Unloading Muzzleloader

[Lfpdlt]

I am new to muzzleloaders and took my smoothbore flintlock hunting for the first time today. Since I will not be hunting for 2 weeks I decided to pull the ball and unload after doing some research. I did not fire the charge after hunting because I did not want to clean it and figured it would be a good chance to learn how to do it (I did empty the pan and plug the touchhole before bringing it home). Reading on the process, pull the ball and dump the powder, done. That went easy enough, but when I dumped the powder it did not seem like a full charge. So I ran a patch down the bore to the breech and and it came out with powder caked on it. More and more patches and tow, same thing, still pulling powder off the breech face. Next time I will just fire it, the cleanup is less work and firing it is more fun. I am glad I did not just dump it and call it good.

 

[SDSmlf]

I ran a patch down the bore to the breech and and it came out with powder caked on it. More and more patches and tow, same thing, still pulling powder off the breech face.

Guessing you had oil residue from last time you cleaned the gun. Oil residue or moisture will cause powder to clump. Still easier to clean than after shooting the gun. Make sure your bore is clean clean and dry before loading, at least in my opinion.

 

[Lfpdlt]

Thanks for the input, I have lots to learn.

 

[mooman76]

I'm still learning. Been doing it for over 40 years.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Yes, if you lubricate the firearm before storing between shooting times, then you need to wipe the bore with a very wet rubbing alcohol soaked patch to remove as much of the oils as possible. If you have a chambered breech (CVA, Traditions, Lyman, T/C and others), even the alcohol patch won't remove all the oil so be aware of your breech when unloading.

 

[mushka]

Personally I'da just shot the load out and cleaned. Seems you did more work than cleaning would have taken. That's just me though.

 

[mooman76]

Personally I'da just shot the load out and cleaned. Seems you did more work than cleaning would have taken. That's just me though.

+1 here. I figure it's just the price of playing the game.

 

[dave951]

Just shoot it. If you’re using real black powder, it isn’t that hard to clean after one shot.

 

[hanshi]

It's no more difficult to clean after firing a load than it is cleaning out compacted powder.