With my sidelock, swabbing has definitely improved consistancy. I have however noticed a distinct difference beyween my first "clean bore" shot and subsequent "swabed but still fouled bore" shots. My clean bore shots always fly several inches higher than subsequent rounds. I've not yet tried fouling my bore with a powder charge and patch but need to do this before next hunting season. I'm using Cayugad's recomended alcohol patch, putting it thru the slot of a standard patch tip(not a jag), sticking it down into the bottle, pull it out, wrap a dry patch or two arond it to wring it out, then down the barrel in short strokes, twist it slightly at the bottom, and pull it out. Follow with one dry patch, fire a cap, and reload. The slotted patch tip allows me to stick it down the throat of the bottle and when going down the barrel, it seems to loosen more than push, then at the bottom, the slight twist balls up the patch and seems to drag out most of the debris. The dry patches used to wring out the dipped one them become damp patches for following swabs. I'm not getting any dampness build up in the breech. Good luck and tell us what that Hawken likes to eat!