Cleaning between shots

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Evolution84

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Hey all,

I’ve never had great confidence with my Hawkins 50 cal flintlock, so have decided to put tons of rounds through it this coming year as I always save one tag for late season

So I’ve only really ever shot 1-2x and then cleaned it. If I plan on sending 20-30 rounds downrange, how should I clean it between shots?

I’ve read a lot of opinions. Would butch’s bore cleaner work every 2-4 shots? Just butter ball?

Curious what options there are as maybe field cleaning could even be diffeeent than range cleaning?
 
Damp Windex patch...done. I usually just flip it over and run it down and back again but you don't have to. By the time your ready to load, it has evaporated. Maybe if your powder choice is a dirtier it will take two patches but it works great.
 
Damp Windex patch...done. I usually just flip it over and run it down and back again but you don't have to. By the time your ready to load, it has evaporated. Maybe if your powder choice is a dirtier it will take two patches but it works great.

I do the same thing here with Blue windex, except i mix it with 91% isopropyl alcohol, about 50/50 or a little Stronger on the Alcohol Side. I run 1 Damp Patch down, then follow with 2-3 Dry patches, Re load and Shoot
 
Hey all,

I’ve never had great confidence with my Hawkins 50 cal flintlock, so have decided to put tons of rounds through it this coming year as I always save one tag for late season

So I’ve only really ever shot 1-2x and then cleaned it. If I plan on sending 20-30 rounds downrange, how should I clean it between shots?

I’ve read a lot of opinions. Would butch’s bore cleaner work every 2-4 shots? Just butter ball?

Curious what options there are as maybe field cleaning could even be diffeeent than range cleaning?

If you use the blue Windex patch and your patch is just barely damp you really do not need to run any dry patches. I have tried the Alcohol additive but I discontinued use as it seem to dry to quickly and may have a had an adverse effect on the Ammonia in the Windex. Ammonia is natural metal stripper/cleaner.

The real key to is not use a 'wet' patch. Old timers use to just drop the patch on their tongue to gain a bit of moisture.

This tries to show how I make my bore swab patch - not cleaning patches

WinPatch.jpg


The key is to push as much Windex back out of the patch as you can - then place them into an air tight container to prevent evaporation.

This for shooting at the range and you can reuse the same dirty patch for several shots - until it drys out.

Which powder are you shooting?
 
I tend to leave the solution in the container to keep the patches saturated and then just wring out as much of it as I can back into the container when I get ready to use the patch.

Typically can add another stack of dry patches one time without having to add any more solution to the container.

I may just be super "cheap", but I also cut my own 2" square patches from white flannel bought by the yard at Wally World.
 
I have tried the Alcohol additive but I discontinued use as it seem to dry to quickly and may have a had an adverse effect on the Ammonia in the Windex. Ammonia is natural metal stripper/cleaner.

Isopropyl is already an ingredient in Blue Windex with Ammonia
 
If you use the blue Windex patch and your patch is just barely damp you really do not need to run any dry patches. I have tried the Alcohol additive but I discontinued use as it seem to dry to quickly and may have a had an adverse effect on the Ammonia in the Windex. Ammonia is natural metal stripper/cleaner.

The real key to is not use a 'wet' patch. Old timers use to just drop the patch on their tongue to gain a bit of moisture.

This tries to show how I make my bore swab patch - not cleaning patches

WinPatch.jpg


The key is to push as much Windex back out of the patch as you can - then place them into an air tight container to prevent evaporation.

This for shooting at the range and you can reuse the same dirty patch for several shots - until it drys out.

Which powder are you shooting?


This makes sense for being in the woods and also the range. Thank you for the idea! I am shooting Goex black rifle powder
 
I use straight alcohol to swab between shots when possible. My reason is it evaporates very quickly and seems to clean well enough to get impact the same as a clean barrel and that is my goal. I have shot with a dirty barrel also and find the accuracy is still good enough to punch a deer's boiler room at 50 yds with either of my flintlocks or inlines. My reasoning is moisture is the enemy of black powder and prefer not to put anything not flammable down the barrel when swabbing between shots. At the range I have a ritual. I shoot the shot. I swab the barrel and dry patch it. I go forward and check the target and analyze the shot. Return to the bench and reload for another shot. The time it takes to check the target will in my small mind give the liquid enough time to evaporate.
 
