Swabbing between shots???

[Chemman]

So I have a .32 and a .45 with Green Mountain barrels.  Both are flintlocks I plan on using Graf and Son's black powder, 3F in the flash pan and as a charge.  Have a pound of 4F which will be put in the flash pan from time to time.  Shot the .32 the other day and second and 3rd ball was a bit difficult to get seated and they were a bit off the bull.   

What is the best way to clear the barrel before loading the next shot?

   

[WadePatton]

You'll get more than one answer on this. I think most threads have been called it "wiping" if you've searched or want to.

What I think is simplest and best is to load a SNUG combination such there is no residue build up.  I learned it from Daryl Sapergia on this forum.  This comes up over and over and over.  There's a whole host of fellows who shoot that way-they regularly shoot many dozens of shots or all-day-long, without ever once "wiping/swabbing".  As now I can.

There's another school of thought who refuses to push down such a snug load, for various reasons/notions, and they develop a schedule for their guns of wiping every x amount of shots. 

And of course bench and competition shooters who cannot reload immediately (before fouling hardens) will wipe every shot for ultimate bore consistency.

If I were you I'd keep trying slighter thick patching until the wiping issue resolved itself. In 32 cal, a ball starter may not be needed at all.

Welcome to the forum and read around--there's LOTS of info here.

[Marcruger]

Right Wade, I agree.  I used to wipe between shots, as I was taught by a target shooter. 

I read Daryl's tutorials (thank you Daryl) on not wiping and it made tons of sense to this engineer's brain.  When you wipe, you push the grunge to the bottom of the bore.  You then put the powder on top of that, and then the ball.  When you fire, and wipe again, you drive more crud to the bottom of the bore. 

When you use "wet patching" and no wiping, you put the powder in first with no wiping.  Then the wet patch on the ball wipes the bore for you as it goes down.  The crud goes on TOP of the powder, and get's blown out when the shot is fired.  I also find the wet patch easier to push down the bore.  I happen to use Hoppe's BP lube as it feels slipperiest to me when loading.  Other lubes work great too. 

I have had a lot less instances of delayed firing, or failure to fire with Daryl's method.  I am not positive why, but I have suspicions. 

Also, clean up is much easier.  There is not a big blob of fire hardened crud stuck to the breech face.  Additionally, if a person does not fully clean the bore, a thick plug of hardened crud stuck to the breech face can eventually build up to obscure the touch hole and stop firing altogether. 

I converted to wet patching and haven't looked back.   I hope this helps.   

God Bless,   Marc

[Smokey Plainsman]

Wade is spot on.

My fouling issues out here in the bone-dry Mojave desert were pretty bad. I changed to using a tighter ball n’ patch combo and a wet spit patch and the issue is cured. It might seem counterintuitive, but a tight combo seems to scrub the bore as the shot is loaded and fired all by itself. And, in my case, the spit patch adds needed moisture and keeps the fouling soft so it can be shot away. It’s also very accurate.

[hanshi]

Marcruger summed it up very well.  I'll just add that polishing the crown helps make seating tight loads easier.  I also like Hoppes BP Lube but have the same success using TOW mink oil.

[Daryl]

Only thing I can add, is to reinforce what hanshi wrote on the crown.
Factory barrels have a machine-gun crown that has sharp corners. One on the ends of the lands and one in the bottoms of each groove.
Smoothing these into a smoothly rounded shape with a piece of Emery or wet/dry paper shoved into the muzzle with your thumb, then rotated a bunch of times, periodically rotating the rifle to get an even, symmetrical finish. This will allow the tighter patch and ball to conform into the bore. This will allow contined shooting with no need for wiping or swabbing the bore.
The crown's shape is paramount in loading tight combinations without damaging the patch
 You should be able to re-use shot patches. We have done this a number of times, shooting just as tightly as when the patches were new.

[Jerry]

Time permitting I wipe between shots. At the range-always. Hunting after a shot-no. Jerry

[OldMtnMan]

I'm different. I like to swab. I'd feel like I was skipping a step if I didn't do it.

