Touch Hole Cleaning

What is the best thing to use to clean the touch hole? A pipe cleaner is too big.

I drill my vents so that a pipe cleaner will work. I like a #51 which is .067 inch. #52 is .063". Numbered bits are available in most good hardwares--5 bits between 1/16 and 5/64.(I'm going from memory here.)Someone here reported using a pipe cleaner with shorter fibers that worked with a 1/16" vent. I haven't tried that.

Regards,
Pletch

Feather quills (I raise chickens so these come easy), thornapple thorns, straightened paperclips, copper wire, malleable iron wire, etc.

Anything softer than the barrel steel and not brittle.

Someone once suggested the ProxaBrush dental cleaners - those tiny little brushes that fit between teeth. I suppose they'd work great but seem a recent innovation on a 400 year old process.

The touch hole is too small! Drill baby, drill.
Use a #50 or #51. :thumbsup:

But remember, they don't grow back and smaller will be more consistant of pressure and likely accuracy. If it is reliable - don't drill IMHO.

If it is reliable

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This is the key phrase, Mr. Stumpkiller. It has to work or it isn't very accurate. I am going to stick with bigger is better.

And now Mr. Meredith and other esteemed readers have a choice between two justifiable opinions on this most intriguing subject: just good enough vs. just in case.

Most hunts for squirrels don't even require cleaning the TH...it just seems to be self cleaning. But if an extended hunt requires swabbing the bore, then I use a pipe cleaner in the .067 dia. {#51 drill} TH......Fred

My touch holes are all 1/16" on every gun and a standard pipe cleaner works just fine for the most part. When it's clogged with fouling it can get a little twitchy inserting a pipe cleaner but it still can be done.

I have never used a pipe cleaner. A piece of piano wire of the right size is all I use. Take a small piece of wood or antler or bone for a handle, drill a small hole, epoxy the piano wire in it. Works great.

Many Klatch

Try cutting the pipe cleaner with scissors on an angle. It works for me

I've never found accuracy to be an issue with good sized touch holes...just the opposite.
Every vent liner I use has a good size .070" hole, and accuracy has always been excellent in various brand barrels, various barrel lengths, various calibers & gauges, etc.

IMO, accuracy is vastly improved with good sized vent liners because the faster vents provide faster, 100% reliable, consistent ignition that gets the ball out of the barrel faster. With that performance, the amount of time for the muzzle to wander after the sear breaks is minimized...ergo, improved accuracy and group size.

I have not tested the accuracy of varying vent diameters - only vent speeds. I can offer no data either way. I do feel as you do that shorter barrel time is an advantage to the shooter. I always figure that I am the biggest variable, and that anything that can minimize that helps. Shouldn't comment more for fear of changing the topic.

Regards,
Pletch

Many Klatch said:

I have never used a pipe cleaner. A piece of piano wire of the right size is all I use. Take a small piece of wood or antler or bone for a handle, drill a small hole, epoxy the piano wire in it. Works great.

Many Klatch

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Bronze wound guitar string works great also.

Pletch said:

I do feel as you do that shorter barrel time is an advantage to the shooter.
Pletch

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Yes, and to the question of pipe cleaners & vent size...another benefit of the larger .070" vents I use, allow the use of 100% cotton pipe-cleaners.
They're a standard/routine part of my Flintlock cleaning regimen...carry them in 'field cleaning kits' for use when cleaning after a shot hunting (deer, squirrel, etc) and when cleaning after a range session.

FIELD CLEANING KITS



100% COTTON PIPE-CLEANERS

I made the rookie mistake of buying way too many extra touch hole liners. :shocked2: I have since found out they last a very long time. But with that surplus supply, I was able to try different drill size holes. :hmm: I have a chronograph and I know velocity suffers slightly as the hole gets larger but a few grains more, 5 or 6, evens that out. The larger size is as Roundball suggests in my experience. Besides, if the touch hole requires “cleaning”, it much easier to do. The larger size touch hole does not require cleaning, at least as often, as a very small hole.
I will restate, reliability is the key. :thumbsup: Clean as needed.

I bought a big bag of craft pipe cleaners at Hobby Lobby that fit in 1/16" vents.
Cheap too.

Dan

...field cleaning kit...great, but What is the thing under the q-tip and pipe cleaner that looks like a mini-condom????
(drift, sorry)

sickle hocks said:

...field cleaning kit...great, but What is the thing under the q-tip and pipe cleaner that looks like a mini-condom????
(drift, sorry)

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Finger cot...after a thorough field cleaning and reloading, I roll it over the muzzle to keep any moisture/dirt out...

Contents:
5 wet cleaning patches
5 dry patches
1 lubed patch
Alcohol wipe for frizzen/flint/pan
Q-tip
1/2 a pipe cleaner
XL size finger cot

Stuff all the mess back into the bag to carry it out and not leave it in the woods

sickle hocks said:

...field cleaning kit...great, but What is the thing under the q-tip and pipe cleaner that looks like a mini-condom????
(drift, sorry)

Click to expand...

:shocked2: You might be surprised by the answer.......

:rotf: