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Use BP, you will be far happier. Find one of the ballistics calculators on the web. Use a Ballistic Coefficient of .07 and you should be able to get useful data. Just remember that energy is largely irrelevant as to killing power in BP arms. Killing range is greater than the range where a shot...

Trade Guns changed over time and location. The Hudson's Bay trade gun is certainly not a fowler. They are more like a cheap light musket. The type G was a little different and had a more refined buttplate than the bent sheet brass of the NW gun, but all were cheap light muskets. A fowler was...

Honestly? Its stained with a synthetic and finished with a plastic based finish by the look of it. To look right it needed another color added, experimentation and some knowledge as to what the color should be. OR use traditional Nitrate of Iron stain which is completely color fast and the right...

There are a lot of stupid laws out there. This would work I think even in PA. Though its more like an 1815 rifle than a 1795 rifle. Was going to look in "English Guns and Rifles" by George but its packed up since there is a move in progress. Dan

Graphite was called black lead long before it was used in pencils. For example the British military would not accept blackpowder coated with black lead. Graphite is a way to may cheap powder shiny. It also slightly increases the amount of fouling. The old test for the average person was to rub a...

Graphite. What it was used for I do not know in this context. But that was the name for Graphite. Dan

Thanks for the compliment. Dan

Waterproof leather rifle cover and Swiss BP for prime. Totally pristine bore and pan ANY BP fouling will wet the prime since it suck up water from the air like a sponge. So wipe the bore a dry patch then one wet with alcohol, then dry patches to clear any oil. A full grain cover, slick side in...

Post got screwed up not going to retype.

How many times have you checked the position of the bullet over the 20+ years? If I shot what was most accurate as a hunting load I would have to wipe between every shot, damp patch twice, dey patch twice then load. But leaving the bore even a little damp with some fouling present is dangerous...

Once its sized to the bore by loading its no different than any "naked" bullet. It needs to be patched with something that provides some compression and grips the bore a little. There were reasons why these never caught on back in the day for hunting. They were known by the 1830s-40s, but they...

I hunt in Montana we have big critters here too. "Whomp" is greatly overrated. Penetration is more important and it only needs to be "adequate". I have shot quite a number of various Montana game with about any projectile one can think up, no bullets from MLs, however. I even shot a Mule Deer in...

You might find a lock that is close but finding a drop in is pure luck. It will need to be fitted by someone who knows the ins and outs to get things right. A SKILLED ML gunsmith/restorer. Not just a ML parts assembler because its going to require actual gunsmithing in all probability. Right...

PS I have never even owed a "scraper" and have been shooting since 1966. It takes WATER to get the fouling out. If the fouling is set up like concrete the gun was not properly cleaned and the old fouling was oiled and then the gun fired and the same thing repeated. This will put stuff in the...

Don't pressurize the water in the bore. Don't pour it full. Put in maybe 4-6" of cold to slightly warm water in the bore then slosh it by putting a finger or thumb over the Muzzle and up end it a few times then dump it out. Now run a loose WET patch in and out a time or four then repeat the...

Just find the load and it will shoot. Being a GM it will even shoot harder lead since the narrower land load easier. Avoid "replica" Powders, the barrel is not replaceable and will serve a lifetime with blackpowder. Dan

There are a number of things here. First. Define shallow grooves. Many RB barrels being made have grooves that are actually too deep. Grooves shallower than .008" can cause problems and grooves deeper than .012" can as well. A soft slug with a long bearing surface can be shot in grooves as...

If we read Sir Samuel Baker's experiences, he hunted with MLs most of his life, we find an account of his two groove 6 bore "devil stopper" that weighed something like 22 pounds and shot a belted ball. It "never failed to floor a charging Elephant". He decided to use a conical, thinking it would...

40 cal Pickets. The flat base FP version shoots best and I abandoned the round base pointed one. Weight of teh FP version is about 150 grains. Swaged from lead wire in this.