Pioneer2

The used .50 TC Hawken I picked up for $200 is in real nice shape.The bore is clean with no pits or rust.A .015 patch and .490 ball is tight to load.After a couple rounds I swabbed the bore and thoughtlessly foregot to run a dry one in next.Results wet powder loaded barrel.Removed nipple and cleaned the breach plug hole with a dental pick[ask your Dentist for his old one's]Seeing there was only a 50gr dose of 2F 777with a felt wad and patched ball I added a smallAmt. of 4F and replaced the nipple.Cleared the barrel.A gunsmith said another way to remove stuck loads is hydralically.Auto grease nipples can be had in various thread sizes 1/4-48 etc.and you change them in place of the nipple and hand pump grease into the barrel til the load pops out.Wastes 1/3 tube of grease and requires cleaning but it's unplugged.Should I try a thinner patch next time out? Harold

DavidVanVorous

I have one of the CO2 dischargers Ive also used a worm (AKA male threaded insert for the rod). Just sorta depends on where I'm at and what I have on hand as to what method I use...

I just might track down a spent patch or 2 after a shooting session and look for tears-holes before giving up entirely on the .015 material. Iffen you have holes then it might be best to swap to the .01

D.

cayugad

You get too thin a patch shooting Triple Se7en and I can almost guarantee you will blow the patches if your not already. What lube are you using on the patch? Also I wonder if the Triple Se7en is putting crud in the barrel. Is the ball harder to load say the last six inches? If it is, I suspect the powder is causing the problems. Switch to Pyrodex RS.

What I would do is get some JB-Bore Paste and scrub that barrel. I suspect it it some kind of build up in that barrel. Scrub the barrel good and stick with the .015 patch and .490 ball. Maybe change powders.

Besides an old time ball puller, another way to clean them out of a stuck ball is with an air compresser. I put the thing on as high a PSI it will go. Point that barrel is a safe direction. I have a jet nossle that is used for cleaning dust and stuff off things, among other things. I take the nipple out and that end of the nossle will just fit in there. I hold it there and push the air to it and pretty soon you will see it pop. Put a cardboard box in front of the barrel and you will hear the ball and patch hit that box.

denis1112

I use 60 grs. of 2F 777 in my TC50's,.490 balls and .020 patches lubed with Hoppes #9+.You have to smack the ball starter once but they go down easy after that.I shoot 50 to 60 times without wiping between shots at the range.The same can be done with real black powder.In my experiance thinner patches with 777 will burn through.Felt wads or 15 grs. of cornmeal keep the patch from burning up.I put the patches in a musket cap tin and put in enough hoppes #9 plus to make them damp.Don't take much, put a little in,look at them in a couple of hours if they ain't all damp add a little more.
The only time I had any crud build up was with pre-lubed patches lubed with bore butter or some such.I still have them somewhere.Been using Hoppes since the 1970's.Used crisco before that.

lemoyne

Try FFFF black 777 is the hardest of all the powders to get good ignition get 10 or 15 gr of FFFF black will pop it right out shoot it right away dont give it a chance to get damp. The other good way is with a CO2 dis charger I carry one in my range box [a TC] but I am sure there are several brands available I just have not needed to try any of them. Lee

Pioneer2

I am using the posted "moose milk" patch lube and the ball is tight all the way down the bore during loading.Maybe there is a build up in the bore but to the naked eye the rifling looks like it is darned near new?The nipple that was on it was odd sized[head]stainless,short and didn't fit the standard TC wrench.Had to hand file a washer to fill in the gap on my wrench.I'm a little reluctant to scrub the bore with an abrasive substance.Even with the felt wad I never found any wads with the 777.Is cleanup the same with Pyrodex ie : hot soapy water?Can't get BP anywhere nearby...............Harold

cayugad

JB-Bore paste I would not call a real abrasive. I use it about every six months on my rifles just to get that bore back to a nice clean shine. They look like a new dime when your done. It is not like a grinding compound is what I am trying to say, that would actually lapp the barrel.

Since the bore looks clean to you, I really have no idea why it is so tight. Granted I still need to put a little pressure on the ball when I seat it, but I would rather do that then have it fall or free slide down the barrel.

Pyrodex is a lot more messy then Triple Se7en. Fowling is worse, but I was going to suggest that, just in case the Triple Seven was putting a hard deposit in the bore and that is what you were experiencing. I think you just have a tight bore.

You can lapp it to make it loose, but I really would not do that either. I would just swab the barrel ever couple shots and learn to live with it. Or get a replacement barrel. Perhaps a telephone call to thompson center might be in order. Of course they are going to tell you it is because the barrel needs to be seasoned and you are not using bore butter. So that might do you much good. I use the moose milk all the time and would not change lubes.