Swabbing Muzzleloader barrels between shots

KX500

I don't recall ever hearing exactly what this means. What should be used? What is the idea behind it (removing powder residue?)? Swab Every Shot?

Someone please educate me.

dantheman

swabbing the barrel cleans it. Blackpowder is very dirty and eventually you may have a hard time loading the "ball" if its not cleaned. I usually swab every 3 shots when I'm sighting in my muzzleloader and I use the No.13 bore cleaner that came with the Thompson Center that i have

captkirk3@dslextreme.com

KX500: I've been shooting Muzzle Loaders, Man and Boy for over 50 years..When shooting Compitition or Hunting, I, and most Serious Black Powder Shooter's I knew/know always used Spit Patches...Good Old Saliva works just fine...between Shots...After 5 or 6 shots a good cleaning is called for....For cleaning the Rifle after a day in the Field a Can of Soapy Water and a I.V. Tube over the Nipple and the other end in the can of Soapy Water and a Good Tight Patch and plenty of Pump Action will clean the Bore absolutly Clean...Then Run Patchs thru the Bore until they Come out clean and Dry..Then if you choose, use a Bottle of Hoppes or whatever brand of cleaner you like...Myself, I like WD40...Never had One Barrel Rust or Turn color...Just run a clean patch down the barrel before going shootin again...Best...

Captain Kirk, Tech Staff

Tailgunner1954

I'll agree with most of what Cap'n Kerk said, Except, that if you are using a inline NEVER put any petroleum based solvents, lube or greese in em. You will sieze the breach plug, which is normaly removed (on a inline) for end of day cleaning. T/C's purple "gorilla greese" works best on the plug threads, with "Bore Butter" in the barrel

---

Some guys like a mag full of lead, I still prefer one round to the head.

salzo

I run a dry patch through the barrel after every shot, and then a wet patch every three shots(#13 bore cleaner).
After I am done shooting, I boil a lot of water, put some soap in the water, and run through several times. I keep doing this until the water comes out of the barrel clean. Make sure you remove the touch hole screw when pushing water through barrel.
Barrel will be hot, let it cool off and dry. Run a few patches through the bore, and then run a few with WD 40. I do not put anything inside the bore, except WD 40.

"The powers delegated by the proposed constitution to the federal governmentare few and defined, and will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace negotiation, and foreign commerce"
-James Madison

HUNTER30

What would be petroleum based?I used Hoppes gun grease in my barrel.Is Hoppes gun grease petroleum based? Trapper

gskyhawk

I've only been shooting blackpowder for a few years but
I see several of you guys are using petroleum based products! does this work better than an all natural lube? in T/C owners manual it says to stay away from using petroleum products, it says to season your barrel with a all natural bore butter and clean only with soap and hot water, dry and coat with bore butter, is this a better method?
I've been using their natural lube 1000 plus bore butter and have been getting good results,
I've also been using Clean shot powder and CVA Power Belt bullets and I don't need to clean between shots nearly as much

Der Gebirgsjager

Use Pyrodex.

airborne

Interesting post, now I know why I have not taken up black powder shooting, sounds like alot of work having to swab after every shot or three. Guess you better hit your target with your first shot. Thank goodness for modernization.

B - BreatheR - RelaxA - AimS - SightS - Squeeze

JustC

I use Anti-Seize on my inline threads. Comes apart better than it did right out of the box. I use it on every surface.

The only thing I don't like about swabbing the barrel between shots (or every so many) is that if you are not going to break the gun down and clean it, you may have affected your ignition by running solvents etc down the inside and not totaly removing them. I step back from the bench and let the next guy shoot, meanwhile, in the background, I have removed the breah plug etc, and cleaned the entire barrel as well as removed all solvents, oil, and moisture, and powder. That is the only way I feel that my ignition is the same every time and that I have an accurate idea of point of impact. That may just be my own superstition, but I am very particular about barrel condition during sight in processes.

A great rifle with a junk scope,....is junk.

steve45

In my experience cleaning depends on the rifle. My Knight rifle would lose accuracy after three shots so I cleaned after every shot. I emailed the factory and they said that this was normal in a shallow rifling gun.(shallow rifling designed for sabots). I now own a Traditions (deep rifling gun) and while its not quite as accurate as the Knight, I dont have to clean for 20 to 25 shots. My loading in 50 caliber is 120 gr. pyrodex select and 360 gr. sabot with musket cap ignition. I bought the Traditions because when a friend and I went shooting, he seemed to be shooting his Traditions a lot and I seemed to be cleaning my Knight alot.

robsguns

I've shot matches with muzzleloaders and I've found that the grouping begins to significantly degrade after 5-6 shots, as some others here have noted. #13 cleaner down the bore on a patch after the same amount of shots will cure it. I also use Natural Lube 1000 products, I think they're excellent.

SSgt Ryan E. Roberts, USMC

Edited by - robsguns on 06/20/2002 07:42:42

Edited by - robsguns on 06/20/2002 07:43:48