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  1. mhb

    A Vietnamese ‘Montagnard’ primitive Snaphaunce

    During my last overseas tour before retiring, I spent 4 years in Thailand, working with the Thai military, and spending a great deal of my time in the border areas. The hill tribes commonly made and used just such primitive arms, though most were percussion. The barrels were made from drawn...
  2. mhb

    Accurized Navy!

    Zonie et.al.: There are several ways to calculate the value of 1MOA for a given sight radius, remembering that 1MOA is very nearly 1" at 100 yards, and that 1" at, say, 25 yards is 4MOA, The easiest and most accurate way to calculate the value of 1MOA for a known sight radius is to consider...
  3. mhb

    Powder horn, that hid itself…

    It’s clear enough to see the powder when there’s some in there. Was going to drop the bore light inside but couldn’t find it, so put it up against a torch.Will definitely finish this now that it’s ‘come home’. I was going to advise against putting it against a 'torch', lest it be scorched...
  4. mhb

    photographed recently somewhere around Kharkiv

    They both appear to be decorations, rather than working arms. mhb - MIke
  5. mhb

    Rates-of-twist

    I make it a rule never to tell more than I actually know. I've been shooting muzzleloaders for 60 years, in calibers from .32 to 11 bore, rifled and smooth, have been a competitor in M/L competition with every class of such arms, and have never found, from that use and experience, any...
  6. mhb

    Rates-of-twist

    That is not correct. There is no direct relationship between rifling pitch and difficulty of loading - in fact, if there were, the slower pitch should be easier to load, as offering less resistance to the passage of the projectile and patch. The instance you cite was almost certainly due to a...
  7. mhb

    Lead, think about this next time you shoot!

    I remember those metal tubes, too, but they were made of tin, not lead... mhb - MIke
  8. mhb

    Unusual cased French pistols.

    They are, indeed, odd in design. But, if they are, in fact, from Gastinne-Renette, the quality is unquestionably good. mhb - MIke
  9. mhb

    Ned Robert's Book?

    FWIW: On Uncle Alvaro's recommendation, I tried bear oil for patches - every bear-oiled patch was blown to smithereens with loads that spit patches (or Falkenberry Juice) worked perfectly for. mhb - MIke
  10. mhb

    Patch size and Materiel

    Another good material is 100% cotton 'super muslin', which my local Walmart stocks. It measures about .014" thick, and performs very well in all my muzzleloaders, both rifled and smooth. As it hasn't been mentioned earlier in this thread, it is always necessary to wash your patch material...
  11. mhb

    Voyage of Discovery — Knowing their location?

    When initially tested and regulated, a log was initiated for the chronometer, and the average gain or loss was recorded - this could only be done when the instrument was in the hands of the maker or other specialist with access to an observatory able to provide the correct sidereal time. The...
  12. mhb

    Voyage of Discovery — Knowing their location?

    Dale: Yes, particularly in the pre-GPS past. As to the use of the sextant for determining altitude, the Corps was on dry land, or near it, most of the time, so could make their celestial observations from a more stable position - also, they had several versions of an artificial horizon to...
  13. mhb

    Voyage of Discovery — Knowing their location?

    Later: Lewis is known to have purchased an Arnold chronometer in Philadelphia - for $250, plus 75 cents for the winding key (!). He had it regulated before the expedition embarked. No one seems to know what the chronometer looked like, or whether it still exists. It is on record that...
  14. mhb

    Voyage of Discovery — Knowing their location?

    Good question. Most mechanical chronometers were and still are housed in sealed cases which would protect them from most incidental exposures to moisture, though probably not immersion for any amount of time. They were also mounted in gimbals inside a wooden box to further protect them from...
  15. mhb

    Witnessed Unsafe Behaviors

    Oh! I thought he meant 'poteen' (if oddly spelled), and, being a quarter Irish, was all in favor... mhb - MIke
  16. mhb

    Witnessed Unsafe Behaviors

    Though I've never previously encountered this poem (or read 'Pteryplegia', though I've certainly heard of it), the word picture the poet paints is exactly what flashed through my mind while watching the incident I reported earlier. I'm sure others who were present at the time, whether they'd...
  17. mhb

    Witnessed Unsafe Behaviors

    Blowing down the barrel of a 'just fired' muzzleloader may or may not be useful as a preventive of any sparks remaining in the barrel, but if it becomes a habit, done without thought, it can be a really dangerous one: at one of our club matches, a lady shooter (who actually was experienced and...
  18. mhb

    12L14 barrel comes apart

    As a clarification, the Izod and Charpy (note spelling) tests are impact tests, used to determine toughness of the sample. In testing, the sample of standard size is notched with a standard-sized notch, and the sample struck with a pre-determined force to determine when, and under what stress...
  19. mhb

    12L14 barrel comes apart

    Must respectfully disagree with Mr. Pierce's statement, quoted above: having worked for some years as a barrel maker, and having made some hundreds of barrels, I can state that barrel makers do, in fact, order 'barrel quality' steels from their suppliers, and require a certificate for each lot...
  20. mhb

    Well, I finally dry-balled

    Any ML shooter who says he's never dryballed (or short started)....... probably lies about other stuff, too. mhb - MIke
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