I just ended up with a Thompson .50 Cal Muzzleloader and know diddly about muzzleloading.About every third shot the bullet gets stuck.It is cap ignited.How often do you clean or wipe it out and how many rounds can you shoot in a row without cleaning?I know it sounds stupid but I have reloaded for 35-40 years and know absolutely nothing about muzzleloading.What are the basics for success and shooting several at a time without totally cleaning with soap and water?Jayco.

I guess the answere in part depends on what kind of "Thompson" you have.

With inlines shooting sabots yes it is best to swab between every shot. You may also need to do this shooting conicals though every rifle will be different in what it shoots best and how.

With my traditional rifles I can shoot over 50 rounds without swabing and without loss of accuracy. Now the serious target shooters would beg to differ with that statement. But for shooting milk jugs at 50 or 100 yards it does not matter if I swab in my patched round ball shooters or not. This was definate not true when shooting conicals and sabots from inlines.

I shoot only true Black Powder ... none of the various subs on the market.

The bottom line is that you will have to experiment and see what your rifle/barrel likes best with the load you intend to shoot. Some rifles need swabbing after every shot while other shoot just fine up to 3 or more shots before accuracy drops off.

In the one rifle I did have to swab between loadings I ran a spit dampened patch down the bore in a scrubbing motion and then back out. I then flipped the patch over and repeated the process. Then I loaded as normal. I did this after each shot and It would shoot all subsequent shots to the same point of impact as the first without needing a fouling shot.

Half the fun is the experimentation.

I once read a tip in a CVA pamphlet about fouling. In a nutshell, it said not to use petrochemicals in the bore cause they promote powder fouling. Since then I have followed their advise with good results using T/C natural lube bore butter or Remington wonder lube. Matter of fact, I lube my round ball patches with it and smear it all over my Mortimer flintlock, wood and metal, in and out. One product does it all.

54JNoll and onefunzr2, are right,... I use "spit" for lube when shoot'n at the range, and a bee's wax and bear oil mixture for lube while hunt'n. I shoot only patched roundball and Goex blackpowder.

Main thing is "WHAT" T/C muzzleloader do "YOU" have,.... an "inline",.... or, a "traditional sidelock" rifle like the "Hawken" or "Renegade"??

Ther is absolutely "NO NEED" to even attempt "remove'n" the breech-plug on a traditional sidelock rifle for clean'n!!

It's not an inline but uses a percussion cap and you load from the end of the barrel with powder then the ball-patch or sabot and put a percussion cap on it.I had been useing pellets and then got some loose Hodgdon ffg powder but not the traditional black powder.It is the Whitetail hunter carbine.Thank you fella's for the comments.You have know idea how dumb I feel in this area after being around guns for 50 years or so but never a muzzleloader.I do clean with hot soapy water then lube but I rarely get off four shots without sticking one in the barrel.I then have to pour powder down the nipple to blow it out.The bullet puller didn't work with the soft balls but does sometimes with my saboted Speer Unicores.I sure love it but gave it up for a while out of pure irritation.Thanks again.Jayco.

CAUTION!!!!..... I wouldn't reccomend shoot'n out a "stuck-ball" part way down the bore,.... the ball located ANYWHER besides "seated "ON" the powder" is in all reality a "bore obstruction",... you COULD "ring" yore barrel do'n such a thing, or even "BLOW IT UP"!!

The "golden rule" is,... to "ALWAYS" have the ball seated "ON" the powder-charge with "NO AIR SPACE" 'tween the powder-charge and projectile!!!!!!

You might consider git'n a "brass ramrod" cause it's heavier weight makes seat'n projectiles a lot easier!!

YOU "ARE" LUBE'N THE PATCH, YORE USE"'N WITH THE ROUNDBALL,.... AIN'T YA??????

I use plain ol' "SPIT" for my lube, and it "cuts" the foul'n real well each time I load a patched-ball!!!! (in fact I've NEVER "stuck" a ball in more'n 30 years of shoot'n muzzleloaders!!)

