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Managing that dang tar in patent breech?

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mancill

40 Cal.
Joined
Jul 24, 2014
Messages
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I have a new pederasoli Kentucky with a patent breech. It is very high humidity here in South East Texas. Like on my trade gun it builds up a tar like substance in the pan and breech. I usually wipe the pan and swab the bore ever so often to stop it from fouling the powder. Yesterday after about 15 shots i had a real heck of a time to get the gun to fire. I swab with alcohol and let it dry for a few minutes every 3 shots. When I loaded the last shot some of that tar came out the touch hole. Thought I was gonna have to pull the liner and all that jazz.
So instead of reinventing the wheel here how do most people deal with this goo in a patent breech?
 
High humidity can present problems....I clean between each shot or when it becomes a problem.
Squirt some M.A.P. solution down the bore until it comes out the vent followed quickly by a patch to create preassure. Essentially, you're flushing the breech.

M.A.P. = murphy's oil soap, alcohol, and hydrogen peroxide mixed equal parts.
 
It will dry quite quickly if you use 99% pure alcohol in the mix....I follow with several dry patches, as the patch moves up and down the bore it sucks air in and out the vent hole drying it....look at the vent when doing this, if a fine mist is coming out it's not dry.....You can follow up with squirt of straight alcohol ahead of the last patch if needed, pure alcohol will not affect the powder.


In essence, alcohol will dry your bore and breech but, it takes a cleaning agent to remove the gunk.

The whole process only takes a few seconds longer than normal swabbing.

For those that fear peroxide, it can be substituted with plain water.

I keep M.A.P. and alcohol in quirt bottles for convenience.
 
I'd do a couple of things based on my own 90 inches of rain a year.

One, I'd turn your jag down a little (drill motor and sandpaper) so with the cleaning patch it's fairly loose going down the bore, but the patch "grabs" as you pull the rod back out. That way you're pulling the fouling back out the bore when swabbing rather than pushing it down into the breech.

Two, I'd reshape a breech scraper to fit the patent breech (drill motor and a file, marking with a Sharpie to determine contact between each filing). I only need mine in emergencies when the fouling is really bad, but it's great to have. In fact I've only needed to grab it on used rifles with the tar turned into coal and left there by previous owners, or to help out friends on the range who swab with standard jags and patches.
 
Fouling and the gooey tar That mancill described aren't the same condition....
BP fouling is affected differently by temperature. A cool rain does not have the same hygroscopic affect that a hot humid Texas day does. Temperature greatly accelerates the hygroscopic nature of BP fouling.

The hotter the air is, The more energy water molecules in it have making it easier for the water molecules in it to escape, finding their new home in your fresh fouling.....Making a gooey mess in your bore.
 
Yep it's very gooey and liquid like. 9n a 60% humid or less day I have no problem at all. Also winter I can shoot for hours. Hot and humid. The temp was 95 with a 80% plus humidity with a thunder storm forming.
 
I'd turn your jag down a little (drill motor and sandpaper) so with the cleaning patch it's fairly loose going down the bore, but the patch "grabs" as you pull the rod back out. That way you're pulling the fouling back out the bore when swabbing rather than pushing it down into the breech.

Agree with wat BB said. But, similar questions pop up here regularly. Most of the "goo" problems can be traced to the use of swabbing patches that are too wet. A swab patch never needs to be more than just damp. I use baby blanket cotton flannel and spit dampen. Key is damp NOT WET :nono: . And, again, a jag that is too large will push crud down. A smaller jag will slide past all that on the way down and then bunch up behind when you pull up taking crud with it. (No offense BB. That is an important point worth repeating)
Burned bp is anhydrous (attracts moisture) but is controllable with proper swabbing.
 
mancill said:
Yep it's very gooey and liquid like. 9n a 60% humid or less day I have no problem at all. Also winter I can shoot for hours. Hot and humid. The temp was 95 with a 80% plus humidity with a thunder storm forming.

I know exactly what you're talking about....I experience the same problem when it's 90derees and 90% humidity....

The simplest solution without changing lube, loads, or modifying equipment is simply to clean the gun every few shots.
 
Well if I can work in it I can play in it. :wink: gonna try a that mix to clean it every few shots until it cools some.
 
Make sure you are not using any petroleum products to clean or shoot with as they will produce carbon fouling when the powder burns and nothing, not even heavy leading is as tough to remove as carbon fouling.
 
I have a new pederasoli Kentucky with a patent breech. It is very high humidity here in South East Texas. Like on my trade gun it builds up a tar like substance in the pan and breech. I usually wipe the pan and swab the bore ever so often to stop it from fouling the powder. Yesterday after about 15 shots i had a real heck of a time to get the gun to fire. I swab with alcohol and let it dry for a few minutes every 3 shots. When I loaded the last shot some of that tar came out the touch hole. Thought I was gonna have to pull the liner and all that jazz.
So instead of reinventing the wheel here how do most people deal with this goo in a patent breech?

I use a long piece of wood dowel with a very thin saw cut in the end the length of a patch. Wedge a patch in the cut and twist it around down in the patent breach. Bore cleaners like Mpro-7 or Hoppe’s Elite can be applied to the patch there great for carbon removal. I’ve spun a 36 cal bronze bore brush in the patent breach with a cordless drill.
Sometimes I remove the barrel & TH liner and spray break cleaner into the patent breach the really flushes out the bad stuff.
 
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