G'day All!
Some of you may recall I shot my new-to-me muzzleloader for the first time a few weeks back. That was my first and only experience with shooting a muzzleloader or black powder until today. Due to not being organised enough, and not knowing enough, I only had sixteen or so roundballs that were kindly sent to me with the rifle. They went pretty quickly that first afternoon.
Anyway, I live in a remote Aboriginal community, and it can be hard to get hold of some things. About four weeks back I put in an order with Track of the Wolf, for a few odds-and-ends including patches and roundballs. Each Tuesday, when the mail plane comes, I have been waiting with excitement only to have my hopes dashed. And it was the same again today. The parcel got to Sydney over three weeks ago, and hasn't made it here yet. I'm not sure who to ask about it. It isn't TotW's fault, as they sent it just fine. And Australia Post are impossible to get in contact with. I'll try anyway.
But today's disappointment evaporated in an instant when I realised there was a package from a forum member here, a bloke from Queensland! He had kindly offered to send me some roundballs to try, and I was overwhelmed and delighted to open the package to see a variety of .530" soft and hard, and .535" soft and hard. It meant that I could shoot my rifle again, and that's what I did!
After work, Meg and I grabbed the CVA Mountain Rifle and her .22, as well as some camembert cheese and crackers (unfortunately no wine allowed where I live), and in the process of trying to remember all the odds-and-ends necessary and loading the ute, I locked us out of the house. Luckily my mate Mick had a spare key. I walked over to his joint, and soon had the problem sorted.
We drove to the river and arrived on evening. A small herd of buffalo was feeding nearby. I am not yet ready to hunt (soon, though!) and needed more practice, this time without Mick's experienced eye on me. I had a few shots, and although a little high at eighty metres, I'm pretty happy (the sun was going down, and I couldn't see the foresight well). I was using 100 grains of Alliant Black MZ, and shooting the .535" hard roundballs kindly sent me. First I shot a folded newspaper at about thirty-five metres, and did alright, and then I shot a tree at about eighty, and shot a little high. My patches had holes burned in them - they are just cleaning patches for my .375H&H.
Meg did really well shooting her .22, too. She's learning fast.
When I got back and told Mick how the patches had burned-out, he told me I'd messed-up by diluting the special brew his Old Man uses for lube and cleaning. You only dilute it for the cleaning! I won't forget that lesson!
Anyway, I'm very grateful to Owen (the kind member here) who sent me those roundballs and got me back in the game!
Hopefully I have a hunt report to share in the next few days or week or so.
Kind regards,
Ben
Some of you may recall I shot my new-to-me muzzleloader for the first time a few weeks back. That was my first and only experience with shooting a muzzleloader or black powder until today. Due to not being organised enough, and not knowing enough, I only had sixteen or so roundballs that were kindly sent to me with the rifle. They went pretty quickly that first afternoon.
Anyway, I live in a remote Aboriginal community, and it can be hard to get hold of some things. About four weeks back I put in an order with Track of the Wolf, for a few odds-and-ends including patches and roundballs. Each Tuesday, when the mail plane comes, I have been waiting with excitement only to have my hopes dashed. And it was the same again today. The parcel got to Sydney over three weeks ago, and hasn't made it here yet. I'm not sure who to ask about it. It isn't TotW's fault, as they sent it just fine. And Australia Post are impossible to get in contact with. I'll try anyway.
But today's disappointment evaporated in an instant when I realised there was a package from a forum member here, a bloke from Queensland! He had kindly offered to send me some roundballs to try, and I was overwhelmed and delighted to open the package to see a variety of .530" soft and hard, and .535" soft and hard. It meant that I could shoot my rifle again, and that's what I did!
After work, Meg and I grabbed the CVA Mountain Rifle and her .22, as well as some camembert cheese and crackers (unfortunately no wine allowed where I live), and in the process of trying to remember all the odds-and-ends necessary and loading the ute, I locked us out of the house. Luckily my mate Mick had a spare key. I walked over to his joint, and soon had the problem sorted.
We drove to the river and arrived on evening. A small herd of buffalo was feeding nearby. I am not yet ready to hunt (soon, though!) and needed more practice, this time without Mick's experienced eye on me. I had a few shots, and although a little high at eighty metres, I'm pretty happy (the sun was going down, and I couldn't see the foresight well). I was using 100 grains of Alliant Black MZ, and shooting the .535" hard roundballs kindly sent me. First I shot a folded newspaper at about thirty-five metres, and did alright, and then I shot a tree at about eighty, and shot a little high. My patches had holes burned in them - they are just cleaning patches for my .375H&H.
Meg did really well shooting her .22, too. She's learning fast.
When I got back and told Mick how the patches had burned-out, he told me I'd messed-up by diluting the special brew his Old Man uses for lube and cleaning. You only dilute it for the cleaning! I won't forget that lesson!
Anyway, I'm very grateful to Owen (the kind member here) who sent me those roundballs and got me back in the game!
Hopefully I have a hunt report to share in the next few days or week or so.
Kind regards,
Ben
