OP wads and load 'n clean, same stroke.

[Ed C.]

I am brand new to percussion ML rifles and between this forum and experimenting I am trying to find my way. Being that the wads I made for my revolvers (1/8 durofelt soaked in a 1:1 beeswax/olive oil mix) worked so well I thought I'd start out using them in the .50 cal. Hawken. Mistake. Should have started with just PRB. The first 2 sessions I did using the wads the gun fouled very quickly no matter the powder load. No way could I get past 3 shots without cleaning and very difficult running the jag. Groups at 50 yards were ok but I found later they could be better. So this last time out, no wads, just .490 ball with .015 ox-yoke patch. And I added one more thing. I used the jag to seat the ball and over the jag I had patches (cut from old bedsheets) dampened with a Dawn/water solution (just enough dawn to make the solution feel a little slippy). So each time I loaded the PRB I was also doing some cleaning in the same stroke.

Eureka! Groups got better and in 19 shots, not once did I have to stop to swab the barrel. I know the general consensus is that wads improve shooting but not in my case. I'm looking forward to getting a system and load that I like. Here are some of the results at 50 yards with a 10-15 crosswind so everything got pushed to the right, but for the sake of just trying to shoot groups I did not try to adjust. 53 grains of FFFg seems to shoot as good as anything and that is what one my existing spouts throws so I may settle in with that.

 

[64Springer]

Good job.

It proves that there are no concretes in loading. Be they Muzzleloader or Breech Loader.

 

[SmokepoleSam]

Did your ox-yoke ball patch have any lube on it? If it was dry you could try lubing that and eliminate the jag patch and see how you do, let us know. I use wet patches both dawn/water and other soapy/water mixes and they work for me, I think it's the cleaning solution that does it. Since I started doing this I don't wipe between shots and can shoot 10+ shots before even thinking of wiping. HTH

 

[Ed C.]

Did your ox-yoke ball patch have any lube on it? If it was dry you could try lubing that and eliminate the jag patch and see how you do, let us know. I use wet patches both dawn/water and other soapy/water mixes and they work for me, I think it's the cleaning solution that does it. Since I started doing this I don't wipe between shots and can shoot 10+ shots before even thinking of wiping. HTH

Yep, the ball patch is lubed. I could try it without the jag patch. I just like the idea of doing some cleaning on every loading stroke and not wiping between shots. So are you using the dawn solution patch under the ball and no problem wetting the powder?

 

[Mike in FL]

It seems to me that cleaning when loading is like cleaning what ain't dirty yet. Or, pushing fowling down on top of the charge. But I don't know; never tried that.

 

[ETipp]

I am brand new to percussion ML rifles and between this forum and experimenting I am trying to find my way. Being that the wads I made for my revolvers (1/8 durofelt soaked in a 1:1 beeswax/olive oil mix) worked so well I thought I'd start out using them in the .50 cal. Hawken. Mistake. Should have started with just PRB. The first 2 sessions I did using the wads the gun fouled very quickly no matter the powder load. No way could I get past 3 shots without cleaning and very difficult running the jag. Groups at 50 yards were ok but I found later they could be better. So this last time out, no wads, just .490 ball with .015 ox-yoke patch. And I added one more thing. I used the jag to seat the ball and over the jag I had patches (cut from old bedsheets) dampened with a Dawn/water solution (just enough dawn to make the solution feel a little slippy). So each time I loaded the PRB I was also doing some cleaning in the same stroke. View attachment 186730 View attachment 186731 Eureka! Groups got better and in 19 shots, not once did I have to stop to swab the barrel. I know the general consensus is that wads improve shooting but not in my case. I'm looking forward to getting a system and load that I like. Here are some of the results at 50 yards with a 10-15 crosswind so everything got pushed to the right, but for the sake of just trying to shoot groups I did not try to adjust. 53 grains of FFFg seems to shoot as good as anything and that is what one my existing spouts throws so I may settle in with that.

That's interesting for sure. Congrats on the successful real world testing. I may give that a try.

Not trying to detract from your thread or process here, but my only concern would be all the fouling accumulating in the flash channel, as well as the nipple clogging up. The nipple is not that big of deal, but a caked on/ fouled up flash channel is. IMO that's one of the most overlooked and difficult to areas to clean and/or to keep clean. I read a thread on another forum by a very avid ML fella that is now using a small hand steamer to remove the fouling in the flash channel. A ML can appear to be clean but the flash channel can still be quite fouled. Without diving too deeply into this, what I have now started doing is, after I have cleaned the ML, I remove the nipple and spray some ML bore cleaner inside the flash channel from the breech end, let set for a little while, then using my air compressor, I shoot some high pressure air through the flash hole. When I go back and run a patch down the barrel, its amazing how much fouling was inside the flash channel. Even after I thought the ML was clean.

I never really considered this in the past, and perhaps I'm a bit paranoid of a caked up flash channel. But after I have seen the results, I am even more cautious of foul build up in that critical area.

 

[Ed C.]

That's interesting for sure. Congrats on the successful real world testing. I may give that a try.

Not trying to detract from your thread or process here, but my only concern would be all the fouling accumulating in the flash channel, as well as the nipple clogging up. The nipple is not that big of deal, but a caked on/ fouled up flash channel is. IMO that's one of the most overlooked and difficult to areas to clean and/or to keep clean. I read a thread on another forum by a very avid ML fella that is now using a small hand steamer to remove the fouling in the flash channel. A ML can appear to be clean but the flash channel can still be quite fouled. Without diving too deeply into this, what I have now started doing is, after I have cleaned the ML, I remove the nipple and spray some ML bore cleaner inside the flash channel from the breech end, let set for a little while, then using my air compressor, I shoot some high pressure air through the flash hole. When I go back and run a patch down the barrel, its amazing how much fouling was inside the flash channel. Even after I thought the ML was clean.

I never really considered this in the past, and perhaps I'm a bit paranoid of a caked up flash channel. But after I have seen the results, I am even more cautious of foul build up in that critical area.

I am fortunate in that my Investarms had a setscrew allowing access to the flash channel. I replaced that with a socket button head screw cut down so as to not jam into the nipple threads. This along with the nipple gets removed every cleaning, reamed with a pipe cleaner and blown out dry with an air compressor after the moose milk barrel clean.