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Thread: Blow tubes

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy Captain*Kirk's Avatar
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    Blow tubes

    Have any of you fabricated your own blow tubes for BPCR shooting, and if so, can you post pictures? The commercially available ones look like basically a piece of clear aquarium tubing attached to the rear of an empty case, to me.
    "Are you gonna pull those pistols, or whistle Dixie?"

  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master In Remembrance
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    Simple and easy,have one for each BP caliber rifle … drill out the primer pocket of the case and put a foot length of clear tubing in it from any hardware store
    Regards
    John

  3. #3
    Boolit Buddy Captain*Kirk's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by John Boy View Post
    Simple and easy,have one for each BP caliber rifle … drill out the primer pocket of the case and put a foot length of clear tubing in it from any hardware store
    Kinda what I thought. No o-rings, etc needed to seal the breech?
    "Are you gonna pull those pistols, or whistle Dixie?"

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Captain*Kirk View Post
    Kinda what I thought. No o-rings, etc needed to seal the breech?
    No. No o rings needed.

    In fact, many calibers work just fine with only the correct size clear plastic tube into the chamber. Blow-tubes are basic and very effective in most situations. The big exception is very hot weather with barrel in hot sun. .... and some others.

    A great many of the national records were set with blow-tubes. They do work.
    Chill Wills

  5. #5
    Boolit Grand Master

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    If your shooting several calibers drill out the cases for a 357 case and glue these in the cases with the body out then 1 tube and the cases slide in to the tube as needed.

  6. #6
    Boolit Grand Master In Remembrance
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    In order not to have a wet chamber blow tubing it’s best to use a tube in a case. Wet chambers is a No No
    I bow tube when the humidity is below 40% and patch when humidity is above 40%. Moist foul is the key
    Regards
    John

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Captain*Kirk View Post
    Have any of you fabricated your own blow tubes for BPCR shooting, and if so, can you post pictures? The commercially available ones look like basically a piece of clear aquarium tubing attached to the rear of an empty case, to me.
    That works (I turned the back of the case out to take a bigger tube = less restriction) but even simpler is a piece of tube that fits the chamber and too big for the rifling

  8. #8
    Boolit Buddy
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    with a browning hiwall fed with 5744, just blowing across the action and into the barrel will keep those unburnt grains out of the trigger department.

  9. #9
    Boolit Man
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    Someone already mentioned a simple length of a clear tube. Mine is similar. I used a piece of (long ago) clear tubing that was used to deliver cooling water. When it was made for the original purpose one end was expanded by putting the end in boiling water, pulling it out and putting it over a fitting. The result is the diameter is large enough that when I put it into a chamber I feel just a bit of resistance when it starts to go into the rifling. I can stop pushing it further then.

    It is a very simple device that resulted from reuse of an old component, but it works fine.

  10. #10
    Boolit Grand Master

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    If you go with the snug fitting plastic tube be sure to mark the mouth end as BP fouling has a horrible taste if you get the wrong end.

  11. #11
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by country gent View Post
    If you go with the snug fitting plastic tube be sure to mark the mouth end as BP fouling has a horrible taste if you get the wrong end.
    Yep ! that stuff will make you spit! its a good enough reason to go the extra trouble of fitting your tube to a drilled out case - guarantee if you just use a piece of clear tube you will eat the wrong end of it at some point ..................................

  12. #12
    Boolit Man
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    Quote Originally Posted by indian joe View Post
    Yep ! that stuff will make you spit! its a good enough reason to go the extra trouble of fitting your tube to a drilled out case - guarantee if you just use a piece of clear tube you will eat the wrong end of it at some point ..................................
    Yes. As an owner of a blow tube pictured I confirm it is true. Guess how I found out...

  13. #13
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by flynth View Post
    Someone already mentioned a simple length of a clear tube. Mine is similar. I used a piece of (long ago) clear tubing that was used to deliver cooling water. When it was made for the original purpose one end was expanded by putting the end in boiling water, pulling it out and putting it over a fitting. The result is the diameter is large enough that when I put it into a chamber I feel just a bit of resistance when it starts to go into the rifling. I can stop pushing it further then.

    It is a very simple device that resulted from reuse of an old component, but it works fine.
    I wasn't looking carefully and almost blew coffee out my nose. There' a passing resemblance to the below. Its the baculum from a raccoon.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Baculum.JPG  
    Last edited by Shanghai Jack; 06-27-2021 at 11:00 AM. Reason: add info

  14. #14
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    For what it is worth, yesterday I shot a Mid-range match at Cheyenne. 200y, 300, 600 yard match. I used a blow tube without cleaning all day. 42 shots in a row with no loss of accuracy. They work fine.
    Chill Wills

  15. #15
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shanghai Jack View Post
    I wasn't looking carefully and almost blew coffee out my nose. There' a passing resemblance to the below. Its the baculum from a raccoon.
    OH Look a single stage trigger /Ed

  16. #16
    Boolit Grand Master Don McDowell's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chill Wills View Post
    For what it is worth, yesterday I shot a Mid-range match at Cheyenne. 200y, 300, 600 yard match. I used a blow tube without cleaning all day. 42 shots in a row with no loss of accuracy. They work fine.
    The 60 degree temperature, off and on rain , and high humidity sure didn't hurt anything for keeping the fouling soft either.
    Long range rules, the rest drool.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Don McDowell View Post
    The 60 degree temperature, off and on rain , and high humidity sure didn't hurt anything for keeping the fouling soft either.
    Exactly why I did it. That rifle often shows it's very best accuracy when shot with a blow tube, BUT only when the conditions allow.

    On the other hand - Full sun on the barrel and 90F air temp. and the wiping rod would have been the rule.

    I did shoot 100-6x at the 200 stage using the blow tube and you know the tough winds we shot in all day.
    Chill Wills

  18. #18
    Boolit Grand Master Don McDowell's Avatar
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    The more I shoot at Cheyenne, the more I'm thinking it may be the toughest range in the country to shoot on.
    Long range rules, the rest drool.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

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