Swabbing at the range

[pargent]

Saliva and then only when the last shot was harder to ram home , if you find that you have to swab all the time then something is amiss ( unless shooting super tight benchrest loads ) your patch ball combo is too tight , patch lube no good , too much fowling etc. as Stumpkiller posted above a saliva patch every 10 shots should be all that is needed , in fact swabbing too much is one of the main causes of miss fires on the line , slimmy crud building up in the breech areas and blocking up the ignition path . :thumbsup:

 

[Rifleman1776]

if you find that you have to swab all the time then something is amiss

That is a misleading premise.
Most who swab between every shot do so in an attempt to keep the barrel conditions consistent between shots. That is an attempt to achieve and maintain top accuracy. It is the standard practice of most of the top shooters at ranges.
As is common in this game, I'll admit it is not 100% as we all have our favorite styles and methods and rituals.
When hunting I swab partly out of habit, partly to force myself to calm down after a shot at Bambi and partly to avoid a ball jam due to crud build up.
Each to his own as long as the practice is not unsafe.
But, I still don't give out gold stars to the guys who boast they can go lebenty leben dozen shots without swabbing. :nono:

 

[greggholmes]

This is on my bucket list hopefully before i'm to old to compete but first i need two more guns to do the whole thing, revolver and cartridge rifle :
wsmla.org
Western States Black Powder Shoot
and Oregon NMLRA Territorial

6. Swabbing between shots is recommended; and mandatory in some matches, see match rules.

so if its required then i need to make it part of my procedure, which i already have.

 

[roundball]

But, I still don't give out gold stars to the guys who boast they can go lebenty leben dozen shots without swabbing. :nono:

Such comments seem to be a favorite trademark of yours..,it appears that you're stuck in a rut with your thinking as evidenced by repeated negative sounding comments about different "swabbing" techniques that different people use by referring to their practice as "boasting".

You simply need to increase your knowledge level and understanding of how different lubes work...and also be aware of / learn and understand how environmental conditions enter into the equation in different parts of the country as it relates to influences from things such as humidity.

Use the Search function and you'll find numerous threads explaining how all the issues are inter-related...or better yet, learn how to use Hoppes No 9 Plus BP Solvent & Patch Lube for a couple range trips and you'll learn that for the shooting I mentioned above, wiping between shots is simply not necessary with Hoppes. Same situation regarding refinishing a gun stock after every shot...I don't do that either...not "boasting"...I simply don't do it because its simply not necessary.

 

[Snakebite]

You know, there are so many different ways to achieve the same results.

When I first started shooting a muzzleloader I belonged to a club and we had monthly shoots. I would go up to 15 shots before I'd swab out the barrel, and I was doing very well if not winning a lot of the matches. Now I'll use a spit patch when I load, (not between shots, just when I'm seating the ball) and I'll shoot until I feel the breech end is getting pretty fouled. Then I'll run a couple of cleaning patches down the barrel. I love Black Solve, and it works great for me.

People need to realize that just because someone else's procedures are different from theirs, doesn't make it wrong.

What really bugs me is when people don't use puctuation, all lower case or upper case, don't know "their" from "there" from "they're", etc., but so what. I get over it. So when someone doesn't do it "your" way, get over it.

 

[Snakebite]

Roundball, I wasn't real clear, but I'm agreeing with you. I don't see a need to basically "clean" your barrel after each shot.

Sometimes it's just good enough. Normally the more experience you have, the more you know your limits and more important, capabilities.

:thumbsup:

 

[Billnpatti]

Necchi is right. The method that I posted is not the one recommended by Dutch Schoultz. It was an honest error on my part but honest mistake or not, it was wrong, wrong, wrong. Dutch does not recommend this wiping method in any of his publications. After posting this method and being correctly called to task by Necchi, I wrote to Dutch for clarification. His response left no doubt in my mind that I had made a mistake. I posted his response in full in another thread in general muzzleloading in a public apology to Dutch for those who care to read what he had to say. The bottom line is while I may have a good method, it is not Dutch's method and was erroniously attributed to him.

 

[White Oak]

Thanks to all for the replies. Always interesting to see what others are doing. Looks like the old spit patch is as popular as anything.Can't argue with simplicity. Just takes so long to fill the bottle! :rotf:
Thanks again,
Ed

 

[Stumpkiller]

We all have different needs, expectations and patience. I seldom shoot at timed or target score events and usually shoot after walking a good distance into the woods; often off-hand at klangers. No table, no range rod, don't want to dig out the jag between shots.

What I desire from a load and lube is much different from someone who sits in a chair at a table or bench to shoot and has minutes between shots with other shooters on each side.

No right way, no wrong way. Target accuracy is a fine goal . . . but there are others. In the same way that a #11 Xacto blade allows a very precise cut but few folks gut deer with one.

 

[newtewsmoke]

Looks like the old spit patch is as popular as anything. Just takes so long to fill the bottle! :rotf:

well there's always Red Man to help w/that :grin: :barf:

 

[Rifleman1776]

I don't see a need to basically "clean" your barrel after each shot.

That is your right to believe that. What you believe cannot be argued with.
However, the serious 'X' shooters almost universally swab between shots.
I believe doing so helps give a consistent bore condition which (hopefully) leads to more consistent accuracy.
Early on in this game I had a couple incidents of a ball not wanting to go down the bore after one or two shots because of crud. Having to quit a woodswalk or Kenton run because of that made me a believer in swabbing between every shot.

 

[Walks with fire]

+l on the Hoppe #9 Bp lube/solvent. It is great stuff for extended shooting/plinking. I swab during load work with my normal mink oiled patch hunting loads and use the #9 for extended fun shooting. I learned about it from RB; it's great stuff; try it.

I am never sure whether the local climate has a big influence on swabbing or not but I can't get real long shot strings without some swabbing. I am never in a hurry at the range so I swab every 3 shots or so.