blowing down the barrel, etc...

[Stumpkiller]

Shoving big roundballs up your exhaust pipe are ya Stumpy? What does that have to do with blowing down a barrel to make sure you blow all the fire out? Your logic has never made any sense to me and your analogies are nonsensical at best.
Your poor old daddy, bless his soul, probably never shot muzzleloaders nor was he taught by old timers that knew what they were doing. Mike has posted some primary source documentation as to why the old timers did it. Just like putting a wet sheep hide over a cannon touch hole or swabbing the bore with a wet mop. The same reason, cook offs while loading the round in a hot barrel. There is ample evidence that hot cannon barrels have killed and maimed gunners that shoot ML cannon and there is ample evidence of walking talking people that have lost fingers and hands to loading hot rifle/gun barrels. Just because you have not personally met any doesn't mean they don't exist or that this has not happened. You guys can laugh and make fun of us traditionalist that have been taught by old timers that have passed this knowledge on down to us all you want. I am to the point that I really don't give a manure what you decide to do with your hands or fingers. Blowing down a fresh shot barrel that you just shot is a safe practice. Much safer than loading a fresh shot hot barrel. Go ahead and laugh and have your fun.
I don't blow down modern breechloading rifles/guns because there is no reason to do so and there is always a chance that there is a round in there somewhere. If you can't tell when your muzzle loading rifle goes off by either feeling it kick your shoulder or hear it, maybe you best take up golfing or bowling and leave the guns at the pawn shop. Blowing down the barrel is AFTER you shoot the gun not before. Got it this time? :shake:

That IS my point. Neither makes sense. I blow on embers to keep them ALIVE when using flint and steel. Maybe you're just working one up hotter when blowing on it - adding air to a smoke smothered environment. I don't shoot cannon so I don't swab between shots. Not sure what that has to do with rifles unless you load with paper wrapped cartridges.

I keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction as often as possible. That means not at my mouth. That means even if my measure falls on an ember, which has never happened to me or anyone I have shot with, near or talked to, I get burnt fingers; not a rear window in my head.

Most shooting accidents involve what was thought to be an unloaded firearm. You assume it's unloaded when blowing. I HAVE had hang fires. Some that went several seconds. Long enough to kill it I was to disobey Rule #1 and point the rifle at something I did not intend to shoot . . . me.

So, did those old timers also teach you to melt lead in your soup ladle and rub mercury into a patch with your bare fingers to de-lead barrels? Both were done. Both we now know to be bad for you. Do you lick your thumb and wipe your front sight because you saw that in the old Sgt. York movie? Probably as old as your "traditionalists" that showed you how to blow.

Check out some of the CW museums with barrels containing five or six loads where the soldier THOUGHT he was firing but kept adding loads on top of loads. The brain can mislead you. If you're concentrating 100% on the target in a stressful match . . . Or cold . . . etc.

Such as you are, I'd still hate to lose you to a unnecessary and tragic accident.

 

Cooner54: I've shot muzzleloading rifles and pistols for over 37 years.
I do not blow down my barrels and I only wipe the bores about every 3-4 shots depending on how the last shot felt while I was loading it.

I have never in all of those years had a muzzleloader fire while I was loading it. Not even a little poof.
I know many other muzzleloaders who can say the same thing.

zonie

I know people that routinely smoke a cigarette while gasing up their car and have yet to blow themselves up, doesn't mean it's safe to do so :nono: .

 

[Ohio Joe]

To say I have never blown down my barrel would be lying. When I started shooting muzzle loaders 30+ years ago, everyone it seemed like was blowing down their barrel after their shot. I did it for probably 10 years or so I would guess.

I stopped doing it because it didn't make any sense to do it. You know what makes sense to do?

Take your ramrod after you've fired and send it down the bore pinging it off the face of the breech, catch it as it bounces back up, remove it from the bore, then reload.

