Fouling Shot?

[smoky]

My Encore and Wolverine both seem to shoot a little better after fouling with a spit patch between shots.  Typically, when at the range I just load and shoot as normal and disregard the first shot when shooting for a group.

My question is, when fouling a clean barrel prior to the hunt, can I achieve the same by fouling with just a primer or precussion cap or even a reduced load (say 25 to 50 grains) and a cheap saboted bullet (I don't want to waste my dead centers!).

Any comments appreciated.

Smoky

[Busta]

My Encore and Wolverine both seem to shoot a little better after fouling with a spit patch between shots.  Typically, when at the range I just load and shoot as normal and disregard the first shot when shooting for a group.

My question is, when fouling a clean barrel prior to the hunt, can I achieve the same by fouling with just a primer or precussion cap or even a reduced load (say 25 to 50 grains) and a cheap saboted bullet (I don't want to waste my dead centers!).
Any comments appreciated.

Smoky

Smoky,

Sure can. You actually don't even need to fire a bullet to foul your bore. Try loading  40 - 50 grains of powder, compress it lightly with your ramrod, REMOVE RAMROD  , cap and fire straight into the air or down range if at the range. That should foul your bore just fine, and is a lot quieter that shooting a bullet.