Originally Posted by
Bonner1
Understood.
I did not run an alcohol swab through - just a dry patch. I assume I should be running an alcohol swab through instead of dry patch (prior to popping some primers and preparing to shoot after thorough cleaning)? When you say alcohol swab - can I use the kind that people use prior to getting a shot or cleaning a wound (they come prepackaged) or just soak a dry patch in rubbing alcohol?
Remember anything i put in this post are just my thoughts and the way i do things but others certainly may do them different.
I never use alcohol in my ML's but because of the way I treat the bore I do think it is necessary. In your case for this particular shooting episode I would say that you really should have ran 2 or 3 alcohol patches before shooting. From another conversation, you said that you use Hoppes #9 gun oil for your bore. I looked up Hoppes #9 and while it is great bore oil - it is exactly that - it is real oil and I would call it a heavy oil. Just wiping the bore with a dry patch probably will not get much of the oil out of the bore at all + plus every time you shoot and heat the bore you probably released even more oil from the bore. Probably why it took so long for the sabots to get a grip on the lands and grooves to be accurate. Again in your case alcohol really might have sped this process up. Regular denatured alcohol (70% Isopropyl Alcohol) will work ok, but I would really suggest 91% alcohol avaiable at your local Pharmacy.
After I cleaned from last range visit I cleaned the bore and breech plug thoroughly with regular solvent and gun scrubber getting the patches to come out spotless. Then I liberally sprayed "Cabelas Barrel Blaster Rust Prevent Spray" in barrel and ran one dry patch through one time just to catch excess and let it be until I brought it out today at which time I ran two dry patches in and out till I saw no evidence of moisture on the patch.
Sounds good to me.. i do the scrubber stuff also... I do not use the Barrel Blaster spray... This is where I would like to suggest that you use a synthetic bore oil vs a true oil. There 2 products on the market that I believe are superior for this process. The first one is 'Slip 2000' an awesome oil... a tiny little bit on one patch might do a whole gun - do not need much...
Check the Gun lubricant tab on this site, do not look at the BP oil tab:
http://www.slip2000.com/
The other oil that I suggest and the one that I use today is Montana X-treme Bore Conditioner... I know every one will thell you you can not condition a modern steel bore... but it is metal and it does have pores so it can be conditioned... This product is another synthetic product with the prime ingrediant being Ether Alcohol for rapid evaportation leaving the synthetic oil portion in place. Again a very little bit of this will go miles and miles. If you get it and start using it you will over do the oil for awhile because you eill not believe how far it will go. I use it and find no need for the alcohol patch prior to shooting.
Click on the products tab and choose Bore Conditioner:
http://www.montanaxtreme.com/
I may go ahead and clean it tomorrow (just hard letting a dirty gin sit like this - especially since is not a SS barrel) and then try somehow to go to an indoor range at some point this week just to see how it shoots out of the box after popping three primers prior to shooting to see where first one lands. However want to see what you all have to say about what I have talked about in this one.
Do not think that will be a problem just remember to run 3 or 4 alcohol patches prior to shooting. Then prior to loading snap 3-4 primers and dry patch.... Load 'er up and go hunting.