Good luck, and stay safe!!

OK so you have a "traditional". Lets assume a Hawkin or Renegade type rifle. the rate of twist is likely to be 1:48 which means you should be shooting either patched round balls or full bore lead conicals and not plastic cup sabots. The 1:48 twist just is not fast enough to adequate stabilise the soboted pistol bullets. A rifle with a twist rate of 1:56, 1:66, 1:70 or slower is loaded with patched round balls as those twists are too slow to stabilize the connical. A twist rate of arround 1:32 will generally shoot conicals best and can shoot sabots adequately while twist of 1:28 or faster are generally best for Sabots.

I have long heard to "story" of how you should only use non-petrolium based lubes in the bore of your muzzleloader to reduce fouling. Well in almost 26 years I have yet to have trouble with fouling and I have used various gun oils to protect my bore. I do run some dry patches through the bore as well as pop 2-3 caps to dry the flash channel before loading. I know several custom flintlock builder who do the same also without problems.

If the 2F powder continues t ooverly fowl in your gun you can switch to 3F powder (P is the equivilant in Pyrodex). THe 3F is finer grained and will fowl less but will also generate higher pressure and velocity. THe rule of thumb is to reduce loads by 15% when using 3F over 2F.

Another thought since you seem to be loading patched round balls as well. Your patch and ball combination may be too tight and as fouling builds up even with swabing things are just too tight. I will assume (again) that you are using .490 balls in your .50 cal so you can try patches of .005 (proably will be too loose but bore diameters do varry some), .010, .015, .018, and .020. YOu can also get .495 diamter balls from specialty shops.

You could also be having trouble due to a tght or rough spot in your bore. Tight patch your rod and carefully push it into and pull it out of the bore. Try to "feel" for any place where it gets harder to push the rod or where it "catches". If after your 4 shots your ball gets "stuck" in the same place every time it may be an indication of this problem. You will want to lap the bore to remove this. You can use 0000 steel wool on your rod or get some very fine lapping compound and make a lead lap. IT will take several strokes to smooth things up.

And yes never shoot a ball out that is not fully seated. A brass rod or steel rod can be used to push to ball down if it gets stuck.

Good luck

What size ball are you using with what thickness of patch? A lot of target shooters will use a .495 ball with a .10 patch, most casual shooters use a .490 with a .15 patch. You could have got target balls and stuffed it with a .15 patch which would be a hard push.
With a clean barrel, pour your powder in and seat a ball, then mark your ramrod (I just put a cut in with my knife) then you will always know when you are seated.
Advoid any petroleum products in your bore. I use hot water with a little dishsoap in it when done shooting for the day.
I used to use all TC products, but after a match last year the shooter next to me never swabbed his barrel the whole match. He was shooting roundball with Goex FFFg, just like me, but I am cleaning every five shots. I asked what he was using for lube, he had a baby food jar with his patches and Fantastic orange cleaner in it. I tried this a couple weeks ago and shot fifty rounds with no problem at all.

I don't know if this applies to your rifle but in my SS Rem700ml I had similar problems and lousy accuracy til I called the factory and they got me in touch with their warranty people up at Ox Bow Originals. They told me how to season the barrel and since then no problems. Season the barrel by getting it good and hot by putting one end in a pot of boiling water and running a patch up and down to draw the hot water into the bore. Once it's good and hot, dry it out with a couple of patches then run a couple of patches with bore butter through it and let it cool (they told me to never use petrochemicals or you'll have to repeat this process). Also get the Lyman blackpowder manual, it's got lots of basic info.
Good luck and go shoot an elk with it!
Russ

I really appreciate all the recomendations and idea's.I have felt really dumb having shot and reloaded guns forever it seems but never Blackpowder rounds.Mine is very accurate and I just couldn't understand why after about three shots the bullets would start to stick.I never shoot a loose one out of the barrel as I always reseat it.

Thanks again.Jayco.