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Well Stumpkiller, confession is good for the soul. :applause: I do exactly the same, except that I assume it's always going to rain.
best method to load powder
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Well Stumpkiller, confession is good for the soul. :applause: I do exactly the same, except that I assume it's always going to rain.
ResearchPress
45 Cal.
Neither will you see glass bedded firearms, modern shooting jackets or slings used on long range match rifles but they are used by muzzle loaders today. Some don't like underhammers and will seek to dateline events such that they can't be used. Above you will see advice not to pour powder direct from a flask to the barrel - our ancestors were not as risk averse as we are today.Tman said:
'Traditional' appears to be somewhat of a moving feast and mean different things to different people.
With regards to premeasured/weighed charges this was certainly a practice used in Great Britain by the 19th century long range match rifle shooters. Range bags/boxes survive with sets of glass bottles to hold the individual charges. Replacing a fragile glass bottle with something more robust seems a sensible solution to me.
David
Tman said:
New members need to recognize that every time we shoot our guns, it's not necessarily a "reenactment" or "living history" event.
Sometimes, we shoot our muzzleloaders wearing our regular clothes too. It's really okay - no harm will come from it. :wink:
paulvallandigham
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We are not fighting Indians, or fight in a war when we shoot MLers today. Because of that fact, SAFETY is the primary concern. Back in the day, if someone blew up his gun and was badly injured or killed, well, that was the breaks. It happened. People died from all kinds of things, including exploding gun barrels. In a war, or fight with Hostile Indians bent on killing him anyway, death was accepted, and the loss mourned. Accidental deaths were just part of the deal.
If you insist on being period correct, then make your vials out of wood, or bamboo( a grass). Both are historically accurate ways of carrying individual powder charges. You can wear period costumes, but don't expect anyone to be checking to see if you are wearing underwear or not. We really don't care, thank you! We don't expect you to walk 3 days to get from your home to the range, or come on horseback. You can, of course, but we can look the other way if you come in a car or truck! And, we won't laugh at you because you are using a steel barrel rather than a hand forged iron barrel on your rifle, either.Nothing we can do in the 21st century is going to ever EXACTLY replicate the experiences of living, hunting, and shooting, in the 18th or 19th centuries, or earlier. It can't be done. And if those folks who lived back then could come back to life now, they would not live that way again, EITHER!
So, please just be SAFE- First, last and always. This is a sport, and nothing more. I started out many years ago trying to acquire correct equipment. I was given some bad advice, unknowingly, because a lot has been learned since. I am sure that more information will come to light about what was " Correct " at the time in our future. But I did what I could with what was commonly know back in the 1970s. I made much of my own gear, to add authenticity. I learned to camp with less and less modern stuff and gear. I learned to cook over an open fire. I learned how to bathe, and shave in cold water! My percussion rifle was replaced with a flintlock. I had the DISEASE! I still do.
But, I used plastic cut-down, cigar tubes to carry individual powder charges into the field when I was deer hunting, or hunting Wild Boar. They were what I had available at the time, and they worked well. Someday I will get around to wooden tubes, I guess, with cork stoppers, or wood stoppers, but don't hold your breathe. Those plastic tubes still do the job for me. The best part about them is that I can carry them in a inside shirt pocket, and don't have to worry that my own sweat will foul the powder. That lets me leave my hunting bag at home, or in the car.
If you insist on being period correct, then make your vials out of wood, or bamboo( a grass). Both are historically accurate ways of carrying individual powder charges. You can wear period costumes, but don't expect anyone to be checking to see if you are wearing underwear or not. We really don't care, thank you! We don't expect you to walk 3 days to get from your home to the range, or come on horseback. You can, of course, but we can look the other way if you come in a car or truck! And, we won't laugh at you because you are using a steel barrel rather than a hand forged iron barrel on your rifle, either.Nothing we can do in the 21st century is going to ever EXACTLY replicate the experiences of living, hunting, and shooting, in the 18th or 19th centuries, or earlier. It can't be done. And if those folks who lived back then could come back to life now, they would not live that way again, EITHER!
So, please just be SAFE- First, last and always. This is a sport, and nothing more. I started out many years ago trying to acquire correct equipment. I was given some bad advice, unknowingly, because a lot has been learned since. I am sure that more information will come to light about what was " Correct " at the time in our future. But I did what I could with what was commonly know back in the 1970s. I made much of my own gear, to add authenticity. I learned to camp with less and less modern stuff and gear. I learned to cook over an open fire. I learned how to bathe, and shave in cold water! My percussion rifle was replaced with a flintlock. I had the DISEASE! I still do.
