Non Wipers Only.

[Carbon 6]

Depends on the humidity.

? Whats that?

(sorry)

That's when you sweat in the shade.

 

[TexiKan]

What was called "seasoning" is merely a mix of fouling and burnt lubricant. It does nothing other than fill up the bore with fouling. Eventually it will fill the bore to the extent that accuracy is lost and the clean up task is huge. You can use Young Country Lube or any other lube that one may find acceptable, just clean it all out of the bore.

Grenadier1758, maybe I should clarify my perception of "seasoning" which is somewhat like a well seasoned cast iron skillet. Now I am basically a one gun shooter--I built a .50 cal. Sharon Hawken rifle and it is about all I shoot. When the Young Country lube came out, it was recommended to use as a final wipe in the barrel for storage. I did that, many, many times. I believed my barrel consistently loaded easier. Like I said, I then began to read various threads on this forum about NOT seasoning the barrel, etc. I knew my barrel was well seasoned when a ramrod lug came unsoldered and in the process of soldering it back, the barrel literally oozed out the lube around it. i had to heat it up more for the lug to take the solder. Then I started using Leigh High Valley and found it to be good. Obviously the previous seasoning diminished but not much trouble in loading or going longer between shots. NOW I find myself having to wipe nearly every shot and I would rather do what I did with the Young Country! I know, I know....the big boys and the most accurate shots recommend wiping after each shot for consistency. I tend to do that more for paper targets as opposed to steel.

As for clean up after using Young Country....it was and is always pretty easy.

 

[Grenadier1758]

I have to be sure to remind myself that if it works for someone, it is a correct method and just because I do something different doesn't make the other method incorrect.

Most of the non-wipers use a fairly damp patch with some sort of cleaning solution. What is happening is the loading and wiping are done in one step to get the bore to a consistent condition with respect to fouling and also minimizes the pushing fouling into the breech.

 

[Eutycus]

That's when you sweat in the shade.

There's an old saying about "how the fog is so thick you can cut it with a knife". Our Humitiy is about the same as the fog. It's a slight exagerration but only slight. You cant quite see it but you know it's out there.

 

[azmntman]

I come from IN and when we went back to see family as a child I have never been so miserable. And to think I was born to that! I'd say about the only benefit to humidity of that degree is softer fouling. I'd rather wipe my barrel every 2 minutes than my brow!!

 

[arcticap]

Earlier I stated that I accidentally stumbled upon this post and that I find it interesting. Okay all of that is true but I must say that I'm a bit puzzled. Why would a person NOT wipe even if its an old habit? Surely it cant be that time comsumming or that much of an inconvience?????

By not swabbing, a person can try to obtain a fair degree of consistency with respect to the amount of bore fouling.
And sometimes when plinking at silhouettes or target shooting for fun, a person is more concerned with the number of fairly good shots that they are able to take at a moderate distance rather than with a lesser number of attempts for perfect shots [perhaps] at longer range that they can take in the limited amount of range time.
Also, some guns may actually perform better with a slightly fouled barrel than with an absolutely clean barrel.

I don't worry about pushing fouling into the breech since it doesn't usually affect my rifles by causing misfires.
If I'm loading moderate plinking loads, then most of the powder is being consumed or the residue harmlessly pushed back down when the next PRB is rammed.
Perhaps that's a benefit of loading Pyrodex P.
Using patches fairly well saturated with Bore Butter, my guns can fire off a lot of shots without swabbing, perhaps for hours if I really want to.
Swabbing then becomes optional rather than mandatory.

Also, some folks actually take a fouling shot before starting a competition relay.
Since competitions often have a time limit, there's not a lot of extra time for swabbing.
For those who do choose to take a fouling shot, it's because the 1st shot from a clean cold barrel can often be a flyer after which the barrel can become more consistent.

