What Muzzleloading Stuff Did You Do Today?

stubshaft said:

Finally got my iron nitrate from Kibler, so now I can finish the WoodsRunner.

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Happy dance!

Finished my Kibler SMR in .36 this morning.

New pouch.

Done some preliminary layout on my new barn gun build and kept the fireplace fed.

Drug out all my BP rifles and cleaned them up whether they needed it or not. I sleep better knowing they are in good shape.

awreis said:

Enjoyed the shoot and plan to come back next year. I do have to get a new main spring for my flintlock. It broke when I was cleaning my rifle last night. Atleast it held on through the entire day of shooting.

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Outstanding! Broken spring..??
My toes were still thawing out at 10pm yesterday evening!
I think you'll enjoy this Sunday's video about the event.
Thanks for coming out....despite the cold.

We held a NYD shoot yesterday at Friendship In yesterday. 25+ shooters showed up...some for their first time. They had the opportunity to pull the trigger on various BP guns for FREE, including some built overseas. Below is the huge steel British Billy target they were shooting hanging 225-250 yards out. It was painted pretty nice before yesterday. This is a pic taken today as part of opening part of this Sunday's NYD video. Notice a lot of paint is missing. Those fellars were pretty good slapping that lead on ol' British Billy...!! I LOVED it!

So, after a working bee at the local range, in preparation to open on the 10th of January, we were rewarded by the President by being allowed an early shoot.

This morning, I tested a particular minie in the Parker Hale model 58 (two band naval rifle?). Yesterday I cast about twenty of the heavy beauties from a particularly robust Pedersoli mold - USA309-580, 640grns in weight. This minie, with a shallow base concavity drops on the bench at .579. I left some as cast and sized others to .576. I was nearly going to paint this mold green and throw it in the long grass - it takes so long to get hot enough to cast good bullets, it was driving me to frustration! We are not friends.

Why did I want to do this testing? Well, I was reading on this forum that some members were finding that the Parker Hale 58 preferred a slightly fatter bullet than the model 53. I had been getting satisfactory results with a range of 500grn minies that were from .575 moulds in both the 53 and 58, but was curious to find out what the fatter minies would do. Blow me down. I'll let the images speak for themselves. Both targets were shot at 50 metres, no wind, rifle firmly bench rested on bags front and rear. Load was 45grns of FFG Swiss, with an overthrow of semolina, minies lubed just before loading with a finger smear of Wonderlube. The flyer to the right on one of the targets was down to me - lack of follow through; I felt the barrel move off point of aim.

Thanks to all the members here who willingly share info on how to get rifled muskets to shoot minies! I'll keep the fat Italian, putting up with its demanding casting idiosyncrasies.

Cheers, Pete

B P Maniac Shooter said:

Outstanding! Broken spring..??
My toes were still thawing out at 10pm yesterday evening!
I think you'll enjoy this Sunday's video about the event.
Thanks for coming out....despite the cold.

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Yea i agree with the cold. It took me a while to get warmed completely up on the way home.

I was taking my lock apart to clean it good and grease it since it will be a while before I can shoot again and when compressing it with my spring vise, it snapped. Luckily I have a spare and already have it replaced.

awreis said:

Yea i agree with the cold. It took me a while to get warmed completely up on the way home.

I was taking my lock apart to clean it good and grease it since it will be a while before I can shoot again and when compressing it with my spring vise, it snapped. Luckily I have a spare and already have it replaced.

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Wow...I've have that kind of luck too..only with frizzens. I had my Pedersoli KY gun fall over & hit the frizzen..it broke. Wonderful. I ordered another one from VTI & installed it a week or so later.

About 3 weeks later, it fell over & you guessed it -- it broke too! Geez Mark..!!
I ordered another one and replaced it.

Guess what my wife bought me for Christmas last year...??

Yep, an extra frizzen!

Went sitting out in the woods looking for deer with my Pedersoli Rocky Mountain Hawken. Saw two does, a small 8 point, and a couple of eagles landed in the tree I was sitting up against. Good day!

Getting ready to make another wool wolf ear cap. Placed a huge leather order on crazy cow and bought a couple of horn kits I'm gunna build and sell. Wanna get out and shoot but its been way to darned rainy and cold, plus I had to entertain some family over new years. Hoping to get back to it soon...

8Ball said:

Finished my Kibler SMR in .36 this morning.

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Nice!

Took a flinter off the wall and set up on the back porch for shooting. Had left some plastic liter soda bottles of water out overnite and they made for frozen targets. The NNW winds are not laying down and I don't want to chase stuff through the corn stubble.
Was pleased with my dozen shots and the busted targets were easy to retrieve. Wife was out running errands so had the kitchen to myself for cleaning the rifle with no kvetching.
Seasoned a strip steak and set it on a plate inside a cabinet to warm to room temperature. Washed and chopped two nice heads of rape. Readied a couple of potatoes to bake. When she got home supper was mostly prepped and I was settled in with some single malt reading history.

Only a couple days left to hunt deer in Tennessee before season closes….



Figured I’d make the best of them…

Not much action on my place this season ..
Drought killed any chance at a plot, low acorn crop again & only browse for them to eat.

Deer numbers are down, so I’m not expecting much..
But it’s a blessing just too be able to sit and watch.

The ridge I’m on runs to the South, I’m facing North.
There’s a saddle / crossing at the North end of the dead plot 90 yards to the crossing.

Put the ingredients in the mill for something special.

8Ball said:

Finished my Kibler SMR in .36 this morning.

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Looking forward to some pictures of you shooting it ,we like pictures
She’s a beaut .

Picked up nice 54 cal TC Renegade for a decent price, locally to boot.

Stained and sealed my 54 WoodsRunner.

Well the blind hog found an acorn…




.54 cal Tip Curtis flintlock.

65-70 yards double lung shot, he ran about 100 yards..