When ever we begin to discuss muzzleloaders, a natural off branch of them is the powders we use. Of course all have a favorite powder for one reason or another. But something I notice in almost all discussions when we talk powders is how hard it is to clean the rifle and to swab the rifle. Depending of course on the powder we shoot. As most all shooters will tell you, Pyrodex RS and black powder are the worst powders to shoot, cleaning wise.
Today I was shooting a traditional style rifle. As normal I was shooting Goex black powder. Black powder always brings to mind for many, large volumes of smoke, and worst of all the mess of cleaning it after the range or hunt. Well today I would like to differ with some of those embedded opinions many have of black powder.
I was shooting up to 90 grains of it. I was swabbing on the range. I swabbed the dreaded black powder every three shots.
My swab solution today was Rusty Duck Black Off. Rusty Duck is an excellent solution and really pulls fouling from the barrel of a rifle when it is used as a swab or when cleaning a rifle after your done for the day. But for having fired three rounds of the filthy, dirty, messy black powder... that swab is not all that bad. Also I will note that there was not really a large degree of fouling in the barrel when I swabbed.
So what caused this? Could it be the temperature outside? It was in the 90's and it was hot. Maybe on a colder day this would draw more fouling. Could it have been the fact I was shooting roundball? Maybe, but I have shot a lot of projectiles when using black powder and results are not always that different. So why not large amount of fouling? I noticed the patches on the ground had a large amount of fouling. Were the patches taking the fouling with them for the most part and leaving only a slight amount in the barrel? Something to ponder.
After I was done shooting for the day, I soaked a patch with Rusty Duck and swabbed the rifle barrel before bring it in to the house. The patch was dirty, much like the one in the other picture.
I then came in and made a water bath. I used a white clean patch and worked that up and down in the barrel with the water bath. But you might note, for the first patch to come out of a barrel in the water bath, there is not a lot of fouling on it. Again, could it have been cleaned by the swabbing of the Rusty Duck?
I then pulled the nipple and not trusting the first patch of the water bath, ran a second one. The rust color you see is not the patch but the brass jag under it. The patch was basically clean. So... OK. why is this rifle cleaning up so easy? After all I was shooting black powder. I decided to break out the expensive solvent.
I then took a new patch, drenched it in Birchwood Casey #77 and swabbed the bore of the rifle. Birchwood Casey cleaner always pulls fouling if there is any.
Again, basically a clean patch. The black streak on my thumb is from when I took the nipple off the barrel. Even that cleaned up real easy.
A couple of dry patches and then I swabbed the barrel with a good quality gun oil. So this is how hard it is to clean a rifle that was shooting black powder?
All I am getting at is, before you judge a powder as too dirty, really test it. Black Powder is a great powder. It ignites easier then any other powder out there. Is normally more cost effective to the shooter. Has all the power you need. Nothing wants to take a hit from 80 grains of Goex 2f and a patched roundball out of this rifle.
So how clean is your powder that you shoot really? Does it clean up with basically three patches?
Today I was shooting a traditional style rifle. As normal I was shooting Goex black powder. Black powder always brings to mind for many, large volumes of smoke, and worst of all the mess of cleaning it after the range or hunt. Well today I would like to differ with some of those embedded opinions many have of black powder.
I was shooting up to 90 grains of it. I was swabbing on the range. I swabbed the dreaded black powder every three shots.
My swab solution today was Rusty Duck Black Off. Rusty Duck is an excellent solution and really pulls fouling from the barrel of a rifle when it is used as a swab or when cleaning a rifle after your done for the day. But for having fired three rounds of the filthy, dirty, messy black powder... that swab is not all that bad. Also I will note that there was not really a large degree of fouling in the barrel when I swabbed.
So what caused this? Could it be the temperature outside? It was in the 90's and it was hot. Maybe on a colder day this would draw more fouling. Could it have been the fact I was shooting roundball? Maybe, but I have shot a lot of projectiles when using black powder and results are not always that different. So why not large amount of fouling? I noticed the patches on the ground had a large amount of fouling. Were the patches taking the fouling with them for the most part and leaving only a slight amount in the barrel? Something to ponder.
After I was done shooting for the day, I soaked a patch with Rusty Duck and swabbed the rifle barrel before bring it in to the house. The patch was dirty, much like the one in the other picture.
I then came in and made a water bath. I used a white clean patch and worked that up and down in the barrel with the water bath. But you might note, for the first patch to come out of a barrel in the water bath, there is not a lot of fouling on it. Again, could it have been cleaned by the swabbing of the Rusty Duck?
I then pulled the nipple and not trusting the first patch of the water bath, ran a second one. The rust color you see is not the patch but the brass jag under it. The patch was basically clean. So... OK. why is this rifle cleaning up so easy? After all I was shooting black powder. I decided to break out the expensive solvent.
I then took a new patch, drenched it in Birchwood Casey #77 and swabbed the bore of the rifle. Birchwood Casey cleaner always pulls fouling if there is any.
Again, basically a clean patch. The black streak on my thumb is from when I took the nipple off the barrel. Even that cleaned up real easy.
A couple of dry patches and then I swabbed the barrel with a good quality gun oil. So this is how hard it is to clean a rifle that was shooting black powder?
All I am getting at is, before you judge a powder as too dirty, really test it. Black Powder is a great powder. It ignites easier then any other powder out there. Is normally more cost effective to the shooter. Has all the power you need. Nothing wants to take a hit from 80 grains of Goex 2f and a patched roundball out of this rifle.
So how clean is your powder that you shoot really? Does it clean up with basically three patches?