There can be different swabbing regimens for different guns, situations, weather conditions and powders.
It's mostly about shooter preference and what type of method they choose to use.
Plinking is not the same as hunting where the 1st shot really counts the most,
Sometimes plinking is about establishing a loading rhythm and to just keep loading & shooting, especially if doing it at moderate distances with moderate powder charges.
A person can choose to swab anytime if and when they really want to start fresh with a clean barrel.
Sometimes it helps accuracy to take a break, swab and let the barrel cool off.
But if the ease of ramming is consistent, then when to swab is up to the shooter.

 

[longcruise]

Earlier I stated that I accidentally stumbled upon this post and that I find it interesting. Okay all of that is true but I must say that I'm a bit puzzled. Why would a person NOT wipe even if its an old habit? Surely it cant be that time comsumming or that much of an inconvience?????

It's really not that time consuming and when I'm putting my hunting loads together that use a grease type lube I wipe extensively between shots to maintain as close as possible the conditions of first shot.

I have never compared accuracy between the two methods, but I suspect that wiping will produce the better accuracy.

 

[Zonie]

I am not a "wiper" if I'm shooting one of my percussion guns using Pyrodex. I've found that after the initial fouling from the first shot, wiping is not needed to continue to shoot if I am using Stumpkillers thin "Moose Juice" patch lube.

That said, if I am shooting one of my flintlocks with real black powder I've found that after 4 shots, the fouling build up is too great for even Moose Juice to overcome so I wipe the bore before loading the next shot.

I haven't had a problem with knocking the fouling into the breech area because of the method I use to wipe the bore.

After dampening a clean patch with Moose Juice I place it on the muzzle and run it down to the breech with the jag on the ramrod, in one smooth stroke.
Then, I let it sit for at least 5 and more like 10 seconds to allow the moisture that has been left on the fouling to soften it. Following this, I slowly pull the still damp patch on the jag back out of the muzzle. The softened fouling always comes with it.
I follow this with one clean patch on the jag, running it completely to the breech in one stroke and then pull it back out of the barrel. This leaves the bore dry enough to load my next shot.

As for the idea of knocking off the fouling and getting it down into the breech, yes, I've seen this happen but it usually is because the person decided to scour the bore by pumping the ramrod/jag up and down the bore repeatedly. Doing that almost always knocks off the fouling and can foul the breech to the point that the next load will be a misfire.

 

[SDSmlf]

After dampening a clean patch with Moose Juice I place it on the muzzle and run it down to the breech with the jag on the ramrod, in one smooth stroke.
Then, I let it sit for at least 5 and more like 10 seconds to allow the moisture that has been left on the fouling to soften it. Following this, I slowly pull the still damp patch on the jag back out of the muzzle. The softened fouling always comes with it.
I follow this with one clean patch on the jag, running it completely to the breech in one stroke and then pull it back out of the barrel. This leaves the bore dry enough to load my next shot.

Good description of how to wipe between shots and very close to what Dutch preaches. One additional point, that I believe also comes from Dutch, is to get a good fit between your jag, patch and barrel by finding a combination where two dry patches on your jag will almost fall to the breech of a clean barrel under just the weight of your ramrod.

 

[32 ballard xl]

How can you use wiper-fluid, and call yourself a non-wiper?

Oh! Sorry, I didn't realize you guys don't clean your rifles at the end of the day.

 

[tenngun]

One does what works well for him. I’ve shot many the round with out wiping between shots, and I’ve done many times when I wiped every third or fifth.
Shoot one shot or a hundred your gun needs the same level of cleaning when done.
With loading block and a powder measure as part of my short starter I shot ten shots in three and three quarter min. The winner in that contest shot twenty one in that same time using paper cartridges.
That’s almost as fast as a BAR isn’t it?
Well maybe a little slower.
I don’t find it cost that much time to wipe. Maybe it helps many it doesn’t. One might ask why wipe every shot, and just as easily why not.

 

[Captjoel]

I'm mostly a non-wiper between shots but have owned a couple of rifles that had some bore pitting issues. Those always had to be wiped in order to get a load down them without a hammer.

