Wiping the bore between shots?

[John C]

Folks on this forum often state that they only need to wipe the bore between shots, and they can shoot all day.

What is the proper method of wiping the bore? Is it a wet patch of BP bore cleaner, followed by a dry patch? Or something different?

Thanks,

-John

 

[Zeke/PA]

I've gotten into the habit of swabbing the bore after every second or third shot mainly to make loading easier.
I use a cleaning patch and Hoppe's #9 Plus, followed by a dry patch.
Shoot all day? Well, eventually the breech end gets fouled enough to make loading difficult and a thorough cleaning becomes necessary.

 

[Stony]

Everybody seems to have a different approach to this situation and each of us seems to only be able to relate to what seems to work for us. I use a pretty sloppy wet patch, and can easily shoot 40-50 shots without actually wiping the bore. Bear in mind the really wet patch will have most of the moisture squeezed out of it before it gets to the powder and will be picking up the fouling from the bore on the way down, so the bore will pretty much be shot in the same condition for each shot.
This works for me, but I have no problem with the guys that feel the need to wipe their bore between shots....it works just fine too. I use my mix of windex and Murphy's oil soap to lube my patches and it seems to do the job for me.

 

[BLU]

I've done it like Zeke/PA since 1982. Never a problem. I tried Stony's way but found too many hang fires from it, at least for me. Never got that 'not too wet/not too dry' perfection down so I went back to the Hoppe's#9 method.

 

[mykeal]

I use a dampened cloth patch followed by a dry patch between shots. Dampened with water normally, but I have used a bp cleaning solution (Butch's Bore Shine, Hoppe's No. 9+ or Thompson Center No. 13) or even Ballistol at times. All seem to work the same.

 

[BCRider]

The group of BP long gun shooters I play with shoot 25 to 30 shots while walking a trail. So there's no time or place to allow for swabbing bores. It's shoot, load, shoot, load, repeat.

They've come up with various potions and unguents to use on their patches so each shot cleans the bore from the last shot. I too have come up with one that works for me.

In my case it's "Moose Milk" made from a 1:4 mixture of Ballistol to water. I start a dry patch and ball with the short starter then wet the fringe of the patch with 5 to 6 drops worth of the Moose Milk. This is then long started and rammed home. The wet patch cleans and lubes the bore both on the way in and out.

As a result I find that the first one or two loadings become a slight bit harder from a perfectly clean and lubed bore. But from that point on the ramming force stays consistent and it's regular sailing for the rest of the day.

This is being done on a .50cal which I load with 50gns of 3f. Heavier hunting loads might respond differently.

Some of the other folks have a lozenge box of patches soaked in windshield washer fluid that they use. They similarly get through the whole trail of 25 to 30 shots with the same sort of ease. Yet another guy simply puts the dry patch on his tongue so it's lubed with spit. I don't mind spit in my barrel but the idea of that wooly cotton patch on my tongue gives me the willies....

Someone else in the group uses the Murphy's oil soap mix that a few folks here often suggest.

All the ones that work on a shot to shot basis have some water content to aid in softening and allowing the fouling to be softened and wiped clean by each patch.

Even for target shooting where you have all the time and room in the world I can't help but think that a solution that works easily from shot to shot will be better than an option where you let the bore foul for a few shots then clean it. That seems like it would lack for the consistency that we'd have with a wetted patch cleaning with each loading.

