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Accuracy affected by dirty breech plug?

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CoHiCntry

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If you’re at the range & fire a 5 shot group out of your clean gun... only swab the barrel but don’t clean the breech area then fire another 5 shot group can you expect the same accuracy? How many shots could you fire before a dirty breech starts to affect accuracy?

I realize this may vary from gun to gun just trying to get a feel for how often the breech should be cleaned to ensure accuracy?
 
Shooting @ range , firing strings of shots, my rifles seem to need attention to cleaning somewhere over about 12 to 15 shots. I wipe between shots using very runny , spit like , competition lube and using coarse medical gauze for maximum cleaning effect when it jams on the rod tip on the out stroke. Best method I've tried. oldwood
 
If you’re at the range & fire a 5 shot group out of your clean gun... only swab the barrel but don’t clean the breech area then fire another 5 shot group can you expect the same accuracy? How many shots could you fire before a dirty breech starts to affect accuracy?

I realize this may vary from gun to gun just trying to get a feel for how often the breech should be cleaned to ensure accuracy?
Speaking from only experience: A dirty breech can cause sporadic, poor, or no ignition. I have not noticed any accuracy decline.
Flintlocklar 🇺🇸
 
Thanks for the replies. Kinda what I figured but wanted to hear from others on their experience.

I’ve been working up a load & thus far have only been shooting one combination of patch & powder per range session. I want to start shooting a couple combinations but only cleaning the barrel between them & not the breech plug. I’m probably only looking at a dozen shots between a full barrel/ breech cleaning.
 
I never give my breech a thought. Until I get back home ... I manage to spend however much time I am allotted for my outing shooting rather then cleaning. I have worked up a load that needs no cleaning for at least 15 to 20 shots. Combo of the rite ball diameter ... correct patch ... correct lube ... the best powder and loading procedure give me plenty shooting and small amounts of swabbing and cleaning.

When I do clean the breech ... warm not boiling ... water is poured down the bore with the nipple plugged to soak for at least 10 or 15 minutes before even beginning the swabbing. Sometimes just cool water then I give attention to the lock that is removed and ensure it to be clean and well oiled befor giving the barrel/breech its cleaning.

As to accuracy failing from a dirty breech ... have not noticed any problems. I spend a small bit more on powder tho and shoot premium powder ... even tho I have had advice on ... REALLY its only a muzzle loader ... kinda thing.

We spend several hundreds of dollars on a rifle/smooth bore and then go on the cheap for powder and ball. Makes not very much sense to this pilgrim. You get what you pay for!
 
The only way I could see fouling on the breech face affecting accuracy is either with a patent breech or the fouling is waayyyy bad.

Far more of a problem in accuracy from my experience is component quality. I see folks agonizing over lube, patch thickness, lead alloy, etc, but they think nothing of using the cheapest powder and caps they can find. There's a saying in the computer world- garbage in, garbage out.
 
A crudded up flame channel is more likely to effect performance than the patent breech.

Lots of folks faithfully clean the patent breech and neglect the flame channel. While the nipple is out clean the flame channel with a bristled pipe cleaner. i never clean the patent breech and my guns work just fine.
 
The only way I could see fouling on the breech face affecting accuracy is either with a patent breech or the fouling is waayyyy bad.

Far more of a problem in accuracy from my experience is component quality. I see folks agonizing over lube, patch thickness, lead alloy, etc, but they think nothing of using the cheapest powder and caps they can find. There's a saying in the computer world- garbage in, garbage out.
What exactly would you consider cheap caps? I've never seen any that are cheap. There are few brands on the market and they are all name brand and have worked fine for me.
 
What exactly would you consider cheap caps? I've never seen any that are cheap. There are few brands on the market and they are all name brand and have worked fine for me.

CCI Reenactor caps. Absolute garbage for anything other than blanks. As a competition shooter, I try to stick with RWS.
 
The only way a see a breech affecting accuracy would be if it was dirty and fouled enough to cause a hesitation in firing but that's just my opinion.

I agree, and also contend that there are two ways to foul the breech to the point of effecting ignition. 1., by wiping with a patch that is too dry and pushing fouling down the bore then leaving it behind because the patch didn't soak it up. 2., doing the opposite, wiping with a patch too wet that leaves "mud" in the breech.

Here are two things that you can try that will prove this to you. 1., Shoot 50 or sixty shots without wiping at all by using a lube that will allow it. Simplest way to do it is to shoot spit patch or a water/dish soap lube. I'll wager that you will have no ignition problems! 2., At the beginning of the above experiment, upon seating your first ball, mark your loading rod even with the muzzle, then fire two shots and load the third shot with the same seating pressure as you first and mark the rod again. You will see a difference between the two marks. The difference reflects the amount of fouling that is in the breech area between the ball and the bottom. Now go ahead and shoot the rest of your fift shots as in #1 above. When you load that last shot, observe the second mark on the rod. You will see very little if any difference from when you made the second mark.

The only way I could see fouling on the breech face affecting accuracy is either with a patent breech or the fouling is waayyyy bad.

Far more of a problem in accuracy from my experience is component quality. I see folks agonizing over lube, patch thickness, lead alloy, etc, but they think nothing of using the cheapest powder and caps they can find. There's a saying in the computer world- garbage in, garbage out.

I don't know of any "cheap" components out there. The powders that most are using are pretty good qrades, eg., goex, swiss, wano, Scheutzen, graf. The only powder I ever used that was distinctly poor was Elephant, which had a reputation for huge quality swings from lot to lot.
 
I still have a few hundred of old CVA caps from the 70s. I suspect they aren’t the best. Funny thing is the rifle still goes “bang” when I use them.
 
I don't know of any "cheap" components out there. The powders that most are using are pretty good qrades, eg., goex, swiss, wano, Scheutzen, graf. The only powder I ever used that was distinctly poor was Elephant, which had a reputation for huge quality swings from lot to lot.

Cheap- as in not compatible with accuracy. Think CCI Reenactor caps and Reenactor grade powder.

Pretty much all the powder out there in common use among shooters is decent quality, but those into accuracy know that some grades are much better than others. Plinkers and casual shooters will never see the difference.
 
It's kinda that way with other guns too. People spend a fortune fixing them up to be perfect then buy cheap ammo and complain that the gun shoots like cr#@. Not to mention you can spend all the money in the world but it you simply are a poor shooter, it's not going to make you and instant marksman.
 
Cheap- as in not compatible with accuracy. Think CCI Reenactor caps and Reenactor grade powder.

Pretty much all the powder out there in common use among shooters is decent quality, but those into accuracy know that some grades are much better than others. Plinkers and casual shooters will never see the difference.

Having never used reenacting powder and never heard of reenacting caps I certainly wouldn't argue with that, and feel like you are correct.

OTOH, ive shot with all the other powders i previously listed and while Swiss is accepted as the gold standard (black standard? :) ) I didn't think after shooting two pounds of it that there was a discernible difference between scheutzen, or Graf's. Granted, I'm not an extraordinary shooter but even for a duffer like me it should have been noticeable.
 

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