First shot fouled barrel
 

I have seen several posts saying to hunt use a fouled barrel. My question is does that mean to run a spit patch and then a dry patch and leave it that way until the season ends?

RE: First shot fouled barrel
 

oldwun

Not for me... I beleive I do hunt with a fouled barrel - not a dirty barrel but a fouled barrel...

Just before hunting season I take the gun out and shoot it a target to check the POI is where I left it. Maybe 3-4 shots... After that I do not strip clean the gun, I do not remove the breech plug , do not even take the gun out of the stock. I do patch it with windex patches until they come out clean - then dry the barrel with clean white patches... the last step i do put a very thin coat of bore oil back in the barrel, nothing like I would normally put in - really thin - then I try to patch as much oil out with with clean patches as I can. I know you are suppose to shoot sabots with a non-lubricated barrel, but in the weather I hunt I feel I need some bore protection. This minimal amount of protection does not change POI - as long as the sabot can grab the lands and grooves and does not slide across them.

So, after all of that the bore is not "clean" clean like it would be when I would put it away for storage but not so dirty that fouling is apparent. I feel I can get away with this because I am shooting T7 and the humidity here is fairly stable.

Again this my way but it will not be everybodies way....

mike

RE: First shot fouled barrel
 

your gun will shoot more consistant groups after firing one time.ussually the 2-6 or7 shots will group the best for me. if i shoot mine perfectly clean it always shoots high and to right,after that it goes back to dead center. you must learn what your gun does. i site mine in ,then clean it completly. the day before hunting i shoot it once ,then reload and hunt.
i have a range off my back porch so this fairly easy for me.

if i hunt for a few days without firing it,i just pull the breech plug ,remove the pellets and add new ones and a new primer. just to make sure it hasn't drew moisture. i may run a brush down the barrel but i never scrub it during the season unless i shoot alot.

RE: First shot fouled barrel
 

I like to hunt on a fowled barrel, depending on the rifle I am using. I always make sure before season that I know where the rifle will hit on a clean and fowled barrel. I then fowl it the day of the hunt, and I used to clean it that night. After some of the corrosion tests I ran recently, I think swabbing the barrel out for my sabot shooters, or just leaving the fowled White alone for the next day, will not endanger the rifle for rusting. I am going to hence change some of my cleaning habits.

RE: First shot fouled barrel
 

I never do that. For me it affects accuracy and I killed my knuckles once on the front sight of my Knight. I clean between each shot, at range with cleaner, 2 patches down, dry then 1 patch of light bore butter. In field, 2 patches of bore butter, both saturated "pretty good", may 1/32" of the stuff on a patch, smeared into the patch very well. Work the crud ring. I turn patch over. So I have a "major particles removed" fouled barrel. POI with first shot of a clean gun is same as POI with this method for both my Knight Disc and my TC Omega.
Chap Gleason Va

RE: First shot fouled barrel
 

Chap

Wow! - I thought I might be a bitcontroversial - but this procedure would really draw a lot of comments from all of those that do not like BB or even a lubricated barrel.... All I gotta say if it works for you - keep it going....

RE: First shot fouled barrel
 

Depends on the rifle. My rem 700 shoots just fine with a clean bore and as suchI hunt with it that way. My knight is better fouled and hunt with it fouled. My Savage 10IIdoesn't matter so I start out clean and leave it until after season (shooting smokeless in the 10II). I keep notes how my guns shoot clean(if fouled is better) just in case i have to start out with it clean. In most cases 1-2 POI shift is all I have seen with a ML, IMO not a lot to worry about given the size of the vital target on deer.

FWIW sabotloader I do the same thing with all my rifles in regards to a thin layer of oil then dry patched to remove any excess before loading a MLor using a CF. Works for me as well and I believe some protection is required for our enviroment.

Forget the "they" is my advise, you must find out what your rifle prefers and go with that instead.

RE: First shot fouled barrel
 

See this, I am of that philosophy, but don't use this fellows methods:

http://www.eabco.com/Muzzleloader04.htm

If you field clean between shotswith 2 bore butter patches, reload, and then in the evening push the bullet out from themuzzle back to the breech, and thenyou look thru the barrel it will suprise you. It is "pretty clean" using just this simple field cleaning method. Look at your barrel field cleaned with 2 BB patchesand look at it "cleaned" and look at it shot once. You will see what I mean.
Chap

RE: First shot fouled barrel
 

IMO, I don't get the theory of a fouled barrell, because the bullet is hard to load. If the bullet is hard to load by hand, won't it be affected coming back out the barrel? Logic tells me so. I was not aware folks didn't like BB, not being a regular on the forum for a long time. Sorry if I offend anyone.Just being me, factually honest. That is all. If you have a better accuracy theory, please lets hear it. I am all ears.
Chap

