The solid soft lead bullet is undoubtably the best and most satisfactory expanding bullet that has ever been designed. It invariably mushrooms perfectly, and never breaks up. With the metal base that is essential for velocities of 2000 f.s. and upwards to protect the naked base, these metal-based soft lead bullets are splendid.
John Taylor - "African Rifles and Cartridges"
Forget everything you know about loading jacketed bullets. This is a whole new ball game!
With My CVA 58cal, it was burning patches with120gr homebrew. Backed off to 100grains and presto, still hitting about the same place at 100yds but tighter groups. Fired 4 shots yesterday, 2 touching at 50yds with.570 pure lead and 2 touching at 100yds with .562 wheel weight balls (it seems to love wheel weight). Fired 1 shot at 100yds with .570 soft lead and hit level and a couple of inches to the left, actually about smack centre of the target. Now to be honest I don`t expect to be able to do that again any time soon.
we too easy forget or assume stuff !!!! Nobody uses cloth patches that are not 100% cotton or linen .......or do they?? I didnt ask I just assumed the op knew this ? maybe he didnt or forgot to check the roll it came from .....looking again at those patches they look more burnt in the middle than blown or jagged if there is a mix of synthetic (polyester/cotton) they not gonna work - hey also mighty thin for a heavy charge
What waksupi said....................
Also, is there any indication that the sharp edged rifling is cutting the patch? If newly machined sharp edges hang up on the patch, a little lapping of the bore is in order. Several hundred passes with a tight cloth wad dressed with Flitz.
I cant stand bore butter. IMO its not a good preserver or rust preventer..or even a lube for that matter, atleast not down in deep south texas where its hot and humid all year long. Others have had great results but its not for me. I also dont believe it "seasons" the bore...again just my opinion.
The solid soft lead bullet is undoubtably the best and most satisfactory expanding bullet that has ever been designed. It invariably mushrooms perfectly, and never breaks up. With the metal base that is essential for velocities of 2000 f.s. and upwards to protect the naked base, these metal-based soft lead bullets are splendid.
John Taylor - "African Rifles and Cartridges"
Forget everything you know about loading jacketed bullets. This is a whole new ball game!
Heard tell about mixing soluble oil n water ... soaking patch's in it ... then allowing them to dry for a oiled patch practically dry.
Anybody done this?
Yep Balistol and water. 1 part Balistol & 7 parts water. Mine still burned patches though. I haven`t tried it since I backed off from 120gr powder to 100gr. I`m using olive oil, just enough to dampen the patches and that works for me. Balistol is inconsistent in obtaining down here.
moose milk = water soluble oil and water. some will add in hydrogen peroxide and/or soap (which is the original Dutch Shoultz MM formula), and i would never add in those ingredients. water soluble oil can be ballistol or NAPA or any similar substitute.
as to the ratio of oil and water, that can be whatever works best for a particular gun and load.
MM can be used wet or allowed to dry on the patches or patch strips. if going dry, it's important to allow the patches or patch strips lie level so that the mm saturation is evenly distributed along the patch cloth.
dry MM patching was developed by Dutch primarily for target use in percussion rifles, using tight patched ball loads and a complimentary fouling procedure. it may not be for everyone. been there, done that, that system isn't for me. c'est la vie. ymmv.
MM is, however, good for fouling control on a patch or patch/brush combo and i use a 1:6 mix of ballistol:water. if it applies to your gun type, just remember that those offshore trad ml's have patent breeches that need special fouling control and cleaning attention.
MM works great for me - shoot forever without fouling - but thats shooting damp on the range and we need a clean string of 12 at least in a half hour to 45 minutes -- hunting is different - a few shots only, first shot is the money shot, heavier charges, proly need an overpowder wad plus the oil or greasy patch ball
TheOutlawKid, you just struck an interesting point. Stating deep south texas. Humid you bet your sweet bippy. So it seems the ambient humidity percentages has more to do with Borebutter failing us smoke pole shooters than those willing to admit. Here in NM, the humidity is on the dry/low side. Something else I am seeing is what mineral content is in the water in different parts of the country contributing to the rust/pitting issues associated with the use of Pyrodex. We all know salts in any form contribute to rust...... be it flash rust or balls to the wall gouging rust/pitting.
Has anyone experimented with long term barrel care using only Distilled Water? Inquiring minds want to know.
there is no need for distilled water and trad muzzleloaders. there is no need for any commercial or DIY "cleaning" concoctions. plain tepid tap water is all that's needed for cleaning out the tube and lock - but ONLY if the gun has been well maintained. screw up once and don't clean it well or at all and you WILL need concoctions to remedy the evil your procrastination has created towards your beloved muzzy. once cleaned, oil the metal with any manner of good and proper oil. for long term storage i leave a heavily oiled patched rod down the bore and resting on the breech plug.
rfd, the reason I posted this comment, is because I have learned recently that some people's water supply has some sulfur content. Some have minute salt content.
for the purpose of fouling control or cleaning, ain't gonna matter at all. just look at what's in most "powder solvents" these dayze, and maybe what they don't tell ya is in that stuff. the act of cleaning out a trad muzzy don't need to be made out to be rocket science. my house water softener system is salt based and i've had zero effects of using just that water to clean out trad muzzys for the last 30+ years. this is a transient use of water and it's always followed up with oil. it's not like the metal will be left standing indefinitely in straight water that has traces of salt or sulphur or whatever.
it's both the pre-cleaning and final cleaning procedures that are most important.
i employ a 1:6 moose milk solution for fouling control at the range (IF need be). after the last shot of the day i liberally run a few wet MM patches down the bore with a jagged ramrod (and if it's an offshore trad ml i'll switch to a patch draped brush to get into the ante-chamber for all fouling and cleaning processes), spray the lock with MM, then i'll leave a sloppy wet MM patched rod in the tube during the trip back home - this keeps all the BP residue soft. the final cleaning is to butt stand a pinned barrel trad muzzy, plug the touch hole with a toothpick and 3/4 fill it with plain tepid tap water. while it's standing i pull the lock and dunk it in a pot of plain tepid tap water. the barrel water is dumped and the bore is swabbed with MM saturated patches - only takes a few - then dry patches then a straight oiled wet patch and it's done. the lock is tooth brushed, rinsed, shaken off, excess water removed with paper towels, MM or wd40 sprayed wet, excess removed with paper towels, bearing surfaces lightly oiled, lock goes back on, done. it should be noted that non-toxic water soluble oils like ballistol are good for the wood, so whatever MM or straight oil spills onto the stock wood is not a problem, it's a good thing. i like ballistol a lot and use it to clean/lube all my guns - handguns, rifles, shotguns. life is good.
FWIW, in the matter of MM ball patching, either damp or dry, using tap water that might contain traces of salt or other corrosive compounds - i did a LOT of testing with these kinda patches per the dutch regimen and never had any metal issues as a result. i tested with both distilled water and water softener salted water. MM ratios varied from 1:4 to 1:10. i tested at least 70 of each flavor of patching over a period of a week, about 4 or 5 years ago. there were no ill gun metal effects for using both types of water. as to using wet or dry MM for patch lubing, not my cup of tea and went back to gato feo or straight tallow. ymmv.
Does anyone use cream of wheat on top of powder ?
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |