one tight mother

[shotgunner]

bought an old tc hawken .50, kit gun probably 20+ years, shoots super, but after 2 or three rounds barrel so tight I can barely put down a ball, sound about right or what? .490 with a .015 ox patch. Should I polish barrel to smooth out?

Thanks

 

I am assuming you mean dirty or fouled & harder to load, not physically tighter - as that would be impossible.
: You may simply need more or a different type of lube. With the proper lube, you can shoot for hours on the trail-walk, perhaps 40 to 80 shots, without having to swab the bore. We clean or swab the bores only after the day's shootingis done. We normally use spit for lube, as each charge is loaded at each station jsut beofre firing so they don't sit for extended periods of time, loaded with a spit-wet patch. That would or could pitting in the breech area.
; For hunting, a different type of lube is required, and depends somewhat on temperature as well, as some don't work well in freezing weather.
: What patch material and thickness are you using along with ball size and alloy?

 

[Stumpkiller]

Depending on your lube & patch thickness, that is normal. Some needs to be wiped between every shot, and some can go 20 shots without needing a cleaning wipe.

Sometimes it also comes down to a choice of the most convenient or the most accurate. If you're lucky they intersect.

 

[musketman]

FFFg will burn somewhat cleaner than FFg as well, this will reduce the fouling in the bore and give you more shots between cleaning...

The bore could need polished, no telling what it went through in those 20+ years in someone else's hands...

It won't hurt to do so, within reason...

When you load it for the first time on a clean barrel, do you feel the patch/ball "GRAB" as you're ramming it down, this is a sure sign that the bore is rough, and a rough bore holds more foulings than a polished one...

 

[JKVirginia]

Musket,

Could you tell me a bit more about bore polishing?

My Hawken has been exhibiting "grabbiness" much like you described--ie, a PRB will slide down fairly easily for a bit, then stick tight to where I have to lean damned hard on the ramrod to get it past that spot (And when there's 260lbs of me leaning, that's a lotta force). I suspect that may be just the medicine the ol' T/C needs.

Jon from Virginia

PS, and totally unrelated--Have you considered doing regional subforums? I'd like to get together with some local BP shooters in the DC-Metro outskirts area.

 

[Teach]

I had the same problem with a rifle that I just bought,shoot a couple of shots then the bore gets tight.What worked for me in this case was I used J*B made by Brownells it's a bore "cleaning" compound removes crud but not any metal.I got it off of Joe at The Gunworks cost $10.

 

Old barrels with unknown care in the past, probly ain't "cruded up" but more likely "pitted" to some extent.

Clean the bore with warm water and patchs, then dry with dry patchs, followed with fine steel wool on a jag to take the "edges" off the pits.

I always use "spit" fer lube fer repeated shots at the range, and it cuts foul'n better'n ANY "grease type lube" I've ever used in 30 years'a shoot'n muzzleloaders!!

YMHS
rollingb

 

[musketman]

Musket,

Could you tell me a bit more about bore polishing?

Barrel lapping is another way of polishing with/without using steel wool, use a large patch and some polishing compound and your cleaning jag...

Do perhaps 50 strokes and clean the bore, check (by running a clean patch down and see if it drags) and re-polish again if needed...

If the barrel is really bad, you may never get it all out, but it will be an improvement over what you may have...

0000 steel wool on the jag is a good way to remove surface rust from old bores, you can lube it with cutting fluid or WD-40...