Using wad/felt in inline muzzle loader.

[bobdbldr]

A question for those that are very familiar with in line/ modern Muzzle loaders. I have a Remington genesis .50 cal muzzle loader. I tried a few different projectiles, the last being power belts and that is what I am sighted in for! What I found when doing a major cleaning yesterday is a thick ring of some kind of crud about 1 1/2" in from the breach. I used ends red and brush,, Balistol and brush, then rem bore bright and left it for a couple hours and brushed,, a lot, that took all but a speck or two, I think this is melted plastic from the sabots and power belts!
My question is can I use a felt( lubed or not) pad between the sabot and the powder charge( white hots in this case) to reduce the fouling ring in the barrel. I know the thin plastic is there to spread out and seal/ grab the rifling but I think it would still do that without the blast actually touching it!
Any help and ideas would be appreciated.
Cheers Bob
Ps I do clean every 3 shots at the range but never noticed the build up till I got home, maybe it's just the power belts, they are accurate in my gun.

 

[bobdbldr]

Well looks like nobody tried this yet, so let me be the first cause those plastic sabots and power belts leave a damn mess! I will let you know how it turns out!

 

[hunter148]

What you have my friend is referred to as a powder ring. Not uncommon and yes you are probably are getting a plastic buildup. I am not a fan of Powerbelts but if they work for you carry on. My opinion only is that a felt wad may do strange things as the compression on the charge/bullet seating may not be consistent.

For plastic buildup I have found the only thing to remove it consistently is Sweets 7.62 bore cleaner. Yes it will begin to buildup but I usually use the Sweets once a year before storing and I probably average 20 or so shots between sighting and hunting in a year. Unless it pours rain my gun stays outside in the cold, loaded, until shot and not cleaned all week internally simply wiped off on the outside if required. Spit patch if things get tight. I have found most muzzleloaders will shoot better on a slightly fouled barrel, mine anyhow.

Again my opinion but if your accuracy is not suffering, carry on and don't worry about the powder/plastic ring as it usually resides under the bullet. I know this cause I loaded my Encore one time and then pulled the breech plug and dumped the power to see where everything was situated. If your accuracy is not suffering I would choose to clean it out at the end of the season or if doing a lot of shooting whenever required. Sweets can be found but it is rare in Canada and the bottle I have is at least 15 years old and not even half gone.

 

[bobdbldr]

What you have my friend is referred to as a powder ring. Not uncommon and yes you are probably are getting a plastic buildup. I am not a fan of Powerbelts but if they work for you carry on. My opinion only is that a felt wad may do strange things as the compression on the charge/bullet seating may not be consistent.

For plastic buildup I have found the only thing to remove it consistently is Sweets 7.62 bore cleaner. Yes it will begin to buildup but I usually use the Sweets once a year before storing and I probably average 20 or so shots between sighting and hunting in a year. Unless it pours rain my gun stays outside in the cold, loaded, until shot and not cleaned all week internally simply wiped off on the outside if required. Spit patch if things get tight. I have found most muzzleloaders will shoot better on a slightly fouled barrel, mine anyhow.

Again my opinion but if your accuracy is not suffering, carry on and don't worry about the powder/plastic ring as it usually resides under the bullet. I know this cause I loaded my Encore one time and then pulled the breech plug and dumped the power to see where everything was situated. If your accuracy is not suffering I would choose to clean it out at the end of the season or if doing a lot of shooting whenever required. Sweets can be found but it is rare in Canada and the bottle I have is at least 15 years old and not even half gone.

Thanks for that info Hunter, after 3 shots it was almost impossible to get the bullet down on the charge, can you tell me what bullets you use? Sounds like they are a bit cleaner?

 

[hunter148]

If you are using shotgun primers, they are the result of much of the fouling. My Encore is set up to use small rifle primers, the adapter is no longer available commercially, and it is way cleaner. I am in the midst of setting up a Knight Bighorn to shoot large rifle primers, adapters available, and am told they will function similar to the small rifle primers but need to get shooting. The fouling difference between these and shotgun primers is night and day difference.

My go to bullet recently is the PR Bullet duplex sabot in .357 195 grn. My Encore loves them and it shoots flat to about 160-170 yds. 100grns Triple 7. I set up a Knight 54 cal last year and the same bullet was used only with a 54x45 sabot same results with 80 grns t7 that was #11 caps. The Knight Bighorn will be using something similar to the Encore and expectations are there.

Check out PR Bullets as they are a wealth of info when it comes to muzzleloaders. Only issue I have is with them is a Canadian retailer charging in US funds for Canadian customers. A little greasy in my opinion but they sell what works so I have to bite the proverbial bullet and pay the asking price.

Another bullet I shot for years was the TC Shockwaves in 200 grn with excellent results and in fact my buddy uses them in his Genisis 90 grns T7, shotgun primer

 

[yonderin]

Some folks use a wad under their projectile of choice, including in cartridges. If it works for you and gives you peace of mind, go for it. Won't know until you try it.

I recently developed issues with patch burn through on mine and was advised to shove a patch down, over the powder before I loaded and rammed the ball. Have to give that a try if the problem persisits.