Questions for the guys that can "shoot all day" without swabbing

[Josephg]

I use spit. So simple so effective, free and I never run out and I never forget and leave it home. Spit is perty handy stuff.

 

[Doc]

Personally myself and most everyone which I know use a wate soluble oil as a patch Lube and yes we almost never have to use a cleaning patch in between 30 or 40 shots. Many of us use this type of container and load it in this circular pattern. These plastic snuff containers will hold a large amount of patches and keep them moist for months. Use a large bumper washer to drain excess. This is out west in a low humidity area.
Doc,

 

[1BadDart]

I've shot the rifle with the 6-1 Ballistol/water mix dried, just dampened with the same 6-1 mix and the fouling was softer. I also purchased a bottle of coconut oil that I dampened the dry ballistol/water patches with, it shot very well with less fouling. I'll be trying straight coconut oil only in the future. As always, I'm wiping after every shot.

I also have five pounds of Swiss 3F ordered so I'll compare the two powders for fouling too.

Thanks for all the input guys. Justin

 

[Walkingeagle]

Spit or moose milk patch.
Walk

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

I generally use T/C Bore Butter on my patches. I have used other things. Gave up on the petroleum lubes about the time T/C introduced Natural Lube 1000... now known as "Bore Butter". Other things I have tried with good results were Aldi's cooking spray (butter and olive oil flavors), Crisco, lard and olive oil. Never tried coconut oil before, but it might be in the works. Ditto for jojoba oil. I stay away from petroleum lubes.

Yes, I am a Believer in seasoning the bore. That said, I should elaborate; I always use a non-petroleum lube with patches and conical bullets. I always run a patch with Bore Butter up and down the bore a few times after cleaning... which is done traditionally with a kettle of hot water and a splash of Murphy's Oil Soap. I never use any lube when I am shooting sabotted bullets. Seasoning is an on-going process that never ends until you die. You cannot shoot a requisite number of Bore Butter lubed patches and then the gun is seasoned for life. You gotta keep on using it.

Unless I am trying to clean a "sewer pipe" bore, I DO NOT use bore brushes in any muzzleloader... and if I do, then by preference it would be a brush with nylon bristles. I don't like stuck brushes and I don't like removing my seasoning.

Yes, I like plastic sabots. No, I have never noticed any plastic "fouling". I don't attempt to remove the Bore Butter from the bore before using sabotted bullets and I don't add more Bore Butter after the first shot. I figure the sabot will scrape most of it off before the shot is fired. Subsequent sabots scrape fouling off... or that is my belief as I don't seem to have much fouling when I clean after a sabotted bullet shooting session.

These days I normally use patches made out of recycled clothing and such. They have included silk, linen, and cotton. Other than relative thickness, I noticed no real difference in loading or in performance, but I am not a precision shooter. I know that tight fitting patches are widely acknowledged to give better accuracy, however, I dislike having to use a hammer to seat the ball on even the first shot. I typically use a ball ten thousandths of an inch less than the caliber of the gun... so .490 in a .50 caliber gun. My linen patches mic out at .008" and the silk at .007"... so a bit thinner than the .010" I am "supposed' to use for optimal accuracy. I got the silk from an old pillowcase and the linen from an old dress shirt. I do use a short starter and a range rod. Wooden ramrods look good hanging on the wall with the gun, but I generally don't use them for any purpose. They break and sometimes the end pulls off.

I've also used pillow ticking that mics out at .010" and .015". I generally don't like pillow ticking or any thick cotton for that matter. The last pillow I recycled was made into cleaning patches. Neither silk nor linen seems to make good cleaning patches.

I don't swab the bore between shots. I know that there is some fouling, but it has never impeded my loading or my accuracy. Normally an "extended" shooting session for me is about ten shots, but I have shot twenty and had no issues to deal with.

I can hit an empty gallon milk jug at a hundred yards with patched ball, conical bullet or sabotted bullet.

This is how I do things. These are my impressions and results. Your mileage may vary.

 

[DSmith]

I myself never use a lube at all. I "swab" every 25 shots with the bronze brush and a pipe cleaner. then blow out with a can of compressed air.
After the days shooting i clean with a homemade solution of accetone and mineral sprits.
been doing it that way for 40 years.

 

[FishDFly]

In LTD (Limited Timed Fire) matches and one match that is 25 shots in 45 minutes I use a mixture of WD-40 and Mobil One mixed 50/50. No cleaning is needed.