Firing 777 through a Pedersoli CS Richmond and getting decent results......

[Stantheman86]

So basically, I decided to make use of a bunch of stuff I've had laying around for , in some cases over 10 years...

An old metal-lid jar of 777 I bought back when it was 18.99 a pound so about 2008ish, maybe.

A MagSpark adapter threaded for 8-1 to fit Italian repro military rifles , and I had most of a 1000 pack of 209 Primers in a box in my garage. Save some musket caps and Holy Black , and use this stuff I found to go blow some rounds off....

I bought 100 CapPlugs 3 or 4 years ago, they're handy . I did a "grab and go" to the range and didn't roll any paper cartridges. These are easy to use and convenient , thanks to our Skirmishing friends who discovered this.

60 grains of 777 3F and .577 Minies.

50 yard target from standing .

It got dark out so I didn't go down to take a pic of my 100 yard target but it was probably about a 4" group once I got the sight hold down.

It's not HC, but the MagSpark seals the nipple and there's no blow back or gas coming out. Ignition is as fast as an "unmentionable ". I usually prefer Holy Black , musket caps and paper cartridges with my lubed and sized Minies but I bought this stuff a while back and it's better to be out shooting than not

I'd bet if I had time, daylight and a day when it wasn't a Real Feel of 15 degrees this rifle and these components would have real accuracy potential. Maybe I'll try to shoot some steel with it tomorrow

 

[TDM]

Might as well use it as just letting it sit on a shelf I guess. Then again.....

 

[Stantheman86]

Might as well use it as just letting it sit on a shelf I guess. Then again.....

Ammo is Ammo

I'm like 900 209 Primers and 2 cans of 777 is a lot of paper punching and steel ringing without dipping into my Black or Rio musket caps

Minie Balls I can always get so I'm not as worried about using those

 

[TDM]

You are absolutely correct.

 

[LECook]

What lube for the minie balls do you find works well with 777.

Thanks

 

[Stantheman86]

I have some brewing right now

I just use SPG and Pure Beeswax in roughly a 50/50 ratio

Today I was lazy and I just used SPG smeared on the Minies with my finger

I still had the "777 crud ring " but I just seated the Minies past it , no problem

 

[Stantheman86]

Apparently the MagSpark is a copy of a Shotgun Primer nipple adapter from the 1860s, so maybe more HC than I thought

 

[LECook]

Thanks Stan. I have both on hand and will give it a try.

 

[Greg_E]

Think I need to get one of those 209 adapters, I seem to be able to find those more often than #11.

 

[dave951]

SPG is formulated for BP cartridge ammo. Minies will benefit from something more along the line of beeswax/lard,tallow,Crisco etc.

 

[Stantheman86]

Think I need to get one of those 209 adapters, I seem to be able to find those more often than #11.

I took this rifle out again today , the 209 adapter isn't as fast or easy as a nipple but it's a way to shoot without using up harder to find components

I can see the value in them for hunting , and lighting off subs ,but for $30 it's worth it if you have easy access to 209 primers just for plinking

I just went shooting 2 days in a row, I fired about 70 rounds between two days and used 0 real BP or any caps just to get outside, enjoy a day at the range and shoot steel swingers and paper. I have to take some time off from being a "purist" once in a while

 

[Stantheman86]

Thanks Stan. I have both on hand and will give it a try.

I fired about 20 Minies today "dry" with no lube, with the FFFG Triple 7 and had no problems loading . And the unlubed Minies seemed more accurate. I wonder if the slightly undersize Minie and 777 even requires lube.

 

[TDM]

Great, but you're destroying all my preconceived beliefs!

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

I never had much reliability with 777 and traditional side-hammer guns, but apparently it IS at least possible.

 

[Greg_E]

I took this rifle out again today , the 209 adapter isn't as fast or easy as a nipple but it's a way to shoot without using up harder to find components

I can see the value in them for hunting , and lighting off subs ,but for $30 it's worth it if you have easy access to 209 primers just for plinking

I just went shooting 2 days in a row, I fired about 70 rounds between two days and used 0 real BP or any caps just to get outside, enjoy a day at the range and shoot steel swingers and paper. I have to take some time off from being a "purist" once in a while

I can always break out a 25, 357, or 50 cal airgun and send ammo down range. At 50 to 100 yards I'd trust the 50 to bring down a deer, the 357 is a last choice maybe at 50 yards, the energy falls off to below what I think even hints at ethical. Need to get the 50 sighted in again and do more testing to see how fast the energy drops off to determine my comfort factor.

 

[Stantheman86]

I never had much reliability with 777 and traditional side-hammer guns, but apparently it IS at least possible.

What is old is new again.....777 is very similar to some of the "semi-smokeless" powders that were developed in the 1870s-1890s for cartridges, the hunt for a less corrosive, less fouling , sulfur free and more energetic powder began a long time ago.

And there were all kinds of oddball primer adapters as early as the 1830's with those weird Egg Primers, then the pellet primer on the Sharps, the Maynard tape primer, Austrian tube primers, etc. etc

The MagSpark itself is just a tweaked version of a 150 year old patent.

If someone made a 209 Adapter for side locks that was hinged , or more self contained they'd be on to something but once you get used to it , the MagSpark isn't that slow. I have an inline capper that has a built in tool to remove spent 209 primers , very handy

The trajectory on the Minies is weird, I don't know if it's the 777 combined with the "sealing" effect of the adapter but the Pedersoli Richmond hits at 25, 50 and 100 with the same sight picture. I was hitting an 8"x8" steel swinger consistently at 100 with the same sight picture that hits to POA at 50.

After having not messed with 777 for a long time, I do know that cleanup was way easy. Now, I'm not about to turn my back on the Holy Black and I did shoot a percussion revolver today with Old Eynsford to hear and smell the real stuff today, but it was nice to have totally clean patches by the 3rd pass and the bore and breech are shiny clean.

It's like I've put a rip in the muzzleloading time-space continuum by using new technology on old technology with weird semi-smokeless powder that's new but also old, using primer adapters sold as "new" that are rip offs of an 1867 patent device using unlubed Minies after being trained my whole adult life that Minies must be lubed.........Who knows. Think Less and Shoot More, life is short

 

[TDM]

I admire your spunk!

 

[Stantheman86]

I admire your spunk!

I have a very active imagination

 

[LECook]

Wow. Shooting unlubed minies just blows my mind. What made you try it?

 

[Stantheman86]

Wow. Shooting unlubed minies just blows my mind. What made you try it?

I hot dipped the Minies after I sized them , leaving the lube kind of globbed on, not neatly in the grooves.....and on the first few loadings, getting tired of thumb starting them I just peeled the lube off and ran them dry

After several dry Minies they still loaded easy and I was pinging the steel at 100 , it seems more consistently. 777 might not play well with my beeswax/SPG blend.

I haven't tried the 2f 777 yet but I have 2 cans of it. The 3f 777 I'm using up burns really clean and it might be that the dry Minies blow enough of the fouling out to keep the bore clean.