Tinker, whether I use spit for target work, of Lehigh or Murphy's mix, I never have to wipe the bore during an entire day's shooting, whether it's 5 shots or 100 shots. Having to wipe shows the load is wrong - patch too thin, ball too small, or not enough lube.
; The rifle's crown is the most important aspect of a rifle in loading a good combination. If crowned properly, nicely radiused and smooth transition into the bore, one can load tight fitting ball/patch combos that shoot cleanly. If the crown is too sharp, the lands will cut the patch and you'll get blow-by and patch burnnout which results in excess fouling deposited inside the bore. Some guys get around that by using wads between powder and ball for all shooting. I generally use a thin card wad to protect the powder from the patch lube when hunting only. I have found in most of my barrels/guns, that the use of a wad reduces accuracy slightly and is only necessary when hunting. This accuracy reduction is only on the order of 1/2" to 1" or so on target at 50 yards so is not important when hunting. Some guns shoot better with a wad. These are usually guns that are loaded with too thin a patch to shoot cleanly without the wad. I prefer to limit the time necessary to load. A rifle that must be wiped before it can be re-loaded is useless for hunting. How do you load and shoot a fast second shot if it's necessary? Loading should take no more than 14 to 18 seconds. If it does, you need to practise.
; In a large bores, like my old 14 bore or one of the 12's, the use of paper ctgs. can reduce loading time to 8 seconds, including capping, with no loss in accuracy from patched balls and giving the same point of impact.