But, I used plastic cut-down, cigar tubes to carry individual powder charges into the field when I was deer hunting, or hunting Wild Boar. They were what I had available at the time, and they worked well. Someday I will get around to wooden tubes, I guess, with cork stoppers, or wood stoppers, but don't hold your breathe. Those plastic tubes still do the job for me. The best part about them is that I can carry them in a inside shirt pocket, and don't have to worry that my own sweat will foul the powder. That lets me leave my hunting bag at home, or in the car.
Yeah, the term traditional is a sliding scale...sometimes it starts at the range one day with your .22 rifle and seeing somebody touch off a flintlock...and this usually begins the journey with a proclamation like: ohmygodwhatwasthat ...and begins a journey which progresses over the years, different folks stopping at different plateaus, or continuing right on until the 100% purist level is reached.
Factors that enter into these degrees of 'traditional' at any point in time are things like the age at which someone starts into it, degree of interest in it, amount of time to devote to it, amount of money to devote to it, people and places to learn from, places to shoot, etc, etc, etc. And note that even at the 100% purist level that doesn't mean an individual makes his own black powder, etc.
So terminology is a relative thing and we have to remember not to confuse "purist" with traditional...and that people are taking that traditional journey based on factors above and are always at different stages of travel at any given point in time.
Me? I use traditional oriented MLs, not modern MLs...and I love having learned to shoot and hunt with Flintlock rifles and smoothbores...but I'll always be wearing my gore-tex boots and thinsulate hunting clothes :grin:
Factors that enter into these degrees of 'traditional' at any point in time are things like the age at which someone starts into it, degree of interest in it, amount of time to devote to it, amount of money to devote to it, people and places to learn from, places to shoot, etc, etc, etc. And note that even at the 100% purist level that doesn't mean an individual makes his own black powder, etc.
So terminology is a relative thing and we have to remember not to confuse "purist" with traditional...and that people are taking that traditional journey based on factors above and are always at different stages of travel at any given point in time.
Me? I use traditional oriented MLs, not modern MLs...and I love having learned to shoot and hunt with Flintlock rifles and smoothbores...but I'll always be wearing my gore-tex boots and thinsulate hunting clothes :grin:
"....."Keeping Tradition Alive"?'
The word has become pretty twisted and downgraded to where it does not mean much any more. there is probably not even much use in using it anymore I suspect, as there is always some distant connection that can be argued into the realm of its meaning if we squint hard and very liberaly view the facts.
The word has become pretty twisted and downgraded to where it does not mean much any more. there is probably not even much use in using it anymore I suspect, as there is always some distant connection that can be argued into the realm of its meaning if we squint hard and very liberaly view the facts.
When I hunt during our muzzleloading season I go fairly authentic and with flint (save the boots - I am addicted to modern footware). The plastic tubes I use in my muzzleloader gear that I only carry during the regular gun season when I opt for a percussion rifle. On nice days I carry a flinter in the regular season, too. I keep enough traditions alive when I set my mind to it that I don't feel much guilt bringing some modern implements along occasionally.
You set the bar for yourself wherever and whenever you please. If someone throws the word "period" out for a hunt invite then it's a different game. When I get a chance to sneak out of work early and grab a rifle and kit for an hour or two out in the back lot pestering deer I'm pretty likely wearing pants with a zipper and the same modern style prescription glasses I had on at my desk earlier. Switching gears can take too much valuable time.
You've got to pick your battles.
You set the bar for yourself wherever and whenever you please. If someone throws the word "period" out for a hunt invite then it's a different game. When I get a chance to sneak out of work early and grab a rifle and kit for an hour or two out in the back lot pestering deer I'm pretty likely wearing pants with a zipper and the same modern style prescription glasses I had on at my desk earlier. Switching gears can take too much valuable time.
You've got to pick your battles.
Claude said:
Yup, I understand. I also play in the circles of traditional Hot Rods but I happen to make some concessions there as well.
I should have used a smilie or two, my reply was more tongue in cheek with the intended chuckle.
And the local club I just joined does shoot in street clothes, modern ones. Which surprised me when I asked ahead about it. Now that I have been there, I think I will start wearing my 18th century gear more to the shoots, sash and weskit have so many places to tuck gear and implements I feel they are an extention of the bag (note on another thread I am building a modern range box as well so I contradict myself a tad anyway :redface:
