Progressive trouble firing

[jweston]

I went out yesterday and did some firing. In general, the firing went better. I did not run a patch through between shots, but rammed the ball in as usual. After the third shot, I did run a patch after I had loaded the ball and got my rod stuck midway. I used my pliers to remove the rod (no worries, it is a 3/8 brass rod tapped 10-32). I removed the rod and continued firing.

How many rounds do you all normally fire before it is necessary to clean?

And when I ram the patch and ball down the barrel, aren't I cleaning the rifling?

 

[Rebel]

I usually shoot until i am done for the day and then run a damp patch through. DON'T run a DRY patch down a fouled bore or you will end up with a STUCK rod.

 

[Java Man]

I shot me new .45cal flint pistol yesterday, for the first time. Its got a Green Mtn bbl. Was using .445rb, .015 ticking, and 25gr FFFg. First several shots, I tried Lehigh Lube. Then switched to MAP-W (Murphy's, Ajax Dish Soap, Pine Sol-Water).

Shot about 15 shots total. Wiped the bore once. To clean, I put a toothpick in the vent, and poured sone MAP-W down the bore. Shook it back and forth, dump, repeat one more time. Then about two patches, and it was clean. Loaded easy the whole time.

The lock is a Chambers Late Ketland with a very well made TH liner. Very fast ignition, and not even anything that remotely resembling a hang fire. Thanks Roy!

Java Man

 

[jweston]

I thought that I read somewhere that a wet patch would get stuck, but based on my problems with dry patches, I will admit that my memory might be wrong. When you run a patch through to clear fouling, what do you moisten it with. I have been using the Lehigh lube.

Thanks for the toothpick idea, my vent pick is a little on the thin side. I'd been thinking of finding a sliver of spring steel or something to keep it clean.

Again, thanks all for the advice.

 

[Java Man]

I wipe the bore with a LIGHTLY damp patch of washed flannel. Wet is bad. Damp is good. Dry is very bad, until you have loosened the fouling with a damp patch. And if you use a lightly damp patch, you don't need to follow it with a dry one.

Use any BP solvent or spit. The dampness is only to keep the patch from getting stuck. And preferably "pick up" the fouling as you go, rather than shove it into the breech area. So it should not be real tight for wiping the bore between shots.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I wipe between shots with a dampened patch, which I usually dampen with my tongue. These are flannel cotton cleaning patches, and I use one size( large) for all my guns. Simplifies storage, and ordering. The moist patch will clean the crud out of the grooves, on the way back out of the gun, while attacking any built up crud down at that the breechplug face. If it is very humid out, so that my cleaning patch comes out very gooey and wet, I will follow it with a dry patch. But, I go down half way, and then back it out about 1/3, then drive the patch down two thirds, and back it out and then put it down to the breech and pull it back out a final time. I found that allows the dry patch to mold to my jag better, and reduces the chance of it getting stuck.

If I do get a dry patch stuck, I simply pour some liquid moose milk down the barrel and wait for it to soak the patching. The patch comes out very easily after that, cleaning the bore very well. I then run a couple of more clean dry patches down to soak up any of the remaining cleaning fluid. My moose milk is made from Water Soluable oil, purchased from a local machine shop, Lestoil liquid soap, hydrogen Pyroxide,(drug store) and water. The HP goes in last, as it is the most unstable and tends to boil off. Other recipes use olive oil, mineral oil( Ballistoil) and even peanut oil, instead of the water soluable oil, murphys soap instead of lestoil. Just shake the container before dampening a patch, and you should mix the oil and water temporarily for your purpose.

 

[Bill Bryan]

I generally chase the ball down the barrel during loading with patch moistened with balistol over the tip of my range rod. That one patch gets dirty but at the end of a shooting day one or two patches cleans the barrel.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I thought that I read somewhere that a wet patch would get stuck, but based on my problems with dry patches, I will admit that my memory might be wrong. When you run a patch through to clear fouling, what do you moisten it with. I have been using the Lehigh lube.

Thanks for the toothpick idea, my vent pick is a little on the thin side. I'd been thinking of finding a sliver of spring steel or something to keep it clean.

Again, thanks all for the advice.

You got it twisted around. The dry patch will get stuck if you run one down a fouled bore. I plop a piece of cotton on my tongue, pull the rammer and jag, screw the jag on most of the way, kack out the patch and screw a corner under the shoulder of the jag, then wipe the bore. I'll go as often as three shots without wiping to as many as fifteen depending on how the bore feels while loading. Some days the fouling is "catchier" than on others.

I have also found it helpful to run a lubed patch through the bore a few times before loading for the first shot. Pre lubes the bore well, like buttering a pan before cooking.