BP type fouling

[ken s]

Ok, new 'old' topic
I'm shooting an original 74 Sharps sporting rifle, in 40 70 SS.
good bore, full rifling. gun is 95% so it should shoot.

load is 64 1/2 Swiss 1 1/2
060 Walters wad, no lube wad
mag primers
330 custom 1 20 Hotch PP with 9# 25% cotton
no compression, slight die crimp to hold bullet
good but not great 100 yd accuracy, clean between shots
great 50 yard accuracy, now trying 100.
BUT..
It fouls badly.
Any thoughts on 2 F, or a different powder brand to reduce fouling?

thanks...Ken

[Don McDowell]

Most of the folks I know shooting 40-70 and using Swiss 1 1/2 shoot 69 gr. and use a Remington pistol primer.

[Old Jim]

Yup, switch to a milder primer and more powder, enough to require some compression.

Does the current fouling contain any lead specks on the cleaning patches?

[rdnck]

Of course it's going to foul without a lube wad. But so what? You are wiping between shots, so what difference does it make?

Load it correctly, and the fouling issue goes away and the accuracy comes alive. Or you can keep on doing what you have been doing and continue to suffer. rdnck.

[ken s]

Of course it's going to foul without a lube wad. But so what? You are wiping between shots, so what difference does it make?

Load it correctly, and the fouling issue goes away and the accuracy comes alive. Or you can keep on doing what you have been doing and continue to suffer. rdnck.

good points all....
I'm wiping and it's dirty.....
I'll try compressing a little ..
and WOW. I'm moving and was going to give away all my pistol primers because I'm not reloading for them.....(just going to buy a box when I want to shoot)...SO. I'll keep them and try the smaller primers.
Will the small pistol primers work ok in a larger primer pocket? Ken

[Kurt]

These last few weeks I been shooting up all of my loaded odds and ends I have for trigger time. Some are old and some test loads from last summer I didn't shoot up.
When you use a no lube load you have to change your wiping routine. One damp and one dry will not do the job. The fouling will build up and accuracy goes to hell. I don't care who's powder you use.
Yesterday I emptied 65 .44-100 rounds I had loaded with 1.5 Swiss that is a better then a 2 MOA or better load for this rifle but wiping one damp one dry after 15 shots accuracy started to open very wide some went out to the 7 ring on a SR target. After the wiping I looked down the bore and it looked like a Dalmatians dog fur and the final cleaning it took 9 wet patches before they came out clean enough to be able to use dry patches and oil. That is a bunch more then what it takes when using a lube wad in the load.
You have to change things with the wiping routine if your not using lube.

[Don McDowell]

If you want the best in wiping the BACO bore wipe system with the felts soaked in napa cutting oil and water mixed at 1-7 will sure leave your bore in pristine condition. Push that bore wipe thru with a 2 inch arsenal patch between the rod tip and the bws.

If you want to shoot without wiping, a Muzzleloader original dry lubed felt wad and a card wad under the bullet, and wipe the exposed portion of the patch with a drop of jojoba oil should let you shoot several rounds without loss of accuracy , with a minimal amount of blowtubing.

[Hiwall55]

Ken I would like to know how the small pistol primer works out in the large primer
pocket .

[kokomokid]

The small pistol or small rifle primers will work in the large pocket if you have some of the bushings that were being tried several years ago. Everthing else being equal I dont see much def between small primers and rem large pistol for swiss 1 1/2.

[ken s]

The small pistol or small rifle primers will work in the large pocket if you have some of the bushings that were being tried several years ago. Everthing else being equal I dont see much def between small primers and rem large pistol for swiss 1 1/2.