Cleaning after Power Belts

[Birddog 1]

I shot power belts in  my Hawkens today just to see how they shot, 50 cal 1/48 twist 75g of 3f goex strung them vertical and left at 50 yds only shot 4 times and came home to clean it and brooootherrrrr was it a bugger to clean. My questand is to you all is what do you use to get the darn thing clean in under 30 minutes woooo.

TIA Nim

[Redhawk1]

I just use Windex with vinegar, I don't have a problem at all cleaning, weather I use any sabot or power belt.  I clean my barrel with a couple of wet patches with the Windex with vinegar, run a couple of dry patches to get barrel dry then one patch with break free and one patch with bore butter. I have shot up to 15 times without cleaning my barrel. I am using an Encore with triple 7 powder.

[Keith Lewis]

I have not found that the Powerbelts are any different than other sabot carried bullets. I don't see any fouling that can be attributed to the Powerbelt. You must have something else going on. Since you are shooting real black powder I suspect you might have some reaction with a petroleum base lubricant. What do you use to store the rifle?? I don't think your load is hot enough to cause any plastic fouling. I also doubt any lead fouling even if the powerbelts were the uncoated ones.

[Biff Mayhem]

I shot power belts in  my Hawkens today just to see how they shot, 50 cal 1/48 twist 75g of 3f goex strung them vertical and left at 50 yds only shot 4 times and came home to clean it and brooootherrrrr was it a bugger to clean. My questand is to you all is what do you use to get the darn thing clean in under 30 minutes woooo.

TIA Nim

You picked one of the dirtier powders to use!

Your vertical strings could be dirty-bore related.

You need to swab after every shot until your shot groups become respectable. Then a little less often afterwards - like every second shot.

[quickdtoo]

The all lead PBs foul the barrel bad with both 120gr T7 and 100gr 2f Goex in both of my Black Diamonds and my huntin partner's BD.  A 50/50 mix of white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide left in the bore no more than 15 minutes will remove lead fouling pretty darn good, just be sure to neutralize the solution with baking soda or alcohol after and don't get it on blued metal.

WipeOut left in the bore overnight will also work.

Tim

[captzapp]

I gave all my extra power belts away. the plastic fouling was terrible. I could only get two shots before I had to use a hammer to get the the third in. I was using 777 and 245 gr power belts. the fouling was a real bear to get out.

[Biff Mayhem]

I gave all my extra power belts away. the plastic fouling was terrible. I could only get two shots before I had to use a hammer to get the the third in. I was using 777 and 245 gr power belts. the fouling was a real bear to get out.

Two shots without swabbing  is plenty when using tight-fitting sabots or Powerbelts. If you are getting plastic fouling, it's probably due to a rough cut bore near the breechplug. Shooting a box or two of full-fledged conicals will help smooth that out.

That is not the Powerbelt's fault. Some muzzleloaders need a break-in period before using sabots or Powerbelts. Rough edges on the rifling need to be smoothed-out or removed first. Also,  that Powerbelt skirt was not designed to take the heat of 777 powder when using 120-150 grains. Powerbelt bullets came first on the market -- then 777 powder afterwards.  Again.... that's not the Powerbelt's fault here.

But kudos to you for switching anyways. Those bullets are expensive per shot - plus have a tendency to fragment when impacted with bone. The only Powerbelt and Powerbelt skirt I trust for hunting purposes are the new Platinums. Platinums and their newly designed skirt can withstand 777 heat and bone alot better.

[elkstalkr]

My questand is to you all is what do you use to get the darn thing clean in under 30 minutes woooo.

Well I like to get my smokepoles really clean and have never owned a ML that I could clean in under 30 minutes, including my Omega.  BUT many people would quit cleaning long before I was satisfied, I just tend to go overboard maybe??

That being said I hate having to clean any ML after hunting with it, I usually want to come in, crash, and relax.  Thus the main reason I bought a savage.