how long should you wait before cleaning the barrel , about how many shots ?? , and any other tips would be welcome as well , i' ve got a traditions buckskinner carbine muzzeloader

At the range, I run a spit patch (front & back) through the bore after each round. This keeps the fouling consistent for consistent shots and makes reloading easier too.

I give the gun a full, thorough cleaning at the end of every day it' s fired - even if only 1 or 2 rounds were fired. About the only exception to this when on a hunting time. If I' m out in the boonies for 2 or 3 days, I' ll usually wait until the hunt is over before giving it a good cleaning. Sometimes even then, I' ll run 3 or 4 spit patches through it at the end of the day as long as the gun has been discharged & unloaded.

Yeah, I know,............I' m a little anal on gun care - but you almost HAVE to be with blackpowder equipment.

thank you mark

Whelen, if you are using black powder, try to wipe the bore after every shot, as Mark mentioned. If you are using Pyrodex, the manufacturer recommends NOT wiping between shots, and I don' t find it necessary to do so. Some of the other substitutes will allow several shots between wipings also, but I found that is not true with Triple 7! I had to wipe after every shot with T7. A buildup of fouiling can prevent you from getting the ball all the way down onto the powder charge, then you are in trouble! The ball has to be seated firmly against the powder, or the gun could be damaged when the shot is fired. If you can' t get it down, it will have to be pulled, or the breechplug will have to be taken out so the charge can be safely removed.

Always clean your gun thoroughly after any shooting when you are finished for the day, regardless of what kind of powder you use!!

Whelen,
I pretty much agree with everything, however at the range I like to shoot 2 to 3 times between running a cleaning patch down the barrel. My reason of this is some guns will shoot a bit differenlty with a clean vs. fouled barrel. So I normally shoot 3 shots so I know what my gun will do, in case I need a follow up shot, and don' t have time for the cleaning patch.

When hunting, if I don' t fire my gun, and the weather is dry I leave my load in the gun (NO caps or primers). If I fire my gun I will throughly clean it that night.

Best of luck,

thanks guys ,
i' m using goex " FFg " as my main powder

and goex " FFFFg " as my flash powder.

once again thank you it' s very much appreciated

forgot to mention for those who don' t know , she' s a flintlock

what everyone failed to mention is to also clean the breach plug and nipple. the nipple can get clogged and foul up a shot. i just wipe the barrell with a bore butter patch and clean the nipple and breach plug