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I've attached a pdf template with instructions for making paper cartridges like the one in my post. They are for reenactment rounds so we don't put a lead ball in them, but can easily be made to include a lead ball. Be sure you use a short piece of copper pipe or just a piece of a dowel. The...

One thing you have to remember is that British Line soldiers who had to accomplish the "three shots per minute" rate were doing so using paper cartridges loaded with undersized balls (.69 cal. for .75 musket) and measured powder. they carried them in a cartridge box hung from their left...

You need to move the flint back a bit, especially if it is resting against the frizzen at half cock. It appears that you are using a rather thick piece of leather to hold your flint that is causing that problem. You should be able to actually fix this pretty simply. Just take the flint and...

Did you oil the parts before storing them? I've had an L&R Queen Anne lock in my Early Lancaster Longrifle from a private builder. It works first time every time and I used it for a lot of reenactments while I lived in VA between 2006 and 2015. Not a lot or reenactments since I moved to...

I purchased my first black powder gun in 1969 at a local hardware store at the ripe old age of 19. I actually went in looking to buy an 1860 Army cap & Ball revolver, but they had sold it and weren't sure when they would get any back in. I ended up walking out with a Pedersoli Kentucky pistol...

Actually it works Great. Please see my post in message #17 of this thread. For the Three years that I used my Traditions Pennsylvania Longrifle in reenactments typically firing about 100-shots (blanks) per weekend in about 8 reenactments per year. All of the Traditions and most other...

A little clarification in how I personally clean my longrifles. First thing I do is remove the lock for cleaning. Then I put a toothpick or twig in the touch hole. Then I pour what I guess to be about 2" of my cleaning fluid (can be water but usually I use some MAP) down the barrel and stand...

That flash hole is low but shouldn't be causing ignition problems. My first longrifle was the Traditions Pennsylvania Longrifle. I had a hard time getting some good reliability out of it because Traditions uses that darn tiny lock on it. It's actually the size of pistol lock and is much...

You know, most flintlocks would do OK for reenactments until you can get a better one. I had purchased the Traditions Pennsylvania Longrifle in the early 2000's (had a longer barrel than it does now). Nobody gave me grief about it except the fellow in our group who was a gun builder himself...

Welcome from Washington state!

I don't really understand your comment about looking for "documentation stating they are flash guards designed to protect someone other than the person firing." They don't do squat for the person firing the rifle or musket. The flash is well in front of their face and the flash, when the gun...

The graphite actually coats the grains and appears as a sheen on the granules (sort of a semi-gloss). The graphite is specifically used to help repel moisture and keep the powder dry longer than it would without it. When I lived in Vermont, our reenactment group had a lot of BP options open to...

Thanks for pointing that out and sending the current rules. My only real answer to that is that in my 25-years of reenacting I have NEVER had them check to see which granulation of powder you are using although they do a safety inspection of the arms each morning. NPS is usually pretty strict...

Spot on @PathfinderNC! Although I've only been reenacting for about 25-years, I have never seen the NPS require the use of 2F powder either, which is a good thing. Nor does the BAR or Continental Line require the use of 2F. Some of the powders specifically being sold as Reenactment Powders...

Hey Mike, the date that I saw floated up here for this rifle was 1790 to 1810. Yet, that rifle has incise carving and not relief carving and I thought that by the early 1770's, Rococo-style relief carving was pretty much the norm. Plus, the butt-stock looks to be much wider than that later...

Just as an FYI: the rifled muskets shooting Minié balls (actually a .58 caliber conical with a skirted semi-hollow base) had a huge range and could reliably hit targets at 500-yards. 800-yards (½-mile) was considered the far end of its range but it is/was possible. The standard load was 60-grs...

Your comments about people figuring out that a rest improves your accuracy are correct. However your comments about 17th and 18th ct. requiring a dedicated rest to be carried is not. Certainly the early hand-gonnes used them because they were like small cannons cast from iron or brass. But...

Speaking of using too much powder in a pan - try this: • open you frizzen, lick your thumb, and on a clean pan wipe the pan with your moistened thumb • power powder in the pan and close the pan. Give it a shake back and forth if you like. • Now open the frizzen and turn the pan upside down to...

Actually they are not meant to swivel down for loading. There's no need to swivel them down and if you do, all you are doing is loosening the bolt or screw that holds it on, which causes it to fall down below the lock so that the flashguard is no longer functional. I had that happen one time...

And more kudos from me for Mike Lea and his daughter who I believe runs everything now. Was about 2005 or 6 and I needed to put a flashguard on my Traditions Pennsylvania Longrifle for an upcoming reenactement. It also has an interior bolt instead of an exterior one. He sent the kit to me...