A few muzzleloader questions.

[Dr.Steel]

I just purchased a Pedersoli Blue Ridge percussion rifle in .50. And I can't seem to find definite answers anywhere on certain matters like:

Can break cleaner be used to clean the powder residue?

Can I use a light weight motor oil to lube the barrel?

How often do I need to clean the fouling in between shots?

Pedersoli says to just use round ball but I'm seeing people have used sabot slugs and have increased accuracy. Has anyone else used sabots without a problem?

The powder charge Pedersoli recomends is 90 grains but the jar of Triple 7 FFG says 100 grains. Is it safe to use the 100 grains.

And anything else you black powder gurus can offer is appreciated.

I am looking to hunt with this rifle. As well as have an impressive piece for the wall. Thanks!

[Boondox]

The old school of thought is to keep all petroleum products from your muzzle loader as one of the reasons being it will ruin the "seasoning" of the bore.
I clean my smoke poles with hot water , sometimes I use a cleaning product called "simple green".
For lube I use bore butter.
I also coat the metal in bore butter for storage.
Using round ball I would swab bore after each 2 shots.
I could go as far as 3 shots between swabbing but loading gets harder and I have had balls get stuck.
I would rather swab than pull a ball.
I used to use sabots by Hornady.
What I found out , as odd as it may seem is if the weather got a bit chilly ...think Oct morning chilly.. my sabots petals would break causing shots to go extremely wild at a mere 25yds.
Caused me a lot of headaches figuring out what was wrong there.
I use round ball or a maxi ball type slug.
I did use those rounds with the green plastic base in 50 cal , can't remember the name at the moment , they shot well but were exploding on the deer causing very little penetration and just a mess on the rib area going in ..... way too soft.
Accuracy with sabots will depend a lot of the rate of twist in your gun. Too slow is no good.

[Karys]

Pretty much what Boondox said.

I prefer hunting with a .54 cal. I have not lost a deer since I stepped up to the larger caliber and I'm still using a patched round ball.

Depending on how long your barrel is, likely 90-100 will work fine but you might be a little over bore at the top end of the powder charge chart. If that happens, all you're doing is making a lot of smoke when the unburned powder burns in the air after the bullet leaves the barrel. I used to run my Lyman Deerstalker at 110 grains of FFg black powder but have dropped it back to 70 grains with better accuracy and not nearly as much smoke. Ultimately, you want all the powder to burn up inside the barrel and you're not going to get any significant additional velocity out of the maximum powder charge.

[pennlineman]

Pretty much what Boondox said.

I prefer hunting with a .54 cal. I have not lost a deer since I stepped up to the larger caliber and I'm still using a patched round ball.

Depending on how long your barrel is, likely 90-100 will work fine but you might be a little over bore at the top end of the powder charge chart. If that happens, all you're doing is making a lot of smoke when the unburned powder burns in the air after the bullet leaves the barrel. I used to run my Lyman Deerstalker at 110 grains of FFg black powder but have dropped it back to 70 grains with better accuracy and not nearly as much smoke.

I've found out less powder is more when it comes to accuracy. I agree with starting out about 70 grains and work up. I would not exceed what the manufacturer recommends, you don't need to go magnum for these to be effective. Nothing wrong with round balls, they kill deer dead if placed right. I got all wrapped up in the more exotic bullets for a while. Year before last I took a doe with a .54 cal round ball, last year a Hornady ballet out of my .50 cal. The ballets shoot well out of that gun and are pretty inexpensive. Basically an elongated ball that eliminates the patch. The twist rate of the barrel should influence your decision as much or more than anything in regards to the type of bullet you use.

Plenty of cleaning products out there. Plain old hot water will get the crude out. Bore butter preserves. I'm not opposed to oil in the barrel but be careful when you load it, if the oil collects at the bottom of the barrel in storage it will contaminate your powder charge. Make sure you swab it out good before loading. The number of shots between cleaning varies gun to gun, bullet to bullet. You'll notice it getting more difficult to drive the ball down barrel. Time to clean and you'll know how many shots you can get between cleanings.

