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.