Fraged by My Musket

[AFord]

If you're using soft lead, then yes.

Just a thought, is Linotype metal too hard for RB casting?

 

[TGJaeger]

HA! I got you on that one!

I move that hanshi be incarcerated in the forum stockade for a period deemed suitable for the offense. During said incarceration he is to be fed nothing but hardtack, water and stale stories, e.g. "The time I whipped Cornpop!"

All in favor?

 

[Flash Pan Dan]

Thanks for the feed back. I have an Ampco musket nipple on it and the hammer has never blown back. It was a fragment from one of the wings on the cap that got me but there was part of the cap still under the hammer on top of the nipple. These were CCI musket caps. I guess it was just a freak accident. But I'm still looking for some kind of cap guard for it so I don't think about it and develop a flinch. I still fight a flinch I got from an incident when I was a kid, 52 years ago. So, any help you all could lend would be much appreciated.

 

[user 36911]

Just a thought, is Linotype metal too hard for RB casting?

I don't know what lead that is. It would seem pure lead would be too soft to work for type.

 

[jdw276]

never stand on the right side of a flinter when a guy is about to shoot. now that blast out of the priming pan setting off the pan charge will hurt you!! ask me how I know? ben there done that, once!

My rifles you do not stand on the left side either. Put about a dozen holes in a guy's shirt who did not listen to me when i called lefty flinter on the range. He said oops, i heard ya but was not hearing ya.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Linotype is way too hard to use for round balls in a muzzle loading firearm.

 

[oldwood]

Fragged by a # 10 cap??? Was allowed to play in dad's work shop as a kid. The only rule was when he was under a vehicle , I was never to touch the jack handle. Found this little rusty round tin can maybe 2" diameter and 1/2 " thick. Casually asked my Pop what were the tiny corrugated side cup shaped things inside. He said they were a kind of primers for an old time gun we didn't have. Next day after he went to work at the mine , I was back in his shop bound and determined to test these ancient , "Primers" to see if they were still good. Went to the anvil , put one of the tiny cups on the middle and gave it a good smack with Dad's 4 Lb. ball peen. The cap went bang , and entered the skin in my forearm about 1/2 its diameter deep. Dug it out and put copious amounts of iodine on the wound and told no one . Lesson learned........You will be addicted to muzzleloading the rest of your natural life.........oldwood

 

[Woody Morgan]

I don't know what lead that is. It would seem pure lead would be too soft to work for type.

It's what was used to print newspapers with and it's even harder than wheelweight as it had to
last through many printings.

Linotype demo

wm

 

[hanshi]

I move that hanshi be incarcerated in the forum stockade for a period deemed suitable for the offense. During said incarceration he is to be fed nothing but hardtack, water and stale stories, e.g. "The time I whipped Cornpop!"

All in favor?

Hmmm...Do I have a vote? I don't know why, but this suggestion seems to pop up from time to time.

 

[deerstalkert]

my wifey of 51 years carries a primer cup in her left bicep. about 2 inches of penetration. Doc was a old VN hand. he laughed and said to leave it. she never forgot it either. call her my frag nag.

 

[AFord]

Linotype is way too hard to use for round balls in a muzzle loading firearm.

I was thinking about hardness. You answered my question. I have a problem. Guns that are CF and Caplock, & one Flinter. Long as I cast RBs with flashing lead and the rest with WW & LT. Thanks.

 

[deerstalkert]

many molds won't cast a full size ball with pure lead. a 1/40 tin in lead works for filling out the cast.
AFord, even in your unmentionables you can shoot dead soft lead. just keep velocities below 1800fps or so.

 

[Newtire]

I would like to ask a 'dumb' question. I was told to only use 'pure lead' balls in BP Rifles. It has at times been difficult to get lead to cast balls. There have been more than one statement about using wheel weights to cast balls or minie' balls from. Is it OK to use WWs in BP?

You might try getting ahold of an old gasoline Coleman stove ( gasoline burns a lot hotter than propane) and pouring from a big spoon to get enough flow going. I can’t seem to get enough flow out of my Lee bottom pour pots to get a good fill-out without wrinkles and my propane Coleman stove doesn’t get the lead hot enough. Flame on!

 

[Woody Morgan]

Just cast a batch of .490s yesterday. It started out a little iffy because the spout of the bottom pour was plugged with brown dust (bought used). I started with a 1/16th drill bit, got it opened up and finished with a 5/64ths.
After casting a batch I realized I wasn't running hot enuff what with wrinkles and all. When I turned the rheostat up on the bottom pour, it all went very well from then on.
For bulk melting I use a turkey fryer burner and a 3 quart stainless saucepan sourced from a thrift store for a couple bucks. It all gets plenty hot.

wm

 

[coloradoclyde]

So, I took it out today to shoot it and after 12th shot I got a cap fragment to the forehead.

Now you know the importance of wearing eye protection.

When I was a competition shooter I shot so much that I had pretty much a permanent scab on my cheek from repeated cap blast and fragments.

You also might want to replace your nipple, as the flash hole may be eroded causing too much back pressure, contributing to the problem.

 

[Boston Bill]

It's what was used to print newspapers with and it's even harder than wheelweight as it had to
last through many printings.

Linotype demo

wm

That was pretty cool! Thanks for the link!

 

[Crow-Feather]

Howdy All,

It is good to be back on the board. I bought a used Zoli Zouave from a skirmisher. The wood to metal fit is bordering on horrible the front sight is bent to zero but this thing can shoot like I've never seen. With 42 grains of 3F and a Lee .578 460 grain Minnie bullet it shoots cloverleafs at 50 yards, Not kidding it will do it all day long.

The guy I bought it from had the lock and trigger tuned. The trigger is crisp and light. So, I took it out today to shoot it and after 12th shot I got a cap fragment to the forehead. Not painful at all and I started to reload for the next shot but the blood got in my eye and I kinda freak out a couple of guys around me at the range. Glad I was wearing shooting glasses.

Does anyone make one of those brass guards that go around the nipple that will fit a musket nipple?

Drop down to 2f powder. High pressure will cause the hammer to lift and the cap will split and fly. It also sounds as if you are not shooting the civil war Minnie as with that pressure the skirt will blow out and accuracy will be poor.
The "Lyman Black Powder Book and Loading Manual" does not list 3f for any 58 caliber load.

 

[AFord]

many molds won't cast a full size ball with pure lead. a 1/40 tin in lead works for filling out the cast.
AFord, even in your unmentionables you can shoot dead soft lead. just keep velocities below 1800fps or so.

I am learning so much in here. I always thought that pure lead wouldn't work as a bullet as it would 'lead' the barrel, unless it was very low velocity. WWs are great in 'unmentionables' at 800-900 fps loadings and the Linotype mixed in worked in rifles. Excuse me, "unmentionable" rifles.

 

[deerstalkert]

leading is more a fit issue. if a bullet fits correctly it seldom will lead.

 

[AFord]

leading is more a fit issue. if a bullet fits correctly it seldom will lead.

I usually run a .358 SWC and .452 RN with WWs after fluxing to clean. Slightly .001" oversize. So you think that would not lead a bbl at a faster speed?