# Few questions



## gitterdone81 (Sep 3, 2009)

How easy is it to pick up the art of packing one's load? If I have never shot a Muzz before, is there a "recipe" that will come with the gun, and then it is just tweaking the formula? Compared to a rifle or shotgun how is the aiming process? I would think it is more like a Shotgun, but I don't know? How long until one can consistently pack their load, i.e. dial in on a 75 yard shot?


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

With todays modern fast twist guns, most all of them will shoot relatively great right out of the box. Start off with 80grns of powder (By VOLUME not weight!!!), pick a mid weight conical bullet and aim it like a rifle. It wont take long to get the loading / shooting down.

Cleaning is an art though, most people IMO do it incorrectly and that leads to ignition failures. Swabbing the barrel between shots with a damp patch will improve accuracy tremendously.

There are some exceptions though to what I wrote, overbore roundball barrels require slightly different setups. Start by picking your rifle, then let us know what you end up with.


-DallanC


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## Gumbo (Sep 22, 2007)

DallanC said:


> Cleaning is an art though, most people IMO do it incorrectly and that leads to ignition failures..


What don't most people do? Care to outline how you do it? Do you clean the barrel in hot, soapy water or use a solvent? How do you clean the nipple/ignition portion of the barrel?



DallanC said:


> Swabbing the barrel between shots with a damp patch will improve accuracy tremendously.


Damp with what? ...oil? ...solvent?


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Never use water. Windex. Use patches SLIGHTLY damp with windex. It cleans quickly and evaporates very fast.

For myself, I completely disassembly breech plug, nipple, bolt etc, clean each one prior to storage and prior to opening day. I clean the inside of my nipple with a torch tip cleaning kit. Once everything is clean, I reassemble the breech plug and nipple and make sure I can see light entering the barrel via then nipple.

In the field I swab using patches slightly damp as well. You want them barely damp, so that under compression in the barrel, extra fluid doesnt drip out of the patch. You dont want any fluid to enter the breech, you are just cleaning the barrel wall at this time. After a dozen or so shots doing this, the breech is usually fairly fouled up and needs to be removed & cleaned normally.

When hunting, I carry a small amount of windex in a small squeeze bottle. I also keep some pre-damp patches in a ziplock bag that I can just remove and use quickly.

I'm super anal about smokepole cleaning and reliable ignition.


-DallanC


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Oh yea, NEVER use oil either. If you need a protectant for surface metal or the bore, use a *slight* amount TC Bore Butter. I apply a *small* amount to one side of the patch, and massage it into the patch with my fingers. The side I apply the BB to, is the side against the rod when I swab. I only want the slightest film of borebutter on the metal, and the minor amount that seeps through the patch seems to work fine.

-DallanC


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## lehi (Sep 13, 2007)

Why not use oil? When storing my ML, I swab a patch of gun oil down the barrel, and wipe the outside of the gun with a very slight film of oil. When I go to shoot, I dry swab the barrel until all of the oil is out. I have never had any rust problems doing this.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Because most people use too much oil and when they stand up the rifle to store it, it runs down to the bottom and builds up in the breech / nipple. This is a bigger deal in sidelocks where your swabbing wont get oil that runs sideways out the breech, it builds up right under the nipple.

Also... Bore Butter smells like fresh pine trees. Your wife wont complain when you clean guns on the kitchen table 


-DallanC


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## Bears Butt (Sep 12, 2007)

Pine smell or not, my wife would knock the crap out of me if I cleaned my rifle in the kitchen! I have been using the light windex patches on the range lately and I'm a firm believer right now in the fact that it does work very well to keep the gun clean enough to shoot many, many times without worrying about being too fouled to load.

As for the question asked, I would start with patched roundballs and 50 gr. of powder until I was used to the loading/shooting process. Less expensive than using sabots and/or conical bullets and more powder.


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## lehi (Sep 13, 2007)

DallanC said:


> Because most people use too much oil and when they stand up the rifle to store it, it runs down to the bottom and builds up in the breech / nipple. This is a bigger deal in sidelocks where your swabbing wont get oil that runs sideways out the breech, it builds up right under the nipple.
> 
> Also... Bore Butter smells like fresh pine trees. Your wife wont complain when you clean guns on the kitchen table
> 
> -DallanC


Ok I see what you're saying. Wouldn't firing a cap through a sidelock or an inline get rid of the oil?

I don't believe in bore butter. _(O)_


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