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James Sparhawk

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I want to thank IdahoRon and IdahoLewis for their teachings on using over-powder-wads. I use the next caliber up for my sidelock and inline. Yes, I recovered sabots with ragged edges from the burning powder.
I added another trick to cutting down on cleaning time. Last night, I tried a 20 gauge brush with my inline. Wow at the amount of time and cleaning wads. I ran the brush in my icecream bucket (full of very hot soapy water) around 15-20 strokes followed by 5 cleaning patches. Dumped my water and had a perfectly clean #5 patch. Only 10 patches versus 25 -35. I also was completely done, breech plug too, in less than 30 minutes.
The next time I clean my 45, I will use a 50 cal brush.
Thanks to everyone else too that have helped me.
Good night, got to get big boy in 4 hours.
 
These little Handheld Steam Cleaners are Flat out AWESOME for Cleaning Blackpowder Fowling :lewis: I got the idea long ago from Pedersoli, They Market and Sell a Steam Cleaner, But I wasn’t about to pay 700-800 Dollars for their unit, I bought a Cheap Little Handheld from Amazon.

A few examples of how well they Work. This was my Lehigh Breech Plug out of my Old Knight Mountaineer. I shot Real Blackpowder, after 12-15 Shots the Breech Plug was NASTY DIRTY. My little Steam Cleaner made it look Brand New in just a Few minutes. My Knight Mountaineer would EASILY have passed as New unfired the Day i sold it
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Breech Plug and Vent liner literally looked Brand New within a Few minutes with the little Steam Cleaner :lewis:
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Here is another Set of Tools that i found INVALUABLE for inlines, Especially the Plunger Guns. The Action was a Pain to get in, These Brushes made QUICK, Short Work of that Job! Forum member ENCORE50A pointed these out to me :lewis: I ONLY use the Nylon Brushes, Make sure and NOT use the Stainless Brushes, They would Scratch.
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Another Example of how effective the Little Steam Cleaner is. This came from a Thompson Center Renegade that i had CLEAN, as Clean as i could Possibly get it. This CRUD came from the Snail, Patented Breech/Fire Channel, You just can’t get in these Sidelock Breech Plugs Fire Channels with ANYTHING, And EFFECTIVELY Clean this Area (Pipe cleaners are a Joke at best) Steam MOST DEFINITELY Gets in here, And gets the Job Done :lewis:

Here is a Session of Pics that should Make Sense to what I’m talking about

Pull the nipple and Point the Steamer inside the Hole, HAMMER IT With Hot Steam! This is an Old pic, I don’t use the Tubing, and Cleanout/Flush Nipple anymore, I Just Point The Steamer Nozzle in the Hole. But this setup did work STELLAR :lewis:
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Just a Simple 1/4-28 Flush Nipple, These can EASILY be made by Drilling out an Old Worn Nipple
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Here is my Cut Away Thompson Center Renegade Breech, Here you can see what you are up against. A pipe cleaner would be lucky to Scratch the Surface of the Crud that Build up in here over time. You can clearly see where your Cleaning Jag Stops
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Thompson Center made a “Scraper Tool” for their Patented Breeches, you can see how it fits inside the U Shape.
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As you can CLEARLY see above you cannot get inside the Fire Channel, BUT STEAM CAN AND MOST DEFINITELY WILL!! Remember, this is from a Rifle that i had SPOTLESS Clean, The Bore that was, I had no idea that this Crud was living in the Patented Breech/Fire Channel? That was Until My Little Steam Cleaner UNEARTHED It :lewis:
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Fyi. A pair of welding gloves are handy with the steamer. Stuff gits HOT fast!
But wow does that werk great. Kind of makes cleaning fun, too. Seeing more stuff come out after i thought i had the breech plug cleaned was an eye opener.
 
Fyi. A pair of welding gloves are handy with the steamer. Stuff gits HOT fast!
But wow does that werk great. Kind of makes cleaning fun, too. Seeing more stuff come out after i thought i had the breech plug cleaned was an eye opener.

Steam has more Heat Energy than Boiling Water, YEP Steam will Burn the Daylights out of ya :) I hold the Barrel Wrapped in a Towel, An Oven Mitt works well also :lewis:

Pretty amazing what the Power of Steam will do in Cleaning, Nothing I’ve found closely compares to it. I don’t use my Steam Cleaner through my Barrels Regularly, As long as you Clean THOROUGHLY in a Bucket of Water with the Push/Pull, siphon Method, there’s really no need to Steam after Each outing. I give my Barrels a THOROUGH Cleaning (Steam Cleaned) every 8-10 outings or there abouts? And Any New Gun, wether it be Brand new, or New to me gets a THOROUGH Going over, through it with the Steam Cleaner.
 
There once was a man from Nantucket.
He cleaned his barrels in a bucket.
He scrubbed as he poured hot water down his bore
Then one day he switch to Blackhorn and said **** It
:moon:
:p

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I admit, BH209 made a PURTY Roadside Flare, At least it Burned this way :)
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Worlds most expensive roadside flare

They had this on a Close out a year, maybe 2 Years ago? It was 19 bucks a Can, Even at that it Sat on the Shelves for EVER, They couldn’t hardly give this Stuff away Around here. My only Regret is that I didn’t put that 19 Bucks toward a GOOD Can of Powder, Swiss Real Blackpowder that is :) BH209 was WORTHLESS for my Application

As I’ve said MANY TIMES, Shoot what works for ya :lewis:
 
I've followed your advice often on alot of things. And with great results. I have several cans of Swiss that I haven't gotten around to trying yet. Wish i could trade you pound for pound, BH for Swiss. IMHO, real black makes a much prettier road flare tho.
 
