Carbon/Fouling Buildup

[Hawken]

In your opinions fellows.....does not being able to seat the PRB at the same depth according to your ramrod marking stem from fouling buildup on the face of the breech or possibly on the sides of the bore as well??

[Ohio Joe]

In your opinions fellows.....does not being able to seat the PRB at the same depth according to your ramrod marking stem from fouling buildup on the face of the breech or possibly on the sides of the bore as well??

Hawken, that is a great question. It has happened to me a few times on very humid days in the past and I've had to tap the ramrod down with the back side of my hawk...

I can't say for certain, but I've always thought it to be on the sides of the bore - only because I was able to tap the ramrod down to its mark. It didn't take a lot of tapping - but it was being stubborn enough not wanting to seat without the tapping. 

[Hawken]

In your opinions fellows.....does not being able to seat the PRB at the same depth according to your ramrod marking stem from fouling buildup on the face of the breech or possibly on the sides of the bore as well??

Hawken, that is a great question. It has happened to me a few times on very humid days in the past and I've had to tap the ramrod down with the back side of my hawk...

I can't say for certain, but I've always thought it to be on the sides of the bore - only because I was able to tap the ramrod down to its mark. It didn't take a lot of tapping - but it was being stubborn enough not wanting to seat without the tapping. 

And THAT Joe.....can be a PITA!! That amount of increased 'tapping' probably distorts the structural integrity of the round ball and accuracy can suffer. This situation happened to me the last shooting session and the only way I know to correct the problem is to dismantle the rifle and do the warm water scrub treatment along with judicial usage of a brass brush! And yes it was HUMID; not many days here in North Louisiana when it's not HUMID!

If there's another way to clean the tube.....I'd like to know about it!

[Ohio Joe]

In your opinions fellows.....does not being able to seat the PRB at the same depth according to your ramrod marking stem from fouling buildup on the face of the breech or possibly on the sides of the bore as well??

Hawken, that is a great question. It has happened to me a few times on very humid days in the past and I've had to tap the ramrod down with the back side of my hawk...

I can't say for certain, but I've always thought it to be on the sides of the bore - only because I was able to tap the ramrod down to its mark. It didn't take a lot of tapping - but it was being stubborn enough not wanting to seat without the tapping. 

And THAT Joe.....can be a PITA!! That amount of increased 'tapping' probably distorts the structural integrity of the round ball and accuracy can suffer. This situation happened to me the last shooting session and the only way I know to correct the problem is to dismantle the rifle and do the warm water scrub treatment along with judicial usage of a brass brush! And yes it was HUMID; not many days here in North Louisiana when it's not HUMID!

If there's another way to clean the tube.....I'd like to know about it!

I also remember it happening once in extremely hot/dry weather at a Rendezvous shoot over at Chadron Fur Trade Days. Back then I didn't carry a little spray bottle in my shooting bag (I do now) - so I slobbered the heck out of a swabbing/cleaning patch and ran that down the bore a few times and it got me through the shoot as I figured I'd better swab at least between every two shots.... By gawd I literally ran out of spit between that, and spit patching my ball's. Haven't had it happen now for some time, but it's a pain you know where when it does.

[Hawken]

I knew right off the bat what I had NOT DONE prior to this observation which was.......I was not wiping with a damp patch betwixt shots! And I was also using fairly heavy charges of KIK 2F powder. Spray bottle is a good idea!

[Ohio Joe]

I knew right off the bat what I had NOT DONE prior to this observation which was.......I was not wiping with a damp patch betwixt shots! And I was also using fairly heavy charges of KIK 2F powder. Spray bottle is a good idea!

Same here... Figured if I was spit patching I didn't need to swab... Had no idea they were gonna through 15 shots in a row at me that year...

[amm1851]

I have noticed with my trade gun that I can start getting flashes in the pan after about 12 to 15 shots,  and then I  need to run a breech face scraper down the bore,  which usually fixes the problem for another 8 to 10 shots, by which point it's usually time to give the bore a scrape and a good swabbing any way. 

[Maven]

Hawken & amm 1851,  I too get some fouling in my FL's, but rarely in my cap locks, and not in the barrel so much as in the chamber (and possibly the breech face of my trade gun as well).   Waksupi calls it a "crud ring" and you can certainly feel it when seating a patched RB.  It's also easily removed.  Btw, I've experienced the same issue as amm 1851 has with my trade gun and now will have to think about scraping the breech face too.  Thanks for the heads up, amm 1851!