Hunting with clean vs fouled barrel?

[schunter1128]

I have read where it is best to hunt with a fouled vs a clean barrel due to effect on bullet impact. My question is how long is it safe to leave a fouled barrel before the effects of 777 start to have a negative affect?

[mangulator]

Prior to hunting a fire a 209 primer and that fouls my barrel.

[K.K]

with a muzzleloader, even 777 will start to corrode the barrel before long.  A little tip that I picked up is to shoot a clean barrel at the range (while sighting in at least).  then hunt with a clean barrel.  You can make multiple shots without cleaning after sighting in.  I just wouldn't want to leave fouling in the barrel for longer than a day or so.  I've seen some horible things done to fine guns.  Just my 2c!

[Oldsnow]

some of my guns like clean barrels some like a fouled barrel. you must deside what your gun likes.

[Wolfhound]

Clean. I fire some primers and then clean ut the barrel with solvent and dry patches before hunting. I'm not gonna clean my gun every day I hunt just so I can hunt with a fouled barrel.

[Bullseye]

I foul my barrel with two 209 primers.  If you fire two primers and clean the barrel, it is amazing how dirty it is.  My Encore will shoot to the same POI after firing two primers or 5 full loaded rounds, but your gun might be different.

[K.K]

I respect everyone's replies, but the origional poster was wondering about leaving 777 fouling in the barrel.  I know that it is  a pain, but why not clean the bore every time that you shoot and keep your range and hunting shot uniform?  777 is  a great innovation, but no immune to bore fouling.  We have it much better than our forefathers with blackpoweder, but the fact remains that we need to clean our bores regualarly if you want optimum accrurracy.  777 cleans up with hot tap water.  Why not cleasnse the barrel with hot water, run in some bore butter, then hunt?

[rickyp]

We have it much better than our forefathers with blackpoweder, but the fact remains that we need to clean our bores regualarly if you want optimum accrurracy.  777 cleans up with hot tap water.  Why not cleasnse the barrel with hot water, run in some bore butter, then hunt?

How so?  True plack powder  cleasn just as easy with soap and hhot water as any of the others. The only real advnatage I have seen using pyrodex and the others is you get a few more shots per pound but you pay almost twice as much for the few extra shots. I have seen way more problums with teh replacments then I have seen with true black powder and you still ahve to clean the weapon  or it will rust

with the pellets you can not talior the loads as easy and you get way fewer shots per box then you will with black powder,they are not any quicker to load in the field. It takes the same time to drop 2 pellets in the barrel as it does for me to pour in 100 GR of loose powder from my speed loader,  and they are very expensive,  Thes powders are mostly a way to make hunters spent more money on things they really dont need ot

[flintlock]

sc...I don't know where you read that, but I don't agree...I always hunt with a clean barrel...I live in NC (assume you live in SC)...Last year I hunted the entire week of our muzzleloader season...we had 10-12 inches of rain before we hunted....It rained almost every day...Now I usually hunt with my .54 flinter...but because I made it and it is an heirloom and I didn't want to ruin the curly maple stock I used my Knight Disc for most of the week...I had 5 other guys hunting with me...We had a heck of a time keeping out guns from getting rusty....Two were using 777...one Pyrodex...I was using Goex FF.

The first afternoon three of us killed deer and waited the next morning (Sunday) to clean our guns...Because of the high humidity we had rust already forming....Even the guy using 777.....

I work up loads in the Spring and Summer for my hunting buddies...I always clean with two alcohol patches followed by a dry patch followed by a oily patch and finally another dry patch...I have never found either a inline or a sidelock that could not be sighted in with a clean barrel....I might have to change powders, sabots, bullets, patches, balls, etc....But if you do the homework you will find the proper load combination that will group with a clean barrel....With my inline I carry extra cleaning patches, alcohol and oil in a zip lock bag so I can clean after I shoot a deer and reload....Make sure that you dampen the patch with the alcohol and use both sides, if you use too much alcohol you might contaminate the powder for the next shot....Good Luck

[Biff Mayhem]

I have read where it is best to hunt with a fouled vs a clean barrel due to effect on bullet impact. My question is how long is it safe to leave a fouled barrel before the effects of 777 start to have a negative affect?

Best answer is to fire the load every night & start fresh in the morning. Powders last years inside your bore & won't corrode without a contamination source like high humidity or a nearby ocean that contains salt. There are other contamination sources - I'm sure!

Sources like water or salt only take hours to turn things brown inside your bore. Shoot that gun every night. That's why you bought it -- to have fun and be shot. My average shot costs me around 35-40 cents. Spending one dollar a day on vacation inside of a forest is really cheap entertainment.

[savageT]

I agree with most everyone here about keeping your bore squeaky clean.  However, I do recommend shooting off a couple primers before loading up for the day's hunt to ensure that the gun will operate when you pull the trigger and also to add just enough fouling to get a predictable flight path for your sabot or patched round.
Now, After the day's hunt........That is the time to break it down and do a complete cleaning.
Jim

[slave]

I have never been lucky enough to own any fiream that shot to the same POA on a clean bore as it did on a dirty bore. For this reason I always sight in on a dirty bore and hunt in the same way. One day hope to find a gun that dose but for now I clean each night and fire off a pellet and sabot the next mornig prior to entering the woods. It is nice to be able to do this off my back deck. I know some guys can not do to location.

[AndyHass]

We have it much better than our forefathers with blackpoweder, but the fact remains that we need to clean our bores regualarly if you want optimum accrurracy.  777 cleans up with hot tap water.  Why not cleasnse the barrel with hot water, run in some bore butter, then hunt?

How so?  True plack powder  cleasn just as easy with soap and hhot water as any of the others. The only real advnatage I have seen using pyrodex and the others is you get a few more shots per pound but you pay almost twice as much for the few extra shots. I have seen way more problums with teh replacments then I have seen with true black powder and you still ahve to clean the weapon  or it will rust

There's the difference....you don't need to screw around with soap and hot water with 777.  A few moist patches, a few dry ones, a lightly oiled one, and done.  Regular BP and pyrodex are equally obnoxious to clean, but 777 is way, way easier. 

[UtahRob]

 
If I shoot my Tradition Pursuit pro with a spotless barrel and  clean it with one wet and two dry patches between shots ,its a nail driver !!

[Biff Mayhem]

Can't get any better shooting than that Bob!

Don't ever sell that ML -- that one's a keeper!

[harvester]

i have always had to foul barrels too - so i hunt with fouled barrels..

course, for muzzleloading, i'm shooting smokeless out of my savage, so i don't feel bad fouling and leaving it for the season.

as mr. ball said, "clean it once a year, whether it needs it or not.. "

[K.K]

For what it's worth, hunting with a fouled barrel in a centerfire rifle is customary and reccomended.  However,  the residue left in muzzleloaders, regardless of what propellant that you use, can cause corrosion very quickly. Fouling attracts moisture like a sponge, builds up quickly with muzzleloaders and can inhibit optimum accuracy.  Consistancy is the important thing. Shoot the same bullet, charge and primer, clean the barrel after each sight-in shot at the range and hunt with a clean barrel, and you will have the same point of impact in the field, and arguably as important, maintain your bore's condition for the long haul.