shooting without wiping between shots

[Mike R]

If you wipe with a wet patch between shots you will get misfires as the sludge tends to plug up the touchhole, especially with a tight jag/patch.  Twisting it at the bottom seemed to make the matter considerably worse.   At least that is my experience.  Now I wipe with just a barely moist patch and a jag turned down a little so there is not much scrubbing action going down yet still  enough jag to pucker up the patch so it picks up the fouling come out.  This has no significant misfire problem even if I twist the rod at the bottom.   So I think tuning the jag a little to keep it off the walls going down is a positive thing to do along with a barely moist patch.  I chucked mine up in the drill press and spun it a little against some emory paper.  Only removed maybe a hundreth and it has made a world of difference for me. 

This has been my experience too.  I agree, and I agree with the apparent majority here that wiping between shots may not be necessary--it just is not my personal experience.  In my earlier days I used a pretty wet spit patch on the range, but had such a tight load that reloading became a bother after a couple of shots, and that is when I started swabbing in earnest.  I was using an old GRRW choked .45 barrel--the most accurate one I have ever owned, with a .445 ball and .015 patch [and 65 gr fffg].  Lately I have been using "grease" patches of various recipes in larger bore rifles [tallow, wonder lube, etc] and may be using too dry a patch, leading to my "fouling problem".  I have not recognized this as a problem becuse of my earlier experience with wet patches leading to the same "condition"--that is the need to swab frequently.  I have vowed to try wetter patches next time out--right now my range is closed for deer season, which is interminably long here abouts...

[Daryl]

 We had both shot off close to 50 shots without wiping when this video was taken. I see no loading difficulty with either gun, mine a .45 rifle, and Hatchet Jack's a 20 bore smoothie.  This is normal loading practise for both of us - we were in no hurry, but focused on loading for the camera.

[Long John]

I used to wipe between shots but quit many years ago. And my lube is not one of those sloppy wet lubes, it is bear grease/ bees wax mixture.  I found that there was a load in my rifle that fouled very little and it is also the most accurate load.  So I just reload and shoot.  I have found that it helps if I do not wait too long to reload for as the moisture in the fouling disipates it become harder to reload.  I think the wax in the lube is an important additive; without it the loading is much harder.  It is not uncommon for me to shoot 50 rounds without wiping.

Best Regards,

John Cholin

[northmn]

Getting back to D. Boone.  If you give it thought he likely was cleaning between shots.  Back then powder and shot was expensive and one carried that load until he had a reason to shoot again.  If time permitted he cleaned and the loaded a fresh round.  Wasn't safety, just preservation of loads as it was easier to clean one shot than a bunch.  I used to shoot five shots and clean between relays.  Never had a problem.  Used fairly tight combinations.

DP

[Leatherbelly]

  I always wipe between shoots! Yep,fifty or sixty shots and then I wash and wipe! Don't forget to dry and lube!

[peterw]

I shoot without wiping, especially during competition or training. I use greased felt wad and dry patch. This combination gives me more consistent shoot then greased patch only and I don't need wiping. With greased felt wad end dry patch I could shoot all day. 50 - 80  rounds  is no problem (during MLAIC competition I shoot only 13). For more recreational shooting I use greased patch only. It is cheaper but  I need to wipe after 40- 50 rounds. I need to use more liquid grease too. 

[Daryl]

Peter- what kind of grease do you use?

[peterw]

40% beeswax /60% "Planta". (edit: "Planta" is margarine).  This is for felt wad. It is rather hard grease. I grease circumference of wad only. For greased patch I add olive oil. The consistency should be like cream.   

[Daryl]

tks, peterw

[jerrywh]

I use a combo of liquid hand soap and non freezing ww washer sovent. I can shoot all day without wiping. My gun seems to load esier after the second or third shot. After a shoot I wipe the barrel and the patch is hardley black at all. 
  The solution to making sure the ball is all the way down is to mark the ram rod. Keep the horn away from the barrel. Keep you hand away from the line of the bore and your face away when putting the powder down the barrel out of the powder measure.
  Don't BS on the firing line.
 I get nervous when I see a bunch of guys crowding around the bond fire with powder horns on.
 Daryl talked me into using a good  wet patch. Best tip I ever had. Thanks Daryl. I use a combo of liquid hand soap and non freezing ww washer solvent. I can shoot all day without wiping. My gun seems to load easier after the second or third shot. After a shoot I wipe the barrel and the patch is hardly black at all. 
  The solution to making sure the ball is all the way down is to mark the ram rod. Keep the horn away from the barrel. Keep you hand away from the line of the bore and your face away when putting the powder down the barrel out of the powder measure.
  Don't BS on the firing line.
 I get nervous when I see a bunch of guys crowding around the bond fire with powder horns on.
 Daryl talked me into using a good  wet patch. Best tip I ever had. Thanks Daryl.

