ML cleaning frequency

[charger 1]

This frikin PH musketoon of mine wants a wire brush before and after each shot. It aint a matter of projectile charge or lube, I've been all over he11s creation on that and back again. No matter what I fire out of it or how I fire it, I'll be wire brushin. If not the next round does the chunka chunka ride on the way down ie not smooth all the way, and she's a garaunteed flier. Lap the bore or what?

[Maven]

charger1, Since I use Pyrodex (by necessity rather than by choice), I don't really need to swab my rifles' bbls. after each shot, but since I want accuracy, I do it as a matter of course. However, my new (to me) flintlock, requires BP not Pyro. After firing, I experienced exactly what you did and didn't much like it either. You can try several things, but lap only as a last resort. Since you've already monkeyed with the lube, try:

1) Damp swabbing the bore with your favorite BP solvent after each shot followed by a dry patch. Moose Milk, home-brewed or commercial, works for me.

2) After seating the projectile, but PRIOR TO capping the rifle, swab the bore with another dry patch. This is more for accuracy and to maintain a consistent bore condition than anything else.

3) Try another brand of BP or a finer granulation (FFFg) or both, but if the latter, reduce the charge by 10gr. Trust me, this may be easier said than done (see my comment about Pyrodex above).

4) After cleaning the bbl., polish the bore with either 000 steel wool or the synthetic version of it that Scotch brand/3M makes: It's dark grey and can be found in the paint/paint prep section of hardware stores. Cut it so that it makes a tight fit in your bbl. and use as you would a cleaning patch or bore brush and until it becomes worn. Use as many as necessary to smooth/polish the bore.

5) As an alternative, or even addition to the above, try red auto body (rubbing) compound on a tight patch, followed by a solvent-soaked patch (e.g., mineral spirits), then more patches with white autobody compound, etc.

6) Take musketoon to the range & retest. If no improvement, carefully lap it or embed 5 - 20 projectiles with lapping compound (I use whatever grit Veral Smith sold me.) and fire them with very light charges of BP. Clean that puppy and test yet again, etc.

Btw, the flintlock rifle came to me with a filthy, somewhat rough bore. I.e., it was fouled from muzzle to breech, with some rough spots here and there. To get it to a point to that satisfied me, I did everything except #'s 3 & 6. It will now put 3 into 1" @ 50yd. with GOEX FFg, but the weather hasn't been good enough lately for me to retest with different patch thicknesses & RB diameters. However, I will shift to FFFg in the near future.

[northmn]

I have never used wire brushes in a muzzle-loader as they can be rather difficult to extract. When you claim a wire brush are you using stainless steel which may be scratching the bore? Mavens advice on how to polish the bore is sound. A muzzleloader should be capable of being shot accurately 5-10 times in a row without cleaning or swabing minimum. Even in matches I would shoot 5 straight and then swab. Are you shooting minnie ball or patched ball? Your problems sound like either a bad bore or the wrong lube.

Northmn

[charger 1]

shooting a minie, should I say minies of all sizes shapes and types. A swab wont do. it wants that bronze. 4 different lubes from homemade to store bought

[Junior1942]

PM me your snailmail address and I'll send you a free bottle of Junior Lube. If you don't like it, you owe me nothing. One requirement: don't run a brush down the bore until after you've given up on the Junior Lube. Use only cotton swabs and hot water. A touch of dishwash liquid is ok. Followed by a rinse, of course.

PS: lube the bore with sodium free cooking oil--only!

[northmn]

Bores can be checked with one of those small flexible lights you can buy in various stores now. If you have a ball or patch puller put a white cloth down the bore and look at it with the light. I you so not have a puller put some powder under the nipple and shoot it out. Crisco or a Crisco generic has always worked as a lube for me. Likely not as well as Juniors but it can give you a start on the problem. Some of the commercial lubes have been notorious for the problems you are talking about. On the down side, Crisco does not hold up as well in extreme hot weather. Some even put the lube in the hollow base for added lube. I found in flintlocks that a certain minimum powder charge seemed to keep them shooting better as too little seemed to also foul. Some muskets have a very large hole in the nipple, you may also try playing with the powder charge a little more if you have been shooting light ones (or very heavy ones).

Northmn

[freedom475]

ALL traces of petroleum based oils, solvents and lubes must be completely removed with boiling water and never ever used again! Run patches SOAKED in bore butter down the barrel after the gun is loaded for a while. This will "season" the bore and fouling will almost stop . Minnies sometimes don't hold enough lube so some patched RB's will sure help.

Use "Bore Butter"-Generously- for everything from solvent to storing oil. It can be hardend a little with bee's wax for warm weather, but it only takes a dot of wax.

I'll bet that after a little the bore will smooth out nicely.

It is sold under several names...one of them is "Natual Lube 1000" the 1000 is because when it was being developed a rifle was fired over 1000 times without a single swabing.

I remember as a kid after about 10 or 15 shots the barrel would "gum" up so bad that a RB would fit tight without a patch:mrgreen:.

Hope this helps, Keep us posted:Fire:

[shooter575]

Charger,been shooting minnes [N-SSA ]for 30 years All events are 5 min rapid fire max so any load must be able to shoot 10-15 rounds before any swaping can be done.This is with a .001-
.002 under bore minne.
The first round in a clean bore should allmost fall down the bore.The 10th one should go down with just a bit more effort.But still a one handed push. If you are getting a hard fouling it is one of two things crapy powder or lube failure.[a possable 3rd would be a badly pitted bore]
fff will usualy foul less than ff
Some minnes need a bunch of lube ie grease grouves and some in the base.I use a custon die in a lubersizer.They can be had in all the .58 dia.
As for cleaning I use a range rod with a jag.Run a couple wet patchs then a few dry.That will get you through the next relay.
Minne lube should be about like lard or old crisco in hardness.Real bees wax and somthing slippery will all work.I like neetsfoot oil or olive.Crisco will work also but will eventuly go rancid.50%/50% is a good start.In hot weather up the BW x 10-15%

[Rattus58]

I was thinking that same thing.... I'd suggest that you try some bore paste like J&B or maybe even more severe application of firelapping or just lapping your bore with valve grinding paste might be in order... :)

Aloha... :cool: