what do you use when swabbing between shots?

[DuncNZ]

Patent breaches are not a curse , they work and are historically correct in many cases . All you have to do with a patent breach is to learn how to clean it .
I have found Schuetzen powder to be a real fouling problem ,especially in hot weather , not like Goex or Swiss , I would recommend using Schuetzen fffg rather than ffg powder in any rifle . I only use it because it is all I can get .
I have had to go from a 7-1 Balistol / water mix to a 5-1 mix as the weather has warmed up in our South Pacific Spring .
I use a one size smaller button jag and loose fitting military type 4"X2" cleaning patches ,very slightly dampened with a spray of water .I find this pulls the fouling out , not pushes it down . I don't bother using a dry patch follow up as I don't think the water has touched the bore on the way out as the patch is so covered in crud and dry patches have no place in any barrel , they just get stuck . This is not cleaning , just conditioning the bore for the next shot by preventing a build up of fowling .
If you are having ignition problems with your flinter I'd recommend you check the flash hole is not too small , break the sharp outside edge of the flash hole with a slight chamfer using a larger size drill bit , just turned with your fingers and use a pricker to make sure the hole is clear after loading each shot .
BTW I wash all my cleaning patches after each use and peg them out on the washing line to dry , I do this to try to recycle patches and I found it makes them fluffier and they pull more crud out .
Every time you remove a screw, with the exception of a nipple, from your breach area you increase wear on the threads , risk cross threading or not screwing it all the way in and it can blow out ,Over the years I have seen so called clean out screws , percussion drums , nipples and flash hole liners all come loose , fortunately without injury to any one .

 

[TDM]

Well, all the discussions on patient style breaches and residue in the chamber kinda got me worried or at least curious. So I just removed the bolster clean out set screw from my 42 year old Renegade. I don’t recall ever taking it out before, if I did it was probably when I did the initial cleaning when it was new. I sprayed a little Kroil on it but didn’t wait to long to try the removal. With the correct size turn screw it turned with only moderate pressure and screwed right out. I probed around with a pipe cleaner and all was good, very clean, only light oil. So either I’m doing something right or I’m very lucky. I’ll take either. I promise not to remove it again for another 42 years.

 

[ronaldrothb49]

A damp patch with water and a little Dawn dish soap.

 

[frankie]

Just damp patch followed by a dry patch

 

[Sun City]

I put a 3x3 cleaning patch in my mouth for a bit....wrap it around a brass brush and down she goes! Just enough moisture to reduce the bore of carbon without getting the breech wet and not ignite!!

 

[Mad L]

I put a 3x3 cleaning patch in my mouth for a bit....wrap it around a brass brush and down she goes! Just enough moisture to reduce the bore of carbon without getting the breech wet and not ignite!!

Just a word to the newbies about this: Use An Undersized Brush when wrapping a patch around it!
I had Two people bring me their rifles with a 'Patched Brush' that had broke off inside the barrel. One had stripped the threads so I could not get hold of it and the other he used one of the Cheap brushes and it pulled off the end - had to shoot both of them put.

I too had wrapped brushes and thought "Been doing it for years, this wont happen to me....", but as Murphy's Law dictates, about a month later I got one stuck in my .45 Kentucky pistol!! It broke the wooded ramrod when trying to pull it out! Lucky for me there was just enough rod to put in a vise and one hard Pull yanked it out.
....I don't do it anymore

 

[Darkgael]

At the range, i swab every 4-5 shots. I use a wet patch of 90% alcohol. In the field, I carry a small container with a half dozen alcohol wetted patches. I rarely use them.

 

[Darkgael]

Comment about hydrogen peroxide. It is a reactive solution. Not being a chemist, I assume that that extra Oxygen is what is reacting. I am also assuming that the reaction is oxidation. The barrel is steel. Oxidation of steel is rust.
I am am further guessing that the beneficial effect of H2O2 is due to the fact that peroxide is, basically, water.

 

[Grenadier1758]

The H2O2 that is available over the counter is 3 to 5% H2O2 and the rest, 97 to 95%, is water.

 

[Mtman725]

Winter 30 or 35- below WWF, works anytime of the year.

 

[TDM]

Winter 30 or 35- below WWF, works anytime of the year.

Never tried windshield wiper fluid but seems a lot of folks do. I’ll have to give it a try one day.

 

[oldsmokey]

Oh, one part dawn soap, and three parts water. Patch can be dripping with the stuff

After 47yrs of using black powder weapons there's no need to overdue things. Like Mulebrain has stated swabbing when needed. Just use a little soap & water so the patch is lightly moist. Stroke in and out once.
Happy shooting yall.

 

[B P Maniac Shooter]

Just water, and just damp. But I rarely need to swab during a match.

I agree. I usually never swab until it gets too hard to load.
When I do, it only gets a damp patch down the barrel.
I may shoot 80-90 times before swabbing.

 

[Mike in FL]

One swab with anything water based. I mean one wet swab. Then dry swaps. I ain't loadin' no wet bore. Uve recently stared using moose milk cause its so good for all cleaning.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

I spit patch with a snug fitting ball and patch combo.

Never ever need to wipe between shots. Accuracy remains consistent.

 

[Mike in FL]

Incorrect. Never cleaning at all while shooting on the same day is not conducive to continued accuracy. u gotta call you on tha one. We can't conceive that is not an evidential deterrent to your best efforts. Maybe you only take a few shots per range session. That might get by with no cleaning maintenance over very much shooting on the same day. Perhaps you would need only to clarify, because shooters here know as fact that built up crud requires an eventual cleaning. You seem to refute that with your short statement. We offer an opportunity to address completely your actual experience with no cleaning during a long session. I suspect you mean you don't clean during short visits to your range.

 

[SwanShot]

I just use one of my lubed patches. Cutting oil 1 and water 10. I can feel it's damp, but that's all.

 

[Tenring]

Windex Or Windshield washer fluid both work excellently and will not hurt the barre.

 

[French Colonial]

Incorrect. Never cleaning at all while shooting on the same day is not conducive to continued accuracy. u gotta call you on tha one. We can't conceive that is not an evidential deterrent to your best efforts. Maybe you only take a few shots per range session. That might get by with no cleaning maintenance over very much shooting on the same day. Perhaps you would need only to clarify, because shooters here know as fact that built up crud requires an eventual cleaning. You seem to refute that with your short statement. We offer an opportunity to address completely your actual experience with no cleaning during a long session. I suspect you mean you don't clean during short visits to your range.

Or......

You could be the one who is incorrect, I never clean between shots either, maybe you are the one who should use an open mind and try something radical...... like using a spit patch.

 

[skwerleater]

As Crisco n Tenngun said, spit worms great