Sighting in

Will_m

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Jul 7, 2015
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How many times will you shoot before swabbing or completely cleaning when sighting in your muzzleloader? I always thought I could get away with 4 or 5, depending on how the bullet felt when pushing it down, but I noticed that after two shots with no cleaning my pattern and accuracy went haywire. Even after a wet patch and dry patch between shots I still only got about 5 shots before things started to become unpredictable. Maybe I should moisten the patch a little more? This was at 100 yards with powerbelt bullets and 2 50 grain Hodgdon triple 7 pellets out of a Knight disc.
 

weaver

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Feb 25, 2012
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Spit on a patch, run it back and forth a few times flip the the patch and repeat. Between every shot.
 

dotman

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Feb 24, 2012
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I shoot about 20-25 rounds at times and clean when I get home, haven't noticed any major poi changes. The benefit of using BH209 is that you can get a lot of shooting in without having to mess around other then letting it cool off. NAML does an annual BH209 test and they shoot 50rds without swabbing or cleaning, no change in poi for them over the years of doing this test as well.

http://www.namlhunt.com/mltesting-5.html

If you do switch to BH209 just remember it isn't water soluble like everything else but it doesn't build up residue in your barrel either.
 
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robby denning

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Spit on a patch, run it back and forth a few times flip the the patch and repeat. Between every shot.
That's what I do with Triple 7 and shoot dozens of shots without brush or cleaning.
If you're using BH209, I've heard from Cecil at Precision Rifle never to spit patch as BH209 and water do not mix. Anyone else know this?
 

dotman

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That's what I do with Triple 7 and shoot dozens of shots without brush or cleaning.
If you're using BH209, I've heard from Cecil at Precision Rifle never to spit patch as BH209 and water do not mix. Anyone else know this?

That is correct, you have to use a solvent when cleaning bh209. Never use water or water based products with it.
 

robby denning

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That is correct, you have to use a solvent when cleaning bh209. Never use water or water based products with it.

Thanks Dotman for a second on that! and spit is water based.

I'm embarrassed to say I made this mistake with my first run of BH209 and ended up with a gummed up inaccurate gun that took a trip home and elbow grease to fix.
 

Roy68

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Jul 20, 2012
Messages
496
I'll throw my vote in for BH209. I've cleaned my Austin Halleck out of principal but not due to a POI or crud ring issue after many rounds. Like Robby, I used water once and that's all it took to learn that lesson.
 
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