Tips & Techniques for High Heat & Humidity ??

[roundball]

The dog days of summer are now in full swing here in North Carolina which means BP shooting will be a little miserable for the next 8-10 weeks.
I normally get to the range right after first light to shoot during the lowest heat & humidity effects of the day, but this Saturday I can't go until late afternoon, when the temps & humidity will both be in the mid 90's.
After a shot, the pan & vent will be soup almost by the time I set the rifle back down requiring constant cleaning and drying for reliable ignition.

Wondered if there were any practical tips / techniques I'm not aware of that could minimize the effects of high heat & humidity like this?

 

The dog days of summer are now

Ain't it great :: :: ::

 

As roaddog and others from the lower mid-west can confirm we've already had some hot and juicy days such as you described.....yea, ain't it great(and to think I left the high and dry of Wyoming to come back to this?). Roundball, all I know to do is keep wiping the pan. I went squirrel hunting this morning and actually the humidity wasn't bad for a change, didn't get any squirrels either, but, even this morning I wiped my pan and changed my prime quite a bit just to keep it dry.
I do carry a couple paper towels for wiping the pan, flint and frizzen as they seem to be more absorbant than the tail end of my patching strip. If you come across some magical cure let us know!

Vic

 

[Huntinfool]

Hey Roundball,

I found some good tips on Bob Spencer's Blackpowder Notebook for wet weather shooting! http://members.aye.net/~bspen/index.html

If you've not been on his site you're missin' out. One thing he advices that I really liked was to polish the pan till it's highly shiny. The more highly polished the pan the less porous it is. The less porous it is the easier it is to keep soup free. He goes into great detail of why it works.

As my mentor pointed out armor that is of high polish will last for centuries with little or no rust!

Try and Keep Em Dry!

Chuck Goodall
"The Original Huntin' Fool"
&
Kanawha Ranger Scribe ::

 

[roundball]

Thanks...yes, that's an outstanding site...stumbled over it a couple years[url] ago...in[/url] fact took that advice and using a buffing wheel & compound on a dremel tool, polished all the pans on my locks shiny as a mirror...fouling still turns to soup but it wipes off that smooth surface easier

 

[Lancer]

Whereabouts in NC are you doing your shooting Roundball? I'm in the Greensboro area and I am always looking for places to shoot. I usually end up in Fuquay-Varina once a month for a shoot. I know what you mean about the humidity though. I find that wiping between shots and picking the vent seem to do the trick.

 

[Huntinfool]

LOL! Roundball I keep saying I'm going to do that also. I've got the dremel and all just need to find a round tuit and doit!

Keep Her Dry Fellers,
Chuck

 

[roundball]

North of Raleigh...I shoot at a little place another 30 miles further north out in the country...not even a club or anything, just the corner of a farmer's field.
(I'm about as far away from the place you mentioned as you are)

 

[leadball]

The dog days of summer are now in full swing here in North Carolina which means BP shooting will be a little miserable for the next 8-10 weeks.

I wish we could say that here in N wisc. We have had 2 frost advisories here in the month of june and the average temp is 65 in the day, upper thirties to low fortys at night. It has been a very cold summer for us. In fact, last sat. the neighbor had skim ice in his bird bath early in the AM. So please send some Global warming my way :boohoo: :boohoo: :boohoo:

 

[2172]

went to an informal shoot today, and had a soupy pan by the third shot...I wiped. I also followed some advice from this board, and put my priming horn with its 4F away and primed with 3F...worked better...no misfires. I have some stuff in an aerosol can, "Gun Scrubber" from the smell, it could be used to start a diesel...lot of ether. I'm wondering about using it to clean/dry the touchhole area when it gets really bad, and maybe the pan as well...any thoughts? if it's any consolation, the western mountains of North Carolina are pretty humid right now..Hank

 

[roundball]

Best way I know to beat it is get up real early and be at the range at first light, then be back in the garage cleaning the rifle by mid morning

 

I just read a "tip" in the latest issue of "Fur-Fish and Game". The fella suggested putting a little corn starch in your pan for about 5 minutes and it would draw all the moisture out...I guess it would work but who wants to wait 5 minutes while hunting or at a shoot. I can have it wiped dry before then.

Vic

 

[roundball]

Yeah, I didn't figure there was any "silver bullet", but a question never asked is an answer never learned...the best approach I've come up with is to simply get there at first light so at least I only have minimum heat & humidity to put up with in the first place, and of course wipe the pan after every shot.

 

[leadball]

<---still waiting for the high heat and humidity.. It has been in the upper 60's daytime and 40's nighttime here with rain