I'm an admittedly beginner/novice muzzleloader. I picked up my first, a traditions 50 cal Hawken caplock muzzleloader ~3 years ago, and love shooting it. (and learned a few tidbits lurking here from you all over the years)
I have a couple questions that I'm wondering what you think:
a.) When I shoot my muzzleloader I usually find that I get a lot of fouling in and around the bolster… I've taken to dry-wiping with a patch between every shot because that seems to keep the barrel cleaner and give me more consistent shot pattern (at least for ~5 shots)
Do you think I'm just ramming debris into the bolster doing this or is this just the nature of the beast in terms of muzzleloaders? (BTW I usually shoot pyrodex R/S 75 grains)
It seems like after ~6-7 shots I start getting "hiccup" hangfires.
Of note, when plinking, I used to used to rest my firearm on my coat (to keep from scratching or chipping the beautiful hardwood finish) but found it would leave powder burns on my coat from near the area of the lock…
--I notice many muzzleloader users don't seem to wipe between every shot or with after 2-3 or more shots... Is there a reason not to wipe?

b.) I had an "incident" shooting this gun a few years ago. Was plinking in a gravel pit and managed to have a distraction while loading the muzzleloader. Recovered my senses and fired my shot; I was surprised that the gun kicked like mule nearly knocking my glasses off my head (whereas normally my Hawken gives a gentle love-tap for recoil) and noticed my bullet hole WAY off the target (which was surprising because I'd been getting a good pattern on the target) I reached for my ramrod to wipe the barrel and noticed it was nowhere to be found…
Long and short, I assume I accidentally left the ramrod in place, fired it with my bullet--to this day I've found no remains of the ramrod anywhere--I believe it may have simply ascended up to heaven. It's either that or the aliens got it…

So anyways, when you're all done snickering, I'm curious as to whether you think I've done any damage to my firearm.
There is no visible bowing/cracking etc… and it shoots with a good pattern. Do you think my "incident" may be in any way contributing to my issue described in a.) above?

Let me see if I can address your concerns in order.
First the fouling: I believe your fouling is possibly caused by oil. (oil and BP or BP substitues such as Pyrodex do not mix well together). Next time out, swab the bore with alcohol prior to shooting. Also wipe the oil off the bolster with a Q-tip type swab. With a patch on your cleaning jag all the way down the bore, snap off a couple caps to dry the nipple/bolster out.
Now you concern about damage: If you don't notice a 'skipping" or easy spot during you loading you are probably OK. Believe me you are not the first one to ever shoot a ramrod out of your rifle. The ramrod was likely down on the bullet or very close to it so as not to cause any damage as would a bore obstruction. It was like shooting a really really heavy bullet.
And, as for swabbing, with black powder or pyrodex, I swab between every shot at the range. If only for the sake of consistancy.

Be assured DonkeyHodey that your shot ramrod now rests peacefully with the rod I and many others have sent to the Land of Flying Rods, never to be seen again. May they rest in peace.

If you're dry swabbing, after the swab tilt the bore toward the ground and slap the breech. Try it over a clean surface and most likely you will find flakes of fouling falling from the bore. I do that after three or four shots even when wiping the bore with alcohol between shots, and always have some debris fall from the bore.

Thanks for the reply;
So, by alcohol, you mean isopropyl/rubbing alcohol I assume. So prior to shooting, you wipe the oil out with alcohol--after that do you then fire a cap off to blow any alcohol out before you shoot?
Do you wipe between shots with alcohol as well? I've heard others "spit" wipe between shots?
Does anyone here ever remove the bolster screw and wipe out the bolster between shots at the range to try and get a few more shots before giving the ML the full cleaning?

This actually leads into another question I've had:
some people tell me the first shot out of a clean muzzleloader is not always accurate whereas shots 2-4 tend to be your most accurate…
Do you agree with this? (my personal experience has been that my first shot with my ML is usually close enough to get a kill… at least I am comfortable admitting operator error is more likely the issue if I don't hit the bullseye)
When you hunt with a ML do you do anything different to prep the firearm to ensure that first shot (?only shot) is true?

Apply alcohol to a patch. With a loading/cleaning jag on the ramrod, swab the bore of the rifle slowly. This alcohol patch will pull the oil out of the bore. Now put a dry patch on the jag and swab the bore with this dry patch. This will insure that the bore is clean, dry, and oil free. Now is when I like to put another dry patch on the jag, and push that to the bottom of the breech. Now pop a cap. Pull that patch and check the patch for a burn mark. If you see no burn mark do it all over again. When you finally see a burn mark on the patch, you are then ready to load the rifle. That means the bore is clean and dry and that the bolster/drum is clean because the fire is passing through it.

The first shot on a clean muzzleloader can be out of the group you will find from fouled shots. Depending on the rifle sometimes this is drastic. Other times it is hardly nothing. All you can do is try out your rifle.