How many shots between cleanings for a ML?

[Lone Hunter]

I shoot a TC Encore. It had a very tight bore. Could bearly push a power belt down the bore. Broke 2 rods trying sabot rounds. Clean barrel to a single fired dirty barrel was a foot difference at 100 yards. A third shot would be same as second buy 4th would drop again. So I cleaned barrel between every shot. Used 3 bore snakes one wet. 1 dry and 1 with bore butter. Could shoot clean and shoot next shot in under a minute. Would pattern under 4 inches at 300 yards.

I had 2 TC Encores with M/L barrels. Both 50 cals. Using 777 or Pyrodex you had better clean after every shot because if you didn't there would be a 6" poi difference. They went down the road and I tried CVA. Still shooting the CVA. The other ML's I have TC Hawken, and TC Firehawk, you could shoot several times and not have to worry too much about poi. Now shooting the White Hots pellets and really like them but I still run an alcohol patch after each shot.

 

[Critter Picker]

When shooting pyrodex or 777 in my Encore I would patch every shot. If you didn't patch it you had to really fight to load another shot.
Switched to BH209 and could go 20 rounds with nothing changing. After the first shot there was more resistance than the clean bore, but not an unreasonable amount. I use a Hornady green sabot with a Sierra 44 cal. 240 JHC. Shoots about 1" 3 shot groups at 100 yards.

 

[RidgeTop]

I was doing some sighting and shooting one after another. 50cal shooting a .44 in a sabot. Quick loading and shooting I found out was too much for the sabots and they started to melt. Real mess cleaning out. I just use Power Belts now.

 

[Critter Picker]

I was doing some sighting and shooting one after another. 50cal shooting a .44 in a sabot. Quick loading and shooting I found out was too much for the sabots and they started to melt. Real mess cleaning out. I just use Power Belts now.

I can see where that could get messy. I had some bad experiences with power belts. Lots of damage but no pass through . No blood trails. Where I was hunting,one jump and they are out of sight. Never lost one,but 3 in a row, same story and I went to the bullet I used in my .44 with good results.

 

[Jon Dempsey]

I have a CVA Accura V2 and it's shoots BH209 better in a fouled barrel. I will shoot 5-10 at the range and not clean it until the season is over, sometimes a couple of months. No issues with corrosion.

 

[RidgeTop]

I can see where that could get messy. I had some bad experiences with power belts. Lots of damage but no pass through . No blood trails. Where I was hunting,one jump and they are out of sight. Never lost one,but 3 in a row, same story and I went to the bullet I used in my .44 with good results.

Ohio ML is in Jan. Getting too old for those temps so I have been tending to go toward archery, later this month for a few months.

 

[Teri Anne]

I have a hunt coming up and am trying to get it dialed the last little bit. After being used to the accuracy of a centerfire a ML can be frustrating. I am doing testing on it this weekend at the range and the answer will be wherever I get the best accuracy and stable velocities, but am curious what others have found with a cleaning cadence.

I am shooting a recently purchased CVA Accura LR-X 50cal and am shooting with BH209.

I have a CVA Wolf and with 2 IMR White Hots (100 gr equivalent) and Power belt 245 gr bullets it shoots MOA or less at 100 yards. I tried using the supposed magnum capacity of 150 gr but the groups opened up badly. I also tried using heavier bullets and the groups again opened up. Haven't used a chrono on this load, but the results when the bullet hits the deer at 100 yards or maybe slightly more typically says that it's a good combination.

 

[JAYgs8163]

I have a hunt coming up and am trying to get it dialed the last little bit. After being used to the accuracy of a centerfire a ML can be frustrating. I am doing testing on it this weekend at the range and the answer will be wherever I get the best accuracy and stable velocities, but am curious what others have found with a cleaning cadence.

I am shooting a recently purchased CVA Accura LR-X 50cal and am shooting with BH209.

I've got the same ride but in .45. Shoot the 285 PB and it's very accurate. I clean after 15 shots. Best accuracy is after 3-5 fowling shots. Here's my group at 200. 2 outside shots were made and the adjustment made. Running 83 grains of BH209 with a Hankins Breachplug ignition setup. Running at 2220 FPS. Very happy with this rifle after the mods.

 

[VLD Pilot]

I have a hunt coming up and am trying to get it dialed the last little bit. After being used to the accuracy of a centerfire a ML can be frustrating. I am doing testing on it this weekend at the range and the answer will be wherever I get the best accuracy and stable velocities, but am curious what others have found with a cleaning cadence.

I am shooting a recently purchased CVA Accura LR-X 50cal and am shooting with BH209.

I think this question is model specific. I have a white muzzleloader. It's an overbore design barrel so shooting a squib load before loading is necessary. Thats needed to keep the bullet seated tight against the bullet. I can shoot the gun numerous times and the bullet still is easy to seat to the powder. Accuracy doesn't suffer after a dozen shots. The Accura Bergara barrel guns are not overbore and will need a different regiment than other muzzleloader barrels.

 

[Shane Lindsey]

With BH209, I will shoot about ten shots through to ensure it is zeroed and shooting well. I then clean the bore and shoot it for a cold clean bore shot to see where it is.
This particular ML shoot cold/clean to same impact as others so I do not need to "foul" it before heading to the woods as with my smokeless rifles.

I have heard with BH, you do not need to worry as much about corrosion if you do need to foul it.