What am I doing wrong (Cleaning)

[Grey Hawk]

It says (my TC Book of knowledge)to take a patch and place it over the "cleaning jag" and run it up and down to clear any build up of material. :hmm: I have tried this and the patch does not run up and down in fact I was really sweating a bucket full when the whole thing got stuck. :cursing: :surrender: I worked and worked and it finally broke free and I was able to pull the loose patch up with the "worm" whew.
So what am I doing wrong or is the another forum area I should go to.

Thanks in advance
Mike

 

[glenn mcmurray]

The patch needs to be wet. Usually with a black powder sovent.Then you won't have any problem with the patch sticking. If that ever happen again simply pour some sovent down the barrel,to soak the patch,then continue to clean. Good Luck

 

[George Holton]

While you are at it, thank your lucky star that you got off easy the first time. A dry patch is one of the worst things.Bob

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

First, welcome to the Forum! I never use a cleaning jag, I only use a patch worm! This works really well when I'm cleaning at home and at the Range! With a worm, I can dry-patch the oil out of the bore before I take the first shot without worrying about getting a dry patch stuck like you just did! :wink:

Everyone has some slight differences in technique, the bottom line is does it work for you!

Dave

 

[Zonie]

Yup. The patch must be wet or it will get stuck.

Some people think that because they have a big bore gun they ought to use a great big cleaning patch.
When they do use something like a 12 gage cleaning patch on their cleaning jag in their .50 or .54 caliber rifle they will sometimes find that it sticks in the bore even though it was wet.

What is happening here is the great big patches tend to "bunch up" on the upper side of the jag when it is being pulled out of the bore.

The answer here is to use patches that are smaller than 2 1/2 X 2 1/2 for their cleaning.

 

[Pork Chop]

Try a different patch material. I have tried t-shirts cut into patches, and while they work fine for my centerfires, they jam up in the front stuffers. Quite annoying. I have had good luck with the commercially available patches that are not made of T-shirt material. YMMV.

 

[Grey Hawk]

Thanks to all, I will try all of the options expressed today and let you know. I had a GREAT time shooting and just didn't want to screw it up by not cleaning. I't a TC Grey Hawk S/S .50cal. LOTS of Fun.

Thanks :bow:

Mike

 

[Blizzard of '93]

Welcome to the MLF Grey Hawk :hatsoff: IMO put a bore brush on the rod and run it up & down a few times to break up crusted fouling then turn barrel muzzle down and whack a few times to knock loose stuff out. then wet patch her. or do my favorite and plug nipple then fill bore with windsheild washer fluid and let soak awhile before proceeding with cleaning.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Grey HawK : For best working result, your jag needs to be .040" smaller than the bore diameter, in order to allow the cleaning patch to blouse out, and be grabbed by the grooves in the jag. The patch then puts enough material down into the grooves to get into the corners, and PULL out the crud.

When I run a patch down my barrel, I don't try to set a speed record with one long stroke. That is how Ramrods get bent or broken. I do a hand over hand, pulling back on the rod a couple of inches every 8 or so inches, and work my way down the barrel to about 2 inches in front of the breech. I amy stop sooner if I feel the patch is getting " Gritty " as it goes down, indicating to me that the patch is loaded with residue, and I am no longer pulling any new residue out. When that occurs( usually on low humidity days) I will pull the rod and jag out of the barrel, and check the cleaning patch's condition, and either flip it over, or get another patch to finish going down the barrel. I try NOT to push residue into the breechplug face, as it cakes there, and is very hard to clean off, even after soaking the barrel with moose milk. You end up having to use a scraper on the end of the ramrod to scrape the darn stuff off the face.

If your jag is too big, then you can chuck it in a drill press, or even a hand drill held in a bench vise, or by someone with very strong hands, against a table, and use a file on the brass jag to reduce that diameter a few thousandths of an inch. Jags work best if they are graduated, or stepped from one ring to the next, with the largest ring at the front of the jag.

 

[Robin Camp]

I wet my first patch with carburator cleaner. I don't know what's in the stuff, but it loosens and breaks down fowling quickly. I use the cheapest I can find, usually found at a cut rate store like overstocked, or big[url] lots....Robin[/url]

 

[Zonie]

I have found that running a brass bore brush is a recipe for big problems.
The plastic ones will work, and the brass ones with the loops will work but the ones with straight bristles will usually try their best to duplicate the Chinese finger trap.
The straight bristled brushes are made for use in modern thru bore barrels and will not simply pull out of a muzzleloader barrel.
If you get one stuck, try turning the ramrod clockwise to twist the brush. Once it has started to turn, then gently apply some pressure to pull it out.
This allows the bristles to bend and turn in the barrel so they won't "grab" the bore and can be pulled out.
zonie

 

[Runner]

Get a bronze bore brush and wrap it full of wool yarn. It will both scrub and brush. You can then add a patch over that for final wet patching. The yarn will even allow you to pull water back up the barrel like a patch does if you are cleaning in a bucket. I used to have one I used wet and one that had Breakfree soaked into it. The Knight brand patch jags are extended and have a smaller minor diameter than the others. They are also a little tighter in some bores than the ones that come with the guns. They hold well and because of the extended neck they are not patch size critical.

 

[grant]

I pulled out my caliper and measured my .45 caliber jag. I've got it filed down to .38 at the top, .39 in the middle, and .40 at the bottom. Works good.

 

[jerem0621]

I don't use any chemical bore solvents at all. I fill a bucket full of very hot soapy water (almost boiling). I take the nipple out of the barrell and pitch it in the hot soapy water. I do use a brass brush but it is undersized for a 45 cal muzzleloader (my New Englander is .50 cal) so there is no risk of the brush getting stuck. I run the brush up and down the barrel after I place the barrel in the hot soapy water breech plug first. I usually only use the brush for 2-4 strokes up and down. I change to my cleaning jag and use 2x2 square cloth patches and start running these up and down the barrell, I change cleaning patches ever other stroke until the barrell is clean. At this time I can reach into the water and pull out the nipple that has been soaking. I clean this with a stiff plastic brush and a straight pin. I take out the barrel and lay the barrel and the nipple on a towel. I pour out the soapy water. I refill the bucket with hot clean water and run a few more patches up and down to bore to get the soap out. I then lay the barrel on the towel and let it air dry. After the barrel has dried compleatly I take another patch soaked in bore butter and run it up and down the barrel to keep it from rusting. I also wipe the barrel down with bore butter.

Sorry this was so long.

Jerem0621

 

[ldykeman]

You didn't say if your patch was wet or dry, but....if it was dry, then you already have the answer from the above posts. If it was wet and still got stuck, were you using one of the old tapered T/C jags? It is narrower at the front than in the back where it screws in. I have gotten mine stuck a couple of times at the breech. Luckily, this has only happened while using my range rod, so I clamped the rod in a vise and pulled really hard to get it unstuck. I have a T/C barrel that I bought much later and that came with a cylindrical jag (no taper). I have never gotten that one stuck. In fact I don't know if they even sell the tapered one any more, as a quick scan of the accessories on the T/C site shows only cylindrical jags. Just a thought....

Larry