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Trouble Loading Second Shot

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Ya, if a dangerous animal charges you are you just going to stand there and proceed to reload?
Bears are great sprinters, I'll bet they can do the 100 dash faster than you can reload (less than 10 seconds). How fast can you reload ?

Nothing says you have to stand still and wait for him. While you are evading, you can be loading, and you damn sure don;t want to fight with getting the ball rammed home in that case.
 
Nothing says you have to stand still and wait for him. While you are evading, you can be loading, and you damn sure don;t want to fight with getting the ball rammed home in that case.

Good luck with that. It's a non-realistic scenario.
It's a zero sum gain.
 
Ya, if a dangerous animal charges you are you just going to stand there and proceed to reload?
Bears are great sprinters, I'll bet they can do the 100 dash faster than you can reload (less than 10 seconds). How fast can you reload ?
When I hunt the muzzleloader season, I always carry a back up Remington Bison steel frame loaded with 60 grains and .452 roundballs just for situations like this.
 
I'm not a real big fan of some of the grease type patches, but do use one for a hunting load. My normal procedure is a wad over the powder, followed by a mink oil soaked patch and round ball. I do use this setup as the gun might be loaded for some time before it's fired, and the powder won't get molested by the patch lube in the meantime. Once I've fired that first shot, I use a wet patch for any following shots...using my normal mix of Windex and Murphy's oil soap. I carry a real small squirt bottle of the patch lube in my hunting bag, so it's quick to apply and the wet lube will help clean fouling out of the barrel when loading as the ball is seated. Using this method, I could fire the rifle all day without any problems loading.
 
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We have many random looking bears out here. Rarely are they ever black. Reddish, tan, multi color, then we have dudes like this where they are shaggy blonde and dark brown.
 
It seems Dutch Shoultz might have people convinced the dry patch method is the only way to get best accuracy.

I have experimented with it, and it shoots no better and is much more problematic than other ways. I use spit or mink oil. I couldn’t ask for much better groups and I can shoot all day without wiping. Unless strictly a 100% competition bench shooter, I just do not see the appeal of that method.
 
You always want to be able to reoad a "quick" follow up shot when hunting game.
Speed is the device of Satan. Unless a redcoat-Billy Yank (Johnny Reb)-whips Sioux nation or Grizzle Bar is charging you you have plenty of time to reload. Smoke if you got em, have a drink of water, notice how pretty the light is coming through those trees. Slow down.
 
Carrying a "back-up" gun is reasonable. I carry a flint .50 pistol with me into the bush along with the rifle. Dry patches are worthless in the field. I lube with mink oil or Hoppes #9 BP lube/cleaner. I solved the problem of tough 2nd loading by thumb polishing the muzzle crown using sandpaper. Evenly polish the crown with sandpaper using your thumb until you get a smooth, gradual entry into the bore. Doing this gets rid of the sharp ends of the lands so no sharp edges cut the patch. Once short started the prb can be seated with the wood ramrod. If you think the bore may have a rough spot Use a wad of 0000 steel wool and swab the bore 50 or even 100 times. Scotch Bright pads can work as well.

An example; I polished all my rifle crowns - can be done in 30 minutes or less - and can shoot an entire afternoon without ANY swabbing being necessary. I can load my .50 with a .490" ball and .024" canvas patch (or denim) lubed with mink oil for hunting and Hoppes for the range. Best of all accuracy remains unaffected.
 
When I hunt the muzzleloader season, I always carry a back up Remington Bison steel frame loaded with 60 grains and .452 roundballs just for situations like this.
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I have a 50 cal Hawken type I’ve put together with the barrel being the Green Mountain drop in TC replacement. It’s a 1/66 twist and is dead on accurate at 100 yds with a .495 ball, .015 patch (1:6 Ballistol mix dry patch) and 80 gr 2F Goex and or 80gr Swiss 1.5. I want to use this load next week to hunt pigs. The problem is that I can use the wooden ram rod for the first load, but cannot get the second load down without using my range rod. I can get about 3/4 of the way down the barrel with the wooden rod and that’s it. The barrel probably has 150 rounds through it and looks clean as can be to me, no pits and no rings.

I have a feeling I know what next steps might be, but would appreciate hearing from the more seasoned folk on this forum.



Sir I think I have your pig solution pictured above. Although lapping your new barrel might be cheaper and go with smaller ball patch combo. The Colt Root's sidehammers cylinders will easily handle 80 grns, and even in cal.45 should do the job. Even carried with one cylinder un capped you have 5 shots. Note this isn't an original it's a modern steel Italian replica sold as rifle length and customized by Ravens Roost, To see proper shooting stance watch this UTube Palmetto no longer manufactures these replicas. The best Black Powder Hunting for those that might shoot back so to speak. IMHO
 
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Sir I think I have your pig solution pictured above. Although lapping your new barrel might be cheaper and go with smaller ball patch combo. The Colt Root's sidehammers cylinders will easily handle 80 grns, and even in cal.45 should do the job. Even carried with one cylinder un capped you have 5 shots. Note this isn't an original it's a modern steel Italian replica sold as rifle length and customized by Ravens Roost, To see proper shooting stance watch this UTube Palmetto no longer manufactures these replicas. The best Black Powder Hunting for those that might shoot back so to speak. IMHO

Certainly a solution, but I don’t see this within my budget at the moment. Great looking weapons however, thank you.
 
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