Darth-Vang
Member
Finally went to the range today and finally get to shoot my 2 CVA 32 cal rifles. It was a pretty bad experience and there was cussing involved. XD So I've been reading about muzzleloaders and how to work up a load with various patch thicknesses and with different powder charges, swabbing after each shot to make sure the next shot was consistent as the last was followed by a dry patch to wick up any moisture that might be in the barrel. That's what I did in that order, starting load with 10 grs and .005" patch shot in 3 shots group at 36 yards according to my range finder. I started with my CVA 32 cal squirrel rifle and made my way up towards the 2nd 20 gr shot and was abruptly interrupted by a "pop." The gun did not go off. Try a second time with just another pop. Picked the nipple and made sure the nipple vent hole wasn't blocked, tried again, pop and no bang. I realized that it was probably a dud or maybe the powder was wet because of the swabbing?! The swabbing patches are soaked with cva bore solvent in a ziploc baggie. Also I noted that how hard it was to swab with the button cleaning jag! It took a mallet to drive it down the barrel!? It was insanely hard to swab the gun, it really took some efforts to really get in there, also took a vise grip and the mallet to get it out of the barrel as well?? It was insanely hard, and currently the button jag with the dry patch is stuck in the barrel... also broke the threads on the loading ramrod tip while trying to drive the button jag through the cleaning patch with the mallet...I'm out of a ramrod an a button cleaning jag, also I took my regular cleaning rod to help facilitate the swabbing which really didn't help when trying to use the 8/32 to 10/32 adapter to try to swab it with the currently stuck cleaning button jag as the regular cleaning rod was a 3 piece and pretty thin compared to the gun's ramrod and trying to smack it down with the cleaning rod seemed not to be a good idea...and prior to that I did remove the dud load with the bullet puller, but I had no idea how to use it so I just whacked the hell out of it with the mallet and drove it through the ball, I notice how wet the powder was when I used the scraper to clean it out. After unsuccessfully trying to get the stuck button jag with the dry patch out, I then turn to shoot the CVA varmint. Again same procedure, worked my way up towards the 3rd loading, .010" patch at 20 grs charge, pop. No bang. Tried again, pop, still no bang, picked the nipple to make sure there was no obstructions, tried again, pop.... so I installed the bullet puller and again I smacked the hell out of it in hopes it'll drive through the bullet and hopefully it'll work and I can pull it out but nope couldn't at the range! I vise gripped the ramrod(which is brass btw) and used the mallet to get it outt but to no avail, the hot weather today didn't help either... the ramrod is stuck with the bullet puller attachment currently but I'll try to see if i can use the bench vice in hopes of getting the rod and bullet out. Also since the cleaning button jag for the .32 cal muzzleloader was out of commission, i used the regular cleaning rod with the regular cleaning jag to swab the Varmint. Also the soaked and dry cleaning patch used was regular squared 100% cotton 25-35 cal cleaning patch from Walmart. Am I doing something wrong here guys? The wrong patch? The wrong jag size maybe? Cause it is hard to get it in the barelllll, it takes a mallet and a palm saver to get it innn, it was very aggravating and tons of effort...also I believe the rods aren't maybe getting all the way to the bottom of the barrel?? Maybe that explains the wet duds?? I need help with a correct muzzleloading range rod and size, and with today's experience maybe a one piece range rod and not some 2 or 3 piece rod? Do I need a particular button jag size?? Also needing replacement ramrods for both rifles! Where and what material is superior?? And how to correctly swab a muzzleloader for sure! Any and all inputs is appreciated!