RE: How often do you swab?
I swab my barrel between shots with a damp water patch out of a spray bottle,flip it again and then followed with a dry patch.I use no solvents at all.
I also before loading the main charge snap 3 caps followed with a few dry patches to clean the barrel.
I would recommend never run a dry patch after a shooting a round out of a barrel, a dry patch will pick up the crud and the patch and jag will not come out that easy,I also drill and tap the other end of the ramrod incase a little effort is needed to add a t handle for more pulling power