Another jackpot

[flm_shooter]

My father (as regular readers of this forum know) was an avid blackpowder shooter / builder / reenactor. Being the dumb kids that we were, we never realized how good we had it. He died 12 years ago. About 5 years ago I got back into BP and realized what a lucky childhood I had.

I have been collecting the odds and ends of his stuff from my extended family. I thought I had it all. But I just got "the Holy Grail" - Dad's shooting box. Now this box was 6 feet tall and 10 feet wide. It weighed about a million pounds. One kid could just barely drag it from the car to the bench. And the secrets it held! Everything was in that box. And every single item in that box was pronounced, "DON'T TOUCH THAT!"

I brought THE BOX home and lovingly opened it. First I noticed how much it had shrunk over time. It was nothing but a plain old metal toolbox. But inside there was still magic. Lead balls of every caliber. An entire leather bag full of flints. Dad's magic screwdriver (the one only used for tightening flint lock screws). 5 different flint knappers.

And about 15 different Lyman roundball molds. All a bit rusty, but appear servicable. Guess I really gotta think about casting my own balls now.

One thing I wonder about: Buried in the bottom of the case was about 6 cans of Goex in various granulations. This stuff has to be at least 15 years old. Heck, the price tag says "$6.50" per can! Should I try using this, or just have fun on the 4th of July with it?

 

[Rebel]

As long as the cans had lids on them it should be fine to use. Black powder will last for a whole lot of years.

 

One thing I wonder about: Buried in the bottom of the case was about 6 cans of Goex in various granulations. This stuff has to be at least 15 years old. Heck, the price tag says "$6.50" per can! Should I try using this, or just have fun on the 4th of July with it?

I have two cans of Goex that are at least 15 years old, one 3Fg and one 4Fg, and I still shoot that powder today and cannot tell any difference between now and when I bought it. I simply kept the lids on, and kept it in a closet. I think I might have paid more than $6.50/can for it, but not much more than that. Shoot it! I'm sure you'll find nothing wrong with it.

 

[Birddog6]

Man........... what a treasure......... YES, the powder is good ! It will keep for a hundred years + if it is dry & sealed up.

As for the molds, get some Ballistol & 0000 steel wool & clean them & just keep soaking them with the Ballistol & the steel wool & the rust will come off usually & hopefully the mold part is not pitted. Outsides of the mold really doesn't matter, just the cavity.

As for the box size & in relationship to that thought, when I was a kid my Dad would threaten using his special belt on us when we were bad. THE BELT was 8'long & 3'wide & said to have hooks on it that could just rip the meat off your body if it ever touched ya !!!!! :crackup:
Needless to say, just the mention of THE BELT was all it took to create imediate fear & respect in us, as we didn't even want to See that sucker...... He never made it to go to the closet where the belt was...... as just a mention or heading that way was More than enough for us to straighten up......
20+ years later we found out the belt was a 28" long 1" wide black dress belt, as my dad was not a large man & him smacking my brother with it at a young age had developed into a rather large imaginative lore.... but it worked...... :crackup:

 

[roundball]

My father (as regular readers of this forum know) was an avid blackpowder shooter / builder / reenactor. Being the dumb kids that we were, we never realized how good we had it. He died 12 years ago. About 5 years ago I got back into BP and realized what a lucky childhood I had.

I have been collecting the odds and ends of his stuff from my extended family. I thought I had it all. But I just got "the Holy Grail" - Dad's shooting box. Now this box was 6 feet tall and 10 feet wide. It weighed about a million pounds. One kid could just barely drag it from the car to the bench. And the secrets it held! Everything was in that box. And every single item in that box was pronounced, "DON'T TOUCH THAT!"

I brought THE BOX home and lovingly opened it. First I noticed how much it had shrunk over time. It was nothing but a plain old metal toolbox. But inside there was still magic. Lead balls of every caliber. An entire leather bag full of flints. Dad's magic screwdriver (the one only used for tightening flint lock screws). 5 different flint knappers.

And about 15 different Lyman roundball molds. All a bit rusty, but appear servicable. Guess I really gotta think about casting my own balls now.

One thing I wonder about: Buried in the bottom of the case was about 6 cans of Goex in various granulations. This stuff has to be at least 15 years old. Heck, the price tag says "$6.50" per can! Should I try using this, or just have fun on the 4th of July with it?

What a wonderful, meaningful find...a special insight to another person's life and viewpoints.

If you have a 'case tumber' filled with case cleaning media normally used to clean and polish brass for reloading, it might clean up those moulds too

 

[Tahquamenon]

Filmore,
Thanks so much for sharing.

You can surely shoot the Goex if the lids are tight.

What a wonderful gift to have your father's equipment box!

Your story made my day!

:hatsoff:

 

[flm_shooter]

THE BELT

We had one of those too. I never remember it being used, ever. Not once. But the promise was there.

Oh, I also got 2 hides from deer that Dad shot.

To all of you with ungrateful children, (I've said this before)have patience. We'll eventually learn how good you were to us.