Search results

Let me just say that cartridges are a fun undertaking for me. However, there seems to be a double-whammy against the pre-priming practice (and I may be guilty in part). First, the possibility of a hot ember remaining if you quickly reload after firing a shot is always a concern if not wiping the...

Wow - Love the Trade Gun and your pictures, Congrats on the find! Wish you the best in load development and it should be a lot of enjoyment if it shoots as well as it looks. Seems like some of us are almost as excited by the mention of Kettle corn, which my missus really enjoys but the doctor...

Neat. Looks to be a cut down trade gun with a rear sight and a turtle style front sight...is the bore smooth or rifled? Lott stamped on the lock looks too new to be an original. Pull it open and look on the inner lockplate for any further markings. Pull the barrel and look for stamped info there...

I revised my post as follows - I reckon the unusual smaller amounts of shot indicate a smaller gauge gun. Hoping this is the data you requested. Since 70 grains of powder bulks at the approximate equivalent to an ounce of shot in a powder measure: 70 divided by an Eighth is equal to 8.75 I would...

Well, I am embarrassed now and must apologize. I had read an Outdoor Life article several months ago about TSS shot, and somehow came out mis-remembering on comparative weights of Lead and Bismuth. Here's the actual comparative weight: Element Lead Bismuth Density 11.34 g/cm3 9.78 g/cm3 I...

Yep, its more than 1.5 times as dense as Bismuth, which is denser than lead! Tungsten super shot is 18.1 g/cc (grams per cubic centimeter). The heavy weight of TSS is designed to use smaller pellet sizes than lead, bismuth etc. It has great penetration & energy retention at longer distances...

Hmm, I like your reasoning here, but am not sure about the expansion. Old accounts of battle injuries indicate that rifle balls always made very serious wounds, more so than the large musket balls. I suspect that decelerating a spinning ball by friction in soft material might just increase the...

What diameter is the touch hole; and also, do you enlarge (cone) the outside of the hole, or just leave it at drill diameter?

Global War On Terror?

You've gotten some great advice so far. I would hope you will check the trigger mounting position as well. The Bess has an old style stock-pinned trigger (it's just pinned into the wood behind your lockplate). The geometry is simple but important here. Ideally the pin should locate well above...

Hmmm, smokeless powder fireworks on top of black powder in a BP-only muzzleoader? In the CW, they used hollow shells with Black Powder fitted with a timed fuse. But Smokeless; Nope! You might accidentally blow yourself out of your own socks.

Lots of barrel relines have been done using epoxy in place of solder. The barrel metallurgy will play a large part in determining the longevity of use. Of course your fitment will be the critical factor in safety of the barrel. Project sounds intriguing - keep us posted on it!

Guess the old-timers were trying to reference the drooping curved buttstock, but it's confusing to us today. They also used an real cow's knee (actually just the hide) to craft a waterproof lock cover for wet hunting conditions. It could simply be slid back onto the wrist when ready to shoot.

Yessir, you are so right! I remember all too well as ignorant kids, we were shooting steel BBs at a target taped onto an oak board...amazing how quickly the big bruise from a small bouncing steel BB will educate one about ricochet. Thankfully it struck a non-vital area and caused minimal damage...

I get it! One trick is to make up a divided cartridge from either foil or combustible paper. Roll it one turn and apply glue stick to half the length. Next, mash in the open side (away from the glued edge) so as to separate the upper half from the glued half. Now roll it another turn or two and...

Sure. I'd say 14 gauge, 11, 12, and possibly 10 Ga, are all pretty common sizes for bigger bores during colonial times along the corridor you want to represent. Actually there was not any particular civilian standard, but perhaps the militia tended to influence bore choices. Later the 16 grew...

Very Interesting info! I had to dig up a calculator to translate grams to grains. I recall is working, there are 15.42 grains in one Gram, so multiplied out by 7,5, that yields just over 115 grains. Sound correct?

Yes. Good thing you left some extra space on the cutout! For me, a bandsaw is more accurate, since the uni-directional blade is supported by the drive wheels top & bottom. Bit pricier tho...I used to be more authentic and hack away wood with only hand tools, but in old age will gladly accept...

I read that too - set me to wondering if he was actually referring to the LEAD for the musket balls...8 to 12 per pound would seem to correspond to musket gauge sizes.

Yep, those 'horseback guns' were often used for buffalo running. Somewhere in our misspent youth, I read a contemporary account (maybe from George Catlin) of the rider carrying a cut-down trade gun with an enlarged touch hole for self-priming. His mouth was filled with lead balls as he rode up...