I have been using prelubed patches in my 50cal flintlock rifle.

Literature says that lubed patches keep fouling to a minimum, but I am finding that I need to clean the barrel after only a couple shots or I cannot ram the ball down. Fouling is really heavy.

(I am using black powder)


Would I be better to use dry patches and swab between shots with soapy water? (I realize that this would not be an option for hunting)

Thanks

Jim

Are these store-bought prelubed patches? Most of them don't have enough lube. Add some more. If you've got some dry patches, rub on a generous amount of Chap-Stick. I'm not joking as it was the sole ingredient in the no longer available Young Country 103 lube. Another good lube is 1/3 Murphy's Oil Soap, 1/3 Rubbing Alcohol and 1/3 water or hydrogen peroxide. I don't like cleaning with ordinary soap as it takes oil out of the metal and can let rust get started. FP-10 gun oil won't tar up like some petroleum oils will.

Some lots of powder burn dry or foul worse and there was a particularly bad batch of Goex made shortly after they moved to Minden, LA in 1998.

Check out Mama Flinter's site. There's a ton of info there.
http://mamaflinter.tripod.com/

Bye
Jack

May not help, but I load two differnt ways.
At the range, where I'll be shooting a lot of shots and want to keep cleaning breaks to a minimum, will load with a patch wet with "moose milk"...this is just water soluble oil mixed with water (and you can use Murphy's oil soap and water if you'd like). Want a sloppy wet patch...loading the ball actually sweeps the fouling to the rear, leaving the bore pretty clean for each shot. BUT, I use a wad over the naket powder charge to keep powder contamination to a minimum.

That wad adds not only an extra loading step, but raises pressure...this is target shooting, so i don't mind a redcution in charge. Wad can be as simple as a measure of corn meal or as complicated as a cut felt wad..one writter seems to love wasp nest material (mostly to prevent patch burn out, but it works fine as a contamination barrier as well).

HUNTING, I don't load that way. WIll load with a sthicker lube and less of it. HAs to remain stable for a day's hunt without contaminating the sharge. IF it only offers a few loads before fouling up, that's fine with me as you don't have to shoot that many times on a hunt (usually).
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OK..wasn't told to load this way or read about it. Am a muzzle loading shotgunner and noticed when i seated that well lubed wad on the charge, the barrel was pretty clean...and stayed that way for a lot of shots. Ues dard over powder wad, a 1/2" thick fiber wad soaked in lube, and then the shot and over powder wad. That big fiber wad keeps the bore condition pretty much the same from shot to shot...the over powder wads keeps the wet "funk" from the powder.

Try Liquid wonderlube bore solvent. Use that to soak the patch, and put a bore button under it. That's what I use for cold weather hunting.

Thanks guys.

G'day, if you want to make your own patch lube it is quote easy, we can shoot 70 -80 rounds and not have to clean or scrub out.
The Mix: 13 parts distilled water
2 parts soluble oil
1 part PURE liquid soap ( ask at pharmacy)
we use this in a spray bottle or put patches in a cap tin and soak them, if you are in the field and not ready to shoot don't seat ball all the way down, leave about six inches up, until ready to shoot, then send the ball down.
A good practice is when seating down the ball put a clean patch on ram rod (jag) to wipe out bore, then use that patch next round.
Paladin

I use the 20-1 water soluable oil, with 1oz of murphys or similar for pleasant smell (pine sol is nice), 1oz of hydrogen peroxide for bacteria prevention. This is with a 2 liter pop bottle full, I only need one every two years. The water soluable oil can be made to do other patching such as 3-1 saturate long strips of ticking, then lay on a flat formica or glass surface and let dry leaving only the oil, makes a neat prelubed hunting patch. For line matches and general repeated shooting I use the wet 20-1 just wring out the excess prior to an event.