Cleaning barrel at range

[Star1pup]

I just put a scope on my Huntsman and will have to do some sighting in.  The last time I did this the bullets got way too hard to push down the barrel after about 3 shots.  These were Hornady sabots.  What do you guys use to swab your barrel when shooting a few shots at the range?  Muzzleloading is still new to me and this is my first one.

[raynor]

Here's a home brew cleaning solution that works great, better than anything else I've used.

10 parts warm water

mix in 2 parts of soluble oil, I use Napa part #765-1526

Then mix in 2 parts of Murphy's oil soap

I shoot 777 and only use this mixture for cleaning, nothing else. Run a couple dry patches and then lube the bore with crisco.

[Longcruise]

The last time I did this the bullets got way too hard to push down the barrel after about 3 shots. These were Hornady sabots. What do you guys use to swab your barrel when shooting a few shots at the range?

Welcome to the club

You are dealing with the same problem that most new shooters seem to have.  The problem is that many new shooters seem to fall victim to the hype offered by the purveyors of lube and bullets.  Goes somenting like *shoot all day with our (insert wonder product name here) without wiping even once*

Problem is that the fouling build up in your bore will actually vary from day to day even if you keep all of your components exactly the same!  Temperature and humidity will play a large part in the way fouling behaves after the shot.  It's much softer on a warm humid day than on a dry day or worse a cold dry day!

Some powders may foul less than others, but the fact is you should wipe after every shot with a BP solvent and a jag and patch with a fit that will pull the fouling up out of the bore after the solvent in the patch has wetted and softened the fouling.  How much solvent is more the art of shooting the ml than the science.  You learn by practice and try to acheive a wiping away of the solvent with the minimum neccessary wetness in your patch.  If you overdo the solvent, you will leave a puddle at the bottom of the bore that will make it's way into your flash channel and inhibit ignition.  If you use too little, you won't adequately wet the fouling and loosen it from the bore.  

The in-line ml gun is supposed to solve many problems and make ml shooting easy for the beginner.  The wiping procedure above is an example of a weakness of the in-line gun in that too much moisture on the patch can go straight to the flash channel.

Neverthless, I think if you experiment a bit you will find yourself shooting consistently without loading or ignition problems.  The secret is to shoot a lot and gain experience.

Another drawback of the in-line is the cost of the bullet/sabot combos available.  The cost discourages shooting IMO.  If you buy cheaper sabots such as the Hornday for example and cheap .429 cast bullets for practice and stick with lighter loads you will be able to practice more and will enjoy the shooting more too.  Get some loose BP or Pyro or whatever is the least expensive in your neighborhood.  Contrary to oft stated opinion, there is no magic propellant that will give you an accuracy edge.  They all work well when loaded and shot properly.

Pardon the long lecture, but am hoping to help you avoid becomeing the victim of a downward spiral of misplaced efforts and component buying expense.  Would rather see you get started painlessly and have fun. :grin:

[raynor]

Forgot to mention, this is also what I use to swab between shots. Just a dampened patch, doesn't need to be saturated. Then a dry patch.

I had problems with Hornady sabots loading hard also. Now I use Nosler sabots which load much easier and shoot better, at least in my Sidekick.

Give the Noslers a try if you can find them. I can send you some if you have trouble finding them elsewhere. They come in a 50 pack, you can use whatever bullets you like. The Nosler 50 cal sabots come in 2 sizes, for 44 bullets or for 45 bullets.

[Primer]

Star1pup  

Well you have a NEF muzzleloader,and thats 75% of the battle won. :grin:

Here are some other options to consider:

For me,it kind of depends what kind of powder you are using. Black powder leaves a fair amount of ash debris in the barrel, using FFg, and I like to use 1/2 distilled water with a little liquid cleaner ( Fantastik,Simple Green, Krud Kutter,etc.) and maybe some isopropyl alcohol to help evaporate the water. Water is important to disolve the salts left in the powder ash.

If using Pyrodex (little less ash) I use Windex or windshield washer fluid and can even add a little isopropyl alcohol,as above.

If using 777 or American Pioneer Powder....really just need water (I like distilled ) or any of above if you want. Spit even works fine and some like,and even prefer it with all powders. :grin:

Point in running a patch between every shot is to minimize the degree of fouling and to make the condition of the bore as close to UNIFORM for each shot as possible and to facilitate load ease. Some of the cleaners above will clean the bore closer to 1st shot than others. You have to decide what you prefer based on your shooting results,sabots used,etc.

If shooting patch & ball... and patch treated with Bore Butter or some favorite concoction, one usually won't need to run a patch between every shot...and only do so when loading gets too difficult.

Hope this helps a little.