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Dirty Bore

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I clean with cold tap water and protect with Barricade. If you use oil in the bore it MUST be cleaned out prior to shooting. Barricade dries and doesn't have to be removed before firing.

The tendency to throw the first shot from a cold barrel is also fairly common with modern smokeless rifles. But with muzzleloaders, a first shot an inch or so off won't cause a problem with deer hunting.
 
Not for nothing, but if your first shot flyer is so bad you cannot hunt with the gun something is BIG time wrong with the gun or you are the problem deer have big X-rings.

If the first shot is on a paper plate at the longest range you will shoot what is the problem.

Maybe ML is not for you no offence just saying. I have never needed better that a 5 inch group to kill deer, moose or black bear.
 
Seen 9 doe's and a 5pt. Just to far away for a good shot. Dont know how it happen but i lost the wegde pin.
 
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Your right! I got a new wedge pin and it was a sloppy fix. A hammer and a punch and it fitted tite. With a clean bore I loaded 165gr.RB with 15ths.patch and 70gr.of 777. It cut the center at 3 o'clock, shot two right next to it. And I didnt think of that before. Thanks!
 
Nice find on the cause. I never even though of it it reading this entire thread.

When i first came here last year, my wedge was real loose and that is one of the first questions I asked was how to fix that issue.

To the OP, glad you have it figured out.
 
Not to beat a dead horse and Zonie was indeed right about what your problem was. I just wanted to add something about firing a first shot in reference to flyer's.

This also seems to happen out of a freshly cleaned barrel's where no residue is present. A lot of folks will either pop off a cap or fire off a pan of BP in their flinter prior to loading. I've seen this done and Dutch Shoultz also teaches this in his literature as well!

I myself have noticed a difference in first shot accuracy out of a spotless bore verses a bore with a small amount of residue built up in it.

Just food for thought!

Respectfully, Cowboy :thumbsup:
 
I always remove the nipple and flush the barrel with the plunger method using hot water with a squirt of dish soap in it.
This does a great job of purging the whole system. Rinse using the same methods, clean again with MAP, dry. Shoot a bit of REM oil in the nipple hole, wipe the bore and barrel with a gun oil soaked patch, install a clean nipple and return to the safe.
 
The substitute powders are notorious for corrosion and severe pitting.

With the exception of black powder and Pyrodex, none of the muzzleloader powders are seriously corrosive. i use Black MZ powder. One of my muzzleloaders was loaded in early October and was fired at least ten times until 4 November it was cleaned; there was no rust, pitting or corrosion.
 
Some guns are meant to be used for target work. Some are good for hunting. I would find a better rifle to use for hunting.
 
Usually it is a matter of correct barrel fit in the stock. You have to make sure your barrel is snug in the stock, but not in a bind. On a hooked breach type gun your barrel should hook in the breech and as you bring the front of the barrel down to the stock, it should lay all the way down flat in the stock without hardly any tension from the hooked breach holding it up. Then you need to make sure your wedge keys are snug enough so you have to tap them in. You can do this by putting a slight bend in them in the middle of the wedge key. Once you get them adjusted properly, you need to mark them front and back and top and bottom do you put them in the same way every time. Doing it this way I have never had a shift in POI after removing my barrel to clean it and putting it back in on the first shot from a clean barrel.
 
I clean the nipple as good as possible each time. Tooth brush on the threads and all exterior and then a wire pick and finally a fine twisted paper towel in the channel until no mo black stuff comes out. Then a thin layer of gorilla grease on the threads and re-install. Also clean out the clean out screw each time (miss it a few times and it just may become a permanent fixture, which many here believe is the proper thing).
 
For goodness sake, dashriprock, clean your rifle properly each time you put it away. Before you load for your hunt fire a squib load (no bullet or patch, just powder) with half your normal powder charge. That'll dirty up your bore.
 
Usually it is a matter of correct barrel fit in the stock. You have to make sure your barrel is snug in the stock, but not in a bind. On a hooked breach type gun your barrel should hook in the breech and as you bring the front of the barrel down to the stock, it should lay all the way down flat in the stock without hardly any tension from the hooked breach holding it up. Then you need to make sure your wedge keys are snug enough so you have to tap them in. You can do this by putting a slight bend in them in the middle of the wedge key. Once you get them adjusted properly, you need to mark them front and back and top and bottom do you put them in the same way every time. Doing it this way I have never had a shift in POI after removing my barrel to clean it and putting it back in on the first shot from a clean barrel.


What to do if your barrel doesn't lay flat? Sometimes my barrel doesn't and I have to push it down then put in wedge keys.
 
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