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  1. M

    Plinking with a 45cal?

    If you were in the UK you might think otherwise. Apparently black powder is fairly difficult to obtain there.
  2. M

    Very light loads in a Brown Bess.

    I don't own a percussion gun yet, but I doubt there would be any significant difference in noise. With the lightest loads I was shooting, the report didn't sound much like a gunshot, but it was still loud enough to drown out any noise from the vent hole. When I had the squib load, all the...
  3. M

    Very light loads in a Brown Bess.

    I was shooting RB's and although I still think of my nephew as a kid, he's 23 years old now and a lieutenant in the army. He still had one hell of a grin on his face when he fired the bess though. It's great to hear that I wasn't doing anything unsafe as I really like being able to shoot...
  4. M

    Very light loads in a Brown Bess.

    So this weekend I took my daughter out to see her grandparents and since my nephew was going to be there I hauled along the Brown Bess, as he enjoys anything to do with the military or history. My parents live out in the country, but not that far out. I occasionally shoot a rimfire out there...
  5. M

    Any Brown Bess Experts?

    I'm a novice when it comes to muzzleloaders, but I was shooting mine with 80 grains of FFG and .735 RB's and I found the recoil to be similar to a 12g shooting light loads. I find it to be a very slow, thumping sort of recoil and actually kind of pleasant to shoot. Now 80 grains is a...
  6. M

    Range report, MVT Brown Bess.

    That did the trick. First though I disassembled the entire lock and modified the angle of the full cock notch on the hammer. They had ground it at a slight inward angle, a little like the half cock notch, so that every time I pulled the trigger I was fighting the mainspring to some degree...
  7. M

    Range report, MVT Brown Bess.

    I did not know that. Next time I'll bring some soapy water to the range with me. It doesn't seem to have done any harm though. I cleaned the gun when I got home and the only difficulty I had was with some residue at the bottom of the barrel. There's still a little left down there in the...
  8. M

    Range report, MVT Brown Bess.

    That's not a problem yet. After reading your post, I went in and weighed the gun; 9.25 lbs. I was able to suspend it by the trigger then add a 5 lb weight to the top then press down on it with perhaps another 4-5 pounds of force before the trigger released. I've got no plans to reenact...
  9. M

    Range report, MVT Brown Bess.

    Well, I finally got out to the range with the Indian Bess. I shot .690 and .735 balls, since the muzzleloading store near me was out of .715. I started out with 60 grains of FFG but after seeing no problems, quickly moved up to 80 grains. I used FFG in the pan as well and a 1" flint. For...
  10. M

    What do you see as the future for Traditional Muzzleloading

    A traditional bow has it's own real advantages. They are faster, lighter and simpler than compound bows and also allow the user to vary the power of his shot. One of the big drawbacks of a compound bow is that you pretty much have to pull it to full draw and I think that anyone who's tried...
  11. M

    What do you see as the future for Traditional Muzzleloading

    I actually think that traditional muzzleloading has a brighter future than modern muzzleloading. It has history on it's side and when you get right down to it a traditional muzzleloader can be just as accurate and powerful as it's modern counterparts. When you want to get a flavor of the...
  12. M

    Indian long land pattern, first impressions.

    That's OK, I might have missed out on the days of original Besses at reasonable prices, but I have a safe full of K31's, M39's and various Mausers and Enfields, some of which I paid less than $100 for.
  13. M

    Indian long land pattern, first impressions.

    I came to pretty much the same conclusion as you regarding $600 vs. $1200 muskets. There's nothing wrong with paying for quality, but after reading I just decided that the $600 gun would be adequate for what I'll be doing. If I were looking to spend more and thinking investment wise, I'd...
  14. M

    Indian long land pattern, first impressions.

    I'm guessing you're probably right. I'm also thinking that with a little work it will be fine for my purposes, which are basically just recreation at the gun range and learning a little about history and different firearms at the same time. I'm also thinking that it will probably clean up OK.
  15. M

    Indian long land pattern, first impressions.

    So I received my Brown Bess from MVT today. I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet, but I have looked it over fairly well and here are my first impressions of it. The metal work is in many ways better than I expected. Most of it has been finished nicely and there are very few visible tool...
  16. M

    What Musket and what Powder

    There were some Brown Bess muskets that were converted over to percussion caps in the first half of the 19th century, so you might look into that. What I would do first though is check in with fellow Brits and see what they're using. Necessity is the mother of invention and over here the...
  17. M

    17TH Century QC

    My guess would be that they're probably not up to par with the average firearm of that era. The Indian reproductions of today are made for reenactors and gun buffs and because of this they're more of a prop or a range toy than they are a serious weapon. Not that there's anything wrong with...
  18. M

    Burst barrel

    What needs to be done is to reclassify the seasons as traditional muzzleloader and traditional archery and if you want to use a modern muzzleloader or a modern bow you can go right ahead and do so during the modern season. These seasons were originally set up to give traditional hunters a fair...
  19. M

    Burst barrel

    I get it to some extent, and I even think it's kind of cool if it's just a handful of guys horsing around and doing something goofy like building a modern trebuchet. That's something where you've got serious enthusiasts just doing something for the fun of it. It might not be traditional, but...
  20. M

    Brown Bess for first ML?

    There are some smoothbores for sale here, but to be honest, I've got my heart set on a Bess right now. Now if I were to go over to Gunbroker, I'm sure I'd find quite a few, but I'm guessing that you know what Gunbroker is like. You have to be patient and careful when you buy there. This...
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