It Wasn't the Lube - It Was the Powder

Went to the range last week and was trying out my cast maxis with my oil and beeswax lube. Needed to fill my flask and pulled out a lb of Shuetzen 3f to fill it. I was shooting my .50 Hawken and found I had to clean every 3rd shot or hammer the round down the barrel. I"m used to shooting a lot of maxis w/o cleaning but those were lubed with Bore Butter. The patches were coming out dirtier than I ever recall so I figured my home brew lube was the culprit. Well today I went back and was shooting my .54 GPH and this time I happened to have a can of Goex from way back when and filled the flask with it. I finished a whole box of maxis (20 rounds) and never had to wipe the bore once. Same lube as last week. I've used Goex and Dupont forever because that's what was available locally. I've never experienced fouling like I did with the Shuetzen. That's all they had at my local shop last week and then he tells me that he had Swiss last month. "Is that any good?" he says. UGH!

I have found humidity levels has more affect on fouling than the powder. Shuetzen seems to create a little less fouling than Goex but not real enough to make a difference.

kyron4 said:

I have found humidity levels has more affect on fouling than the powder. Shuetzen seems to create a little less fouling than Goex but not real enough to make a difference.

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Ditto

I have mentioned in the past that I found Shuetzen powder to be quite dirty, much to the chagrin of it’s fans, when compared to other powders. I have found Goex a step up, and Swiss to be another significant step up. The major complaint about Swiss on the forum seems to be its cost. Personally, with the other costs associated with this muzzleloading game, a few more pennies per shot for a premium or preferred powder is not going to make any difference to me. If I take the bride with me when I go shooting the cost savings difference with the cheapest commercial powder compared to Swiss if I were to use it will not cover the cost of a cup of coffee from that Seattle based coffee outlet she insists on patronizing. I might be able to come out a few pennies ahead with homemade powder, but not considering at this time.

I have Schuetzen, Swiss and Goex in 3F. Swiss is cleanest in my 45cal 42" barrel. Not much difference between the other two in this gun. I have noticed harder loading and more fouling on misty humid days shooting from a coverd range on all of them. Humidity may have something to do with that effecting the barrel fouling. Swiss is about $32 vs $23 for Schuetzen where I buy but I still prefer Swiss when they have it in stock.

As far as which powder is the cleanest, which lube is the best, which flints last longer......you ask 100 people and you'll get 100 different answers.

I had a very similar experience to morehops52 and wrote about it on the forum a few months ago. I was promptly savaged by Schuetzen fans, but the bottom line is some guns may shoot well with it, but it is very dirty for others. I have been rationing Old Eynesford, as all my guns seem to like it!

Agree with @kyron4 and @Urban Coyote, humidity can be the deciding factor with either Goex or Schuetzen.

I am VERY familiar with humidity here in Florida and I do think that plays a big part in fouling issues regardless of the brand of powder. In the Spring and Fall, our humidity levels drop down to near "normal" levels and I always have much less trouble with fouling and having to swab after every other shot like I have to in the Summer months. I use mostly Swiss powder as well, which is a pretty "clean" powder compared to some others. So yeah, I do think humidity deserves more of the blame!

SDSmlf said:

I have mentioned in the past that I found Shuetzen powder to be quite dirty, much to the chagrin of it’s fans, when compared to other powders. I have found Goex a step up, and Swiss to be another significant step up. The major complaint about Swiss on the forum seems to be its cost. Personally, with the other costs associated with this muzzleloading game, a few more pennies per shot for a premium or preferred powder is not going to make any difference to me. If I take the bride with me when I go shooting the cost savings difference with the cheapest commercial powder compared to Swiss if I were to use it will not cover the cost of a cup of coffee from that Seattle based coffee outlet she insists on patronizing. I might be able to come out a few pennies ahead with homemade powder, but not considering at this time.

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I'm making my own BP and using commercial farm grade potassium nitrate, same for sulfur. I make my own charcoal from wild grape (muscadine), privet and of all things bamboo that folks ask me to cut down or that I cut off my property.
I carbonize the wood in a 3 gal stainless pot that has a locking lid. Yes, I vented it.
Cost per finished lb averages around $6.33.
I'm retired so the fact that it's a bit time consuming isn't much bother.
No, I don't sell any and won't .
The range is here on my property so I don't even have to transport it to shoot it.
There are plenty of videos on YouTube showing how to make BP and it pretty darn easy to do. I'd recommend watching the guy who lists his videos under "all things Black Powder". I use his method to the most part but make a bit more at a time than he seems to and finish my corned powder by gently running it in a dehydrator for a day.
If you can mix up & bake cookies then you can make good usable BP cheaply.
Not going to replace commercial powder but nice to be able to have powder if I want it in whatever fg I need within a day or 2 even if none is available to buy.
By the way, save your empty powder cans to put it in. Using Mason jars has several down sides. Potholes and a stiff suspension can be the cause of one of them. Saves having to dig through the trash at the shoots you go to later.
People stare.

I've got some Old Eynsford left and some Swiss. Of late, both varieties are giving me awfully dirty bores. Nothing else has really changed except maybe the weather. Only other thing I can think of is that I've been shooting a new to me gun quite a bit that hasn't yet been seasoned properly. First shot goes down smooth and wouldn't even need a short starter, next shot requires a bit more effort, but by the third shot, I have to get the hammer out to seat a patched round ball.

I'm actually considering trying different patch lubes for the first time ever, though I might just go to a lighter powder charge, which has always given me less fouling.

Some days yuh just can't win!