Inbetween shot lube or cleaner

[cloud8a]

Going to the range in the morning to sight in the CVA Frontier. Been awhile since Ive taken it out.

Any advice on products I can use in the barrel between shots to help with accuracy during the sight in process? Any techniques you guys use?

[Oliver Sudden]

With my CVA Frontier I don't wipe between shots, by using a wet patch the foaling stays soft. After five or ten shots a wet patch then a couple of dry patches keeps groups together. Of coarse you must pop a couple of caps after this before loading again. No need for hi dollar solvents as spit or any water based concoction will work, the water is the magic!
Have you deburred the muzzle yet? Just a bit of 400 grit paper on a finger tip using a twisting motion in the muzzle will dull the sharp edge and allow easier loading and less likely the tear patches.

[Pahoo]

You are going to get a variety of replies on this and on this application, I run a Seasoning-Patch between rounds. Depending on the humidity, I run a patch with one damp patch, using Ballistol, followed by a dry-patch. Now, somewhere in here, the practice of clearing the nipple vent will come in. There is more than one way that this is done. .....

You stated that you are sighting in, that is why I say to swab between rounds. Listen to your M/L and it will tell you what you need. .......

Be Safe !!!

[4V50 Gary]

You could do the same with moose milk.

Regardless of what techinique you use, save those patches for char cloth.

[Hawg]

I don't swab between shots.

[jhenry]

Every serious match shooter wipes between shots. Think of every load as an individual reload, which it is really. Just like with match reloads consistancy is the key. There are several issues to contend with but in this case we are talking about bore consistancy. Personally I use a moist patch on both sides followed by a dry patch on both sides. Range rod with a proper jag, not the ram rod. I do use the ram rod while hunting or maybe in a walk through novelty match.

[Dufus]

Back in the late 60s when I was just starting shootin BP, my "teacher" got me in the habit of a wet patch between shots "in case you've got a live coal in the barrel". He stated it would put out anything smoldering in there. He also said if I ever had one and it lit the powder during the process of seating a ball, I might lose some fingers. Made sense to me at the time. It is a habit that I still do.

[ThomasT]

You could do the same with moose milk.

Thats what I use but I make my own. Many years ago I bought a gallon of water soluable oil from the tool store. Its what we used in my dads machine shop and every other machine shop I ever visited. This gallon will make 12-14 gallons the way I mix it.

I cut my patches square from pillow ticking. I will put about 20 or so patches in one of the round snuff/chewing tobacco containers and soak the patches with the oil. Then I can shoot all the shots I want to shoot. Doing it this way I guess I could shoot a hundred shots in a row and never stop to wipe out the barrel. The wet patch pushes the fouling from the previous shot back down the barrel. I have been doing it this way for over twenty years so I know it works.

If using a charge that is over 75grs I will use one patch started down the barrel then the patched ball on top of that. This protects the patch on the ball so well that you could reuse the ball patch if you wanted to.

I also use this same patch lube to clean my gun after shooting it. I haven't took off a barrel and sucked water through it in 20 years. And I have never had a single spec of rust in my bores. Some will tell this doesn't work but I am the proof that it does work.

[jhenry]

Very true. Another thing we used to do was to make a seal with our fists if that makes sense and blow a good lung full down the barrel. It lets you know the touch hole or nipple is clear and greatly softens the fouling. Most ranges forbid this due to a few cases of Darwinism at work. It is perfectly safe assuming the shooter is smart enough to not do this after a misfire. It only holds one shot.

[cloud8a]

Thanks for all the replies.

What I wound up doing was about every four shots I used a spit soaked patch and then followed that with a dry patch. I ran both sides of the patch each time.

Seemed to me though the first shot right after doing this would be the worst shot. Accuracy seemed to increase after that. Might be due to my just learning to shoot black powder.

[ThomasT]

When I started shooting BP rifles I almost gave up because I couldn't hit the side of a shed. (you thought I was going to barn didn't you?)

