Cleaning between shots, and lubricating

[Tallinar]

Hey folks. Sorry if this is a can of worms that has been discussed elsewhere, and beaten into the ground excessively. Feel free to just direct me to another link if necessary.

My dad used to shoot quite a bit of competitive muzzleloading rifle, and won a number of matches as a junior back in his day. During his teenage years, he had pieced together a custom .54 Hawken, which remains his favorite rifle to this day.

The only problem is, it's become sort of a safe queen for the last decade or so - along with his other old percussion rifles. I'm fixing to remedy this.

In my youth, I had never been really interested in muzzleloader shooting - simply because I was turned off by the notion of cleaning between shots. This seemed slow and tedious to me, which was far less appealing to me than the bolt rifles Dad had around when I was a kid. Now that I'm older and a bit more seasoned in the shooting arts - with a better knowledge and appreciation for all the goes into accuracy - I'd like to at least dabble in blackpowder muzzleloading a bit.

When it comes to cleaning the bore between shots; I've read that many people simply lick/spit on a patch, and run it down the bore once. Others use some sort of solvent. Beyond the cleaning patch between shots, I also understand that some folks might use solvent/lubricant on their ball patch, and some might again lick/spit on the patch. I've heard of folks shooting matches and doing quite well using either method.

Now I've been reading a bit about blackpowder lead ball rifle shooting in general, and it's unique characteristics as far as how accuracy sort of seems to depend on having some level of bore fouling present. Given that my experience to date has been exclusively in smokeless cartridge shooting, my head is a bit of a spin. The concept of using my spit in my guns is extremely foreign to me.

So now my question. To those who are veterans of the blackpowder muzzleloading rifle world: Is it REALLY worth it to bang my head against a wall trying to decide on a bore solvent to use to clean between patches - as well as a lubricant to use on my ball patch? Or can I expect to experience reasonable accuracy using only a lick of my own saliva?

If spit is to be considered unacceptable, what methods have you tinkered with? What method have you settled on, personally? If anyone could share their personal experiences, as well as direct me to some online literate, I would be most appreciative.

Thanks folks!

 

[[email protected]]

As a National compitition rifle shooter, I would say to wipe the bore after
every shot with a patch dampend with plain water. Patch lube that
dominated the Nationals for a long time before the "Teflon" coated patch
was a water souable oil. I use a 5 % mix of oil to water. That is to say use
2 oz of the water soulable cutting oil to 32 oz water. I do believe the "Teflon"
coated patch to be better as that is what they have all gone to. I used to
make it and sell it. I buy it now. We are talking the best accuracy here for
a round ball rifle. Many will put 5 shots in the same hole at 50 yds. 100 yds
about 1 inch 5 shot groups. I once in 1992 shot a score of 50 and 3 X's and
didn't even come in 3rd place. That was a 50 yd match and the "10" ring is
about the size of a dime. What a bummer!! Got a "50" pin tho. This was a
Flintlock match open sights shooting across "Cross Sticks" Anyway if I can be
of any help just ask. I've been there and done it.
Phil

 

[Tallinar]

Thanks a lot for your reply Phil. So would Ballistol be a prime candidate for such an oil solution?

 

[[email protected]]

I have never used it so can't say for sure.

 

[J-Bar]

If you decide to experiment with Ballistol, remember it can be diluted with water. It makes a milky homogeneous mix that remains stable indefinitely without having to add any kind of emulsifying agent.

We cowboy action shooters use a 1 part Ballistol to 10 parts water mix routinely as a cleaning solvent after a match. I put mine in a pistol-grip spray bottle (Wal-mart, 75 cents!!) for convenience. This mix still feels reals slippery so it has some lubricating effect.

 

[arcticap]

Whats the best patch lube

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=17170.0

 

[mykeal]

As you can tell from the ALR thread, and the many threads on this forum and others, there are as many 'best' patch lubes and cleaning materials as there are people shooting black powder. Plus one.

Will saliva work? In a word, yes. Do you need to go on a world wide search for the very finest bore cleaning material? Only if you have a deep seated obsessive-compulsive disorder that needs to be satisfied (we all have one, even if it's just a tiny little bit). I personally use whatever's handy because I can't seem to always have my favorite (Ballistol mixed 1:5 or so with water) in stock. Sometimes that's saliva. Sometimes it's water. Sometimes it's Thompson Center No. 13. Etc. Etc. The gun keeps shooting.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

I shot competitively for several years. Results were better when I swabbed the bore between shots. One wet followed by two dry. Roger Fisher did some experimenting about group size and whether wiping or not wiping changed it. I believe it depends on the rifling, the lube, the patch and how tight your PRB combo is. Yes some combos in some rifling can scrape the fouling back when loading the next shot. But in some rifling it doesn't or can't. Some shooters claim miraculous accuracy with their pet lubes and without the need to wipe between shots. Some folks actually think a 4 inch group at 25 yds is good when fired from the bench, so take those claims of accuracy with out wiping between shots with a grain of salt.

There is a type of rifling for which I believe this may be true. There is some wide round bottom rifling that does not have corners next to the lands. With such a barrel, Such wiping may not be as crucial. A wet lubed patched ball may be enough to clear the rifling, depending on humidity, temp etc.

 

[zero-in]

I agree with Zimmerstutzen..I run a wet one between shots followed by two dry as well and occassionally a pass with the bore brush to get at the crud ring. What do I use..simple denatured alcohol or windex has worked well for me. Patching between shots has given hole in hole consistency for the most part unless I'm shooting at the end of a long day or I have gone 3 or 4 shots without patching, then groupings start to spread out @ 100 yrds. It takes more time to perform all of this but hey, I'm relaxing anyway! By the way..that accuracy is supplemented using optics as well..not the open sights. Didn't want anyone to think that my aged eyes were keen as a nightowl!

 

[Tallinar]

Thanks for the replies, folks. Gives me some more to think about!