Search results

I believe the discussion for PRB was trending toward head-shots only. That way, you end up with clean meat or else a clean miss...in the unfortunate event of a body hit, the head is still available for mount! ( but I'd recommend Limburger cheese if you seriously want a squirrel burger :) )

Yes, the big powder charges are punishing. Especially in the bores larger than .56 or 28 gauge. I am like-minded about recoil in my senior years - hate to pull the trigger on anything heavyweight now! Am contemplating building a smoothie of 28 gauge (55 or 56 caliber). That should allow me to...

“The expanding pressure wave behind the ball would exert pressure all around the ball equally, so I would THINK it would keep the ball in the center of the bore. Not letting it ‘bounce’. But I don’t understand why a low charge would have less of an effect then a big charge” In addition, higher...

Regarding the touch hole situation, if you want to use a plain drilled hole, you can always do a liner later. Please check the location of the breechplug face before you drill though! If it's clear of your touch hole location you can proceed; if not you've got a bit more complicated process and...

It's all good - and Barking isn't too difficult,but you will need to be mindful about the angle of your shooting. Sometimes the belly and legs sustain collateral damage from flying tree debris. If you aim too low it's not uncommon to for the bushytail to land nearby very much alive and angry...

I have always enjoyed hunting and shooting with my smoothbores; however, I learned many years back that rabbits and squirrels taken with shot pellets have much more hair embedded in the meat than critters taken by a headshot using a single ball). just sayin' :-)

You can still use a .570 ball in a 20GA bore, that's the beauty of it! For larger bodied game, I load 80-85 grains of powder, then insert a patched .570 PRB (weighing 278 grains) within a heavy paper or tin-foil shot cup. The round ball hits like a freight train and is accurate, meaning...

Dampness is a point well taken! But waxing the dried leather would definitely help control that. As to John Smith, if memory serves, he was severely injured while he was asleep in a large canoe, riding with several companions. Attempted murder was later mentioned. Mysteriously, somehow, his...

I recall many years back seeing an old leather flask for powder. The smooth inside was coated with a waxy substance. It had a hard ringed mouth and was closed by a wooden stopper. The whole thing seemed lightweight and had dried until it was fairly firm in the hand. Guess it was always...

One Dram is equal to 27.5 grains. Therefore, 3 Drams by volume measure is approximately 82 grains.

Yes, the Prussian Army had a .62 cal in their 1801 issued musket. Some may have been brought over to the USA for the 1812 war - don't have specific proof for that tho'. I've not bought yet from this vendor, but some interesting historical tidbits: German 1801 "Sharpshooter" Infantry Light...

WoW! such a variety of substances to choose...Hmmmm, the Missus has ceased using the baby powder which she formerly appied after shower (the cancer scare y'know). Wonder if those lurking cannisters from johns suns could be sent downrange for our purposes?

The ignition method of powder-in-the-pan should be identical for Matchlock and Flintlock; therefore if your main powder charge of duplex works with flintlock it should also work with match ignition (all else being the same). One important thing is the amount of the holy Black powder charge in...

Really enjoyed this! A long video, but such fascinating scientific and historic details about the arquebus; and also its historic use in the early 1500s in the southeastern part of Europe by both the defenders and the Ottoman invaders at that time.

Some of the text and pictures of armor and match cord may have origins in our beloved Michael Trömner aka "Matchlock" (May he rest in peace). He blogged and published a great number of articles on vikingsword dot com; his authoritative work ought to have been collected and published altogether...

Yes, just not legal for most hunting applications. Sure is fun to plink with though!

Yes, I have used the combo, but results of minies in the 1:60 twist were mediocre at best. (however, they worked well in a 1:32 twist.) About the only advantage to be gained from minies are increased energy at long range IF you get sufficient accuracy to actually harvest game. The slowness of a...

Back in the 20th century, DGW was selling repro British threaded nipples. As I recall, they were .255" and I believe threads were 26 TPI. Wish I still had my old catalogs to reference, but their current web page has both 255 and 260 nipples for less than 5 bucks. Here's the link for my search...

If I might add: Obtain a matching coarse threaded bolt and nut as tools for modification. Use these. Use the nut to start threads on the end of your wooden ramrod (putting a slight taper on the rod's end will help start the nut). As described previously, form your metal coil around the bolt...

Pike conducted two expeditions. The first in 1805 to locate the source of the Mississippi River in what is now Minnesota; the second a year later to find the headwaters of the Arkansas River. I would tend to believe that any artifacts of Braddock's Defeat might have been with the Chippewas in...