RE: First shot fouled barrel
 

I wasn't taught any of those ways. I was taught when fowling barrels in BP to fowl w/ a primer ONLY. Then wipe w/ a wet patch then dry. Never leave any corrosive material. Primersare corrusive but not like BP. I have never tried fowling barrel tests. It usually takes 8-9 paches to clean when @ the range to get a clean barrel. When I hunt if I dotake a shot I do the very best I can that day to clean and usually have the tools except in rareoccations. At the range after the rifle is sighted inI will shoot several shots as back ups. Usually they all are good for a least the first three shots.
High powder rifles are different. I do as mentioned by others depending on the rifle.
Not the right way just the way I was taught....
SHills

RE: First shot fouled barrel
 

i dont clean in the field. after i shoot, im automatically opening a speed loader and reloading it in case i need to shoot again. My rifle usually starts to open up groups after 5 shots. Last year i shot a doe and after i shot, i reloaded and never used it. My tags were full and so i took a piece of paper towel and lightly wettened it and cleaned the barrel out, yes with bullet and load still in it and kept it loaded for another 3 days untill we packed up and went home. Before we left i fired it right off and cleaned it out really good once we were home. i only use borebutter for my flintlock and thats only on the patches, sometimes i have to use dry patchs when i shoot in 90* + weather, the bore butter melts and makesa huge mess and kills my accuracy.

RE: First shot fouled barrel
 

On my Prohunter,I just pop a couple of caps the night before going hunting. Don't wipe it out,and load her up. It hits the same spot as it does after shooting and using a spit patch.

RE: First shot fouled barrel
 

In my Black Diamonds and Omega, I shoot mostly sabots. I clean between shots with the Cayugad swabbing solution, then dry patch. The point of impact is the same from a clean drybarrel as a swabbed fouled one with this routine. So I go hunting with a clean dry barrel. Dry climate, here in the west, with a stainless barrel - I'm not real worried about rust. No oil or bore butter goes in my barrels at the range - although I do store them long term with a little film of Sheath in the bore.

In the new Genesis, I'm using 2F Jim Shockey Gold behind the new 338 gr. Platinum Powerbelts. This combo doesn't settle down until you get a couple shots downrange, and doesn't like to be swabbed or cleaned in any way between shots. So I just load it and shoot it. I'm going afield with a fouled barrel in this instance. I'll clean the gun at the end of the season.

RE: First shot fouled barrel
 

cva told me to never fire just a primer in my gun. a 209 that is, i used to fire a few in mine when i shot #11 primers.

someone mentioned a crud ring, i shoot winchester primers and ,i never get a crud ring in this gun. it will get tight at the muzzle before it does at the breech, which is where most crud rings form. the new winchester 777 primers are supposed to all but eleminate crud rings.

remingtons and omega's are usually alittle worst at forming bad crud rings ,for some reason.

if i shoot my gun clean,i'll be off 4-5in at 100yds . on a fouled barrel i can get 5-6 shots without it moving. i just cleaned my gun today ,it has been loaded on a fouled barrel for over 2 weeks. i sat down at the bench and cut the top out off a one circle at 100yds. i can tell you ,i ain't changin nothin........

RE: First shot fouled barrel
 

I don't know about any of that stuff. My gun most certainly shoots best with the first shot. Don't get too technical. I load the gun after wiping the bore and shooting some caps and then take it hunting. I would advise you to do the same. I don't see anything wrong with firing several shots to check point of impact and then wiping the bore before hunting. That sounds reasonable.

RE: First shot fouled barrel
 

By the way, my gun shoots the same until about 5 shots or so without swabbing as well. Swabbing isn't neccessary until so many shots I have found. I don't swab while hunting either. That's overdoing it. I just reload quickly in case.

RE: First shot fouled barrel
 

Heres my method and belief. I sight the gun in, one foul shot, then two shots after without cleaning to check my POI, first shot is always high and right 2" at 100 yards after that its dead on at 100, 2 shots within an inch of each other.

Then I clean the barrel good, reload and shoot a fouling load.

My theroy is I want my gun to shoot the same POI in the field. I have had a few occasions where I had to shoot or had the opportunity to shoot another shot at deer. I want to know what my gun hits at dirty because that deer ain't gonna wait around for you to clean your gun in the field most likely.

And for the record, this year I shot a doe it went down, then a doe with it came back my way within 3 minutes, I shot it, then the last doe came running by and if I would have been able to get my frozen fingers to grab the primer I dropped out of my lap there would have been a 3rd deer down. Thats one of 3 times I had an opportunity.

I know you can get the same constistancy by cleaning between each shot, but is that a real hunting situation? Not a big deal at 30-50 yards, but what about 125-150? If you off 2-4 inches at 100 how about 200?

But then again I ain't no pro hunter, but I've shot 9 deer in two years with my M/L

RE: First shot fouled barrel
 

If your gun will keep the shot within1-1 1/2inches of it's normal group,clean thefirst shot,your not gonna miss many deer. The only way to find out is by trying it! By tuning your charge,you will find THE most accurate load,(not afair,orOk group,but a really accurate group) itwill shoot very close to the others,(clean,or fouled)once you have found the "magic load". It takes allot of range work,but will pay off big when it counts.