Hey guys,
Well I just got back from range. It was my first time shooting a ML and it was a blast (pun intended)! I shot okay but I think I can get better accuracy if I have a good cleaning routine down. I would shoot twice and then run a dry patch or two and remove the breechplug after the 4th shot and run a borebrush down the barrel completely through the barrel followed by a dry patch.

How does everyone else clean at the range? Do you use solvent (or anything wet) while shooting? Do you remove the breechplug at all? Thanks guys for helping a nube! I'm really liking this muzzleloading thing!

Since switching to American Pioneer. i dont clean between shots or clean at all!

This is what it took to clean my Accura after 6 shots with APP.


I do find though that to get my best accuracy, i have to load the bullet down hard and compress the powder and give a few minutes between shots for a cool down.

I never remove the breechplug. I swab with a patch lightly dampened with 91% isopropyl alcohol from WalMart - sometimes just one side of one patch, sometimes both sides of the patch. In a warm barrel the alcohol evaporates quickly so I don't bother to follow with a dry patch.

When I'm doing a final sight-in of a hunting load I swab with both sides of a fairly damp patch, followed by both sides of a lightly dampened patch, followed by both sides of a dry patch. This pretty much results in a fully clean barrel (or near enough to one) which is what I use on a hunt.

When Im sighting in or shooting after every 3 shots I'll run a patch coated with Windex down the barrel followed by a dry patch. Very seldome do I remove the breechplug, mabey If I shoot more than 20 times I will just to clean the fire channel.
At home I will use HOT Soapy water to clean the Barrel with either a Brass or Nylon Brush, mabey 3-5 strokes,. I then use a Breech Brush to clean the Breech Threads. Then I use either Windex Patches or TC No13 Bore Cleaner Patches to swab the Bore untill clean, followed by a dry patch or too. I then hold the barrel up to a light bulb to check it to make sure it is shinny clen, if not I repeate the process.
If it is clean enough I then take a patch saturated with Montana Extreme Bore Conditioner, or any GOOD Oil and run it through the barrel.
I then clean the Breech Plug well, completely and dry. Then I run a dry patch or two through the barrel to get the oil out leaving just a super fine coating of it in there, put breech plug grease on it's threads, or Tefelon Tape. install it, cover then end of the muzzle untill it's time to load again. Also if needed I spray some Birchwood Casey Barricade Gun Oil in the moving parts (action, trigger) just a little, and mabey wipe the outside of the barrel with it too and Im good.
(BP)

Take a look at this and see what you think. http://muzzleloadingbullets.com/muzz..._accuracy.html

Read "The Secret of Muzzleloader Accuracy"

With an inline rifle I use a mix of 50/50 isopropyl alcohol and car windshield cleaner or windex if you have some of that dollar store stuff. Spritz but do not saturate a patch with the liquid. Swab the bore in short strokes from muzzle to breech then back up. Then a dry patch or two, done the same way. Do this between every shot. Then load up and shoot.

In a traditional rifle I tend to use straight alcohol as it does not cause as much hang fire time I found.

I can totally agree with that a MLer will not shoot where it should on a clean bore.........I have found that My ACCURA will shoot much tighter groups on a fouled bore, 1"at 100yds, and recently I have not Hunted with a clean bore, I will fire a shot, not a Primer, then swab the bore and reload. A (spit-patch) inbetween shots is not new but does work wonders, as again a cleaning solvent patch will remove most of the fouling in the bore you need for accuracy. If you have'nt tried this, do.
(BP)

You also need to tell us which powder you were using. It does make a difference in how I swab or don't swab at the range.

The great thing about us muzzle loader guys is we all get to be right and we all get to be wrong - often at the same time.

I always hunt with a squeaky clean barrel. The Renegade I shot the doe with on December 27th. was loaded on November 20th. with GOEX. No, I don't pop a cap before loading. I want nothing in the bore but clean dry powder and the bullet because the gun might remain loaded for two months or more if I don't shoot something with it (there are three guns loaded with GOEX in my truck right now).

At least half of my MLs will shoot the same size group with every shot on a fully cleaned barrel as they will with a fouled bore. The others will group slightly larger on a clean bore, but not enough to take them out of the "hunting accuracy" category.

Now understand what I have said - the clean bore guns will shoot as good a group as the fouled bore guns, but not in the same place. A five-shot clean bore group may shoot in a different spot on the target than a five-shot fouled bore group. The two groups may be two, three or four inches apart, depending on the gun. That's why I always set my sights for a clean bore shot. Of course, the disadvantage of doing so is that you have to do a lot of shooting while fully cleaning the bore between each shot.

x2 i allways hunt with a clean barrel,i sight my guns in for that first shot.but i have to admit my first shot at the range is allways pretty close to the ones after