What Muzzleloading Stuff Did You Do Today?

About Kits:

"NO! Don't throw them out. Mistakes happen. We'll stick all the faulty parts together, box 'em up and sell them at a discount. Let the buyer fix the problems."

Kits I have had:

CVA Mountain rifle. Knot at the wrist and screw holes either drilled off center or too big for the screw.

Dixie Poorboy Rifle: The tang screwhole was cracked and broke the first time I took the barrel out. I loved that rifle.

Traditions: Knot at the trigger guard. ..stock came apart with the first shot.

Investarms: Lyman Greast Plains .54 flint. Wedge plate holes off center. Gemmer Hawken...offset screw holes and screwholes too big for the screw.

Pedersoli: Tryon .50. Not a kit. Sat in the gunshop showcase for a year. John sold it to me his cost. I ...like I always do...took it apart when I got home. The wood INSIDE was spectacular...the outside was not so much. I noticed a whiteish overspray on part of the barrel channel ...hmm...found an unnoticable spot and sanded. The walnut came off...white all over. Sanded some more. The walnut under the white sealer was the best I've ever seen. You know about 'photo finish' on cheap paneling? I think that was done to the Tryon.

If it was 'good enough' to make a rifle that's what would happen. If it was going to need a fix...it's a kit.

Every minute someone has to spend to fix a mistake is money over and above cost. Some of the fixes were simple...some took hours.

wiscoaster said:

Attached a PC repro sling to my Miroku Charleville repro. A repro for a repro. They're happy together. And PC to boot.

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If I bought that many guns I think I’d be living in my shop ,you sir have a great selection of guns thankyou for sharing.

I finished up Horn #72. It came out pretty well I think.

I cleaned up, correction: "on", an inline muzzle loader. Last year a friend retired. Several of us pitched in a bought him a cheap inline muzzle loader. He e brought it to me this week and said he was having problems with it. He'd let it rust to the point that I'm a bit worried about the threads in the breach plug. I soaked the thing in penetrating oil for several days just to get the thing apart. I cleaned and steel wooled most of the rust off, but I can't believe how he's destroyed the thing. The only good point is that at least it's not mine

WALT53 said:

If I bought that many guns I think I’d be living in my shop ,you sir have a great selection of guns thankyou for sharing.

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I'm 82...first muzzleloader was a block of wood and an old ford pickup axle. they have a half inch hollow core....I was 14...it shot...once. Mom hated guns. I have no idea what she did with it. next was a 19 dollar brass frame revolver...kit from Target, then a 29.95 steel framed one...and a CVA mountain rifle I doctored...very accurate... wife won shoots with it. kit...bought two...one for me and one for her. neither looked like a CVA when I got done. I still have the stock...been playing with for fifty or sixty years. Dixie poorboy flinter broken tang...Great Plains...flint...my son has that. Japanese 66 cal flinter Seneca...pretty little thing...Renegade flint...not a kit...the Tryon...two parts CVA's. a spain two piece, A CVA Kentucky Hunter...the Gemmer...and stuff I['ve forgotten. That happens a lot...forgetting. I remember the reasonable ones.

bajabuc said:

I'm 82...first muzzleloader was a block of wood and an old ford pickup axle. they have a half inch hollow core....I was 14...it shot...once. Mom hated guns. I have no idea what she did with it. next was a 19 dollar brass frame revolver...kit from Target, then a 29.95 steel framed one...and a CVA mountain rifle I doctored...very accurate... wife won shoots with it. kit...bought two...one for me and one for her. neither looked like a CVA when I got done. I still have the stock...been playing with for fifty or sixty years. Dixie poorboy flinter broken tang...Great Plains...flint...my son has that. Japanese 66 cal flinter Seneca...pretty little thing...Renegade flint...not a kit...the Tryon...two parts CVA's. a spain two piece, A CVA Kentucky Hunter...the Gemmer...and stuff I['ve forgotten. That happens a lot...forgetting. I remember the reasonable ones.

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Well I have a.hawken with a green mountain barrel and pecatonica stock I did years ago I have a 28 gauge from Jackie Brown I have a 24 gauge I built from a plank and an old 20 gauge from loyalist arms I’ve been trying to sell and I have two cheap 28 gauge monkey guns .I know if I were to get another one I would probably be living in my little shop cause my ole girl don’t like guns and says I have enough.So you guys that are floating in em I’m envious of yous but I gotta keep piece under my roof .lol

Got around to staining the Buffalo Hunter I've been working on.