I have noticed that using spit for patch lube in warm weather after about 8 to 10 shots, the next load will bottom out approx. 3\4 of an inch above the powder charge. The ball wants to stop on top of the "crud" ring. It then takes a bit of effort to push the load past and down to the powder. This is why having your ramrod marked at the muzzle is so important! Such a gap could lead to disaster.

Using a mix of Murphy's Oil Soap and alcohol for patch lube, I found that that crud ring takes quite a few more shots (20+) to develop into a snag. So, I save my spit these days just to aid digestion.

 

[Eutycus]

Surely Murphys can't have the oil soap market all to themselves. Are there other "generic"versions of this fine product on the market made by other companies? On another post a product by Johnsons was mentioned, I think? Is this basically the same oil soap that Murphy makes?

 

[WRustyLane]

I'm a wiper. I simply cannot get another patched round ball down the barrel unless I wipe with a damp patch and then use a dry patch to wipe the wiper patch. Of course I did try to get the second round down the tube but had a difficult time in doing so. Since my rifle is relative new and hasn't been fired that much maybe things will change when I can fire it more. I only have one ball left so I need to get casting some .490 balls. I will be changing my lube from bore butter to TOTW mink tallow.

 

[Dave Marsh]

Just my opinion from personal experience but I would scrub that bore out and throw away the bore butter and never use it again. Mink oil should work fine.
I use spit patches for target shooting and mink oil for hunting.

Dave

 

[8 BORE]

Yea save the bore butter for toast or hotcakes. Thats nasty stuff in your gun bbl

 

[8 BORE]

Surely Murphys can't have the oil soap market all to themselves. Are there other "generic"versions of this fine product on the market made by other companies? On another post a product by Johnsons was mentioned, I think? Is this basically the same oil soap that Murphy makes?

A quart of murphys, 92% alcohol, and peroxide will give you 3quarts of gun cleaning perfecting. That should last a long time for about $6.00

 

[nkbj]

I have some guns that just don’t play well without wiping, but for those that do, use one of following.

• For cold weather (below freezing) and warm weather, have had the best performance out of windshield washer fluid with a few ounces of Ballistols added per gallon. Use patches that are almost dripping. If hunting, put a slightly oversized felt wad on top of powder to avoid fouling it with fluid. A gallon batch will last a long time.

• TOW mink oil would be my second choice. Works great as long as you don’t wait too long before reloading, especially when hot and dry. Wait too long (like maybe on woods walk) and will have to wipe.

• Followed by Hoppies 9 for Blackpowder. Performance similar to windshield wiper fluid, just more expensive. Great for cleaning.

• Never had much luck with MAP or various moose milk formulas (they are great for cleaning), but it may just be because once I found a few things that worked for me I didn’t experiment with other options as much.

Just as a footnote, for extreme accuracy (think target shooing over 100 yards) and serious hunting (where gun may stay loaded for days if not shot) I will wipe and use a dry patch. That is one of the beauties of muzzleloading, you load for the situation.

Yep, depends on which piece I'm shootin'.

 

[Eutycus]

The MAP sounds swell and all . I've heard nothing but good stuff about it. However I'm still leery of one of the ingredients if used by itself. But so far ,on this forum anyway, most everyone seems to think Peroxide is safe to use. I have read where it will take the blueing off of a gun if left for several minutes. I've been assured it will not hurt the gun in anyway, but one cant help but wonder??

 

[Penny B]

I am a long time MAP user, and a wiper by the way. Part of my end of shooting day procedure is to block the nipple and fill the barrel with the MAP leaving it up to thirty minutes or so while I do other stuff. I noticed right away when I started that the MAP would foam up kind of like peroxide does on a fresh cut. Where it boils over the barrel it has left evidence of its travel as it drains down the barrel and stock. I guess what I am taking too long to say is keep it off the barrel and stock if you can .