Brown Bess Ready for Action

[shaman]

The KY Early Muzzleloader Season is this Saturday. I had to finally stop playing with my Brown Bess and make some hard decisions. I'd been messing with ball size, patch, and lube every trip out to camp since I ended my Chemo treatments. None of what I'm doing is particularly Period-correct, but I'm not all that worried about that at this point. I just want something that goes Bang and scares the deer.

In regards to the load, I settled on a .69 cal ball in a paper patch made of cooking parchment. What I did was simulate a paper cartridge and just lopped off the top inch or so. I dip the ball and parchment in a 50-50 mixture of beeswax and lard. This holds the whole arrangement as well as tying with string, and it is far less greasy than using Crisco. It also uniformly fills the gap between ball and barrel. I'm using pre-measured charges of 3F Scheutzen in vials. 90 grains put me on the target at 50 yards, and kept me on a pie plate. I will prime from a small brass flask.

I have a really nice leather possibles bag and horn combination that I'd been fixing to use. However, when it came time to pack all the essentials, it was just a hair too small, and the pre-measured charges negated the need for a horn. That's okay. I'll just use the bag I normally use for deer season and keep working on the problem.

The Chemo left me with peripheral neuropathy. I can't feel my feet. That makes still-hunting out of the question. I'll hunt out of a stand. I had a trip to the oncologist this week, and he gave me a clean bill, so at least the Chemo did its thing. That's a fair trade. I practiced going up and down ladders in the meanwhile.

Thanks all for your help and kind wishes over the past 6 months.

 

[PathfinderNC]

Best wishes for an enjoyable hunt! If you are like me, much of the pleasure in hunting is just sitting alone or tracking quietly in the deep woods. It’s so peaceful there…
Hopefully you may bag a deer as well- icing on the cake

 

[Britsmoothy]

Good for you brother

 

[Soliderity]

That's great, have fun !

 

[barracudadave67]

Thats good news.
Waiting to see the results of your Bess charge
ALL the best
Dave

 

[hanshi]

It sure sounds like you're on the mend so stay positive. I always took a stand overlooking deer trails; I can't/couldn't still hunt since I fall too easily. But then I did stop (forced to give it up) hunting around 6 years ago.

 

[Master Blaster]

Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes.

 

[Outwater]

I do not see a reason (in the future) to make cartridges just to hold the ball. Instead of vials of remeasured powder, make real cartridges with ball and powder... You do not need to grease them. Regular copy paper works very well.

 

[Ballshooter]

Good luck on your hunt and have fun that's what it is all about. I just love getting out in the woods.

 

[shaman]

I do not see a reason (in the future) to make cartridges just to hold the ball. Instead of vials of remeasured powder, make real cartridges with ball and powder... You do not need to grease them. Regular copy paper works very well.

A .69 cal ball needs something to hold it in a .75" barrel. I found paper did as good a job as any.
The grease/wax is there partly to lubricate and partly to hold it together. I've got neuropathy in my hands and feet. Tying string is a bit beyond my capacities for the time being. Ditto for pouring powder out of a paper cartridge. Eventually, once I get feeling back, I'll be able to do a real paper cartridge. I was having good luck with them back in March before the Chemo started.

 

[FlinterNick]

My personal best results are with a waxed paper cartridge and a .7135 ball. I use a mixture of bees wax and melted Rosen crystals and a small out of cooking oil in a tin (brewers pitch basically).

 

[shaman]

The short of it is that the Chemo kicked my butt yesterday, but I still made it into the stand with the Brown Bess.

Early Muzzleloader -- After Action Report

I'm still a bit rubbery-legged, so I decided to stay in Camp this AM. The 'Bess performed fine for having not been fired.

 

[Rifleman1776]

The short of it is that the Chemo kicked my butt yesterday, but I still made it into the stand with the Brown Bess.

