Shooting my cva for the first time tomorrow,using american pioneer powder,do I have to swab between each shot with this powder or
can I shoot two or three between swabs?

if your working up a load it would not hurt to swab, but actually you can get by with numerous shots using that powder.

I shot CVA hunterbolt with 2 Triple Se7ven pellets and Powerbelt, I swabed after everyshot 2 times with 1 patch (turn it over and do it second time). If you take out the breech plus and look through barrel, it looks pretty dirty with lots of residue. I did so and the shots were extremely accurate. After zeroing in, I got 1/2 inch group at 100 yards, two out of three even on top of each other. I do recommend swabbing after each shot.

Thanks guys will see how it goes in the am,am really looking forward to
shooting my new toy!

Comes down to whether or not you wish to hunt on a dirty, fouled barrel or not.

I am all about consistancy and expected results.

I have always swabbed completely clean in-between each shot when shooting sabot's. That is the point of impact that I am going to bank my one and only shot on. I have overall best consistancy POI from a clean bore.

For conical and PRB (Patch and Roundball) I also always sight in and hunt from a clean bore. When target shooting at the range with Conical or PRB I don't swab in-between each shot. Only when required by excessive fouling.

I'm sure folks will swear by a "fouling shot" or other methods to intentionallyfoul the bore to deliver good accuracy and I've heard in cases it will. For me I have always found the most consistancy from a clean bore and sight in that way for hunting situations.

Plus, sitting all day afield with a fouled bore gives rust an extra opportunity to work in the bore.

Lastly, fouling draws moisture which could contaminate your charge or ignition depending on the humidity level.

Good Luck!

Tahquamenon

sorry

I agree with Tahquamenon. When I go to the range to shoot....I try to simulate hunting conditions in the aspect of having a clean barrel with each shot. I can't imagine getting more than one shot off in the field with a ML.

Here was my routine.....shooting 250gr ShockWave Sabots with 100gr Pyrodex pellets.

With a dry bore I shot my first shot. Swabbed 3 times with wet patches, ran 2 dry patches down, fired a primer cap, and ran another dry patch to soak up anything spit out of the breech plug. Shot again.....and so on.

My groups were on average 1" to 1 ½ inches at 100yds. Best group was probably just a ½ inch....all 3 shots touched. Worst was probably 2"inches.

I shot 2 groups without swabbing between shots and they were nearly 5 inch groups at 100yds. On the 3rd shot, it was much more difficult to get the sabot seated against the pellets. I doubt I will try that again.

It doesn't take long to swab between shots....especially if you are shooting with a buddy. You can swab while he shoots and vice-versa.

I simulate hunting conditions only after I am positive that I have the best possible accuracy out of the projectile that is possible. For this reason I swab between each shot, to make the next shot as consistent as the one before it. Once the load is worked up, then the practice can begin.

When I want to simulate hunting conditions, or now that winter is moving in and it gets harder to move the bench equipment around the range, I go back to the shooting sticks. With the shooting sticks, this is the way I hunt. I do 99% of my shooting while hunting off shooting sticks. It is at this point that I might shoot three even more shots without swabbing. Granted I do not expect the same accuracy as when I am pounding them off a bench rest, but it does give me a good indication of what I will see in the woods.

You ought to be able to fire a number of shots before having to swab the bore using that stuff-I know when I used Clean Shot I did not have to wipe between shots, and Clean Shot was at least almost identical to APP, if not exactly the same!

I don't swab between shots with Pyrodex either. As a matter of fact, when Pyrodex first appeared on the market, the makers recommended that you NOT clean between shots. I don't know whether Hodgdon still makes that suggestion to Pyrodex users or not, but they used to say that shot-to-shot variation was less from fouled bores than from ones that were cleaned between shots when using Pyrodex.

I used to not swab between shots. But ML is about consistency. I may be able to get tighter groups with 2 or 3 foulers but sometiems your on, and sometimes your not. But I don't like leaving fouling in a barrel. So to get the most predictable consistency, I always swab between shots on inlines. Sidelocks no, every 3 shots.