I would sure like to get to the bottom of what the differences are in the Omega rifles that make some people able to use 777 and others with the kind of problems I have with that powder. First I thought it was because our weather (Arizona) is dry but if you are in Florida it aint dry! Maybe I am too picky but I do not get the heavy difficult to remove crud ring with any other powder just 777 and the .25ACP does not completely cure it in my rifle either.Fortunately for me there are a lot of other powders that work better and actually give me higher velocity with less perceived recoil than 777 so it is only a condition I would like to understand just to satisfy my curiosity.

MLKeith

Humidity doesn't make the crud ring worse.... your dry Arizona weather does. Heat makes it worse than cooler weather too. That's self-explanatory when you factor-in the benefits of cooler primers.

Breechplug design effects the ring.... so does powder volume & tightness of the sabot. The only time high humidity creates a firmer crud is when the barrel cools during high humidity days without swabbing the bore first. This is common on hunting days when you generally only shoot once or twice. Letting it sit inside the borecooling after firing the rifleon a humid day -- after sitting most of the day outdoors with it -- makes it worse when the evaporation process hardens the fouling.

I'm no expert on this & nobody from Hodgdon is either. This is my opinion -- my findings & it doesn't mean squat in any other rifle but mine.

Sorry for the slightly cocky attitude I have today Keith. I went toe-to-toe with poster Nut yesterday in personal messages over at realtree.combecause he lied in addressing my posts/replies -- then made false accusations also lied in addressing Underclocked 's posts. Never stayed on-topic once all this time.

Since he's a moderator there & I referred to him in his prior screen name there as "Worthless Nut" with some other silly name calling I expressed to him, hepulled the plug on me.

The guy is a real screwball.... how he got to be a moderator "anywhere" is a real mystery. One look at how goofy he is can be found by clicking on his screen name at realtree.com'smuzzleloader boardand reading his bio.

It's a sad day when someone gets banned because administrators there are backing his lies/accusations.... plus cannot see that the guy is not on the same playing field as everyone else.

I defended my posts correctly on the open forum-- then got banned for calling " an Ace - an Ace" in a private email. Unreal! Actually not unreal when you see the MLpage therehas deteriorated to very little postings the past six months.

Triple Se7en: No concerns here. I have read a lot of what you have posted and usually agree with your findings. I also have not had any problems with your attitude in the past so I believe that you got treated badly. I don't think that site is even on my favorites. I have always felt the amount of moisture in the air has to have an effect just like it does with real black. I just cannot believe there are people out who claim to be able to shoot three or more shots with 777 before having to run a spit patch. I have stuck my bullet on the crud ring so many times after only one shot that I am tired of pulling the breechplug to ram the bullet out. I also cannot remove the crud ring in my rifle with a simple spit patch. I have to run a brass brush and at least two wet patches followed by a dry patch run twice to ever consider reloading a second charge of 777 and bullet. I have all three T/C breechplug designs, I also have the .25ACP conversion. Nothing completely cures the problem in my Omega. Like I have said it is a good thing there are other powders as I have tried ffg 777 and 777 pellets. I have not tried fffg 777 as it is not locally available and after the frustration with the previous trials I gave up on the powder. I would still like to know what the differences are although they are probably many including some operator differences that we cannot explain. I know T/C has little interest in helping with this as they just say use Pyrodex. They have not even heard of Black Mag'3 or American Pioneer which makes me wonder what the guy I was talking to does for a living if he does not know as much about powder as I do. T/C has great customer service if you return a rifle but their information over the phone is not all that great.

I sent a T/C rifle in a couple of times and on the second trip I received emails directly from the tech that worked on it. Heck of a nice guy and let me know exactly what they found/were doing. But I certainly agree about the phone support - basically non-existent.

T7, I agree with your summary of what happened there - as evidenced by my own futile response there today (may be gone by now). But there seems to be an air of stench elsewhere as well, if you hadn't noticed already I'm sure you will. And I guess that's more than enough on that subject. I visit these forums to have a little fun and, once in awhile, actually offer up something that might help someone a little.

But, on a more serious note, the crud ring.........I've decided there is an evil demon of crud. He/she/it takes notice and we've had it. Try to assimilate enough information to fit the puzzle together, reachwhat you believe is aplausible conclusion, then something or someone blows it clear out of the water. Just kidding, as you all surely know, but there often appears to be no rhyme or reason to the performance differences in powders from one area or gun to the next. Guess we just swab.

Oneepisode that I recall involvedthe VERY distinct differences in performance of ClearShot powder noted by Rich Dunkirk and myself. Bluelk thought it was the greatest thing to come along (for quite some time)while I thought it to be a complete waste of money. His produced good performance in both accuracy and speed while making cleanup very easy. Mine produced rainstorms in the bore and offered the performance of a cap pistol. Arizona vs Missouri climate? I thought so until reading enough posted results on the powder to eliminate that single variable as the answer. Still don't know... butthen Inever made it through the first can.

I guess that goes to show how different Cleanshot & 777 are -- in relation to their interactions with moisture & dry Arizona weather. Now I'm being 777-dumfounded lately by getting reacquainted with plug seizures ever since I switched from a flat-face breechplug to a deep concave one.

Just something else that makes no sense with 777....lol..... kinda like the words coming out of the mouth of Worthless Nut.

My mouth gets me in posting troubled watersoccasionally by disagreeing posters. I can accept those-type responses.But this is the first time an appropriate personal message I sent keeps a moderator there that chases-off current members & the poster that draws newcomers in gets banned.

I'm done on this subject too. Nice talking to you again. Hope all is well with your health again.

Thank you to everyone who responded. At least I can have a starting point now. All your suggestions and insight have been extremely informative. I wish everyone good luck this year.