ORIGINAL: roundball
I've seen that occasional comment from time to time over the years but havenever experienced it with a houseful of TC Hawkens over 15+ years...I always sight in a hunting rifle with a cold clean barrel just like it will be for hunting, butfrankly any followon shots print the same way as the first...and the good news is, if I don't take a shot while hunting that day,when I get home I simply pull the load, run a lubed patch down the still clean bore, and set the rifle back in the rack in a warm house.
After all the care and attention I give my my muzzleloaders to keep them in pristine clean and lubed condition,the LAST thing in the world I ever dois intentionally foul the bore, then carry around a fouled rifle all day.
Foranyonewho experiences that rare phenomenon you mentioned, it might be best tolook at otherpossibilitieslike type of lube, amount of lube, etc, rather than intentionally fouling the bore...I use Natural Lube 1000 heavily as bore lube and patch lube....when I go to the range on Saturday mornings, everything from the 1stshot to the 40th shot is right where it's suppposed to be...so it may simply be thathaving the bore coatedwith NL1000 is what givesconsistency...the film of bore butter may act like the filmfrom fouling.
How do you pulla load out of a heavily butter-lubed bore thru the muzzle& comment that it'sa "still clean bore"? Powder granules & ash cling to the bore walls of a heavily, butter-lubed barrel after pulling the load. While the bore is not in any immediate danger of corroding & hanging the rifle back on a hanger overnightwon't hurt it, wouldn't you first use a dry patch toremove some granule & ash remnants beforeadministering new lube to the bore for the next day?????... then give the rifle a thorough cleaning when done hunting... even without firing a shot? No way is that rifle "pristine" after pulling that load using heavy doses of T/C buttered lube. Pulling an undersized roundball does not remove the patch. A patch-puller will not self-clean the bore coming back out.
What am I missing here?
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Bores that shoot an errant first shot have a few reasons behind this condition. Some folks forget to remove the storing compounds before they shoot. Some folks forget to clear the nipple, inline breechplug& sidelock drum by firing three caps first. Some folks do not use the same loading force & the same loose powder-pouring technique& same rifle tilt from shot-1 to shot-2. This "1st shot-flyer" occurence is more common with sidelocks than with inlines -- more common with loose-fitting projectiles than tight-fitting ones. It's more common with slightly oversized bores likeolder Knight rifles.... more common with Powerbelts. It's more common with using the wrong weighted lubed conical in shallow-groove MLs -- it's more common when trying sabots in a deep-grooved 1-48" twist...... etc.... etc.