How Do I Know For Sure a Load Is Seated?

[hanshi]

Since I prefer shooting to cleaning I don't swab between shots and sometimes not at all. It just depends on the situation. Loading is still easy even after lots of shots due to a snug combo and the lube I use. If loading becomes a little difficult I'll brush or swab it out real good. Otherwise I don't bother.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Hanshi: This is not about how often you clean, or wipe, or what your loading technique is. Its about how to check the load to see its on the powder charge, shot after shot. If your guns shoot BP, then residue builds up in the rear of the breech, just like it does in my gun, and pushes both the powder charge, and the PRB FORWARD in the barrel. That means that the Mark on a ramrod no longer indicates that the ball is seated on the powder, and you have to guess by feel what's going on. That is when people do things like push down on the handle of their rod, putting their hand in line with the bore.

And that is how we lose fingers and parts of hands. You have to work hard to have an accident, but its done.

The only reason I HAVE to wipe down the bore each shot, relates to safety- not need. I extinguish embers burning in the barrel when I use a damp cleaning patch. The ADDED benefit( NOTE THE EMPHASIS ON "ADDED") is that I am able to remove BP residue from the Breech, so that my barrel remains ONE SHOT DIRTY through the entire shooting session.

I also never have to worry about a PRB sticking part way down the barrel.

I don't worry about where the PRB will strike on the target, because the shortened bore length changes the harmonics of the barrel to change.

I do get lots of silly questions at the range asking why I use that "Monkey grip", until I let them take a try at loading my PRB down my barrel, using the technique. Once the feel the control they have on the rod, and see the obvious safety the grip affords, and how easy it is to keep the PRB moving down the barrel in a smooth, continuous motion, they answer their own question. :grin: :hmm: :thumbsup:

 

[Pete Gaimari]

I don't understand how you can have consistent shots unless you swab every shot.

You get around to cleaning now and then. There's a clean barrel. Other times you clean every 3-4 shots. That's 3-4 different stages of fouling plus the clean barrel.

No thanks. Cleaning doesn't take that long, and how many shots are you taking while hunting?

Sight in at the range with a clean barrel. Hunt with a clean barrel. Everything the same all the time. Simple.

 

[MikeChapin]

All of my shooting is competitive or practicing for competition. All I can say is do what works for you.

With a properly fitted patch/ball combination and a wet lube such as spit, moose milk, Hoppies or even water the barrel will stay in the same state from shot to shot. The only thing that changes is the crud ring in the breech that Paul mentioned. Since 99% of my competitive shooting is offhand, any small change gets lost in my wobble. If I was a benchrest shooter I would clean out the crud ring with every shot because it can make a difference under those conditions.

I see a lot of people who clean every shot and some that only clean between relays and others, like myself, who don't clean at all until the end of the day. All of us win enough to say we are doing something right.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Don't you shoot lighter loads for competition?

Less fouling than hunting loads.

I'm sure you use a sturdy range rod too. Something we can't do in the field.

 

[MikeChapin]

Don't you shoot lighter loads for competition?

Less fouling than hunting loads.

I'm sure you use a sturdy range rod too. Something we can't do in the field.

For the most part yes. My 100+ yard loads are the same as I used when I used to hunt. The major difference when hunting was using a greasy lube because I didn't want to soak the charge by using a wet lube.

Greasy lubes do require cleaning after two or three shots. I never worried about it much unless I was hunting bunnies where I would get more than one shot in a day.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Not being a range rat. I don't check accuracy between swabbing everytime and not. I do it to have the bore the same everytime, but mostly to have my PRB slide down consistently.

I hate hate hate to have a hard time seating the ball. I figured having a clean bore was just one of the perks of my swabbing.

I look at the bore after just one shot and it looks like fungus is growing in there. Not a pretty sight. I like shiny. :grin: