lubed or dry barrel for most accuracy?

[shortwave]

got a question for zeroing an 209x50 encore. i am shooting 245grn. aerotip powerbelts with 120grns. american pioneer ffg loose powder. when at range should i shoot,swab with wet patch then dry patch and run a LIGHTLY lubed patch then reload or should i leave out the lubed patch when shooting powerbelts? have seen it done both ways. thanks for your help in advance

 

[sundance44s]

Just depends on the rifle some like it dry some like it wet ..these black powder guns do take some range time to find the loads they like . I`ve made tack drivers with a little adjusting powder and patch , even with some of the cheaper made rifles .

 

[Wild Bill Bucks]

I called the Thompson Company about the problem I had, trying to get a good group with my Encore a couple of years back. I was told that if you are using sabots, that you should not use any lubricant as it lets the sabot slide by the riflings and ruins your accuracy. I quit using bore butter in my barrel, and my groups immediatley got tighter.

 

[Pahoo]

I season all my barrels, Blue or S.S. and when I shoot Sabots, I do not lube between shots. Only shot one package of Power Belts and made sure the bore was as dry as I could get it, again between shots. Sabots "seemed" to be tighter than the power belts, especially with the fast twist. I still put a buffer wonder wad on top of the powder, on hotter loads. So far have had fairly good luck. Have to agree with sundance44s about the value of range time. Got to love these front loaders !!!

 

[shortwave]

thanks all for your wisdom. after i posted ,i was sitting here looking in gun safe and remembered the time i had getting my rem. 700 ML zeroed. ended up i got better groups with 295grn. powerbelt/ 100 grns. 2f amer. pioneer and lightly lubed bore. guess i was trying to rush things sundance. one more thing. with the encore. when i took it out of box to zero. started using the same load as originally posted, 245 powerbelt, 120 gr amer.pioneer. three shot groups, 100yds. rifle grouped great for approx. 9 to 10 shots. now i seem to have quite a few fliers. barrel seems to be very clean but is it possible there`s some plastic fouling in rifling, if so is the answer a bore brush and what type of cleaner cuts the plastic best. thanks again for your time and knowledge.

 

[arcticap]

I think that most chemical solvents work using a little more or less elbow grease with very tight patches or a bronze/Tynex barrel brush, but here's some that specifically mention the removal of plastic fouling. Be careful though because some solvents can hurt the wood stock finish or the bluing.
Brake cleaner is said to have a variety of BP cleaning purposes too, or just try some good old Hoppe's #9 like most folks use for cleaning plastic from their shotguns.

http://www.grafs.com/fc/product/169119

http://www.grafs.com/fc/product/162675

http://www.grafs.com/fc/product/175961

http://www.grafs.com/fc/product/177281

http://www.grafs.com/fc/product/177284


All of Grafs BP solvents:
http://www.grafs.com/fc/browse.php?page=0&p=3426&q=&v=&s=