I always use tight patches but not dry lube so that may be a possibility. I use a short starter to start the load but after that it's pretty easy. I can see where trying to start a tight patched ball or conical without a short starter might result in a broken rod but if you're trying to start tight balls without a short starter you're not doing it right
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Just bought my first so now what?
- Thread starter grubbylabs
- Start date
I always use tight patches but not dry lube so that may be a possibility. I use a short starter to start the load but after that it's pretty easy. I can see where trying to start a tight patched ball or conical without a short starter might result in a broken rod but if you're trying to start tight balls without a short starter you're not doing it right
grubbylabs
New member
I did run a lubed patch down the barrel after each shot. So you could be right. I did fire a small load of loose powder before the initial shot to night, but the first thing I did was run a lubed patch down the barrel, then the loose powder. Does it make a difference if you trim the patch as you put it in or is it the same to just drive it home without trimming?
If you're running a lubed patch down the bore before you load you're contaminating a small amount of powder every time. If you want to swab between shots use an alcohol patch. Personally I never swab between shots. The fresh patch pushes the fouling to the bottom so I see no point in it. You can trim the patch at the muzzle. I often use a long lubed strip and cut my patches at the muzzle. The main thing is you don't want the patch to overlap the ball.
Yes you should trim the patch. Punch ball in barrel so top of ball is level with the crown of barrel. Usually trim mine with a sharp knife grabbing patch with one hand,pulling slightly upward and taking knife,sliding it along top of barrel cutting patch. Trim patch as close as you can to ball. If you have a little bit of the ball protruding from end of barrel, just make sure when trimming patch you don`t mar the ball. What powder are you using? P.S. In case its not been mentioned, keep barrel pointed away from you when re-loading. A TFL search on accidental reloading discharge`s is worthwhile. Glad you`re enjoying.
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grubbylabs
New member
Well the gun was surprisingly easy to clean. I just put it in a bucket with hot soapy water and you all were right it just pulled the water right up the barrel and it was way easier to clean than any other rifle I have ever cleaned. Lubed inside and out and put her back together.
by eddyb74
Patched balls used to be the only thing we were allowed to hunt with in Pa. I used Thompson Center Maxi Lube on my patches, which worked great. Pa. lossened up the rules and we are now allowed to use maxi balls and saboted bullets. I now use .44 pistol bullets in a plastic sabot. Much more accurate in my T/C Hawken .50 cal. The other thing I recomend is a solid brass ramrod. Heavy yes, but a godsend after a few shots.
What I thought he meant was that the heavy brass ramrod helped to keep the recoil down because it's in the ramrod well and also reduces muzzle rise. At least it did when I used a heavy brass one.
Then as another added benefit eddyb74 stated:
The nice thing about the brass is that it is heavy and you can drop it and force the ball down a dirty barrel.
I think that they're 2 different issues, one about dampening recoil and the other about how it helps to ram balls down a dirty barrel like during a woodswalk where swabbing isn't convenient.
I don't think that it means that he was necessarily doing anything wrong because his barrel was fouled.
And as still yet another additional benefit, solid brass rods do tend to be stronger than their similar diameter wood counterparts in practical use, especially when the sabots or PRB's are difficult to ram for whatever reason.
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