I had no one to help me. I found this book and sat down and read the whole thing before I fired another shot. I saw all the things I was doing wrong. The wrong patches was the biggest mistake I was making. I don't know if you are new to this or not but this book is still worth reading.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Complete...QAAOSw9GhYkVWQ

[Pahoo]

It lets you know the touch hole or nipple is clear and greatly softens the fouling. Most ranges forbid this due to a few cases of Darwinism at work.

Most ranges forbid this and just "maybe" for good reason. In fact, I have never seen a private range that allows this and clearly a safety issue. Il'' just say that there is a better way of accomplishing your stated goals. For the Day-Old boot, I'd suggest not to do this. For us Old-Salts, well, we sometimes we do get by with bending the rules...... ...

Be Safe !!!

[mehavey]

Forget the complicated stuff -- both procedural & material.
Simply dampen a patch in your mouth with spit, then down the barrel and up & out.

Done.

[Hawg]

Very true. Another thing we used to do was to make a seal with our fists if that makes sense and blow a good lung full down the barrel. It lets you know the touch hole or nipple is clear and greatly softens the fouling. Most ranges forbid this due to a few cases of Darwinism at work. It is perfectly safe assuming the shooter is smart enough to not do this after a misfire. It only holds one shot.

I can't remember ever hearing of anyone blowing the back of their head off while blowing down a barrel. Some liberal pantywaist probably saw somebody doing it and had apoplexy. Just one more safety anal rule that makes me glad I don't have to go to a range.

[mehavey]

Running a damp patch down the bore performs the same function as blowing down it... It pushes a volume of air through the chamber volume and out the vent.

[Pahoo]

Running a damp patch down the bore performs the same function as blowing down it... It pushes a volume of air through the chamber volume and out the vent.

You will see the gasses/smoke, coming out the vent. If you give it a pump or two, you will also hear a hissing sound. It also distinguishes any burning embers. .....


Be Safe !!!

[Hawg]

Running a damp patch down the bore performs the same function as blowing down it... It pushes a volume of air through the chamber volume and out the vent.

I don't do either one.

[mehavey]

The only time(s) I don't do a damp swab down & out is on the line at Shenandoah.

... and occasionally you hear the classic "whoosh!" somewhere down that line, followed by some very imaginative language.

[rebs]

I have read not to run a dry patch down the bore because it will get stuck true or false ?

[Hawg]

I have read not to run a dry patch down the bore because it will get stuck true or false ?

A dry one will tend to stick more so than a wet one but either can. A patch that's too thick will stick before one that's thin. That's one reason to switch to bore mops, they won't stick and a slotted tip is next to worthless.

[Pahoo]

I have read not to run a dry patch down the bore because it will get stuck true or false ?

For the most part, this is true as many of "us" can attest to this. If there is any amount of residue in the bore, it can trap your patch. To date, I have had to remove two stuck rods because a dry patch was forced down a dirty bore. Prior to any shooting session/loading I run a patch slightly wetted with denatured alcohol. ..

Be Safe !!!

[cloud8a]

When I ran a dry patch through it was real hard to get back out.

[mehavey]

Gee... this is a tough problem......
Use a DAMP patch.
I say again... Mouth/spit/DAMP.

I cannot think of any possible reason to run a dry patch
down a fouled bore... except to talk about it later.




postscritum: I've never had a reasonably-fitting patch ever left in the bore using these jags:
https://www.buffaloarms.com/32-calib...read-tre111632

[Model12Win]

I like 96% rubbing alcohol. Dries fast. However spit patches for cleaning do great if they aren't super spitty. Otherwise the spit can accumulate in the bottom of the bore and cause problems. The alcohol is flammable and dries far faster than spit so it helps to avoid that problem but still not good to use a ton.

[Pahoo]

I cannot think of any possible reason to run a dry patch down a fouled bore... except to talk about it later.

When we hold a "Muzzle loader's". Instructor's class. We have a section in our outline that is titled.
"What can possibly go Wrong" This is where Murphy's Law comes into play. This item is in the list but not at the top. Not only do we talk about it we also talk about the different ways of clearing them. .....

Be Safe !!!