.36 caliber Minuteman

[Nativearizonan]

I got my hands on a percussion Numrich Arms "The Minuteman". I gave the high bid on it at "Get Broker" dot com, and the seller had no idea what caliber it was. I thought it might be a .31 when looking at the photo he provided of the muzzle, but when it arrived I was happy to find out it was the larger caliber. I used to have a .36 Numrich Arms Hopkins and Allen underhammer that was a seriously accurate rifle, so I am hoping it holds true for this one as well.

I haven't shot it yet, as I am waiting for some .340 balls from TOTW. I did give it a thorough going over, though. When I first looked down the barrel I could see some irregular brown stuff in the grooves and I thought it might be rust, but that all wiped out on the first pass with a patch. I guess it was either grease or hardened oil. I scrubbed on the barrel for a while and I can't see any pits or bulges, just a nice mirror smooth barrel with sharp riflings. I guess if it was ever fired it was cleaned well before being stuck in the closet. There were some small spots of rust colored stain on the outside of the barrel, but no pitting around the muzzle or nipple as might be expected on an older gun, and I had no problem getting the nipple, drum, and breech plug to unscrew. They were rust free, as well.

The lock looks like a toy, with a strange combination of springs, neither of which look like they belong in a real gun, but it seems to work. It has a very weak spring when you pull to half-cock, but gets much tighter as you reach full-cock. The single, no-set trigger pull was terrible with a lot of creep and a heavy let off. I worked on it for a while and got rid of the creep, but it is still too heavy for my preference.

I can't wait to shoot it though.

 

[lou puleff]

did you just get that on gun broker? i was thinking about bidding on it as well because it was made in new york. let us know how it shoots? how is the quality of the rifle ? thanks !

 

[Jim C]

Pics please? hotoSmile:

 

[Nativearizonan]

ms2012 and Jim, you guys are in luck. I just took it out yesterday for my first firing attempt, and I took pictures when I got back. Here is the rifle:

Here is the lock showing the odd springs. The mainspring is a single flattened bar which has no resistance against it when the hammer is down, that's what make it feel so weak, although I had no problem with it. I was thinking this would be a drawback, but I think it's okay. The sear spring is a small coil spring which looks kind of cheap, but would be easy to replace if need be.

Now, to answer the question about how it shoots. I only had a chance to shoot four shots because several angus bulls decided to move their head butting exercises to a place in line with my target, and I thought that would be some pretty expensive hamburger, so I packed up. They didn't seem at all bothered by the smoke and noise. I was only shooting 20 grains of fffg behind the .340 prb with patching that measured about .015 that I ripped off some discarded shorts. The first shot was a flyer, but not very much of one, the next two went into the same hole, and the third one I hurried a bit because the bulls were headed my way. It still made a ragged hole along with the other two. Here is the target:

I'm not sure that gun had ever been fired before, and those are the only shots I have shot out of it, so not too shabby. It was at 25 yards. I put the square on their to remind folks that was a .34 caliber ball, not a .50.

I will have to adjust the sites, but I think it shows potential. I would say that is minute-of-squirrel accuracy. I did not have to swab between shots, and just spit-patch for a lube, cutting the patch on the barrel with a patch knife.

 

[Nativearizonan]

Well, the photos don't seem to be working for me. Maybe I can get it to work.

 

[bpd303]

Look to the right in photobucket to the shared links box. Click on the IMG line then go back to your post and right click select paste. Your picture will show.

BTW nice shooting...

 

[Nativearizonan]

Thanks, I'll try that.

 

[Nativearizonan]

Well, there are the pictures, you will have to go back a few posts for the explanation.

 

[Nativearizonan]

did you just get that on gun broker? i was thinking about bidding on it as well because it was made in new york. let us know how it shoots? how is the quality of the rifle ? thanks !

Yes I bought it a couple weeks ago, or so. I used to see the ads for these rifles all the time in various outdoor mags when I was growing up, and always wanted one, so now I scratched that itch and I'm glad I did. The bore is perfectly polished, much better than other production replicas I've seen.

 

[Jim C]

By golly that's some pretty darn good shooting for the first four shots with a new to you gun. Obviously the BP Gods are with you! Don't think I'd quite relegate that one hole by itself to flyer status. It's only a balls width away from the other three. The lock does have some unusual inner workings. Did you nail the square too? Looks like a 36 cal hole :haha:

 

[Nativearizonan]

A small problem with Numrich's .36 caliber barrels is that the .36 jag and ball puller I ordered from TOTW didn't fit. I stuck the bolt end in a drill and turned them down on some sandpaper until they did. Problem solved.

I got rid of the trigger creep by filing the tumbler down to make the full-cock notch shallower, and polishing all surfaces. That didn't change the trigger pull though, and it is a bit heavy for my liking. There is no room on the trigger housing to change the pivot point to a better location, so I think I will have to move the whole trigger mechanism back a ways to get a lighter pull (by putting the pivot point closer to the contact point). It looks like there is plenty of room in the trigger guard to do that without having to move the trigger guard too.

 

[BEP]

"I think I will have to move the whole trigger mechanism back a ways to get a lighter pull (by putting the pivot point closer to the contact point"

Don't you have that backwards? Wouldn't you want to move the pivot point FARTHER from the contact point to gain leverage/mechanical advantage? Maybe I'm just misunderstanding your meaning. If so, my apologies.

 

[hanshi]

Back in the 1960s I got a .45 underhammer and a bit later got a .45 Minuteman flint. The Minuteman I ordered was a nice shooter, well fitted and attractive. I foolishly let the flint Minuteman get away from me but did hang on to the underhammer.

 

[BEP]

I own a .45 Minuteman that one of the members here asked about several years ago. At that time the folks who replied to his post spoke poorly of that model of rifle so he decided not to buy it. I contacted him, found out where it was for sale and bought it myself. I was familiar with the rifle as I had owned one many years ago and was thrilled to be able to purchase another. It came as a flintlock but somehow over the years I had acquired a percussion lock for this type of rifle, both locks are drop-in interchangeable. I drilled out the touch-hole to accept either a drum and nipple for the percussion lock or a liner for when I want to use it as a flinter. And it's just as accurate and fun to shoot as the one that I owned 40 years ago.

 

[Zonie]

You are thinking of this like making the length of a pry bar longer so the force needed to move a load becomes less out there at the end of the lever.

That would be the same as making the length of the trigger longer so it is easier to pull.

In this case, because the length of the trigger is fixed, we are talking about moving the pivot point closer to the load.

The closer the pivot point is to the load, the more power it can exert on the load even though the force applied at the end of the bar is the same.

The pin is the pivot point and the closer it is to the sear arm (the load) the easier it is to move the lever (the trigger).

I hope this makes sense. :grin:

 

[BEP]

Yep. Makes perfect sense now. Thanks.