Cleaning at the range

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

banek

Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2009
Messages
38
Location
Pottstown, Pa.
Being new to cap & ball I would like to know how often I should clean my revolver at the range. With my flintlocks I run a wet then a dry patch after every shot. My shots group very well this way. With my 44 Remington my first group is very tight then gets quickly worse. After I run a few patches through it's always better but is this normal or is there something I can do to remedy this? I use American Pioneer Powder (Jim Shockey's Gold) and a half bee's wax & half Crisco pellet seal in each cylinder.
Also does anyone make a capper that does NOT fall apart when you use it? I've bought 3 already & they all pull the end off when I'm capping!
 
Your gun will tell you when to clean. We all use different amounts and kinds of lube and powder, so it'll vary a lot.

Ted Cash cappers have always worked well for me.
 
...I would like to know how often I should clean my revolver at the range. ... With my 44 Remington my first group is very tight then gets quickly worse. After I run a few patches through it's always better but is this normal or is there something I can do to remedy this?
Click to expand...

When shooting my ROA I run a single, dry patch down the barrel after every 6 shots. It is simple to do since I always remove the cylinder to reload. If the humidity is real low, then I swab with one damp patch followed by a dry one.

My load consists of 25 grains GOEX 3fg, Cream of Wheat or cornmeal filler, and a .457 ball topped with a dollup of Crisco.

If you only shoot one cylinderful before your accuracy goes south, or north depending upon which way your pointed :D, then by all means swab out that barrel as part of your reloading process.

Mykeal is giving you good info, especially regarding Tedd Cash cappers. I've used them for years and do not hesitate to recommend them.
 
Shooting cowboy action I used black powder in my Ruger vaqueros. I found that if I didn't swab the bore after every stage my accuracy went south almost instantly. By the second cylinder full I had a hard time hitting the targets at all. By the third, I had no idea where the bullet would go. I should say that I didn't lube the bullets at all. They were lubed at the manufacturer with a spray on lube. Or dipped, I don't know. I was not impressed with the lube.

Since the pace at a CAS shoot is slow I kept a can of water on my shooting cart and always had time to swab the bore and the cyls after shooting. I suppose I could have spent more time at the reloading bench and lubed each case by hand but CAS uses a lot of ammo and I was already spending too much time reloading. That's why I quit CAS, took too much time. If I was going to shoot a match every weekend, I had to spend the week loading ammo. Or take a second job to pay for it.:fire:

Riverboat Bill
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top