I've followed your advice often on alot of things. And with great results. I have several cans of Swiss that I haven't gotten around to trying yet. Wish i could trade you pound for pound, BH for Swiss. IMHO, real black makes a much prettier road flare tho.

I am DEFINITELY in the Minority on this, ESPECIALLY So with inlines. But the Simple fact is BH209 will NOT set off my Target loads, There isn’t enough Compression. My Target loads go down the Bore with the Weight of my Range Rod alone. I tried it anyway, But it was a NO GO, The 209 Went off, Spit my Bullet out of the Barrel, I watched 2 of them Tumble down the Rd 10-15 Yards in Front of me, That was ENOUGH for me!! The ONLY way i was able to get a Shot off that Day was with TIGHT fitting Vege Fibre Wads, Then it was Hit & Miss, 50/50 Maybe? But at least i was able to Shoot my New Rifle that Day. Wool Felt Wads were an ABSOLUTE NO GO That Day

Sure I could make BH209 Work for me By Tightening up My Bullets, But i am NOT about to Change my Proven Loads, and Loading Technique. My Loading procedure is advice from 2 World Champion BPCR Guy’s

The Good news is, This leaves more BH209 for you Fella’s that like it :lewis:
 
The main reason i never started shooting real black is that is has always been really hard to find here in SE Michigan. You could always get either pyrodex or 777. And the guys that got me started steered me to 777. So there was beginner bias. I still to this day cant find real black in stock or places willing to order it w/o charging a lot in hazmat and extra handling fees. Sometimes ill meet someone at the range who's willing to part with some. But thats getting more rare.
 
I shoot 2 powders in smokers. Swiss or BH209 and mostly BH209. I can walk right into Grafs and buy Swiss. If it must go boom every single time in any conditions....Get Swiss. Olde Enysford is also worth trying. A little cheaper and similar speed.
 
If it must go boom every single time in any conditions....Get Swiss.

VERY WELL SAID GM54 :lewis: For Reliability in ignition, Nothing beats Real Blackpowder

Trust in my Equipment/Gear is a MAJOR part of this stuff to me, That goes for ANY and EVERYTHING i do. The Majority of inline Folks LOVE and Trust BH209, That is ALL that matters!! My opinion/feelings of BH209 are Just that, MINE. That doesn’t mean it isn’t good powder, or doesn’t work for others. Shoot what Works for you, And HAVE FUN Doing it, that’s what this Should be ALL ABOUT :lewis:
 
I hate Pyrodex and will only tolerate Triple7 with percussion inlines. The crud ring sucks with any 209 primer ive tried. That could be different with a milder rifle primer but im not spending a bunch of cash to find out. BlackMag3 went boom really easy too but its long gone. BlackMZ aint the same stuff and now it appears to be gone.

2 powders line the benches at Friendship....Swiss and BH209. Nothing else competes on the same level. OE seems to do ok and it can be found pretty cheap. Beats the heck out of regular Goex for speed for a couple bucks more.
 
To get swiss from grafs i have to spend $119 plus 9.95 shipping and 12.50 hazmat. They have a min 4# powder order online. Still a lot cheaper than bh209 tho. $225 for 5#. I am doin the math now on switching to smokeless. Except i can't hunt with it.
 
To get swiss from grafs i have to spend $119 plus 9.95 shipping and 12.50 hazmat. They have a min 4# powder order online. Still a lot cheaper than bh209 tho. $225 for 5#. I am doin the math now on switching to smokeless. Except i can't hunt with it.

It’s a Crying Shame that Real Blackpowder isn’t more available across the Country. My best friend, and Sport Shop owner looked in to Carrying it? I didn’t know the Details? But i figured it would be a MAJOR PAIN for him To Carry it, And sure enough it was, WAY to much involved for him to even begin! I can’t remember the Details now? But it seemed like he couldn’t even have it in his Building? It would of had to be in a Locked Container Outside or Something like that? He QUIT Before he got Started. Plus, It would have been impossible for him to Compete with Buffalo Arms less than 30 miles away

As I’ve said before, I am VERY Fortunate to Have Buffalo Arms so Close by. This is another reason it is difficult for me to mess with Substitute Powders, It feels like i am going Backwards :)

It’s all in what we get use to, If it weren’t for Buffalo Arms being in my Backyard I would of had no choice but to Learn how to Shoot the Substitute Powders, There’s NO DOUBT I would have learned it, and LOVED It just like ALL of you guy’s that do.

I think you can see/understand why i have such a Hard time with Sub powders, I fired my VERY FIRST Muzzleloader Shot with Real Blackpowder, Then ran over to Buffalo Arms and Bought my 1st ever Can of Powder, After talking to the Buffalo Arms Crew, I purchased Swiss 2F Real Blackpowder, That is ALL i have Shot from my Very Beginning in Muzzleloading, other than the VERY few times i have Shot Sub powders with other Folks that belonged to them. So the few times i have tried Sub Powders (including BH209) You can imagine my Frustration when they Failed to fire my PROVEN Swiss loads

In short, you often hear me refer to sub Powders (BH209 included) as being Very FINICKY, And They MOST DEFINITELY are when compared to what i am use to (Swiss Real Blackpowder) There is Simply NO COMPARISON. Swiss Real Blackpowder requires NOTHING special, it doesn’t care about Flash Hole Size, Compression on the Powder, etc. etc. All it needs is the TINIEST of Spark and it’s GONE IMMEDIATELY. The Downside is Dirty, Filthy, NASTY, And YES That includes Swiss! I hear folks talk about Swiss being Much cleaner, Maybe some? I have shot more Cans of Swiss 2 and 3F than i could ever Remember, And i can tell you now that it is NASTY, DIRTY stuff!! This is why i Swab Between EVERY shot for Consistency, Since Accuracy out of my Rifles is my No. 1 Goal in this Stuff.
 
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