user 30913
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- Apr 1, 2023
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<tl;dr> Is loose powder "less dirty" than pellets? (I'm talking about black powder substitutes, and ignoring BH209 for the moment).
Being new to muzzleloaders, I didn't know what to expect when I took my CVA Optima to the range. I heard people say you have to run patches through the barrel after every few shots, but I didn't realize how bad it was until I tried it myself.
I shot a 245gr PowerBelt with 2 pellets of White Hots -- and after only a SINGLE shot, I could not load a second bullet. It came up about a half-inch to an inch short. I couldn't even unload that second bullet - it got so stuck, I couldn't push it out with a range rod in either direction. I had to load 2 pellets in the breach, seat the bullet down as far as it would go, and had to shoot it out.
I also tried 777 pellets, but those looked almost as dirty as the White Hots (I didn't attempt a second shot with 777 without patching the barrel). I don't have Pyrodex pellets because everything I've read and was told, Pyrodex is the dirtiest of them all. So I avoided even trying those.
Honestly, I don't know how people can shoot multiple times with these pellets without at least swabbing the barrel once in between shots.
So my question is - does loose powder help alleviate this problem? (ignore BH209 - I know that burns much cleaner; but I can't find BH209 and even if I could, the price is something that I would like to avoid - crazy expensive right now). So I'm thinking of trying 777 powder, but I don't want to spend the money if it won't help anyway.
I read somewhere that the pellets have some kind of "glue" material that they use which is how they get the pellets to form, and that the glue is part of what makes them so dirty. If that is so, I'm wondering if loose powder would at least help me get a second shot without having to swab the barrel. It isn't a problem at the range, but I'm thinking in a hunting situation, I would like to be able to at least get off a second shot without having to waste time running a patch or two through the barrel first.
Being new to muzzleloaders, I didn't know what to expect when I took my CVA Optima to the range. I heard people say you have to run patches through the barrel after every few shots, but I didn't realize how bad it was until I tried it myself.
I shot a 245gr PowerBelt with 2 pellets of White Hots -- and after only a SINGLE shot, I could not load a second bullet. It came up about a half-inch to an inch short. I couldn't even unload that second bullet - it got so stuck, I couldn't push it out with a range rod in either direction. I had to load 2 pellets in the breach, seat the bullet down as far as it would go, and had to shoot it out.
I also tried 777 pellets, but those looked almost as dirty as the White Hots (I didn't attempt a second shot with 777 without patching the barrel). I don't have Pyrodex pellets because everything I've read and was told, Pyrodex is the dirtiest of them all. So I avoided even trying those.
Honestly, I don't know how people can shoot multiple times with these pellets without at least swabbing the barrel once in between shots.
So my question is - does loose powder help alleviate this problem? (ignore BH209 - I know that burns much cleaner; but I can't find BH209 and even if I could, the price is something that I would like to avoid - crazy expensive right now). So I'm thinking of trying 777 powder, but I don't want to spend the money if it won't help anyway.
I read somewhere that the pellets have some kind of "glue" material that they use which is how they get the pellets to form, and that the glue is part of what makes them so dirty. If that is so, I'm wondering if loose powder would at least help me get a second shot without having to swab the barrel. It isn't a problem at the range, but I'm thinking in a hunting situation, I would like to be able to at least get off a second shot without having to waste time running a patch or two through the barrel first.