Early Muzzleloader -- After Action Report

I'm still a bit rubbery-legged, so I decided to stay in Camp this AM. The 'Bess performed fine for having not been fired.

I have health issues also that keep me from hunting. I empathize. I never hunted deer with my BB because I never developed the proper hold to put the shots where I wanted. I loaded with a prb like a rifle but my groups would be one place one day and another the next. Good luck. If you do murder Bambi, pics required.

 

[shaman]

Funny, now that you mention it, I shot zero pics this weekend. My apologies. I was struggling most of the time to just stay up. Oh well.

 

[OldSmoky1967]

The KY Early Muzzleloader Season is this Saturday. I had to finally stop playing with my Brown Bess and make some hard decisions. I'd been messing with ball size, patch, and lube every trip out to camp since I ended my Chemo treatments. None of what I'm doing is particularly Period-correct, but I'm not all that worried about that at this point. I just want something that goes Bang and scares the deer.

In regards to the load, I settled on a .69 cal ball in a paper patch made of cooking parchment. What I did was simulate a paper cartridge and just lopped off the top inch or so. I dip the ball and parchment in a 50-50 mixture of beeswax and lard. This holds the whole arrangement as well as tying with string, and it is far less greasy than using Crisco. It also uniformly fills the gap between ball and barrel. I'm using pre-measured charges of 3F Scheutzen in vials. 90 grains put me on the target at 50 yards, and kept me on a pie plate. I will prime from a small brass flask.

I have a really nice leather possibles bag and horn combination that I'd been fixing to use. However, when it came time to pack all the essentials, it was just a hair too small, and the pre-measured charges negated the need for a horn. That's okay. I'll just use the bag I normally use for deer season and keep working on the problem.

The Chemo left me with peripheral neuropathy. I can't feel my feet. That makes still-hunting out of the question. I'll hunt out of a stand. I had a trip to the oncologist this week, and he gave me a clean bill, so at least the Chemo did its thing. That's a fair trade. I practiced going up and down ladders in the meanwhile.

Thanks all for your help and kind wishes over the past 6 months.

I am inspired by your tenacity. Glad you are still able to do what you love to do. Keep at it!

 

[RicM]

Sometimes doing something you love is the best medicine of all. Enjoy every moment when out with your BB. Wishing you all the best, so get out there and enjoy what you love to do!!

 

[2 shots]

hope the chemo finds and kills what it is hunting, you too

 

[WALT53]

The KY Early Muzzleloader Season is this Saturday. I had to finally stop playing with my Brown Bess and make some hard decisions. I'd been messing with ball size, patch, and lube every trip out to camp since I ended my Chemo treatments. None of what I'm doing is particularly Period-correct, but I'm not all that worried about that at this point. I just want something that goes Bang and scares the deer.

In regards to the load, I settled on a .69 cal ball in a paper patch made of cooking parchment. What I did was simulate a paper cartridge and just lopped off the top inch or so. I dip the ball and parchment in a 50-50 mixture of beeswax and lard. This holds the whole arrangement as well as tying with string, and it is far less greasy than using Crisco. It also uniformly fills the gap between ball and barrel. I'm using pre-measured charges of 3F Scheutzen in vials. 90 grains put me on the target at 50 yards, and kept me on a pie plate. I will prime from a small brass flask.

I have a really nice leather possibles bag and horn combination that I'd been fixing to use. However, when it came time to pack all the essentials, it was just a hair too small, and the pre-measured charges negated the need for a horn. That's okay. I'll just use the bag I normally use for deer season and keep working on the problem.

The Chemo left me with peripheral neuropathy. I can't feel my feet. That makes still-hunting out of the question. I'll hunt out of a stand. I had a trip to the oncologist this week, and he gave me a clean bill, so at least the Chemo did its thing. That's a fair trade. I practiced going up and down ladders in the meanwhile.

Thanks all for your help and kind wishes over the past 6 months.

One day at time ,and hope your having fun with your Bess. walt