[dk99358]

I too use hot water to clean, usually adding some liquid dish soap to the bucket. After washing, I take a hair dryer and heat all the parts to make sure they're dry. I used regular gun oil in the barrel and wiped all the other parts with a silicon rag before storage, haven't had it out since so I guess I'll see how that worked in a week or two as I get some practice in.

I'm using Harvester Sabots and either Hornady XTP or cast lead 240 gr (44 cal bullet/50 cal flinlock) bullets in my flintlock that's twisted 1:48.

I'm sure you're aware but the late (muzzleloading) season is flintlock only, your rifle isn't legal then depending on what part of the state you are hunting in.

Dale

[abner13]

Brake cleaner is not bore cleaner. Real black powder shoud be cleaned with HOT soapy water. Residue from black powder substitutes can be cleaned with hot soapy water or modern solvents.

Guns meant for patched round balls usually have very slow rifling twists . like 1:66 or 1:72. Guns meant for conicals like Minie or Maxi balls generally go 1:48. Guns meant for modern pistol bullets in sabots have much faster twists. Use whatever the manufacturer recommends.

Barrel bore should be clean prior to pouring powder so as not to contaminate charge. Most experienced smokepole shooters fire a cap or two prior to loading to clear out any oil in the nipple or flash channel. Most modern caps are non-corrosive. RWS/Dynamit Nobel caps are the best , but expensive and hard to find.

Bore butter is meant to lube the patch or bullet. And modern corrosion protector can be used for rust protection.

Pick up a copy of Lymans Muzzleloading handbook. Read it cover to cover. Then read it again.

[Dr.Steel]

ok theres some good stuff here. Thanks. My rifle has a 39 inch barrel at 1:48 twist rate. So I'll be sticking to balls and then try out maxi balls. I am in zone 5C. Flintlock only is like Dec. 26 to Jan 21 round about. I can't remember off the top of my head. But my county is included in "Extended Firearms" season. And that season is the same as flintlock only so I can use my percussion anytime except for archery it looks. Or did i read my booklet wrong?

[Steve in PA]

Hot, soapy water is the best thing to use when cleaning black powder.

I use Bore Butter for seasoning and patch lube.

I use 80 grains of powder with a .490" round ball and patch. Very accurate load from my Traditions muzzleloader.

[Hawk]

In my .50 cal Lyman Great Planes Rifle (Flintlock) I use 60 gns of 2F .490 ball and .015 cotton patch. I also use Bore Butter for lube. When new, I used to only get maybe 2-3 shots before I had to swab the barrel. Now after about 100 rounds fired I can get about 5 shots before I need to swab. I also liberally use the bore butter on the patch, where before I used it sparingly. I keep about 30 patches in a plastic zip lock bag and add enough Bore Butter to the bag to saturate all the patches.

I've been using Butch's Bore Shine for years to clean the bore followed by a light coat of Bore Butter for protection. I dumped the man made flint and went with English Flints and re-nap them after about 4-5 shots. I also opened up the flash hole for faster and more consistent ignition. The guys I shoot with can't believe how fast the lock time is.

Tips:

-Don't let any powder from your pan charge spill into the flash hole. You want the flame from the pan ignition to pass cleanly through the flash hole. If you have any powder in the flash hole it will act like a fuse and slow down the ignition of the main charge.

-Keep the Bore Butter and any patches coated with it inside you coat. Bore Butter stiffens as the temp drops. Keeping it warm keeps it fluid.

-Cut the excess patch off after you start the ball, or pre-trim them to fit, makes loading much easier.

[heatheroo]

ok theres some good stuff here. Thanks. My rifle has a 39 inch barrel at 1:48 twist rate. So I'll be sticking to balls and then try out maxi balls. I am in zone 5C. Flintlock only is like Dec. 26 to Jan 21 round about. I can't remember off the top of my head. But my county is included in "Extended Firearms" season. And that season is the same as flintlock only so I can use my percussion anytime except for archery it looks. Or did i read my booklet wrong?

during the extended antlerless season in the SRA (WMA 5C) that coincides with flintlock season, assuming you have a doe tag, you could use your percussion ML to harvest a doe......but only a doe.