ok, got a smoke pole

[stickbender]

     Like Mullet said, the more fouling, the more inconsistent your shots.  Do you have a JoAnn's fabric shop, or a cloth world, or any kind of fabric shop there?  And since I now have you on line, I have some foreign coins, some Italian, some French, some German, etc.
They are various sizes, are you still looking for some coins for your knife butts ?  I had sent you some pm's but never heard back from you.
The next time you try to sight your rifle in, try to run a wet patch down the bore after you shoot, then a dry one, and then load, and shoot again, and see where you are hitting.  Also get a good rest.  Don't rest the barrel on anything hard, as it will cause it to jump.  Put your hand under it, or a sand bag, etc.

                                                                                        Wayne

[Eric Krewson]

Never seen a Walmart without a fabric/sewing department. If you can't find ticking, try to find drill cloth. It is off white, thick and close weave like ticking.

Close weave fabric is what you want, not just thick. Blown patches could be caused by several things, too thin patching material, too loose ball, or sharp lands in your rifling.

If you still blow patches after you find the correct patching material you need to work on the lands. To take the sharp edges off you use a piece green scotch bright pad wrapped around your bore brush and give the barrel about 100 strokes. This will polish the lands up real nicely and get rid of sharp edges.

You could also lead lap the barrel but that would be a lot of trouble when the scotch bright pad will do the same thing.

[Dane]

You also may want to think about reducing the powder load. It isn’t a he-man masochistic contest, and 65 or 75 grains will kill a deer just as dead as 100 grains, the piece will be more pleasant to shoot, and it will cut down a bit on fouling. My experience tells me that guys tend to use larger loads than they really need.

A cleaning kit for field cleaning should be part of your kit every time you shoot, at the range or in the field. At least run a patch down the barrel between each shot, use a brush after every few shots, and make sure you clean the vent or nipple each time, too, so you get consistent ignition. And whatever habits you develop at the range should be followed when you hunt. You owe it to the animal. If you know where your piece will shoot at a given range after 5 shots, don’t take a shot at the animal after having fired the piece ten times, for example.

Any closely woven cotton fabric will do, not just pillow ticking. Ticking is designed specifically to minimize feathers coming out of a pillow or mattress, and there is such a thing as imitation ticking. If you switch to mini balls, you won’t have to worry about patching again.

Dane

[recurve shooter]

i may switch to miniballs. seems like that would be a ton easyer. but idk i'll try to get something figured out. thanks a ton for all the help guys, i need it lol

stickbender, thanks for the offer, but after that one blade i refuse to do another hidden tang lol. they are a pain. i apriciate it though. 

i need to get some more lead (roundballs and minis) and try again. i'll let yall know how it's comeing. again, thanks! 

[stickbender]

     Recurve, they used to make a little green plastic double ended cup for round balls, in stead of patch material.  Sort of like a sabot.  I have used them for my fifty cal. TC hawken.  I used a hundred and ten grains, behind a TC maxi ball, or Lee "R.E.A.L." Maxie.  I can't remember the name of the little cups, and the R.E.A.L. stands for rifling on entry, or something or another.  They both are accurate bullets.   I used to use 110 grains behind the Maxi Balls, because, I had better range, and it was the most accurate load, for the maxi balls.  Been a long time since I have been black powder hunting.  I might have to get back into it.

                                                                        Wayne

[JW_Halverson]

Run the "dry ball test" I told you about earlier.  Then look closely at your patches.  If there are any cuts, nicks, or tears in the fabric then you know your rifling is sharp (a real common situation with new barrels).   

Another thing to do is take a bit of your patching and put a match to it.  If you get nothing but ash, then it is all cotton.  If there is any residue that is crumbly, burnt plastic then you have a blended material and they never hold up no matter how well the barrel is lapped and shined.

Jeweller's rouge mixed with your chosen lube will also lap your barrel smooth, too.

[WOODSLORE]

Halverson, No I do not unfortunately, but in quite a few paintings of real mountain men I see a long strip of thin canvas like material hanging from the stap of possible bags that closely resembles pillow ticking.

[JW_Halverson]

Halverson, No I do not unfortunately, but in quite a few paintings of real mountain men I see a long strip of thin canvas like material hanging from the stap of possible bags that closely resembles pillow ticking.

