While working up a suitable load for my wife to hunt with I discovered that the crud ring only occurs at problem levels when heavier charges are used. I found that with a 70gr load of T7 2F there was virtually no crud ring at all in either my Knight Disc or my T/C White Mtn. Carbine. With 80gr there was a slight crud ring that only began to interfere with seating after 3-4 shots or so. 90 grains produced a crud ring that had to be cleaned out after 2-3 shots. With 100+ grains the crud ring became so bad that it made seating the bullet difficult and cleaning recommended after only one shot, but seating a second shot without cleaning was possible with extra effort. A third shot without cleaning wasn' t possible.

For comparison, I use a light coat of Breakfree CLP in the bore of my muzzleloaders after cleaning to protect them, but I still encounter the crud ring problem. I' ve encountered a little erratic accuracy from my Knight recently that I couldn' t explain. After making sure everything was tight I finally decided to very thouroughly clean and lap the bore with JB Bore Paste and haven' t yet been back out to the range with it. I' m hoping that the now HIGHLY polished bore will help prevent some of the crud from sticking to the barrel. It might be wishful thinking but if it does help that' ll be an added bonus.

Mike