15” of fresh snow, snuck up on two separate deer. - both doe. Bumped a couple more that I never saw. Still hunting in snow is the absolute best but 15” is too much when it obscures your vision. Still a fun day

Dutch7 said:

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15” of fresh snow, snuck up on two separate deer. - both doe. Bumped a couple more that I never saw. Still hunting in snow is the absolute best but 15” is too much when it obscures your vision. Still a fun day

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We got about 6” s of snow know it’s raining geesh I can’t wait for winter to be over already .

Dutch7 said:

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15” of fresh snow, snuck up on two separate deer. - both doe. Bumped a couple more that I never saw. Still hunting in snow is the absolute best but 15” is too much when it obscures your vision. Still a fun day

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You must be up around Erie? Down here in western Fayette/ eastern Greene counties, we got a dusting.

WALT53 said:

I know if I were to get another one I would probably be living in my little shop cause my ole girl don’t like guns and says I have enough.So you guys that are floating in em I’m envious of yous but I gotta keep piece under my roof .lol

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Here's a hint on this problem. First off, my wife doesn't hold any animosity toward guns or me owning guns but I think if she knew how many I have she would be raising an eyebrow. However, the secret is to never let her see more than one gun at a time. To those who don't like or are indifferent to guns they all look the same.

I finally got the screw needed to put on the second rod thimble on the Sante Fe .36 cal kit so is now complete. Took over a week for the screw to get here from OR to an hour north of Seattle! Our tax dollars at work!

PathfinderNC said:

Since the previous thread was shut down (locked) by our new moderator, I thought I would start one up again, as per the suggestion.
So, let's get this thread going again, and share your muzzleloading related adventures of the day!

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I went hunting !

Attended a Frontier Christmas Festival in my hometown yesterday.
Checking out the beaten biscuit equipment in the kitchen....

Such fun.



We have a 5th grade teacher that asks parents to bring their students out for the day to the Mefford House, a log cabin built in 1786.. I spent a lot of time off & on all day talking about the frontier, the guns, the tools, the weasel, the spinning wheel, etc in the log cabin to the kids. They had a good time dressing with period correct outfits and dipping candles. Here are a few pics the event........

Shot the flintlock this morning, our snow is almost gone right now.

Shot at the Florida Frontiersmen monthly shoot. Sunday is always a light turnout. But it was a beautiful morning

Ordered the parts for my .54 caliber smoothbore barn gun for my winter build.
I'm looking forward to getting it started

Took my Pietta Remmie 1858 New Army to the range to try shooting the 0.457 Kerr conical bullets I got from Paper Cartridges LLC. Bullets were pre-lubed by dipping in my melted beeswax mixture. One interesting new thing learned: dip-lubing works much better if the bullets are pre-heated before dipping. Excess lube is easily wiped off the base, so the base is clean and bare. I prepared 18 bullets that way for shooting.

Loads were 25 gr. 3F Swiss. First cylinder was loaded with felt wad on top of powder. The bullets were easily seated, but I found this load order to be problematic. Although powder plus wad plus bullet should have brought the bullet to just below the rim of the chamber, I found it difficult to ram this deep with the gun's loading lever, and had to take the cylinder out and complete ramming with a mallet and starter on a couple of the bullets to get them deep enough into their chambers to clear the forcing cone. My guess is (and maybe someone who knows more about this than I do can corroborate) that because of the wad the powder wasn't getting compacted by mere ramming action of the loading lever, maybe because of the wad's "cushioning" effect?

Anyway, I found that these conicals shaved a nice complete circumference ring, and so for subsequent cylinder loads, I just left out the wad and loaded bullet on top of powder. Another interesting new thing learned: ramming a conical is a little different than ramming a ball: it seems there's a one last push needed to get the bullet fully seated that "feels" different - kind of like a "smooth squish" feel is how I'd describe it, and here again, I'm just guessing (and hoping someone can corroborate), but I think that last "smooth squish" push is from of the base of the bullet compacting the powder.

First two cylinders were shot at a paper target at seven paces with satisfactory results. Three shots of the third cylinder were shot at a paper target at 25 yds, all hitting paper, and the remaining three shots were at the dinner plate gong at that range, but I only hit the gong one out of the three shots.

Seven paces target:



I'm very happy with these conicals from Paper Cartridges LLC and intend to try loading them into paper cartridges, and alsodo more shooting with them for more practice to get better at hitting 25 yds. Weather allowing, of course, which this time of year in Wisconsin is pretty iffy.

Side note: the 9mm semi-auto cartridge gun shooters at the next bench were pretty impressed with all the black powder smoke.

Omahkapi'si said:

Shot the flintlock this morning, our snow is almost gone right now.

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dang that's a good pic. thanks bud!!!

Working on elk horn. Got some scrimshaw/engraving done.