I'm always interested in the artwork of a period just as much as the written accounts because it shows many things that are just not mentioned...for instance, how clothing or accessories are worn.  One thing I learned about colonial times that went unprinted was the wearing of a belt around pants that didn't have belt loops.  Woodslore, could you send me a list of those paintings and the artists?  Some of the stuff gleaned off paintings is pure gold for a historical re-enactor.

And back on subject...smokepoles, that is.  Yesterday I unlimbered "The Fat Lady".  She's a Pedersoli double barreled caplock 10 ga. 90 grains of FFg down each with an equal volume measure of #5 lead shot.  Got off 4 rounds at some sharptail grouse and came home to clean the gun only.  Sometimes you eat the bear.....

[Knocker]

I use a left handed flinter myself.  I believe a bore on a blackpowder rifle is similar to a good frying pan - it needs to be seasoned.  I clean mine as described above with as hot of water as I can handle, and when it's clean I let it sit inverted for a few minutes for the heat to evaporate the moisture.  Then I use "Bore Butter" instead of a petroleum product to protect the metal from rust.  When I shoot, I just keep the next patch in my mouth and load with the spit patch.  I usually don't have to clean a barrel between shots, but will sometimes run a cleaning patch every 25 shots or so...

HTH,
Keith

[Grunt]

If you are shooting a single ragged hole at twentyfive yards you have the right balance of grains of powder, patching thickness, and ball diameter. If you are getting occasional flyers hunt some of your shot patches out in front of you. They should be intact with no blow outs and a nice golden burnt brown. It takes a little fine tuning to get everything just right. My .25 gets fed 17 grains of 3F, a .010 ticking patch and .244 ball.

[jeff halfrack]

   Hey   Recurve,,   are  you  using  a  volumetric  measure,,,  or  are  you  weighing  your  powder  charges? this  rifle  shouldn't  hurt when you  shoot?  just  my  two  cents,,  the  new black  powder  equivalents  are  a  god  send!!  no  rotten  egg  smell  the  old  lady  lets  me  clean  the  gun  in  the  house  too  I  hope  I'm  not  breaking  a  rule  but  I  use  (American pionere powder)  but  the  #10  caps  are  dirty!!  Jeff w

[recurve shooter]

i use a volume measure. its just the way i shoot that gets my face. right now im waiting to get some minis and some patches, then ima try again. a little preocupied with archery season though lol. 

[JW_Halverson]

Knocker has a point about "seasoning" a barrel.  Once upon a time the barrels were forged from black iron "scorps" and the metal was slightly porous like a good cast iron skillet would be even today.  But modern guns are made of hot forged steel, the metal is homogeneous in the extreme and doesn't really season like the older barrels.  I've read articles on black powder barrels being abused far above and beyond what they should undergoe in the hands of a decent gun owner, all this so they could test the various cleaning techniques.  The barrel that got the least pitting was the one that was cleaned with just hot water!!!  The theory was that the water dissolved all the corrosive salts left behind, but did not have the detergent action necessary to remove the waxy/oily components in the lubes. 

He didn't mention it, but I bet he was saying to use the spit patch when you are target shooting and there is less time for the water in the spit to wet down the powder charge and cause the barrel to "ring" with an area of intensely localized rust where the patching rests.  Grease lubes are the only way to go when hunting or leaving a gun loaded more than a few minutes. 

[Knocker]

Yes JW, I use spit patches when target shooting and the patch isn't in the barrel longer than 10 minutes.  If I were leaving a gun loaded for anytime at all, I have an old 35mm film cannister (more primitive than digital) full of patches lubed with bore butter.  For me, I use petroleum products to clean my modern firearms, but I like grease or wax products for blackpowder.  Wasn't bear grease one of the most common in the day?

Keith

[HickoryBill]

This is my pet smokepole.50 cal. CVA Bobcat. 245 grain powerbelt. I have a woodstock started. The gun will shoot just about anything a put in it. Dropped the doe at 60 yards.

<a href="http://s1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee451/HickoryBill/?action=view&amp;current=1016101656a.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee451/HickoryBill/1016101656a.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

This doe was shot 3 days later 50 yards running, again dropped in its tracks

<a href="http://s1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee451/HickoryBill/?action=view&amp;current=1019101814a.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee451/HickoryBill/1019101814a.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>