Here's what I do and it's never failed: Muzzleloader has been in the cabinet with an oiled bore waiting on opening day. I take it to the garage the night before and pour rubbing alcohol down the barrel and then run a tight fitting cleaning batch down. This causes alcohol to squirt out the touch hole or nipple and effectively removes all traces of grease. Then I dry the barrel with two or three patches. Then I load the gun except for the priming or cap. This negates the need to clear the hole with a cap before loading. Snapping a cap dirtys the gun to some degree, where as alcohol keeps in totally clean. If you don't shoot during your hunt, no need to unload. You have a load seated in a clean barrel which will last until you need to shoot during the season. And here's a fact most shooters don't know: If you load before getting all the alcohol out, no problem, because alcohol has no effect whatsoever on a powder charge.
Between shots in the woods, run one of those first aid alcohol prep patches down the bore to clean the fouling. It cleans as well as water but does not dampen the bore.
