load in a hot barrel and yer mouth over the muzzle could, once in a billion times, go off and remove yer haid. Overabundance of caution maybe but I changed that habit and quilt. Ain't blowed my haid off yet since then.
As someone who knows whether their gun is loaded or not, even in the heat of competition, if someone is that out of focuse when they hear another shot go off, then I would suggest they never come to a range or any competition of any kind.
Now I might have dry balled a time or two when talking with other competitors , lol. ( do that once or twice and you learn never to do again, lol)
Rick
 
blow tubes are an absolute must when shooting straight Black Powder. When shooting these types of loads, you need to soften the fouling after each shot. You do this by gently blowing through the clear tubing end. Look for moisture in the clear tubing, and you will be able to tell whether you are getting any moisture into the barrel. With the 12" tube you will be able to keep an eye on conditions.
Sounds like a half-ice swab to me.
Never really got to like half-ice. Reminds me of government.
 
I agree. But (and there is always a 'BUT' 😉 ) at ranges where there is a rule against it I obey the rules. I blew down the barrel after each shot for many years and thousands of times. I agree, once you shoot yer rifle you know it is unloaded. BUT, in the heat of competition it is possible (very rare but possible) to hear someone elses rifle go off thinking is it yers. A hot load in a hot barrel and yer mouth over the muzzle could, once in a billion times, go off and remove yer haid. Overabundance of caution maybe but I changed that habit and quilt. Ain't blowed my haid off yet since then.
No. Just fargin' no. There is no way on God's green Earth that you can tell me you thought you fired your piece because you heard a report. YOU are looking over the sights. YOU feel no recoil, observe no smoke obscuring your direct 12... are you a Liberal?
FARK NO!
 
As someone who knows whether their gun is loaded or not, even in the heat of competition, if someone is that out of focuse when they hear another shot go off, then I would suggest they never come to a range or any competition of any kind.
Now I might have dry balled a time or two when talking with other competitors , lol. ( do that once or twice and you learn never to do again, lol)
Rick
Ain't dry-balled in 2 decades, but I got to talkin' with other hairy people last year, an' I forgot to load. Remembered to prime.
 

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Allow me to correct and finish. (My dog stepped on my tablet and posted before I was ready.) I meant to say that punishment for violations shall be the perpetrator being g banned from ever again watching Davy Crockett shows and further that the.portion of the gun having been slobbered on small be removed with an approved hacksaw wielded by an authorized federal officer of the court. And so be it. No further discussion on the matter is needed.
HACKSAW??? And gun in the same sentence???
That's like a cop showing up and smacking the rape victim straight in the chops.
 
I agree. But (and there is always a 'BUT' 😉 ) at ranges where there is a rule against it I obey the rules. I blew down the barrel after each shot for many years and thousands of times. I agree, once you shoot yer rifle you know it is unloaded. BUT, in the heat of competition it is possible (very rare but possible) to hear someone elses rifle go off thinking is it yers. A hot load in a hot barrel and yer mouth over the muzzle could, once in a billion times, go off and remove yer haid. Overabundance of caution maybe but I changed that habit and quilt. Ain't blowed my haid off yet since then.
As someone who knows whether their gun is loaded or not, even in the heat of competition, if someone is that out of focuse when they hear another shot go off, then I would suggest they never come to a range or any competition of any kind.
Now I might have dry balled a time or two when talking with other competitors , lol. ( do that once or twice and you learn never to do again, lol)
R
Ain't dry-balled in 2 decades, but I got to talkin' with other hairy people last year, an' I forgot to load. Remembered to prime.
In the team shoots I never dryballed any, but it was the leisurely shooting when I did. I'm so thankful I never did it in competition, I knew one guy they called " dry ball" , I knew another guy they called "no balls" he yelled it out to one of his buddies, when he ran out of balls in a team speed shoot, his name from then on, "no balls" . Don't think he ever yelled that again unless it was from telling someone his nickname, lol.
Rick
 
Allow me to correct and finish. (My dog stepped on my tablet and posted before I was ready.) I meant to say that punishment for violations shall be the perpetrator being g banned from ever again watching Davy Crockett shows and further that the.portion of the gun having been slobbered on small be removed with an approved hacksaw wielded by an authorized federal officer of the court. And so be it. No further discussion on the matter is needed.
Why not just edit your post instead of a whole new one??
 
Well sometimes it just goes off?
 

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I usually shoot paper cartridges in my Charleville, similar to what the military used in their muskets in the 18th Century. I have seen smoldering bits of the paper out in front of me after firing. They burn up very quickly, so I have not had to worry about starting any grass fires or anything like that. But I do watch for it.

So keeping that in mind, I am sensitive about the POSSIBILITY that there could be little burning bits of paper in my musket after firing. So I blow down the bore three or four times and look for smoke exiting the vent. When the smoke stops, I feel safe. THEN I reload, but not before that.


I think we have all seen videos where people demonstrate that they can load and fire very quickly without a mishap. Those videos give me a sense of confidence that I should not have to worry too much, but still — I never hurry reloads.
Never hurry reloads!!!!
Ml is a fine wine and good cigar sport, take your time
Last time I did a speed load run with paper cartridge I got three shots plus half loaded in four minutes
But after the second a little voice in my head was saying this is stupid you could get a cook off
That’s been a few years,
It’s just not worth the risk
Take your time and never rush
 
If it's so dangerous to blow in the barrel, can any pearl-clutcher walk me through the proper way to use a borescope?
Safety can be taken so far, then common sense has to take over. If a cap or flint hasn't been struck over the touch hole in twenty minutes or more, you shouldn't have to worry about the presence of glowing embers. But, for safety's sake, run your ramrod down the barrel and notice the position of your witness mark(s) indicating a loaded gun (you did remember to mark the ramrod didn't you?), if it shows powder and ball still in the chamber, use a worm to remove the ball and dump the powder. Now use your ramrod again, to check for another ball. When the chamber shows empty, per witness marks, it should be safe to use a bore scope.
 
Safety can be taken so far, then common sense has to take over. If a cap or flint hasn't been struck over the touch hole in twenty minutes or more, you shouldn't have to worry about the presence of glowing embers. But, for safety's sake, run your ramrod down the barrel and notice the position of your witness mark(s) indicating a loaded gun (you did remember to mark the ramrod didn't you?), if it shows powder and ball still in the chamber, use a worm to remove the ball and dump the powder. Now use your ramrod again, to check for another ball. When the chamber shows empty, per witness marks, it should be safe to use a bore scope.
Really? After the safety part what part of that is commo sense? Waiting 20 minutes to reload? Or checking after 20 min if the gun is loaded, and if it is, to remove yourself from the shooting line to pull the ball?
I think common sense isn't all that common.
 
I think more people should use the edit feature to correct spelling and delete.
When I do edit, I mark it as such.

EDIT:
Like so, or

Edited because our spellings disagree.

On the main, I do not like to edit. Can't be accused of changing it up if you let her stand, bad grammar and spelling regardless.
 
When out shooting these days I bring a pint of moose milk and swab between shots, mainly to get consistent groups in a riffled barrel. I was taught in the field to blow down the barrel till all smoke clears out the touch hole seems to work flawlessly. Also not sure what problems you would have pouring from a flask with a measure stop can't see how it would chain into the main well, but a proper measure is always going to produce a more consistent group. I personally love paper cartridges for smooth bores and have been playing with that concept even for my rifle for a more convenient backup shot.
 
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