The muzzle's condition is very important, vital even, to allow a nice tight combination to be loaded. If the muzzle's crown has sharp, maching cut corners or bevels, these 'corners' will cut the patch of a snug combination, making loose combinations feel tight. A loose combination will allow fouing buildup in the bore, which will make loading difficult- the 2nd, 3rd- 10th or 20th becoming hard to shove down. If this happens, the patch must be thicker - or if alredy thck, must have more lube in it, whether it is spit, water, water/alcohol/oil mix or whatever. Most all patch lubes work - bu tthe patch musrt be wet - damp, or licked, doesn't work. The barrel is long, enough lube must be used to remain wet all the way down, and back out again.
Note the starters - they all have a long shaft, a short stud and a hole. The short stud is for putting the ball into the bore to start it as in the video sequence. This puts it straight in with even pressure on each side. The hole in the starter is for putting over the end of the rod, to seat the ball on the powder, the same every shot - as in the video.
Always remember - in muzzleloading shooting, consistancy is 50% of your accuracy. Do it exactly the same, every time. Use a method of loading, that you can exactly duplicate every time. This is what we do.
Crowning a machine-beveled barrel. A piece of emery cloth, 320 grit or wet/dry paper in 320 grit is pushed into the bore with the end of the thumb. Rotated, the thumb radiuses and smooths the machine cut crown, making it patch friendly.
Rotate the barrel periodically, which will ensure a perfectly even crown. Using this method, you can nicely crown a muzzle in 10 to 15 minutes. I put a cloth patch down into the bore a couple inches before crowning to collect the grit and dust. This is easily retrieved by tweezers or long needlenosed pliers - or with a worm on a rod.
