Uniform Ball Seating

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

No I do not.  I suspect that the coating on the 'chamber' simply reduces the volume that is available to the new powder while the flash channel remains clear.  What will interfere with ignition is trying to clean that area with either a wet mop or a scraper.  That'll block the flash hole.

[moleeyes36]

No I do not.  I suspect that the coating on the 'chamber' simply reduces the volume that is available to the new powder while the flash channel remains clear.  What will interfere with ignition is trying to clean that area with either a wet mop or a scraper.  That'll block the flash hole.

That's also been my experience because when I clean the rifle at the end of the day I get very little crud on the breech scraper.  Consequently, I don't think there could have been much build-up on the breech face in the first place.

Mole Eyes

[Daryl]

Some of the fellows on this site have noted some cap-locks having ignition trouble in events where the competitors wipe every shot as in chunk shooting.  This fouling trouble seems to be from pushing the fouling down into the hole in the breech, eventually plugging the flash channel itself.  With the side ignition of the flinter, if pricked, that lock would not be prone to plugging as much.

Seems to me, this is one reason why Dan built his 18 pound plank rifle as a flinter - less likely to foul the ignition with a flint gun, than a cap gun.

I don't use a breech scraper, nor does Taylor as we remove the barrels for cleaning, immersing the breech in a vessel of water and pump/flush out the fouling.  My ML's are much quicker to clean than my modern guns.

[Bob Roller]

I have watched shooters with various old and new long range muzzle loaders at the 500 yard range at Friendship wipe the barrels and then explode a cap after every shot.
 That makes fifty shots per box of caps and fifty to
blow the fouling out of the flash channel.

Bob Roller

[SCLoyalist]

There's a little bit of data here :

http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_experiments/bpcompress/bpcompress.html

Since it addresses only one load for one gun, one conclusion is that similar experiments in your gun would be called for.

[Canute Rex]

With respect to "whanging" the rammer down the barrel, there is a reasonable variation.

My rifle has a solid brass ramrod, made by the previous owner to steady the muzzle. It is a weighty item. I use gravity to seat the ball, as it tends to stay the same over time and place (understatement alert). After getting the ball just touching the powder I lift the ramrod a uniform distance out of the barrel and let it drop on the ball. As long as I get the distance right I get the same force on the ball.

That said, Hungry Horse wins the prize. Shoot more and pay attention while you do. People get caught up in making adjustments when it is consistency and repetition that matter.