Basic question on real black and fouling

[brewer12345]

I have mostly shot fairly clean subs. I tried olde eynesford today and had a hard time dealing with fouling. I tried running a dry patch down the bore and could barely get it out. What am I doing wrong?

[LAGS]

I always use a Damp patch on anything I shoot

[brewer12345]

Ah. I assume this is just barely damp?

[country gent]

You don't say what you were shooting. Patched round balls, sabots, bullets? The lube used is not just to make loading easier and slow leading but to help with fouling control. The lube keeps the fouling soft. Lube can make a big difference in fouling. Crisco, SPG, light vegetable oils, along with some commercial made ones all work. For patched round balls work into patches. ( melt and soak patches or rub in with fingers ) For bullets minnies maxies work into work into grooves with fingers. For sabots a small amount placed in the bases cup. Dry hot conditions make real black harder to control the fouling.
There are a lot of home made lubes for muzzle loaders also. Crisco works well water pump oil mixed with water does good ( moose milk). Most fats and lards can be used when rendered down.

[Pipefitter]

Mix equal parts Murphy's oil soap, rubbing alcohol, and 3% hydrogen peroxide, (keep it in a dark bottle such as the peroxide comes in) one damp patch followed by 2 dry patches will work for cleaning the bore.

[brewer12345]

I was shooting patched ball with pre lubed patches. I think I just need to use a damp patch. I was using light charges so it took a long time to turn the bore into a sewer pipe.

[indian joe]

mix equal parts H2O + H2O + H2O +H2O - shake it for half an hour (on the floor of yr pickup on the way to the range will work) one damp patch and a couple dry should do it

[Good Cheer]

Yo brewer.
Various brands and granulations of black will leave different amounts of fouling with different loads in different guns in different kinds of weather. The amount of which type of lube that the burning powder is exposed to will also change the fouling. And too much of the wrong lube and you can get a tar ball clogging the ignition channel, not that it will probably ever happen to you but did to me. Nothing is ever simple is it?

Tinkering with your piece will be the way to find out what is going to work best for your shooting.

[1Hawkeye]

Damp patch and a good lube is the cure. I doesn't need to be ringing wet just damp enough you can tell its damp. A couple of swabs between shots and your good to go. Also a good lube will help keep the fowling soft So you could get a shot or two between swabbing.

[LAGS]

A Damp patch is exactly that , Damp.
It should not drip liquid if you squeeze it.
If I suspect that the patch I used was Wet , then I follow it up with a dry patch before loading the next round.
But when I am Done shooting for the day , I run a Wet Patch thru the bore , then clean the rifle good when I get home.

[rfd]

mix equal parts H2O + H2O + H2O +H2O - shake it for half an hour (on the floor of yr pickup on the way to the range will work) one damp patch and a couple dry should do it

what joe said ^^^^^^

that process and stuff has worked extremely well for hundreds of years ....

[dave951]

I have mostly shot fairly clean subs. I tried olde eynesford today and had a hard time dealing with fouling. I tried running a dry patch down the bore and could barely get it out. What am I doing wrong?

First off, what are you shooting? Round ball? Minie ball?

I've used Old E with great success in competition shooting minies and smoothbore. No problems at all with fouling. With Old E, I can shoot 40+ minies with no fouling issues. That said, I'm using beeswax/lard as my minie lube.

Since you say the fouling is hard, I have to ask what you're using as a lube? Anything petroleum based is going to render the fouling like concrete.

[rfd]

... Anything petroleum based is going to render the fouling like concrete.

not exactly so ... "gato feo #1" is a 19th century bullet lube that is a blend of 1 part sheep tallow, 1 part canning paraffin (gulf, etc), 1/2 part beeswax, and this lube will not foul front or rear stuffers. it was reported by mr. ugly cat himself that a chemist explained how canning paraffin lacks the hydrocarbons that other petroleum products contain, which are the culprits of that hard fouling. after a few decades of first hand experience with gato feo i've never had any fouling issues with lubed bpcr bullets or lubed muzzy patches. i rub it on patch strips and heat gun it into the cloth weave. the resulting lubed cloth strips aren't at all tacky and are rolled up, stuck in the shooting bag, or used to load a ball board. once i counted over 2 dozen consecutive gato feo patched shots with a .50 flinter and zero fouling control required. my powder of choice is always 3f swiss for tube and pan.

[dave951]

In the general context of lube, I wouldn't consider paraffin a petroleum product because of the hydrocarbon makeup so it's off the hook.

In the Scout project we ran this last summer, I ran an 1863 Remington Contract (aka Zouave) over 50 shots straight with no loss of accuracy. Fouling and loading was no worse than that on the 4th shot. Powder was basic 3f Schutzen, not as clean as Swiss, but nevertheless, the lube combo ran and ran and ran.

[waksupi]

Mix equal parts Murphy's oil soap, rubbing alcohol, and 3% hydrogen peroxide, (keep it in a dark bottle such as the peroxide comes in) one damp patch followed by 2 dry patches will work for cleaning the bore.

No hydrogen peroxide in firearms!

[charlie b]

I use Windex when at the range and trying to shoot small groups (followed by a dry patch). Just more convenient for me as the Windex dries faster.

But, I am also shooting paper patched slugs or a lubed bullet with a lubed felt wad behind them.

As others mentioned, it sounds like you need a better lube. I could shoot a ton of patched round balls without needing to swab the bore.

[Beerd]

Regular old spit works well. It's readily available and costs less than store bought too.
..

[Outpost75]

Indian Joe has it right. WATER!

Hydrogen peroxide causes rust. OK for "browning" barrels, but not in your bore.

Windex only works because it is mostly water. The alcohol and ammonia in it doesn't add anything.

A wee bit of Murphy's oil soap or Ivory as a surfactant does no harm, but really isn't necessary.

Leftover coffee from breakfast, urine or water soaked up from a muddy hoofprint works if it's all you have.

[Horseshoe prints are good. Unshod wild mustang and Indian pony prints are the very best.
Bear, cougar, mule and elk prints are also acceptable. Avoid cow, dog and coyote prints!]

Sarcasm mode OFFF

HOT water which evaporates of its own heat is favored, but if used you MUST absolutely oil bore IMMEDIATELY to prevent "flash" rusting of the bore. Plain USDA H1 food grade mineral oil from the pharmacy is best. Avoid "modern" gun oils having tons of space-age additives cowboys never heard of which are hard to remove and attack your BP.

SPG lube is best of the mass produced lubes.

If you mix your own lube a common mix is 50-50 by liquid melted volume of natural beeswax blending with either olive or canola oil, mutton or beef tallow, lard or Crisco.

In hot weather over 90 degs. F and for Cowboy cartridge loads use 1:3 oil, beeswax.

If you cannot get natural beeswax a 50-50 blend of Gulf canning wax (paraffin) and Vaseline is used with some success.

If you must use a substitute for natural beeswax using anhydrous lanolin to blend with paraffin as a plasticiser instead of Vaseline is much better.

Bag Balm also works for this purpose.

[longcruise]

Regular old spit works well. It's readily available and costs less than store bought too.
..

Yes it's as simple as anything else to shoot all day without wiping. Low humidity won't effect it the way it can with some of the miracle lubes.

I have shot some respectable scores by Loading a well slobbered on patch without wiping all day.

[gon2shoot]

It would appear that a cotton cloth impregnated with tobbaco juice is acceptable.