What happens is that the ramrod will create enough of a blow out through your vent or nipple to keep it open and you don't have to worry about blowing moisture down the bore. It's really elementry stuff and anyone can do this, and do it quickly. :thumbsup:

 

[MercerLake]

:thumbsup: I have to agree, dropping the ramrod down the bore does several things for me, it pushes air out on the way down and draws some in on the way out, the metal loading jag will also tend to cool the breech area. I've never had a load cook-off when I was charging, but I have had some serious smoke and that worries me just enough to be careful. It would seem that if one was firing a long string of shots in an event, that fouling could build-up to allow the "infamous glowing ember" to occur. :hmm:
I've blown down the barrel in the past but choose not to now as it does set a bad example to the young shooters and spectators. Considering the present state of my short term memory I want to preserve what little I have left. :rotf:

 

I don't know how else to word it so you will understand. But I'll try one more time. When you blow down a barrel that you JUST shot a load out of you KNOW it is empty. That is NOT an assumption. You can't tell the difference of just a poof in the pan and a full load hitting your shoulder? Go fishing?
Blowing down the barrel until all the smoke is gone assures you that the ember is out. It doesn't take more than a couple seconds. No worries about loading and losing your fingers. It has happened and I have personally seen the results. Which confirmed to me what the Old Colonel taught me years before I saw this mans mangled hand. Such as I am. 100% here!

The problem I see with dropping the ramrod down the barrel and pinging it on the breech is the no moisture factor. Swabbing between shots with a moist patch would serve the purpose of getting rid of fowling and putting out any embers along with clearing the touch hole. Just like cannons, swabbing a rifle is not a bad idea.

 

[Headhunter]

Cooner,

Some people will never understand.

HH

 

[hobbles]

0h heck, I wanna play too,,

05/10/06 12:56 AM - Post#269168

My turn
just adin a post in line

If you have a patched round ball in your weapon and you blow down the barrel, I don't think your breath is goin past the patch, and if it did, If there was a hot spot behind the patch, I think it would have already went off, You don't need to put you lips on the barrel to blow down it, Now this is all happening after you fire the weapon any way, You blow down the barrel after you fire your shot and after you check the cap is removed, If you get that wrong, Well, I think it's just nature's way of correcting her mistakes, Have a nice evenin,,

 

Sometimes I wonder if we need to tutor readin' and 'ritin' on this forum. At least reader comprehension testing before allowing folks to post here. :haha:

Hobbles gets an "A". today.

 

[PitchyPine]

I don`t think swabbing would put out an ember that is in the channel from the nipple too the breach unless it was a really wet swab.
Also with the patented breach design running a patch down the barrel wouldn`t put one out in there either unless you run a patch on a smaller brush into that chamber.
I blow down the barrel after every shot then let it sit a couple minutes before loading, has worked for me so far.

 

[Runner]

I have blown down the barrel so long that I do it sometimes before I swab the bore at a shoot without thinking. Anyone that is anal enough to complain to me about it gets to play mood roulette as to how I answer them. If the rules say I can't do so at that shoot, I put my guns away. I don't have to play with a bunch of people that have to control mine and everyone else's behavior to make them feel better about their own neuroses. I also bounce my ramrod. I get a kick out of beating all the people that tell me that is wrong also.
What part of it is none of anyone's business do people not understand?

 

I suspect that some that are indignant towards those that blow down the barrel for "putting a gun barrel in their mouth" go home, clean their gun, drop a bore light down it and put the muzzle to their eye????. Any that do may want to trade that bore light for a breech plug wrench. Yes, you just ran water through the bore, in and out of the touch hole and you KNOW it's empty but what if you just THOUGHT you cleaned it but actually only got as far as removeing the barrel from the gun. Personally, I KNOW when I've just cleaned my gun and I KNOW when I've just fired a shot. At the end of the day, if someone is uncomfortable with blowing down the barrel, then swab after EVERY shot. Either way is good and IMO to do neither is dangerous. I gotta say though, shooting next to someone that doesn't trust themselves to recognize when their gun fired makes me a bit nervous.

 

Pitchy, you are right. A swab would not reach the flash channel in a hooked breech system like in a Hawken percussion. Blowing after the shot is the way to go and then swab if needed. I was responding to a flintlock shooter. Trying to keep it simple. :wink:

 

[runningbadger]

It would seem that my little story at the start of this has started a bit of controversy. While a differance of opinion is a good thing. Doing something because it is the PC(politicaly correct) thing to do is why we have some of the other problems facing us in this country. I have personaly either blown down a barrel or swabbed sometimes both. If I am at a match or a range and don't agree with what is going on I will state my concerns and either leave or the problem is fixed. That is as we say the American way. To each his own but I will still blow down the barrel and no Organazation that has changed it's "safety" practices over the years will tell me otherwise.

 

[Runner]

You did not start it!!! Do a search on this topic if you have all afternoon to read! The funny thing is that is isn't really even about blowing down the barrel. It is just one of those questions that shows the difference between the folks that think seat belt laws make sense and those that figure people are free.
Smoking, seat belts, motorcycle helmets, drug use, and a hundred other things fall on this edge. Most of the other sides ideas are put forth by insurance companies to save them from having to pay a settlement. It is about profit, not safety or reality. Unfortunately, a lot of folks spend a lot more time listening to the BS than they do with a smoke pole in their hands.

 

[paulvallandigham]

HOld the horses guys. There is way too much testosterone flowing about this issue.

In my black powder club, we allow shooters to blow down their barrels or swab, as they choose, at club shoots.

However, if we are doing demonstrations in front of the public( we used to do more than 10 a year!)we ask the guys to swab with a damp patch after each shot. The reason is because of kids and others who have NO experience shooting any gun, modern or ML, who may see us Blowing down the barrel, who do not understand the unique circumstance of ML guns that makes this a safe practice, and then do the same thing with a loaded gun. We made our own decision to be squeaky clean for public relations purposes, only.

It had nothing to do with safety.

I believe I once saw a new shooter in the club use a blow tube, because he didn't like the taste of BP! Then we showed him how to cup his hand around the muzzle to make a " mouthpiece " before blowing down the barrel, and he dispensed with using the tube immediately!

For years, I have taught Hunter Safety Courses( 25 years) and when I teach ML safety, I make a point of discussing the practice of blowing down the barrel with my students. I show them the alternate way of using a damp patch. I also talk about the historical record of battle field guns having many loads in the barrels, and the fact that battlefields were so noisy, and the men were so nervous and full of adrenalin, that they could not feel the gun recoil, even when it did go off. We call it " buck fever " with modern day hunters, who almost always report having no memory of recoil when they fired their gun at the game they took.

So, Please, lets not get at each other's throats over the practice. For the guys who were taught to use a damp patch after each shot, lighten up about the guys who blow, instead. For the Blow guys, lighten up, and use a damp patch if you are a guest at some club where those are the rules. It surely won't kill you! :hmm: :hatsoff:

 

[Johnny Tremain]

Ive been blowing down my barrel for years. It does let me see the touch hole is clear.

 

[Claude Mathis]

Blowing down a fresh shot barrel that you just shot is a safe practice. ...

There was a story posted on this Forum, some time back, about a guy who got confused and thought his gun went off, when he actually had a hang-fire. So, at least for this guy, blowing down the barrel after it "went off" would not have been safe.

I think the reason some people are so strict about where they point an "unloaded" firearm, is because it's a proven fact that the human mind can play tricks on us.

 

Agreed! Thankfully it is not as frequent as fingers being blown off. I have never seen or has anyone I know seen anyone blow their brains out by blowing the embers out of the barrel. I have seen the effects of "not blowing" first hand though. Thankfully, witnessing that incident doesn't happen frequently either.

 

[roundball]

Pitchy, you are right. A swab would not reach the flash channel in a hooked breech system like in a Hawken percussion. Blowing after the shot is the way to go and then swab if needed. I was responding to a flintlock shooter. Trying to keep it simple. :wink:

I don't have a dog in this fight...mentioning this only as a general point of info for you, but BOTH the TC caplock AND flintlock have patent breeches which a jag & patch cannot get down into...has to be separately wrapped on something small like a .30cal brush.

 

I guess every man has to follow the procedures in all matters of life that makes him feel safer in an unsafe world. :hmm:

Tryin' ta keep it simple.