 

[PapaG]

When match shooting, using a loading bench and having plenty of time I wiped the bore with a solvent patch, using both sides, followed by a dry patch, again using both sides. This is after firing a fouling shot before starting the match. I always felt that this gave me the almost exact same bore condition for each and every shot. My teachers were the old timers at Friendship where I used to compete spring/fall and at other matches there.
For speed matches I went down a size on the ball (for my .45 I used a .445 with .008 linen for matches, for speed I used a .437 dia.) When there was going to be some time between shots I placed a milk carton disc between the powder and patched ball.
The tighter the patched ball the better chance of it taking the rifling, especially with the heavier loads.
My barrels, for match shooting, were rifled as follows: .31 caliber, 1 in 36", 45 caliber, 1 in 56", 50 cal, one in 66" and my .58 was 1 in 72.
Multiple wins at state and national level using the above methods. (plus lots of practice)

 

[Patocazador]

It depends on the gun. I don't need to swab after every shot with my .50 cal. Hawken but I do with my .45 cal. flintlock long rifle. I put a clean, dry patch in my mouth and "chew" it while making a shot. Then it's wet enough to swab with after the shot but it's not soaked. One pass down and up and then I load - no dry patch. After 5 shots I do a minor cleaning with a dry patch at the end.

With the Hawken I can shoot about 5-7 times before swabbing using 3 FG.

 

[MEHavey]

No solvent
No "wetness"
No drying
No hangfires

● Damp spit patch:
- Down/Up
- Turn
- Down/Up
● Load
● Shoot

This sequence can be repeated without end.

 

[EljaySL]

Yeah, a barely damp spit patch works great - doesn't really get it clean as such but maintains the grime at a constant level.

 

[Palehorseman]

For target and plinking I load with a spit patch for the ball, never a problem.

 

[oldude309]

With my 50 & 54, a damp spit patch every 4-5 shots with my 32 its after every shot or 2nd shot depending on powder/sub

 

[frontiergander]

the way I do it when I shoot the nasty stuff. Most of the time I use Blackhorn209 in my inlines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fTDFlz4Ah4

 

[Curator]

wipe bore to shoot all day

Running the muzzle loading rifle program at various Boy Scout camps, I have found that wiping the bore after every shot allows for "all-day" shooting and continued accuracy as well as ease of loading. I learned this from Dutch Shoultz. Dr FiveX. I buy "unbleached" cotton muslin cloth by the yard, wash it thoroughly to remove the starch sizing, then tear it into strips. The strips are stacked and cut into squares. This way I can make several hundred in a few minutes. I take a handful of these and immerse in plain water then squeeze out the excess leaving them damp but not overly wet.

After shooting, the damp patch is run down and up once using a range rod with the correctly sized jag, then discarded. Barrel condition is maintained uniformly from shot to shot helping with accuracy and there is no build-up of powder fouling. On some days each of our rifles are fired more than 300 times without problems. When there is a problem it is usually because someone allowed their wiping patches to get too dry and the cleaning rod gets stuck.

 

[loose noose]

What Curator said except before soaking the patch material in water I put water soluble oil in with the water, all day shooting I prefer 3-1 water to oil. Otherwise I use anywhere from 5-1 to 7-1 depending on the caliber of the firearm and to what it likes. I then let it sit flat on a clean surface and let it dry. All you have left is the oily moist patch that doesn't affect the powder.

I've gone on several trail shoots using this combination with my Thompson Hawkins and fired 25 rounds with out a problem. I keep the patches in a 35mm canister, which seems to work just fine.

 

[alsaqr]

i hate swabbing between shots and refuse. i often fire 20-30 rounds without swabbing.

The Irish once fired an entire match without swabbing. The powder available to the Irish was probably superior to any we have today except, perhaps, Swiss.

The Americans cleaned the fouling from their barrels after every shot, while the Irish fired the entire match without cleaning their muzzleloaders. This led to an impromptu 1,000-yard match between Rigby rifles and Sharps. The Herald reported: Mr. John Rigby’s challenge for a trial of the comparative merits of the famous Irish rifle with the American breech-loader, 25-rounds without cleaning, virtually proved no contest. The lowest Irish score was higher than the best American.”

The score was 321 to 201, with John Rigby again posting the highest numbers. Rigby then personally challenged one of the top American shooters, Gen. T.S. Dakin, to an unusual competition: five shots from the standing position at 1,000 yards Rigby outshot Dakin, 11 points to 7.

http://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/the-rigby-match-rifle-creedmoor-more/