Fouling Shot

[LRx]

Hi guys-

Given the expense of ML bullets, I'm wondering if I can get away with shooting a felt wad instead of a bullet for my fouling shot first thing before a hunt or range session.

I appreciate your feedback and thanks in advance for your time!

Cheers,
Lee

 

[MuleyFever]

I have stopped doing a fouling shot. Every time I go to the range my first shot is right in there with the rest. I will fire a cap or two and that's it. I do use BH209 so I don't know I that's a factor as it is pretty clean so maybe no difference between the 1st and 2nd shot.

 

[ezmorningrebel]

i typically fire one cap prior to loading my first round. seems to make my first and second shot group closer.

 

[Tod osier]

Good investment and easy to figure out if you need one. I fire my ML on a clean bore without firing a cap - clean bore groups well with fouled on this one. I have rifles that I dont' need a fouler and those that do.

 

[LRx]

Popping off a primer- That's a good thought. I'm shooting the new Remington UML; those large rifle primers will probably be sufficient to burn out the thin layer of oil left after the last cleaning.

Will have to experiment and check results during the next range session.

Thanks gents!

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

those large rifle primers will probably be sufficient to burn out the thin layer of oil left after the last cleaning.

FYI, different cleaning products make a difference. The are some good ones out there now that don't throw off initial shots (or very little if so) and you can use them with buckhorn 209 if that is what you are shooting. If you're shooting traditional powder and doing a water clean and then oiling after I'm not familiar with what products are compatible or not.

 

[fishslap]

I shoot a lyman great plains rifle in 54 cal, patched round ball. The sequence I find that works best is:
-Clean using patches soaked with October Country "Blue Thunder" (wring them out first), follow up with dry patches
-When done cleaning, lube/protect using Track of the Wolf mink oil. This is the same lube I use on my patches for loading
-Prior to loading for my first range/hunting shot, fire two caps (#11 cci). I found that my first shot would be off with just one cap, not always but more often than not. I might even start snapping off 3 before shooting.

Even though I clean between shots, the bore/nipple is not at the same level of clean as the first shot. My sight adjustment/grouping is set after a few shots when the bore is not at that initial level of clean, so I want to try to mimic that on the first shot. I think the key things I did was lubing/protecting with my patch lube (vs. a different protectant (do not use straight gun oil)) and popping off more than one cap. This is probably a different muzzy setup than yours but gives you some things to think about. Consistency and removing variables is the key.

 

[sabotloader]

You do not mention which powder you are using but PRB shooting, with real BP or even a sub, other than BH, you really do not want any petroleum based product in the bore. If you have been using a petroleum based oil even after cleaning there will still be residual oils in the barrel.

You mention Mink oil from TOW - can not imagine this is a petroleum based product - so if that is the oil you are using it is probably not a problem.

And just to bring this out - I never shoot a perfectly clean barrel when it matters. My bores are what I call 'semi fouled' while hunting or shooting targets.

One thing you might try is patching your barrel with 91% alcohol before popping caps. The alcohol should get the bulk of the bore contaminates out of the barrel...

And then again when I am doing Rhondy PRB shoots or even regular shooting I use patches prepared with regular Blue Windex. The ammonia in the Windex, which is very little, is a natural metal stripper and as the ammonia evaporates it carries water molecules with it.

 

[LRx]

One thing you might try is patching your barrel with 91% alcohol before popping caps. The alcohol should get the bulk of the bore contaminates out of the barrel...

And then again when I am doing Rhondy PRB shoots or even regular shooting I use patches prepared with regular Blue Windex. The ammonia in the Windex, which is very little, is a natural metal stripper and as the ammonia evaporates it carries water molecules with it.

Noobie question-- Sabotloader, when are you using these Windex patches? Cleaning between shots, prior to shooting the first shot of the day, etc?

Great info guys thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[sabotloader]

Noobie question-- Sabotloader, when are you using these Windex patches? Cleaning between shots, prior to shooting the first shot of the day, etc?

Great info guys thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The Windex patches prepared as shown above have very little moisture in them and are used at the range for patching in between shots.

At home I prepare another batch of Windex patches that are 'wet' for the first step in the bore cleaning process.

Fouling process... One thing I believe helps the fouling process - I do not use anything in the bore that has petroleum oil products in them. Which I really believe helps the first shot accuracy and the fouling process.

When I take a rifle out of storage and headed to the range or even hunting - prior to the first shot I pop 3 caps or primers with the muzzle pointed straight down. After the caps/primers I will run a clean dry patch top to bottom several strokes (same patch). Then I will load up and take the first shot... Of then this first shot is out of the resulting group by a 1/2" or so. After the first shot I will run a range Windex patch load and begin shooting.

Cleaning the bore @ home.... I will run a couple of 'wet' Windex patches, then dry patches, followed by wet BC 2-in-1 Bore Scrubber patches and dry patches and finally I will apply some Montan X-treme Bore Conditioner (synthetic bore oil) as a bore protector - really an easy process and works very well for me.

Here is a pictorial of my bore cleaning

Products

Blue Windex you already know about....

Birchwood Casey 2-in-1 Bore Scrubber.

I am going to try different product on the next few range trips. The Bore Scrubber has some BC Barricade in it also which I believe have has a small amount of petroleum type oil in it. So I am going to switch to Hoppes #9 Synthethic Bore cleaner and try it.

And the last step of the process is the application of Montana X-treme Bore Conditioner. 'Which is really good stuff'