Trapdoor shooters - hints, tricks on bore swabbing, thorough cleaning, etc.?
I have been shooting BP for over 55 years so am well versed on cleaning round ball rifles, rifled muskets, revolvers, etc. BUT, I have found a decent Springfield 45/70 trapdoor and am in the process of purchasing it from a good member here and by design, it is a “different animal” from a muzzleloader.
My question pertains to swabbing the bore when shooting between shots or strings of shots and a thorough cleaning after a shooting session. On muzzleloaders, I usually use a fiberglass, wood or brass cleaning rod with a muzzle protector bushing and use a jag to wet and dry patch to remove fouling when necessary.
On my Smith carbine, which is easy as it is a break action, I usually wet and dry patch to remove fouling when shooting by using wet and dry patching from the breech towards the muzzle, pushing the fouling towards and out of the muzzle so it does not build up in the chamber/breech area.
I know that the trapdoor was historically cleaned from the muzzle. That is obvious from the muzzle wear seen on many of them. I’m planning on shooting the trapdoor often and of course I can give it a good and complete cleaning after shooting sessions. During shooting sessions – for trapdoor owners – what is your normal method of wet/dry patching when necessary to take care of fouling build up. If running a wet patch down from the muzzle and then dry patching – it seems to me that you could be pushing a lot of fouling into the chamber of the rifle which could cause issues when chambering the next cartridge.
Close breech and mark rod to know when you are at the throat and don’t go beyond? Open breech and push patch through to open breech past the chamber?
Or – am I “over-thinking” on what the actual fouling will be as far as build up? I’ll be starting out with Grafs (Goex) 2F and the Lee 459-405 HB with finger lubed grooves.
I have never used a blow tube before so also have some question on using one. I understand the principle of them and keeping fouling soft – I figured I would use a section of flexible plastic tubing for one – but what diameter ID would work best? I am assuming it is inserted in the open breech so the end is near where the throat/rifling meet? Will a blow tube eliminate the necessity of wet/dry patching after a number of shots?
I used to shoot N-SSA so am fully aware of what the fouling build up can be in a rifled musket during a relay when quite a few rounds are fired. However, I am wondering if I am over estimating what the fouling build up can be in the bore of a 45/70 trapdoor? Historically, a trooper/soldier utilizing a McKeever cartridge pouch would have a minimum of 20 rounds available and I am assuming that through field trials, a quantity of 20 BP rounds could be fired during an engagement – or more than 20 – without a lot of fouling issues or other issues that would prevent the firearm from being fired.
For those that normally shoot BP loads in their trapdoors – any hints, tricks, etc. in regards to the fouling when shooting and the overall cleaning of the trapdoor after a shooting session would be appreciated. I’m trying to think ahead so that I can have what I need on hand once I get the rifle to shoot. On a thorough cleaning of a trapdoor – any issues with removing the barrel, putting the breech in to a bucket of hot soapy water and using a patch and jag to draw the water up into the bore, etc. to remove fouling (I use this method for many of my muzzleloaders – and then completely drying the barrel inside and out, the breech block, etc. and then re-oiling the breechblock internals and bore, etc.?
Thanks!
