metaldonnieg

Beginning tomorrow I plan to officially become a black powder hunter. I've noticed my rifle shoots a tad different at 25 yards from a completely clean barrel. My question is, with it being around if not slightly more than an inch (total estimate, haven't actually measured a flyer)at 25 yardsand I expect my max shot to be 75 (dense woods on our land), would I be ok hunting from a clean barrel? I hate to have to blow off a shot in the morning to foul the barrel but I also don't want to leave crud in my barrelbecause I'm not planning on unloading every day during the season.

frontier gander

As long as you know where it will impact on the first shot you'll be fine.

nchawkeye

You need to know where your gun shoots with a clean barrel...
I have hunted with muzzleloaders for over 30 years, I refuse to hunt with my barrel dirty as black powder is very corrosive.

Triple Se7en

All guns are different animals. It make take you 10 trips to the range to find your sweet spot - using only the first clean, coldbarrel shot. You need to take 2-3 guns to the range - shoot one shot from your muzzleloader - then retrieve & save the target. Adjust the sights afterwards the best you can. Then shoot your other guns - tobenefit from the costs of range time.

Go out the next week & repeat the first week - shooting only one shot and adjusting the sights again the best you can. Keep doing this until you are comfortable with that first shot. Always prepare the inside the bore the exact same way each time. Use the same preparation procedure each time. Don't change anything - don't change primer/caps - don't change oils - don't change the way you remove the oils and dry the bore - don't change how you fire caps/primers before loading that first shot.

Sometimes 3-4 trips is all you need -- sometimes it may take 10 trips.

sabotloader

metaldonnieg

First off - i want to make sure you understand that i am shooting T7 powder, were i shooting any of the other powders i woul not suggest what I do...

I hunt with what i would like to call a "semi-fouled" barrel... I shoot my rifles prior to the hunt then I patch them with regular windex patches until the patch comes pretty clear. This usually takes 3 patches and a couple of drying patches.. The gun will not truly be cleaned (squeaky clean) until the end of the season.

My guns doshoot more consistently through all ranges with a "semi" fouled bore - so that is the reason I developed this method and have been using it for 6-7 years now. There is not much of an opportunity to shoot a fouling shot before the hunt in the morning - heck i even hate closing the doors on the truck in the morning they make a definite human sound - so there is no way I am shooting caps or a fouling shot prior to hunting.

Again this with T7 powder...

driftrider

You'd be wise to hunt on a clean barrel. BP and Pyrodex are hygroscopic and corrosive, and the other BP substitutes are very hygroscopic (IOW, they attract and trap moisture from the air which will rust your barrel). If your rifle is not consistant with a clean barrel, then you could hunt with a fouled barrel, but I'd recommend you carefully weatherproof the barrel (i.e. finger-cot, condom or electrical tape over the muzzle and tape or Saran Wrap over the action) to prevent moisture from entering during your hunting day. Followed by a full cleaning each evening as soon as you get home. It's a pain in the a$$, but sometimes you have to do this to ensure the one and only shot you'll likely get on game will hit where you aim it.

Or you could do what I do, and shoot your foulers in October and leave it dirty for the whole season...IF you shoot a Savage with smokeless powder!

Good luck on your opener. I'm going out for the first time this year tomorrow too. My late ML season started on the 17th, but this is the first opportunity I've had. I'm meat hunting this year because I might only get a couple days to hunt, so I plan on dropping the hammer on the first decent sized deer I get a clear shot at, buck or doe. I just want to fill my freezer.

Mike

falcon

"I refuse to hunt with my barrel dirty as black powder is very corrosive."

Same here. My muzzleloaders are sighted in with clean barrels.Black powder or Pyrodex residue will ruin a fired barrel in a couple of days. 777 is claimed to be non-corrosive, but tell that to an acquaintance of mine who ruined his Encore barrel this fall.

sjsfire

I shot all summer long sighting in for a clean barrel first shot. My first shot will be the one that counts. Before I went out both opening mornings of the Illinois firearm seasons I cleaned my barrel of oil with two alcohol patches, a couple of dry patches then loaded up. I was out of the woods cleaning my gun by 8:30 both days....didn't need a second shot.

wabi

Hate to come off sounding negative, but if you've only shot at 25 yards and only know it's a "tad" off on the first shot, maybe you aren't ready to gohunting with it!
Some rifles will put a shots from a fouled bore very close to the first shot from a clean (but oil-free) bore, some won't. It's that first shot that's all-important and you need to know exactly where it's going. I like to think of that first shot asthe only shot, because in hunting is often is!

fastflight1

What if you have a stainless gun barrel can you leave it fouled without rusting the barrel?

Just seems like if you only shoot your gun with a clean barrel it would take month's to get it sited in with some. I can see shooting a semi fouled barrel but only spit shined.....

If your gun is off several inches at 25 yards isn't itmore then likely it's going to be WAY off at 75 yards?