Tips for easier loading?

[StewartLeach]

A bit of expansion on Paul V's advice about washing patch material.

How you wash and dry patch material will affect the thickness of the resulting material. Washing in cold water and line drying- or the no heat setting on the dryer- will remove the sizing, but not change the thickness or density of the weave. If you wash twice in hotest water, and dry on the cotton or blue jeans setting you will remove sizing, and shrink the fabric, resulting in an increase in thickness and density (thread count per inch). You can use this to tune patch material to your rifle.

For example, I have a 40 caliber percussion rifle with a Green Mountain barrel. It shoots best with the seriously shrunk ticking and .395" Hornady balls. The beautiful little left hand 40 cal flinter has a Getz barrel with a much tighter bore. It is enough tighter I must shoot .390" balls cast from a Lee mold, and the ticking that is cold washed and line dried.

Kenneth Grahame had Ratty in Wind In The Willows say "There is nothing- absolutely nothing- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats." Having grown up on New Hampshire's rivers and shores, I agree. But now I live in Colorado, where it only rains 12-14" per year, so I simply mess about with flints and caps and balls and patches and loud noises and clouds of smoke and bad smells. Life is good!

White fox, in the People's Republic of Boulder

 

[ODG34]

I know this guy you speak of. He is all knowing and quite astute when it comes to these things. :rotf:
Ok, now i'll be serious. I have been using that lube since I started (maybe 12 or 14 years) I never have trouble loading with it and I never swab between shots but, if your trying load too tight no lube in the world will work. There is only so much you can squeeze in in there.
That lube has one major drawback.... It is not good for hunting since it will rust your bore if you leave the gun loaded for long period. I'm going to deer hunt exclusively witht the flintlock this year so.. I'm in the market for a long term lube. I have a tube of Lano Lube lanolin that I think I might try.

 

[RBrooks]

Thats it RBall...looked it up on Dixie Gun Works and hope it does the trick. My current Bore
butter patch is sticking to the powder and that
just ain't working. Time for Ox-Yoke dry
lube wads! Thanks for the tip

 

[armymedic.2]

bwhahaha, and i'm gonna make you hunt squirrels from now on with it too! seriously thoough, i slam some bore butter on a patch and it seats fine on a clean bore for hunting. all follow up shots, gonnna need to be wet :}

 

[Greenjoytj]

What is dry Lube?
How do you keep the felt wad from twisting or turning sideways while ramming it down? I envision it ending up standing on it side or crushed over on it side on top of the powder?

 

[Flash Pan Dan]

To be honest, I don’t know what Ox-Yoke uses for lube. But the felt wads are dry to the touch but if you rub them you can feel the lubricant on your fingers. And yes, if you don’t start the wad down the barrel correctly they could turn and can end up sideways on top of the powder. So far that hasn’t happen to me but I could see where it could if I am in a hurry and don’t pay attention.