Hey, Teleoceras...

[SquirrelsaurusR]

You mentioned you have a new .75 in the works (I have one on the way also). Exactly what type of gun is it, and who's building it for you?

 

[Teleoceras]

Squirrelsaurus Rex:

You mentioned you have a new .75 in the works (I have one on the way also). Exactly what type of gun is it, and who's building it for you?

Eric Kettenburg is the builder. You can catch a picture and info of the gun at the bottom of my page at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Vault/1945/Guns/Mgonne.htm.

He told me that the completion should be in the late spring of this year.

 

[SquirrelsaurusR]

Looks pretty cool. That's another one to add to my wish list. I think the handgonne (with serpentine and .56 octagon barrel) by John Buck is next on my list, though. Ron Curley at Albion Small Arms in England is building the one I'm waiting on at the moment, should be ready I think around August or so.

Check it out here: Matchlock musket

It's the 'Tower musket'. It will have a 48" barrel. That lock is 9" long. It'll be the biggest gun in my collection. Ron tells me with a patched .735 ball, it's proofed for a maximum charge of 120 grains 2F. That'll make for a fun day at the range. ::

 

[Teleoceras]

Squirrelsarus Rex:

Looks pretty cool. That's another one to add to my wish list. I think the handgonne (with serpentine and .56 octagon barrel) by John Buck is next on my list, though. Ron Curley at Albion Small Arms in England is building the one I'm waiting on at the moment, should be ready I think around August or so.

Check it out here: Matchlock musket

It's the 'Tower musket'. It will have a 48" barrel. That lock is 9" long. It'll be the biggest gun in my collection. Ron tells me with a patched .735 ball, it's proofed for a maximum charge of 120 grains 2F. That'll make for a fun day at the range. ::

That is a pretty hefty charge! :shocking:

One nice thing about those fanfail butts is that they are very good in lessening the recoil on your shoulder.

If you you can get some, you might want to try Fg powder for that big baby of yours. I use Fg for all of my muskets that are .72+. I like to use Swiss 1 1/2Fg with my .58 Wheellock and my .577 Enfield.

I use FFg for the short barrels and\or smaller calibers.

Good luck with your Matchlock! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[SquirrelsaurusR]

That is a pretty hefty charge!

Yeah...I like a big boom! ::

One nice thing about those fantail butts is that they are very good in lessening the recoil on your shoulder.

If it don't hurt, you're doin' it wrong! ::

I use Fg for all of my muskets that are .72+...I use FFg for the short barrels and\or smaller calibers.

Okay, maybe you can give me a short ballistics lesson here. I understand pretty well the burning characteristics of 2F and 3F, but I've never used 1F. Can you explain briefly why you arrived at this particular dividing point between 1F and 2F?

As far as Swiss goes, I've never tried it. I know they use different granulations. Is it any better? It's not easy to find around here. I've always been strictly a GOEX man when it comes to my sidelocks. No substitutes, alternatives, or pre-formed chunks of 'powder' for me. Give me GOEX or give me death! ::

 

[Teleoceras]

I use Fg for all of my muskets that are .72+...I use FFg for the short barrels and\or smaller calibers.

Okay, maybe you can give me a short ballistics lesson here. I understand pretty well the burning characteristics of 2F and 3F, but I've never used 1F. Can you explain briefly why you arrived at this particular dividing point between 1F and 2F?

As far as Swiss goes, I've never tried it. I know they use different granulations. Is it any better? It's not easy to find around here. I've always been strictly a GOEX man when it comes to my sidelocks. No substitutes, alternatives, or pre-formed chunks of 'powder' for me. Give me GOEX or give me death! ::

I use Fg due to the lower pressures compared to FFg. The longer burn time of the Fg is well suited for the long barrels.

With a short barreled arm like my .62 Matchlock Arquebus, I use FFg because I want to have a quicker burn. I don't use a heavy charge on a smaller Arquebus compared to the larger Musket anyway so the pressure difference shouldn't be too bad.

As for powder, I have shot GOEX, WANO, Elephant, and Swiss. Swiss is a faster burning powder that is very good when it comes to fouling. Of the other powders, I prefer Elephant, WANO, GOEX in that order. I've had great results with Elephant and was glad I was able to stock up on the powder before it was all gone.

I will miss Elephant powder though.

 

Another short ballistics lesson.
Black powder is a surface burning propellant (actually an explosive) so the smaller the grain the more quickly it will burn.
3fg will burn faster and produce higher pressure because of the faster burn rate than will 1fg.
Some people erroniously believe that 3fg produced less fouling than 2 or 1 fg. Not necessarily so.
Since black powder is an inefficient propellant due to its chemical properties roughly 1/2 of the burned powder remains as solids. We call it fouling.
3fg leaves smaller pieces of fouling than larger grain sizes, not necessarily less fouling.
Swiss powder is a true sporting grade powder.
Black powder is classed as musket grade, rifle grade and sporting grade.
Generally speaking true sporting grade powder is best suited to cartridges and small bore rifles.
Swiss uses very pure sulphur, KNO3 and only charcoal from a certain type of wood.
Black powder is almost always the same intimate mixture (it's NOT a compound) of 75, 15, 10 give or take a % or two, so the difference in powder comes from the purity of the components and the way it's manufactured.
And by the way, Goex has made some really junk powder. Recently, however, the U.S. supplier of KNO3 went belly up so Goex is importing the stuff from S. America and it's a much better grade than the previous KNO3.
I too bought a case of Elephant and am glad I did. It's good stuff, but the Swiss I have is the best.
And further
more...............zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz :snore:

 

[musketman]

Fg is larger grained too, I have used it before, I like the slower burn it produces...

I tried FFFg in my bess and burned through many patches, right now I have a half of can of GOEX Fg and FFg, guess I'll blend them to make 1.5Fg...