Crud build up

I have a .54 Investarms that I have been sighting in this weekend. I get a bad crud build up about 6" in from the muzzle after the first couple of shots. It is all you can do to push the ball down the first 6" and then it will push down the rest of the way with moderate pressure. Any thoughts on this? I'm shooting 80 fff and the patches I have found look fine.

what are you using for lube?

What's the bore look like with a bore light? You might just have a rough spot near the muzzle. That would cause the fouling to stick. You might also wish to use a little more lube on the patches to keep the fouling softer this time of year.

If the bore looks a little rough, or is brand-new, you can just shoot it till it smooths-out, or you might opt for a scotch-brite treatment to lap the bore near the muzzle. If you add more lube to the patches, you may not need any further correction, so try this first.

You didn't mention the size of the ball or the patches, or the patch material, or the lube. More info will yield a better result.......

Dave

I'm using a .530 ball and prelubed patches (20 th)I have tried adding some bore butter to the patch for more lube with no change. This is a used rife and the bore is in great shape. When clean there is no resistance felt pushing a clean patch down the bore.

Most folks here say to use a .018 pre-lubed pillow-ticking patch with that .530 ball. Your patch may be a little too thick. Try some .018 pillow-ticking and check your patches for a good gas seal (not burned patches with holes in them).

Those first 6" may not be all crud ring--it could be that you're changing the shape of the soft lead ball with the use of the short starter and those .020 lubed patches.

Dave

My 54 says Lyman on the barrel rather than Investarms, but it's likely the same barrel since they both come off the same assembly line.

I agree than .020" may be just a skosh thick, especially if that's a new barrel like it sounds. Mine has sure slicked up lots from years of use, but .020 might still be too thick. Even .018" required the kind of pressure you're describing until the gun had been fired well over 100 times. I ended up shooting .015" for the first couple of boxes of balls, then moved up a notch because starting seemed a little too easy.

Even now, working with a couple of different guns in different calibers, I find that starting the ball moving with the ramrod following the short starter is a little "sticky" at first, but eases considerably once the ball starts moving again.

Rambling, but more to think about.

Dang, I made a comment to this subject, but I forgot to hit the right button and lost it.
Basically I had the same problem, when I went to heavier greased patches the problem went away.

I agree with the others about your patch/ball combination being a tad too tight for a dirty barrel. It's typical for a tight fit to be hard to load just as you're describing, tough for the first few inches, then easy to the breech as the lead ball conforms to the shape of the barrel. It gets more noticeable as the barrel gets fouled.

Here's a few things I would do to fix the situation:

First, I would swab between shots to see if it made a difference (I don't think you mentioned anything about how often you ran a damp patch down the barrel). If the problem hasn't existed with a clean barrel, it makes sense to clean the barrel more often. I'm thinking this is your biggest problem.

Second, I would try adding a "sloppier" lube to your patches, such as olive oil or neetsfoot oil. Bore butter is pretty stiff stuff, and doesn't help all that much with a cruddy bore.

Third, try a thinner patch material, but I'm thinking after you try the first two suggestions, you may be happy with the results and stick with the tighter patch. But it doesn't hurt to try different materials anyway, just to see what has the best accuracy and ease of loading. It's all about learning.

Hope this helps, Bill

If it is a brand new barrel then it may take a couple dozen shots for the barrel to settle in as Investarms barrels often leave the factory with sharp edges on the rifling, and the first 6 inches of your barrel may be worse than the rest. Ditto on trying a thinner patch, and also find your fired patches to see what condition they are in, this helps to narrow down what problems you might have. Finally, when at the range swab between shots with alcohol soaked cleaning patches. They really cut down the crud and leave you with a fairly clean barrel for your next shot, and since the alcohol evaporates quickly you aren't going to have any powder contamination problems on the next shot.

This "swabbing" thing guy's are talking about is really important if your looking for maximum target accuracy.
(not so imporatant for "minute of Deer" accuracy)

Every shot you make deposits fouling in the bore, if nothing is done, layer after layer of fouling builds up. Every shot WILL have a different bore condition and resulting pressures will/do change the point of impact at the target, beleive it or not they usually string lower.

I keep a cleaning jag on the end of my rods, I use a packaged .22cal cleaning patch damp with spit for one pass down and back after each shot. Nothing more is done, just one stroke, and no need for another dry patch or anything. This action keeps the same amount of "crud" in the bore after each shot.
Thus maintaining a consistant bore condition shot after shot.
(Thank You Dutch!)

Adding more lube or using a more slippery lube will let you load easier, but the fouling will still build, and the slippery lube aids in poor accuracy by allowing the PRB to skip rifleing,,too each his own :v

Thanks guys, I will give those things a try next weekend. It is too dark when I get home from work through the week. I did find some of the patches and I thought they looked good (no burn holes or tears) I was shooting 2" groups at fifty yards just leaning against the shed, so I was ok with that. I just need to resolve this issue because a second shot at a deer is going to be a bugger the way it now.

For a mere follow-up shot on a deer (presumably close range), you could use a .015 patch to get the ball down onto the powder quickly. Try and make your first shot count with your current patch/ball combo, and IF you need to reload, the deer won't notice :wink: and you'll get the job done! If you don't need the second shot, just shoot it out later, after field-dressing, when you're ready to move the deer, since the gun is dirty and needs cleaned anyway!

Dave

When I got my new GPR I polished the barrel inside by using corse polishing compound placing the compound on a cleaning patch and just working it back and forth in the barrel moving it the full length every time. Finished up with fine compound then cleaned with hot soapy water. This took about an hour 30 min. per compound