I have mostly used the Hornady Great Plains bullets in my Renegade over the years. For the sake of not getting too long winded here I'm going to omit alot of backstory and simple say that since I started loading metallic cartridges a bit over a decade ago, I've filled in alot of knowledge gaps from when I first got into muzzleloading in 1996.
That said, I never really pursued tight 100yd groups. Followed instructions on my TC manual for min/max charge levels and powder granulation and was satisfied with 4" groups at 50yds for where I hunt in the woods.
More recently I kind of started fresh with my approach to developing loads being more focused on tight groups than gross horsepower and this has worked out well to the point I think I can do as well at 100yds now as I used to do at 50yds.
As to loading my projectiles, yeah I'll lightly "jackhammer" them (for lack of my ability to come up with a better word) once I feel the bullet is against the powder. I'm not pulling the ramrod halfway out the barrel and slamming it, just a few light and short taps to make sure she's tight against the powder.
Now, compared to a lot of folks here, I'm still on the uphill side of the learning curve, especially with PRB as I don't shoot them much. But I see a lot of folks staying how they swab between shots very little and in many cases never. The lubed patch seems to be a key player in this. Where am I going with this? Here... Using a Maxi type projectiles with no patch it seems general conventional wisdom indicates they are prone to more fouling of the bore after the shot where PRB usually results in less. Just my opinion and it may well be wrong, but I think something as simple as a spit patch between shots with Maxis will be helpful here. A bullet that goes in with a degree of difficulty tends to cause the shooter to want to go gorilla on it to ensure it's properly seated. Last time I went shooting I was using the TC Maxi-Ball (not a hollow point) and tried not swabbing between shots. The fourth shot loaded with an uncomfortable level of difficulty where the first couple shots went down the barrel with somewhat relative ease. I concluded that a spit patch or even a pre-lubed (gasp) patch down in and out once prior to reloading does help with this.
Sorry for not making good on not being long winded, but all that to say a Maxi that goes in hard due to some fouling buildup I think is a likely cause for people getting overzealous with ramming it home. And ML Maxis not generally being as hard a bullet as hard cast designed to be pushed harder in cartridge rifles I can totally see where they can be deformed on the nose by hard hammering.
Well, where to begin? Yes, you probably will get more fouling with a conical bullet vs. a patched round ball, mostly because you are usually using a heavier powder charge. What charge are you using now? I seldom exceed 70 grains of powder in .45, .50 and .54 caliber guns with a conical or sabotted bullet. Of late I have been using an "ignition" charge of 7 grains of actual black powder under the main charge of Triple 7 to preserve my black powder supply and use up the Triple 7 I have on the shelf. This makes for less fouling as well... kind of a happy side effect.
Some have used spit patches forever, and I'm told it works, but I am unwilling to suck on a recycled piece of silk, linen or pillow ticking. Maybe I should have washed the recycled items before cutting them up. I generally use T/C Bore Butter, but I have also used olive oil, aerosol cooking spray, lard and other non-petroleum products.
Now, you will read the term "seasoning" in many threads on this forum, with some folks readily accepting the concept, others disparaging it. I am not going to argue whether or not my bores are seasoned or not. I can't crawl inside my bore to check and at the microscopic level ALL bores look like sewer pipes, though some are worse than others. What I CAN tell you is that I don't have fouling issues and seldom use more than three patches for cleaning after I am done shooting... which for me is seldom more than three shots.
What I would respectfully suggest is that you start using some sort of non-petroleum based grease to lube your bullets other than that waxy manure that Hornady puts on their Great Plains bullets (if memory serves). I would recommend T/C Bore Butter, but others have used bear grease, coon grease, lard, lamb's tallow and Crisco to lube your bullets. DON'T use any petroleum based greases.
Also, lighter charges give you less recoil, may give you better accuracy and don't really result in that much loss of velocity vs. heavier charges. As I mentioned, burning less powder makes for less fouling.
At the risk of offending some here, you COULD season your bore. This is done by shooting it with non-petroleum oils/greases. It can be done with conicals, but patched round balls actually work better in my experience. Once you have fired fifty or so patched round balls over the course of a few days, you may find that you have less fouling and easier loading. Others will tell you different. We tend to be a bunch of old farts here, so we are "opinionated".
Now, I will offend yet more people and say that I use sabotted bullets. I think that they are an improvement over conicals. Again, others disparage them.
Use a metal range rod for range work. Hickory ramrods work, but one day you may break one and that will cure you of trusting them again. Leave the hammer in the tool box. If you have to utilize blunt instruments to seat your projectile, you are doing something WRONG.
The more you shoot, the better you will shoot and the better your gun will perform. I have a Jonathan Browning Mountain Rifle that I purchased used some years ago. The gun has a 1:66 twist rate in a .54 caliber. Bore was in pretty rough shape when I got it, but it has always shot pretty well. The more I shoot it, the easier it is to load and clean. When I got it, the end of the ramrod was mushroomed over from somebody hitting it with something. "Father forgive them for they know not what they do!"
.... and you are not the only one to get long-winded on this forum!