I'm old and set in my ways. 

[smallpatch]

Just don't know why anyone would want to spend more time swabbing, than shooting.  I probably wouldn't do this if I had to burn up more cleaning patches than shooting patches.
Just me I guess.

[OldMtnMan]

Just don't know why anyone would want to spend more time swabbing, than shooting.  I probably wouldn't do this if I had to burn up more cleaning patches than shooting patches.
Just me I guess.

I'm a hunter, not a target shooter. Even when I practice it's my own version of a woods walk to simulate hunting.

I'm never so rushed that I don't have time to swab. That comes from being single and retired for 22 years. I don't consider swabbing a waste of time. I consider it part of being a muzzleloader hunter. I actually enjoy swabbing.

[Semisane]

I'm right there with you OldMtnMan.

[OldMtnMan]

 

[jeronimo41]

nope.  shoot, powder, wool wad, minkoil patch, ball stuff...shoot...repeat

[adkmountainken]

i shoot .32 cal often and was swabbing about every 5 shot and ball was going down HARD with a lot of fouling.  switched to a tighter .018 pillow ticking patch and started using Track Of The Wolfs "mink oil" all problems dissapperaed and do not swab AT ALL between shots.  also tried bear grease with same affect.

[hudson]

I use a tight ball/patch load and rarely see a need for wiping. I have fond going from 3F to 2F has helped a lot I suspect lower flame temperature less glazing or hard fowling. I know 2F is not recommended for a .32 however we have a local that does quite well in our local matches with such a combination. This gentleman uses 2F in everything including pistols. As always we just need to find what works for us.

[MuskratMike]

I thought I covered this. No, no and no. Shoot, blow down the barrel, powder, patch and ball (in that order), ram home, prime and shoot. no more no less.

[Scota4570]

One thing to add is that the patched used to swab should not be super tight.  IF it is it will push  the fouling ahead of it and cause misfires.   It should not be soaking wet either.  My club requires swabbing between shots, "for safety reasons". I do it for bore consistency.  I have found that a damp and loose fitting patch on a slotted jag works well.  It slides down the bore easy but jams itself tighter on the return stroke.  I put threads on both ends of my loading rods.  On for the slotted jag and one for the regular jag that fits the ball contour. 

Humidity seems to be factor on the need to swab between shots.  My area is very dry.  Fouling gets hard and builds up.  Nothing, I have found, changes that.  Even with loose loads and sloppy wet thick patches, fouling fills the chamber area fairly quickly. 

[smylee grouch]

For me I almost always get more fouling with a lose load. When I use teflon patching I swab and it takes hardly any time at all to do it. When I shoot denim or drill and lube with mink oil./bear oil and a tight combo I don,t need to swab and the loading is always easy as is the clean up.

[Joe S]

The phrase "swab between shots" in the Search function at the top of the page gets 133 separate threads.

[smylee grouch]

Wow, 133 times. Must be a popular topic. The word redundant comes to mind.

[mushka]

My loading regimen is a spit patch between every shot with every gun.  Works for me, I'm never in a big hurry.

[hanshi]

I thought I covered this. No, no and no. Shoot, blow down the barrel, powder, patch and ball (in that order), ram home, prime and shoot. no more no less.

Ah, short, to the point and absolutely valid. +1

[Smokey Plainsman]

I wonder how much moisture is in one breath?

Can it really make an impact on powder fouling?

[Bob McBride]

I wonder how much moisture is in one breath?

Can it really make an impact on powder fouling?

I don’t know if it helps soften fowling but a breath is about 100% humidity.

[Mike from OK]

I wonder how much moisture is in one breath?

Can it really make an impact on powder fouling?

The surface area of the windows in your car are much bigger than the inside of a gun barrel... And they'll fog up pretty quick on a chilly evening... Especially if you have some company. 

I don't know the volume of my breath and how much water vapor is in each breath... But I do know the 42" barrel on my .45 Bedford only holds 4 oz. of tapwater. I would bet that a good huff and blow down the barrel introduces more humidity than you'd think. But that's purely conjecture.

Mike