[swordmanjohn]

Ive been wiping between shots for years and it gives me that first shot accuracy (consistant loading is the key). I takes me all of 5 seconds to wipe once or twice with a damp patch of hopes 9plus (no not dripping wet).
But whether you wipe between each shot or load a extra tight load that wipes it each time anyway , its all just a matter of prefference.   The only tie breaker i see is the matter of safety by wipping to  avoid pre-ignition of hot embers.

[Leatherbelly]

  I get consistent one-shot fouling with a tight wet patch- load.

[Daryl]

I use a combo of liquid hand soap and non freezing ww washer sovent. I can shoot all day without wiping. My gun seems to load esier after the second or third shot. After a shoot I wipe the barrel and the patch is hardley black at all. 
  The solution to making sure the ball is all the way down is to mark the ram rod. Keep the horn away from the barrel. Keep you hand away from the line of the bore and your face away when putting the powder down the barrel out of the powder measure.
  Don't BS on the firing line.
 I get nervous when I see a bunch of guys crowding around the bond fire with powder horns on.
 Daryl talked me into using a good  wet patch. Best tip I ever had. Thanks Daryl. I use a combo of liquid hand soap and non freezing ww washer solvent. I can shoot all day without wiping. My gun seems to load easier after the second or third shot. After a shoot I wipe the barrel and the patch is hardly black at all. 
  The solution to making sure the ball is all the way down is to mark the ram rod. Keep the horn away from the barrel. Keep you hand away from the line of the bore and your face away when putting the powder down the barrel out of the powder measure.
  Don't BS on the firing line.
 I get nervous when I see a bunch of guys crowding around the bond fire with powder horns on.
 Daryl talked me into using a good  wet patch. Best tip I ever had. Thanks Daryl.

 Jerry- you are most certainly welcome.  Also - you are repeating yourself    --   is this an age thing  - or merely an attempt to 'get the word out'?

  I see wiping between shots are being for two reasons. 1/. - choice - as in Swordmanjohn's post above. It's a free world.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- 2/.,- "have to" - this is where Jerry's repeating post hopefully gets through.  Not only the condition of the patch's lube, BUT - the crown is of utmost importance. If the ball is hard to start- curts the patch, falttens out the ball as it refuses to swage into the bore, the crown needs attentions. It is as simple as shoving a cleaning patch down the bore about 2", then getting a piece of emery cloth, grit 320, and using your thumb rotating back and forth- turn the barrel 90 degrees and doing it some more - do it wet, do it dry, doesn't matter - it will change the crown to where anyone can load a tight combo.

  My wife, at 120 pounds when we were married, or 125 pounds now, has no difficulty loading the combinations I've been speaking of. She is not strong - yet finds seating and pushing the balls down no problem - no hammering needed - whack, push - done. The crown of her rifle barrel is not coned, but has a nicely radiused crown with no sharp angled edges as on ALL comercial barrels and some custom ones as well.  Many crowns are cut on lathes with acursory wipe with emery and that's it. They have sharp edges or corners. These edges or corners cause the ball to wad-up and refuse to swage into the bore with the patch. The also cut the patch at the lands which are also sharp.  Smoothing these crown edges is a simple matter and is all we do.

[Leatherbark]

I use TOW's mink oil melted and soaked into my No.40 cotton drill cloth and then squeezed out.
I use this patch in a GM round ball barrel. I feel that it pushes the fouling back down onto the powder charge.
I feel the need to swab whenever the hard ash is really sticking to the barrel walls down next to the firing end. Whenever I start to feel "Crunching" of the ball/patch trying to push this stuff down is when I swab. I use either spit or the 91% alcohol.
I'm sure that if one were shooting for an extra small group from a bench that swabbing between shots would be more accurate, but most of my shooting in the woods or at match is offhand.

Now my guns do seem more accurate with spit as a patch............................Bob