Partial swab between shots

[mashaffer]

In my Bobcat I usually have to swab the bore at least every other shot in order to get a new ball/bullet to go down the bore. However occasionally this causes a buildup of gunk in the drum hampering ignition.

Would it be reasonable to not go all the way to the breach when swabbing? That way any excess gunk that doesn't come out on the patch would be above the flash channel and the next powder charge would get around it.

mike

 

[boar]

When you swab any ML you work the rod up and down with short strokes as to pick up the foulings in the barrel, if you just run the rod straight down it will push junk into breach area. I just use spit and not too much. Oldtimer told me this when I started the 80's Dilly

 

[DickJ]

HI MIKE
You really shouldn't have to swab that often.what cal. is it and what ball size and patch? is it hard to load even when clean as first load after cleaning? if you must swab load it first so you don't push the crud down to the flash channel.I nave better luck with liquid patch lubes than the bore butter type,I only use it when hunting so I can leave it loaded and not worry bout rust.My 2 cents worth.

 

[arquebus]

I have a .451 target rifle that I like to wipe between shots. When I first started to do this I was getting alot of misfires due to crud, etc. What I now do is after a shot I drop another (premeasured) powder charge down the bore using a drop tube & then seat an over powder wad with my range rod which has a damp patch on it, that way I am seating the wad & wiping the bore at the same time but not pushing any of the fouling into the chamber or flash channel.

 

[Mad Professor]

The worst fowling will be just above where the charge was seated. You will feel this "crud ring" when you swab. If you think you've pushed crud into the breech/drum just snap a cap before the next load. The cap will blow out the crud and you're ready to load.

If you do an extended range session try snapping the cap say after 5, 10, 15 shots etc. to get a feel for when it's needed. If you point the barrel towards a clean surface it will give you an idea how much junk is being blown out of the breech area when you snap a cap (snow covered ground works great).

 

Try using a worm instead of a button jag when you swab.

The worm will allow you to move the patch to the bottom of the bore with very little restriction and then pull the crud out on the backstroke. Several of my loading rods have a worm that lives on one end. Swab with one end and load with the other.

 

I do not swab between every shot. However, I do run a 12 gage shotgun bore brush (polymier - not bronze) on a shot gun cleaning rod down and out severl times to brek up the residue and paying particular attention to the area just back of the muzzle, about every 6th shot or so. And then I swab with some Butche's Bore Shine and dry patch. Sometimes, I will swithch to a thinner patch in place of the scrubbing but this takes considerable concentration.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I dry patch after every shot when plinking/target shooting with a loose fit patch to simulate hunting condition, I always hunt with a fouled bore.
When plinking I clean the bore well about every 20 shots and pull drum screw to run pipe cleaner thru. No misfires for me, just 'BOOM"
Also after you dump powder charge whack the opposite side of hammer/breech area with palm of hand to knock some powder into flash channel, then load PRB/SLUG.

 

[mashaffer]

Thanks for the info everyone. For the record it is a .50 cal. I was usig both Hornady .490s with .015 TC prelubed as well as 245 gr Powerbelt (plastic tip) all over 90 gr Goex fffg. Early in the range session I could often go three shots before swabbing so maybe I needed to clean with the #13 more often. Also all of the misfires were late in the session so maybe I just needed to remove the drum screw and clean after 20 shots or so.

I did pump the rod in the swabbing process but initially pushed it most of the way down in one stroke. Will not do that anymore.

Hadn't thought of swabbing the barrel after loading the next powder charge. Interesting idea.

mike

 

[paulvallandigham]

Clean between shots, so you don't get that large buildup to begin with, and then, every 20 shots or so, fire off a few caps on an empty chamber, then put a blank charge of powder down and fire it off to burn out the gunk. Then clean the barrel and go back to shooting. I don't think you should ever be removing that " clean-out " screw, particularly at the range. That is a fast way to lose the darn thing.

 

[arcticap]

By using an undersized jag, it's easy to control the patch tightness in the bore and maybe also how much fouling gets pushed down too. I use a .41 calber jag and somewhat large homemade patches from old T-shirts, etc...maybe 4" X 4" +/- 1 inch. The patch thickness can be controlled by either folding it into quarters or thirds. I rarely loose a patch in the barrel. Maybe a .45 jag would "loosely" remove fouling too with the right size patches.
BTW, which loads shot better with the 90 grains of powder, PRB or Powerbelts?

 

[Slamfire]

I noticed that problem with my underhammer. Since the nipple is in the barrel, not an attachment, Wiping all the way causes misfires. I just choke up on the wipin' stick about one hand witdh and the misfires go away. :v

 

[mashaffer]

Kitty seems to prefer the power belt (PB), unfortunately. This seems to be especially true at ranges over 50 yards. At 50 either one will group in the 2-3" range if I do my part but the PB seems more consistent esp. on windy days. Once I get some glasses (after Jan 1 for insurance reasons) I think I will be able to do a lot better. At 100 yards I can barely make out the 12" target. Still managed a 5" group with the PBs but that was probably mostly luck.

Probably will use the PBs this year and work on PRB loads over the summer. I really want to get a good PRB load for next year as well as a reduced load for small game.

Got a lot of learning to do yet but I know that I have fund the right place to learn right here.

mike