RE: How often do you swab?
Since your shooting a Traditional Rifle you will find the need to swab the bore much less then if you were shooting a fast twist and loading sabots. patch and ball are much more forgiving then plastic and lead.
When I swab my traditional rifles I use91% (almost pure) isopropyl alcohol as my swabbing solution. I do not include any windshield washer fluid, especially in winter. I get less hangfires and misfires by doing that.Never push adry patch into a fowled barrel. It is the fastest way I know of to loose a patch and in some cases even stick a ramrod or loose the end off the ramrod..
I take a patch and dampen it. Then starting at the muzzle with the patch on a cleaning jag, start working downward in very short strokes. About 3-4 inches at a time and no more.If you feel the barrel trying to grab and hold the ramrod do not go further. Bring it back up to the clean part and work in even shorter strokes down. When you finally reach the breech you will find the most fowling. You might actually have to scrub here with the patch.
When you bring that patch up (since you use pyrodex) it will be black and filthy. Some times I will run a second damp patch if I feel the barrel is still dirty. After the damp patches, with the fowling removed, work a dry patch down the barrel. Again, use the short strokes to avoid loosing the patch or ramrod. I like to run two dry patches.
If you have any doubts about how much fowling you pushed around, pop a couple #11 caps through the nipple before loading. This will make sure the nipple and fire channel is clear.. You do not always have to do that, only if you feel something might be wet down there..
If you use bore butter, they claim you do not have to swab. I am testing a bore butter barrel and found I can get about 20 shots or more, before I need to swab.