Walmart-JoAnnes, probably the same fabric from same weaver just half the price at Walmart. But yes, get a half yard of each and see what works best for you. I like on the thinner side so the ball loads and pulls easily without loosing accuracy.
I cut up pine and stack it 3-4 rows deep like firewood, as the pieces get shot up I can switch them out and retrieve my lead. I only use pine especially in the first row or two, I have bit hit by a returning FMJ 45acp by a frozen oak log.
Off the top of my head I would say 1830-1870 by the size and styling but that ring looks fairly modern so could be 1970-1990. Either way it's a beauty ( I kind of admire the simpler working horns).
Yeah and it has about as much in common with the copies of civil war era guns as a Glock. He wanted a small historical style pistol and ordered one, he didn't want a big 20th century style revolver although they are dang good.
As long as you have it stripped and taken apart you could shorten the forearm several inches (where the entry pipe goes into the stock and thin and round it full length as well. I don't know why on reproduction guns they make the forearm so long. It can make the rifle so much slimmer and...
The fun part is the collecting of wasp nests. Probably as close as we can get to today to a attack by angry Comanches. lol. Actually nests give me something to hunt on winter hikes after grouse season closes. I use them primarily for smoothbore wadding.
Check Deer Creek Muzzleloading for a new tang bolt or take it with to match up at local hardware or automotive. Needs a much larger head on that bolt, Supposed to be metric.
Leave it be, a nicely used rifle looks much better than a new looking one that lives in a safe. This way too you will not be afraid to use the heck out of it. Nice deal.
You should never need a cotton ball, The world has shot muzzleloaders for hundreds of years without a problem. I leave my rifles loaded for weeks at a time with a properly lubed patch.
Do you have flint or chert in your area you can knap, Seems like flints are hard to order now at times as well, often have to keep checking in to see if they are in stock. What the hell is wrong with this world.
Use enough gun, as Smoothshooter said, things happen. You can kill a deer with a .22 but that doesn't make it a honest deer rifle. You can easily hunt small game with light loads in a larger rifle so a .45-54 would be the smart way to go if you you can only have one.
Be confident in your one shot, many times knowing there is backup makes a person a lousy shot. 90% of people can't shoot a handgun well enough to make a clean back up shot anyway. One shot-one kill.