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  1. mhb

    I have no idea what I have

    and photo #4 appears to be of a Remington rolling block sporting breechloader... mhb - MIke
  2. mhb

    Brown Bess

    Appreciate the info on your experience with flints. I use fairly thin leather for all my flinters - it holds the flint securely enough without adding as much additional weight(and lock time)as lead does to an already massive ****/flint assembly which moves slowly enough as-is. I'll just have...
  3. mhb

    Brown Bess

    Thanks once more for the input and responses. The very positive comments tipped me over the edge (I was teetering, anyway), and I ordered a new one from Cabelas, rather than waiting and taking a chance on finding a good used one, later. Still wondering about the 1" vs 'musket' flint issue...
  4. mhb

    Brown Bess

    Thanks, again, to all those who have provided helpful responses! Just one more question: Does the Pedersoli Bess prefer 1" or 'musket' flints: my original finds the musket size a bit too long to permit resting at half-**** without the flint contacting the frizzen face and holding it slightly...
  5. mhb

    Brown Bess

    Grenadier: Thank you again. I suspected that might be the issue, since flintlocks both original and modern are prone to the problem of durability of the striking face of the frizzen. Do you know whether the material of which the Pedersoli frizzens are made is a high-carbon steel, which might...
  6. mhb

    Brown Bess

    Thanks to all for the replies! Spudnut: what sort(s) of problems are encountered with the new locks? And, if anyone could point me to a good used one for sale, I'd be grateful... mhb - MIke
  7. mhb

    Brown Bess

    Recently, I was lucky enough to acquire an original India Pattern Brown Bess in excellent condition: so good, in fact, that it's fully shootable - and I've been shooting it. It's great fun and both accurate and reliable. BUT: it's over 200 years old, and I'd like to save stress on it while...
  8. mhb

    Multi-Groove Rifling - Pro's and Con's?

    I believe the term you are looking for is 'polygroove' rifling, which has the appearance at the muzzle of a many-pointed star. It was fairly popular at one time for screw-barreled arms, and some other types, but can be considered an obsolete oddity. I've never shot a polygrooved arm, but don't...
  9. mhb

    Gain twist rifling what is it, the purpose,

    The torque resulting from a bullet passing through a rifled barrel causes the barrel, and the rifle, to be rotated in the opposite direction from that of the rifling itself; thus, the bullet's direction of rotation. This is true whether the rifling changes in pitch or not. A familiar...
  10. mhb

    Gain twist rifling what is it, the purpose,

    Some notes: 1. The groove in a gain pitch barrel decreases in width as the pitch increases, and this is true when the face of the hook is at 90 degrees to the body of the rifling head, or angled toward the direction of the pitch, which is the usual geometry. The reason for the change in...
  11. mhb

    Finally - Treasure Island done correctly

    'You mightn't happen to have a bit of cheese about you, now?' - Ben Gunn mhb - Mike
  12. mhb

    Possible C.S.A. gun. Need help identifying

    It is almost certainly a shotgun - Remington (and probably others) made an inexpensive single shot on this design. And the 'CSA' markings are very likely spurious. mhb - Mike
  13. mhb

    Dueling Pistol Identity Help

    The identity of the maker should be discernible: most such pistols were made by established makers and they marked their products with their name and, often, address - commonly on the top barrel flat and often on the lockplates also. There is no obvious characteristic to permit attribution of...
  14. mhb

    Bess on Pawn Stars?

    FWIW... I watched the program, and I'd say it was a long land pattern: I don't know how tall their 'expert' is, but the muzzle came about level with his nose. I don't recall anyone on the show describing it as a SLP. I did wonder about the lock date, because repros are out there, but...
  15. mhb

    correct type of bullet

    I'd like to suggest a couple of good books: 'The Muzzle Loading Cap Lock Rifle', by Ned Roberts, and 'The Improved American Rifle', by John Ratcliffe Chapman, one of the first and foremost proponents of the picket bullet and its use in rifles. Both of these books have a wealth of...
  16. mhb

    correct type of bullet

    Those rifling pitches are almost certainly for the picket bullet, a short, conical bullet shot with a cloth patch, and not for any sort of cylindrical bullet with lubricant grooves intended to be shot naked. Many early target-type muzzleloading rifles were made for the picket bullet, and are...
  17. mhb

    ID flintlock pistol

    Second the opinion on it being a decorator - the mechanics don't look right (could be a poor photo), and the proportions and shapes of those parts which can be seen are really odd... mhb - Mike
  18. mhb

    Barrel Groove Question

    'slayer: That is somewhat true, in the sense that the cutter box will contact the land opposite the odd-numbered groove... BUT: in actual practice it makes no significant difference, and, in even-numbered grooved barrels, the cutter box is equally well supported by the corners of the opposing...
  19. mhb

    Barrel Groove Question

    In my experience, there is no particular significance to the number of grooves in a rifle barrel, and no demonstrable advantage to any specific rifling profile, though barrels intended for patched round ball or picket bullets will likely perform better with 6 to 8 grooves of equal width to the...
  20. mhb

    Front sight filing?

    If you borrow a value (the sine of 1 minute of angle - .00029)from trigonometry, you only need to remember that one, and can then directly measure the sight radius (distance between sights) to be able to calculate the value of 1MOA for your sights. Multiplying the sight radius in inches (much...
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