Blowing Down the Barrel

CLICK HERE FOR LINK to an interesting posts about "blowing down the barrel" in the Muzzleloading Forum, which is a great website for all types of muzzleloading topics and information.  Whether you blow down the barrel or not after shooting your muzzleloader is your business, this information is presented merely to make readers aware of the controversial viewpoints on this subject.  Here's an interesting comment in the first of a series of posts on that subject:

Anonymous said on 09/21/07 02:56 PM - Post#463160
Not to reopen this can of worms, but I re-discovered a quote I had read years ago from Audabon in 1810 that described a loading procedure he took to be common then and it contains several things that some recent folks have thought were "modern". Like blowing down the barrel between shots--he allowed it was to see if the touchhole was clear or if one needed to pick it. Another observation: a narrow strip of linen was hung from the bag--for patching, which was cut at the muzzle! The patching was 'lubed' by rubbing it in grease kept in the patch box. The cutting was done by a knife hung on the bag! I'll have to reread the quote and see if there is anything I missed...but 1810 is a pretty early date for all these things...I have seen us question all of these things--blowing down the barrel, patch knives hung from the bag, cutting at the muzzle....oh, and he said a feather was often placed in the touchhole while loading, and when removed, a few grains of the charge would spill into the pan, showing the hole was open...Audabon is responsible for several period descriptions of loading and hunting--and was an avid hunter as well as artist...