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5 year old buck +
I spend a decent bit of time shooting muzzleloaders all year long. I do blackpowder competitions a few times a year. I probably shoot muzzleloaders 20 times more than centerfire guns.
A few basic tips for modern ones.
Clean your breech plug with a drill bit. Find a drill bit with the same sized hole as the primer side. Most are 1/8th inch, some breeches are 3mm. 7/64th or a #32 drill bit will work ok. Just twist it in ith your fingers, it'll get all the crud out. Only clean the breech with soap and water, or even just water. Virtually every breech is stainless steel. Clean it and it'll be fine without coating it all up with oil. Don't store the breech with the gun. Use dry type thread lubricants like glue stick never sieze. Store the gun muzzle down and push a dry patch down the bore before putting the breech plug in.
The more time a primer is fired through the breech the less reliable the ignition is. Take care of your breech n barrel like above and no fouling shot of the primer is needed before loading. You can make a 2nd shot without shooting a fouling shot with another primer. Its best to wipe the bore between the 1st and 2nd shot, put loading without a patch has been good for me.
I use loose powder only. But, some pellets have a black end. Pretty sure pyrodex ones are like that. Put the black size towards the breech / primer. That is a bit of real blackpowder to make ignition easier.
Flintlock folks. Drill out your flashhole to 1/16th inch. You loose about 50fps, but gain mroe reliability. LEave a tootchpick in the flashole and prime when you see a deer, or empty the pan every hour or two if stalk hunting. Use a flint that has been used a few time to prove it's won't break apart and makes good spark. Also proves your hammer jaws are biting good on the flint. 4f lights fast, but 3f or 2f powder stays fresh longer. Graphite coated powder stay dry longer too. Wipe the flash pan and the roof of the frizzen if you need a repeat shot. Swab between shots if you need a repeat shot.
Many modern flintlocks have what they call a patent chamber. The typical 50 cal barrel steps down to around 36 cal to focus ignition on a small daimeter collumn of powder. Make intial ignition of the powder more hotter. When clean your gun after shooting it for the day, use a 36 or 32 cal brush with a patch over the bristles to clean that smaller area.
MSM make a breech cleaning brush for the very end if your using a caplock or flintlock. Almost every muzzleloader uses 10/32 threads for the ramrod / cleaning rod. Regular rifle cleaning brushes are almost always 8/32. Shotgun brushes are usually 10/32 threads.
I use caplocks less often, make sure you got a newer nipple, and don't dry fire the nipple. They're usually a bit off angle from the hammer so it squeezes a corner of the nipple with the cap. Dry firing hammer down the nipple. On the side of the nipple drum is a washout plug / screw. Some caplock users drill a small hole in the screw to vent out the area during fiing, keeping the drum / nipple channel cleaner. like any muzzleloader, storing the gun muzzle down keep excess oil away from the ignition area. Like most modern flintlocks, caplocks have that smaller patent chamber you need to clean with a smaller brush. Caplocks are usually more reliable if you load the gun, then put a cap on the nipple. some folks use wax around the nipple.
When weather isn't the best, its a good idea to have a pan cover. Often called a cows knee. ven with modern muzzlloaders I cover the ignition area and the scope with a cover to keep things dry. I've had good luck during rainy days with modern muzzleloaders. I do change out the powder after a rainy day. Sometime just remove the breech plug and push the powder and sabout out the open breech. I use a fresh sabot the next day, but keep the pushed in on for range practice.
A few basic tips for modern ones.
Clean your breech plug with a drill bit. Find a drill bit with the same sized hole as the primer side. Most are 1/8th inch, some breeches are 3mm. 7/64th or a #32 drill bit will work ok. Just twist it in ith your fingers, it'll get all the crud out. Only clean the breech with soap and water, or even just water. Virtually every breech is stainless steel. Clean it and it'll be fine without coating it all up with oil. Don't store the breech with the gun. Use dry type thread lubricants like glue stick never sieze. Store the gun muzzle down and push a dry patch down the bore before putting the breech plug in.
The more time a primer is fired through the breech the less reliable the ignition is. Take care of your breech n barrel like above and no fouling shot of the primer is needed before loading. You can make a 2nd shot without shooting a fouling shot with another primer. Its best to wipe the bore between the 1st and 2nd shot, put loading without a patch has been good for me.
I use loose powder only. But, some pellets have a black end. Pretty sure pyrodex ones are like that. Put the black size towards the breech / primer. That is a bit of real blackpowder to make ignition easier.
Flintlock folks. Drill out your flashhole to 1/16th inch. You loose about 50fps, but gain mroe reliability. LEave a tootchpick in the flashole and prime when you see a deer, or empty the pan every hour or two if stalk hunting. Use a flint that has been used a few time to prove it's won't break apart and makes good spark. Also proves your hammer jaws are biting good on the flint. 4f lights fast, but 3f or 2f powder stays fresh longer. Graphite coated powder stay dry longer too. Wipe the flash pan and the roof of the frizzen if you need a repeat shot. Swab between shots if you need a repeat shot.
Many modern flintlocks have what they call a patent chamber. The typical 50 cal barrel steps down to around 36 cal to focus ignition on a small daimeter collumn of powder. Make intial ignition of the powder more hotter. When clean your gun after shooting it for the day, use a 36 or 32 cal brush with a patch over the bristles to clean that smaller area.
MSM make a breech cleaning brush for the very end if your using a caplock or flintlock. Almost every muzzleloader uses 10/32 threads for the ramrod / cleaning rod. Regular rifle cleaning brushes are almost always 8/32. Shotgun brushes are usually 10/32 threads.
I use caplocks less often, make sure you got a newer nipple, and don't dry fire the nipple. They're usually a bit off angle from the hammer so it squeezes a corner of the nipple with the cap. Dry firing hammer down the nipple. On the side of the nipple drum is a washout plug / screw. Some caplock users drill a small hole in the screw to vent out the area during fiing, keeping the drum / nipple channel cleaner. like any muzzleloader, storing the gun muzzle down keep excess oil away from the ignition area. Like most modern flintlocks, caplocks have that smaller patent chamber you need to clean with a smaller brush. Caplocks are usually more reliable if you load the gun, then put a cap on the nipple. some folks use wax around the nipple.
When weather isn't the best, its a good idea to have a pan cover. Often called a cows knee. ven with modern muzzlloaders I cover the ignition area and the scope with a cover to keep things dry. I've had good luck during rainy days with modern muzzleloaders. I do change out the powder after a rainy day. Sometime just remove the breech plug and push the powder and sabout out the open breech. I use a fresh sabot the next day, but keep the pushed in on for range practice.
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