Blasting the Afternoon away

[cayuga]

I decided I wanted to shoot. So last time out I shot a Traditions Woodsman with a 1-48 twist. This time I took my Traditions Woodsman Hawkins with the 1-66 twist. I was shooting .490 cast roundball, with 90 grains of 2f Graf's & Sons black powder. I was using RWS caps, cotton pillow tick, and of course moosemilk for me. I was set up at 30 yards.

I did something a long time ago and now I was going to see if it would pay off. I treated this rifle with Montana X-treme Bore Conditioner. I have shot it a lot, and always put more conditioner back into it.

Today I took a dry patch, no alcohol, and swabbed the bore. It was nice and smooth. I then popped two caps and loaded as normal. I was using a 6 o'clock hold on that one inch red dot.

I was a little surprised when #1 went way out. I really do not think it was anything I did. The rifle shot nice and fast. So, was it because I did not use alcohol and remove the bore conditioner? More testing on that at a later date. Shot #2 now was a fouled bore. It was actually hard to load, but it shot right where I aimed. #3 & #4 were shot without swabbing, but loaded very easy. I then took a patch and using spit, swabbed the bore.

#5 kind of surprised me. #6-10 were shot without swabbing. And they were loading very easy on the fouled bore.

I then decided to see if I could shoot something were I could spot my shots better. On this target is a small deer head in the corner. Anyone knowing this target understands how small the corner picture is. And at 30 yards it is small. I did not swab, but shot two rounds at it.

I was going to shoot a third shot but something told me no to...

By this time the rifle was starting to foul out. The first shot was to the far left. Then it just started moving to the right from there for all four shots.

After these shots, I swabbed and started shooting tin cans. The strange thing is, I swabbed the bore with a spit patch, and missed the tin can with the first shot. After that first shot, I rolled the can three times. So, is this bore conditioned? Maybe the next time out, I will swab with alcohol and see if it makes a difference.

(to be honest, I forgot the alcohol and was too lazy to walk back into the house for it)

 

[k]

i've been using slip 2000 ewl in my bores after cleaning and when i take them out to shoot i swab with a very tight dry patch only and have'nt noticed any problems but i shoot bh209or t7 2f or 3f most times cleanup is a snap....karl PS nice shootin as usuall for you.

 

[Semisane]

I had the same experience with Montana Bore Conditioner and my standard sabot load in my Mustang. The first shot was about 6" high and the bore fouled badly.

 

[Bucker]

cayuga

are you nnot supposed tpo keep using the bore conditioner? I would think you would use it everytime? I just ordered some.

 

[cayuga]

Semisane.. well that would make sense. And like you said, after the first shot the second was hard to load. Then they go easy again. But it shot great once it was fouled.

Bucker .. my understanding is once you have the bore to the condition you want, you can stop using it and just treat it with their oil. So I think I will hold off in the future treatments. That bore is smooth as silk when I dry patched it.

 

[big6x6]

Good shooting Dave! Does that rifle look the same as a Hawken Woodsman just with a 1 in 66 twist barrel?

 

[cayuga]

they are identical except one is a flintlock (1-48) and the other a cap lock (1-66). When the rifle first came out, it was a roundball rifle with the slow roundball twist. That was the reason I bought it. I was so impressed with it, that when I saw a flintlock for sale, I bought that too. After all, we need matching sets.