arcticap

How do you go about fouling your barrel, and how long would yoube willing to hunt withit [fouled] before youfeel that it should be "de-fouled"?

Are you fouling it with Pyrodex or a non-corrosive sub?

frontier gander

With Pyrodex and T7 i usually leave in loaded on a fouled bore for up to a week. I always hunt on a clean bore and so after i fire at an animal and reload, i normally just leave it loaded so i dont waste powder/bullet.

arcticap

I know that Pyrodex fouling interacts with moisture, and so does some of the fouling of other subs. That's one of the reasonswhy I ask.

Once after shooting a deer using Pyrodex, it started snowing while I was dragging it out. And the melted snowon the unblued crown left relativelypermanent stains on the steel. These could be mechanically polished out but they are still very stubborn, so they remain there to this day.
I would be concernedif moistureis absorbed by the residue, and that mightbe reason to switch bulletsto insure a good first shot without needingto foul thebarrel beforehand.
But then Ialso use a balloon on the muzzle to helpkeep moisture out during the 2 week winter deerhunting season.
I think that conicals are good for follow up shots because they load faster and easier,especially if they impact to the same general POA.

frontier gander

I believe T7 is a lot more worrysome as its a sugar based powder and sucks up moisture. APP/ BM3 are also sugar based.

I remember someone here posting a picture of a loaded sabot/bullet and the sabot did not fill in the rifling and left gaps where, obviously, any moisture/ water will easily get to the powder and ruin the charge. Just another thing to think about.


Never noticed any stains in my bores but its something to look our for in the future.

Edit: conicals

Thats why i stick with Pyrodex with the powerbelts. Triple 7 shot dead on on a clean bore and 3" higher on a fouled bore. I hate that so i decided to just stick with pyrodex.

cayugad

I want to try a few things instead of fowling a barrel and see if they work..


But normally to fowl a barrel,I put 40 grains of the same powder I intend to hunt with, and set it off the day before then swab the barrel. The next day I load and hunt. I do not trust a rifle loaded over night, so I shoot it off at the end of the day, and swab the barrel clean, then use alcohol patches and finally dry patches. The next day I load on a very near clean rifle. The second day I break the rifle down and clean it.

Pyrodex is the worst of all the powder to leave in a barrel fowled, especially if you live in a damp environment like I live in where there is lots of moisture for the fowling to interact with.

If you put a ballon or finger cot on a rifle, at the end of the day be sure and take that off and then wipe the barrel with a oiled patch. Also it does not hurt to swab the bore with a oil patch, even if it is loaded.. Just lightly oil the borepatch, enough to put a light film in the barrel.