lube your sabots?

[XWrench3]

has any one done this on a steady basis? i remember doing it a couple of times when i first got my gun to see if it would make loading the bullet easier. which it does. but i was a bit worried about some of it ending up in the powder, which would not do velocities any good at all. the reason i am asking is i just finished cleaning a bunch of plastic from my barrel. and i am thinking this might stop it from ever happening.

[corey012778]

you don't have to lube modern sabots. in some cases, you want an tight fitting sabot.

you could always try different sabot
http://www.mmpsabots.com/

http://www.harvestermuzzleloading.com/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=7&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=3&vmcchk=1&Itemid=18

hope that helps

[BABore]

Put them in a bagie with a pinch of motor mica and toss. Ed's Red, with its healthy dose of acetone, cuts the plastic fouling right out.

[XWrench3]

where do you find motor mica? and what the heck is it?

[quilbilly]

My T/C Greyhawk shoots best with the outside of the sabot lightly greased with 1000+ lube. My T/C White Mtn. Carbine does not. Neither will shoot if any significant grease is in the cup ut both want the bore lightly greased for best accuracy. Every muzzleloading rifle has a personality.

[Maven]

XWrench3, Motor Mica is a powdered dry lubricant, which is sold by various sources, both automotive and gun related. However, if you'd rather not buy something else, why not try graphite in a plastic bag + sabots or even talcum powder in a plastic bag with sabots?

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Scrub away heartily to remove the plastic fouling. It is easier than lightly lubing. Not !

BvT

[skullmount]

the reason i am asking is i just finished cleaning a bunch of plastic from my barrel. and i am thinking this might stop it from ever happening.

I fought with a Knight (my first ml) seems like at every turn, until I found an article on checking out and lapping the barrel if need be. And mine really improved after I did. Less fouling and easier to load....... and more accurate to boot !

Try this simple test. Clean your bore as you normaly do. Swab the bore out 3 to 5 times with a patch saturated with rubbing alcohol, it will dry pretty quickly. Next take a cotton ball, tear it apart useing only about a quarter of it. We are not trying to "swab" the bore with it, we need it to be loose and opened up a bit. I use a small diameter rifle cleaning rod for slowly pushing it thru the bore. Look thru the bore into a light and look for tiny pieces of cotton hanging up in there. When I did mine years ago I was amazed at the amount of cotton that got hung up on the rough spots in the bore. Although I since have cast laps in place, to lap other muzzleloaders, for this Knight I just used a patch over my jag with some valve grinding compound....as I recall I only had to lap about 100 strokes. My brother took 2 deer on a cull hunt a few years back with this gun and both deer were over 100 yards distant.

[XWrench3]

I will try your technique skullmount. it sounds like a good test. but, i have to say, WOW! VALVE GRINDING COMPOUND!?!? REALLY??? man, i would never think about anything that course! sends chills up my spine just thinking about it. i am not critisizing, i just would never have thought about anything that rough. i am VERY familiar with it, as my log in suggests, i used to be a mechanic. it will remove some hardened steel in a short time. i didnt think rifle barrels would be that hard. i am also suprised that you had a problem with a knight, they were top of the line in their day. but i know, it is like everything else, once in a while one slips out that shouldnt have. a couple of years back i bought a marlin 1895g. the barrel in that was so rough that it would start to tear apart patches in 4 strokes! that was my first experience with firelapping. i bought a "final finish sytem" kit from midway usa made by david tubbs. that worked wonders on that rifle. now it is the easiest cleaning rifle i won. plus it increaded the accuracy. not by a lot, but it dropped a 3/4" average @ 100 yards. did it decrease the usefull life of the barrel? probably, but i am already in my mid fifties, i am absoloutly certain it will outlast me!

[skullmount]

I will try your technique skullmount. it sounds like a good test. but, i have to say, WOW! VALVE GRINDING COMPOUND!?!? REALLY??? man, i would never think about anything that course! sends chills up my spine

X,
I was freaked out at first too !

The lead lap is very soft compared to the steel barrel, ....the grit digs into the lead way more than the steel.

Just go slow with it and the amount of grit you add to the lap.

Get that Ned Roberts book, there is a whole section on lapping........