muzzleloader sight in question

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Im shooting the Hornady FPB's and at 100yds,I can get about a 1 inch group.I don't like to clean or swab between shots because chances are your not going to be doing it in the deer woods.
 
I have mine sighted in with a dirty barrel, that way I know a 2nd or 3rd shot will be where I'm aiming. I'll shoot 5 or 6 times before running a patch down the barrel. My 1st shot from a clean barrel is high and a little right so I'll shoot a round then check the next 3 for my pattern.
 
I always shoot a primer through mine before I load it to sight it in. That way I don't have a completely clean barrel.Mine always seems to shoot better like that.
 
iowavf said:
I have mine sighted in with a dirty barrel, that way I know a 2nd or 3rd shot will be where I'm aiming.
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I guess, different strokes for different folks. :)

But I'm most interested in where the 1st shot is going.

Practically speaking, my opinion, it should be rare that you either need or will be able to even get a 2nd or 3rd shot with a muzzleloader.

When sighting in, I clean the bore between each shot, and allow the barrel to cool. I would never head out hunting with a dirty barrel, and would clean the bore if I shot, except for that rare event of needing to quickly reload for a 2nd shot. When I reload without cleaning (such as after firing at a deer that runs out of view), I still discharge later that day, then give the barrel a good cleaning.

With the Blackhorn 209 powder, it's not as critical as with other BP substitutes. But I'm still hunting with a clean barrel. :)
 
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I watched a TC video last night and Greg Ritz suggested you can't get the same accuracy as the shot before if you clean between shots. But who am I to say. I just bought a new TC Pro Hunter because I couldn't pattern my Traditions.
 
My first shot, and normally only shot at a deer, comes with a clean barrel. Therefore, I swab between every shot when sighting in. I do, however, shoot a couple shots with out cleaning, AFTER the m/l is sighted in just to see if there is any major differences in accuracy. JMO
 
I try to simulate hunting conditions as best I can. I clean barrel for storage and lube it well. Then when I go to the range I wipe the excess lube and fire a primer, then load. After each shot I run one slightly wet patch (wet in my mouth) then one dry, fire a primer, then reload.

In the woods, if the deer runs away after the shot I repeat the same process to reload for a killing shot after tracking, or to shoot another doe if one comes by. If the first deer is down and kicking, or is slowly walking off, I'll reload without the patch between shots. I think the loss of accuracy after just one shot is too small to risk a longer reloading time if time is of the essence, but if the deer is already out of sight, what's another 30 seconds?
 
I pay close attn to the first shot from a barrel that has only been fouled by a primer. The morning of a hunt, I foul the barrel with a primer and head to the woods. So, when at the range, I swab between shots, even though I am shooting BH209.
 
i swab after each shot, whether practicing or in the field. never had a problem with it. it only takes about 10 seconds to run a patch down the barrel.
 
I clean after each shot with a Rusty Duck or Knight pre-soaked patch followed by a dry patch to approximate the condition the barrel will be in while I'm hunting. My theory (right or wrong) is that I would not want to hunt with a fouled barrel because of pitting that might occur over a period of time due to the hygroscopic properites of pyrodex, 777, etc.
 
WTM said:
i swab after each shot, whether practicing or in the field. never had a problem with it. it only takes about 10 seconds to run a patch down the barrel.
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I like to sight in with a clean barrel because that's the way I hunt. However, with my CVA OptimaPro, I have to remove the breech plug to clean the barrel. This makes it difficult to clean between each sight-in shot, but it's a neccessary evil...and a pain to do. It definitely takes a while to do it.
 
Wes Parrish said:
iowavf said:
I have mine sighted in with a dirty barrel, that way I know a 2nd or 3rd shot will be where I'm aiming.
Click to expand...
I guess, different strokes for different folks. :)

But I'm most interested in where the 1st shot is going.

Practically speaking, my opinion, it should be rare that you either need or will be able to even get a 2nd or 3rd shot with a muzzleloader.

When sighting in, I clean the bore between each shot, and allow the barrel to cool. I would never head out hunting with a dirty barrel, and would clean the bore if I shot, except for that rare event of needing to quickly reload for a 2nd shot. When I reload without cleaning (such as after firing at a deer that runs out of view), I still discharge later that day, then give the barrel a good cleaning.

With the Blackhorn 209 powder, it's not as critical as with other BP substitutes. But I'm still hunting with a clean barrel. :)
Click to expand...
I have less than a 1 inch group at 100 yards with 3 shots from a dirty barrel and last year it came in handy. last day of shotgun season and I still had my doe tag and we also had 3 anysex tags to fill. It was really windy and deer wasn't moving so we decided to push an area. I was setup on a small draw and had a couple doe milling around and decided to fill my tag since no bucks where moving. Shot my doe and out came a shooter buck, reloaded with a speed loader and dropped the buck. The same time I shot the buck, out came a 130" buck and ran up the hill. Jammed in another speed load and made a 225 yard shot on him, (checked with range finder after). No way could I have made those shots if I needed to run a patch between shots. This all happened in less than a minute and I don't think I could reload any faster and still be accurate. Most of the time it's really cold and windy here in Iowa, maybe 10 degrees or colder and the last thing I want to do is run a wet patch down my barrel if I don't need to. I know it may not work for everyone, but seems to work in my case.
 