On August 26, 1969, Melvin E. Stonebraker and Samuel P. Wise received U.S. patent #3,463,735[4] for a glass cleaning composition, listing example formulae, one of which is 4.0% isopropyl alcohol, 1% ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, 0.1% sodium lauryl sulfate (a surfactant), calcium (Ca) 0.01%, tetrasodium pyrophosphate (a water softener), 0.05% of 28% ammonia, 1% of a dye solution, and 0.01% perfume. This formula was not only inexpensive to manufacture but allowed the product to be packaged in glass bottles and dispensed with a plastic sprayer. In 1989, Windex was a 5% ammonia solution. The product was reformulated in 2006. In 2009, S.C. Johnson started publishing ingredients for all of its products, including Windex. The S.C. Johnson website lists Windex's ingredients as water, 2-hexoxyethanol, isopropanolamine, sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate, lauramine oxide, ammonium hydroxide, fragrance, and Liquitint sky blue dye.

https://www.whatsinsidescjohnson.com/us/en/brands/windex/windex-original-glass-cleaner
 
Another way to lower the freeze temp of Windex is propylene glycol. It replaced ethylene glycol in anti freeze and its non toxic. It fairly cheap too considering you wont need much of it. A quart of food grade is only about $13 on Amazon but you can get it even cheaper.

About 5% PG and 30-35% iso in the Windex and it wont freeze to probably below -25F.
 
In my opinion what we are talking about here is swabbing between shots, not cleaning. I view cleaning as an all out attack on the dirt and crud everywhere in and on my rifles. I also look at swabbing as removing some or most of the shot residue from inside the barrel in preparation for the next shot. My PA dutch stubbornness comes into play here and I am very reluctant to let go of what works for me and pickup on what may work for the next guy or gal. Using anything that includes water is great for my cleaning but I also know that water does not evaporate very readily especially in cool or cold conditions. I am also convinced that water is a very big enemy of powders no matter what one uses. I shoot as much if not more with a flintlock than I do with an inline so real black powder is about the only practical powder to use and to my understanding is hydroscopic meaning it draws in moisture readily and becomes useless as a propellant. When swabbing a barrel between shots I do not want any water inside my barrel hence my use of straight 91% alcohol which I use a wet patch, flip it and swab again and toss it. I also dry patch with two patches, saving them to use again. Next swab I use the first dry patch as my wet patch and the second dry one as my first dry patch and a new patch as my second dry patch. This gets me not totally clean but clean enough to get bullet impact the same as from a completely clean barrel and that is my goal. Don't even ask about my ritual for a thorough cleaning of my rifles Lol.
 
I use a bore snake with a little watered down dish soap on the front end. One pass, cleaned and dried. I also suggest shooting at two different targets. One with clean barrel, 2nd for 2nd shot dirty barrel (very instructive)...This is how we hunt. First shot clean cold barrel (I do not deliberately foul barrel), 2nd shot if necessary or possible with warm dirty barrel. Plus you should practice the reload and shoot as fast as possible.
 
talon this works with rifles with a removable breech plug but with rifles such as a flintlock the bore snake just will not work. Your suggestion of using 2 targets has merit and gives valuable info for most hunting situations. On the fast reload I would suggest much practice on the reloading sequence also. When I am hunting I carry quick loads made by RMC that not only make a reload quick they seat the bullet deep enough I do not need to carry a short starter.
 
I try to leave the bore, as close to as possible, in the same condition shot after shot. I do this with my traditional and modern in-line muzzleloaders. I concur with alcohol (91%) and Windex.

I use one slightly damp patch (just damp enough that it will go down the bore without getting stuck) followed by two dry ones.

IMHO, Dutch Schoultz Black Powder Rifle Accuracy System is well worth the small investment. It changed how I look at bore condition when shooting. It's directed towards patched round ball shooters. That said, I have found it very applicable to shooting my in-lines.

Here's the link: http://www.blackpowderrifleaccuracy.com/index.html

All the best and happy shooting,

Paul
 
I am only shooting BH209. I have about 8 different muzzleloaders that the family uses and I like to shoot and sight them in. I have .50's, .45's, stainless and blued. Because my range is outside my basement door this winter my goal is to figure this dirty bore , first shot bore, clean bore ,etc. thing out with my guns. Most these guns are shooting 1" groups @100 yards for comparison.

My shooting procedure is to dry patch, damp patch with 50/50 mix Hoppes #9 and alcohol, then 2-3 dry patches.

Just started noting the data and using this procedure.
Here is what I have found so far.
Dirty bore 25-50 fps slower
Clean bore 25-50 fps faster
If the gun sits loaded the fps seems to change a little.
The bullets are still hitting within an inch.

What I found so far with not a lot of testing is if the gun has sat even clean, I will fire a primer and then clean.
I can also clean and patch after I reload.
Doing this the guns seem to shoot back in the group.

I plan on taking each gun and doing a test over several weeks this winter if the weather permits.
 
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