A good Muzzleloading basics book ?

[Brewster20]

Can anyone here recommend a good basic guide for a muzzleloading newbe? I have just finished building a Traditions Kentucky muzzleloader, and am dying to try it out. I have read a lot of conflicting information on cleaning, seasoning, etc. and followed the Traditions guide that came with the kit.
What I now need is a good book on basic blackpowder gun shooting and maintenance. Most of the available guides are for open-breech guns, whereas mine is closed breech, so simple things like...how do you run a patch through the barrel without loosing it at the breech end ? (the cleaning jags don't seem to have a "slot" for the patch ! (that's how new I am to this!!)
Cheers

 

[yonderin]

I'm not personally aware of a single good book on the subject, I'm sure there are some.

No such thing as seasoning. Poppycock, horse manure and fairy tales. If you're cleaning your barrel well, you'll remove any alleged seasoning.

A good fitting jag will grip an appropriate thickness patch both ways while swabbing your barrel. If you lose it, that's what a worm is for.

A lot of guys just use water, I use hot tap water with a few drops of Dawn. If you use boiling hot water you'll get flash rust. I put the bottom of my barrel in a container of water and using a bore mop just pump the water up and through the barrel. Repeat with a clean water rinse, remove the residual water (I use WD-40 and follow-up with an alcohol patch) then oil it. Before firing I use an alcohol soaked patch to remove the oil. I also dismount the lock and clean it, and spray with WD to remove the water. Total time to clean is about 15 minutes. Same procedure for both my cap and flint TCs.
Before I leave the range, I'll run a bore brush a couple of times to remove some of the fouling. If you do it will get stuck at the bottom, twist to the right a bit as the bristles wont reverse on their own and pull out. If you twist to the left, you'll just unscrew it. My thing and not necessary.
A few different ways to clean it but fancy solvents aren't required.

Since yours is a Kentucky I assume it's pinned, you don't want to dismount the barrel often, maybe once a year. If you have a removeable vent, you can get a flush nipple that you can screw in.

What caliber are you shooting?

Highly recommend you check out The Muzzleloading Forum. Lots of info and experience available and people ready to share it. It's ONLY for TRADITIONAL MUZZLELOADERS. Also black powder rifle accuracy system. The author is a fellow by the name of Dutch Schoultz who's on that forum under Dr5x. Well regarded in the community although his info is more about maximizing accuracy potential and not basic muzzleloading. When corresponding with him use caps and maybe even bold type as he's in his 90's and almost blind.

Just hanging around here, watching and asking you'll pick up a lot.

Keep your powder dry and make good smoke.

 

[geotndtwine]

^ this is great, not many people know about the flash rust well said.
Only thing i do differently is instead of wd40 down the barrel i use a bore mop coated with tc lube, pre heated so a nice coating inside the barrel.

Plus if the bore is new and after a few shots the ball feels near impossible to ram home. it bexuase you may have micro burrs in the barrel. This can be remidied with use or use a bore mop with an abbrasive compond and a cordless drill.

 

[yonderin]

Plus if the bore is new and after a few shots the ball feels near impossible to ram home. it bexuase you may have micro burrs in the barrel. This can be remidied with use or use a bore mop with an abbrasive compond and a cordless drill.

Most respectfully, sir, if he has burrs in his barrel it should show up as cut patches. Although the sharp edges on a new barrel may also do it, they should disappear after some firing. Difficulty in loading after a few rounds is likely due to poor fouling control.

My thoughts and I will acknowledge you might have a lot more experience than I.

 

[geotndtwine]

No worries were all just learners here, always love to here others experiances. From my experiance im not talking of major burrs just minor tool markings. Iv found yes they do were in with time. But a minor lapping compound will just cheat the wear in time.

 

[gnmontey]

Lymans "Black Powder Handbook" has been my go to manual for years now. Pretty much everything from, muzzle stuffers, to C&B revolvers is covered. BP RB ballistics tables as well.

As for loosing a patch down the bore.... you will figure out how to deal with it when you discover you left one down there and your next charge won't ignite. EVERY ONE has done that and dry balled I'm sure.

Have fun and be safe.


M

 

[Al Bear]

Use yer gun as much as possible and you’ll develop preferences for every aspect of this game (patch lubes, cleaning process, powder choices... you name it). I used peanut oil for patches, Crisco for conicals and now shoot unpatched round balls (they engrave at loading). I also pore the powder for following shots before cleaning the barrel for that shot (prevents gunk from plugging the ignition channel).

Have fun with yer gun.