Shoot a few groups with the first shot totally clean barrel and others with no swabbing in between. If the 2nd and 3rd shotrs grop with the clean barrel, there's your answer.

I clean between shots mostly to avoid the crud ring that forms with pellets. Never had that problem with loose powder, but it showed up with the 777 pellets. I wouldn't have known it had I not marked my ramrod and paid attention to how far down the barrel the bullets were seating.
 
jakeway said:
Shoot a few groups with the first shot totally clean barrel and others with no swabbing in between. If the 2nd and 3rd shotrs grop with the clean barrel, there's your answer.

I clean between shots mostly to avoid the crud ring that forms with pellets. Never had that problem with loose powder, but it showed up with the 777 pellets. I wouldn't have known it had I not marked my ramrod and paid attention to how far down the barrel the bullets were seating.
Click to expand...

If you ever get around to shooting BH209, that crud ring will be a part of the past.
 
Carl said:
My first shot, and normally only shot at a deer, comes with a clean barrel. Therefore, I swab between every shot when sighting in. I do, however, shoot a couple shots with out cleaning, AFTER the m/l is sighted in just to see if there is any major differences in accuracy. JMO
Click to expand...

Ditto
 
. DON'T go hunting with a clean barrel. My best example of this is using Pyrodex RS on a clean barrel with a Knight Wolverine. The first shot out of a clean barrel can be as much as 6" out of the group at 100 yards. With that first fouling shot on the barrel, 1" groups are very common but on a clean barrel, that first shot can be anywhere in that 12" circle.

Taken from the Q & A section on this website http://www.prbullet.com/index.htm
 
Today I went to sight in my muzzleloader. It's a CVA OptimaPro something or another. A break-open in-line.
Anyway, I cleaned after every 2nd shot.
The 2nd shot, which was done on a dirty barrel was actually more accurate than the shots done on a clean barrel.
My load is two 777 pellets and a PowerBelt 295 grain bullet.
I sighted in at 85 yds, because I just don't hunt where I can make longer shots than that.
Now it's officially ready for the season.
 
BlackBelt said:
...
The 2nd shot, which was done on a dirty barrel was actually more accurate than the shots done on a clean barrel...
Click to expand...

Here's how I'd measure accuracy of clean vs dirty barrels.

1) Set up a large target with three aiming points. I prefer diamonds, so I can line up the cross hairs with the points of the diamond.

2) Shoot at the left most target with a clean barrel; then shoot second shot, without cleaning, at middle target; then fire shot at right target, again from dirty barrel.

3) Clean barrel as clean as it was for first shot

4) Repeat step 2 three or four more times. Measure groups. That will tell you if clean barrel is more accurate than dirty

5) If you're not too tired and conditions haven't changed, repeat the whole process with fresh targets. Sometimes you just get tired or sloppy, and the later groups may be skewwed because of shooting form flaws.

After you're satisfied and have decided whether to hunt with clean or dirty barrel, then adjust your scope or sights to center on the groups you've decided to use.

Having said all this, the guns and loads I use don't have a significant difference in accuracy between clean and dirty, so I sight rifle for clean barrel and plan to swab between shots in the field if I have the time. So far it hasn't been an issue.
 
I took my New Englander to the range with me today and shot it around 30 times and swabbed it after 3 shots. Didn't do much for accuracy but it is much easier to load swabbed down.

I do know that I have loaded clean, hunted, and then shot it out and it would be bad. I figured it was just me.
 
My old Am Knight can shoot either or, which is great! I'll clean it complete, take it out and pop a cap thru it just to burn any oil residue out of the nipple, then load and shoot. Run a patch thru it, load and shoot. The pattern doesn't change for me with this particular ML. Now, with the Kodiak Mag I have, I'll get a better pattern with a fouled barrel, at least for two maybe three shots. Different strategies for diff ML's is all I can say.
 
Tim,to answer you qeustion. I give my barrel a very CLEAN swabbing following each shot. It help maximize you accuracy etc. How about 3 one inch groups at 100 yds without a vise. CLEAN! It's that simple.
 
With my Genesis I shoot off a primer before first shot and spit patch every shot. Scrub completely clean and lube at end of the day...shooting 300gr Hornady SST

With my NEF Huntsman I shoot off a primer before first shot and never clean again until bullets get to hard to load (about 15 to 20 rounds) at end of the day scrub completely clean and lube...Shooting FPB's

I use 777 loose
 

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