It was a good idea.....at the time?!

[TexiKan]

.........or "The Good, the Bad, and the Wanna Be's."

I bought a bag of used muzzleloading items and found a tin of some kind of lube that looks a lot like axle grease! Didn't think I would use it, and I never heard of it....but it made me wonder......

Those of us who have been in the hobby for some time may have seen several items come and go through the years. Some good, some inovative, and some just downright questionable!

So, for the sake of conversation.....what are some of your most memorable muzzleloading items that either "sounded good at the time" but proved otherwise, OR what items revolutionized the hobby. (no.....we're not talking about the addition of inline guns!)

The items can be either accessories, guns, camp gear, etc......anything associated with muzzleloading!

I'll start off with the "good"--I like Lehigh Valley Lube. To me, it is a superior product.

The "bad"-- "Tap-o-cap." I didn't have one, but I saw some club members try to use it to make their own caps from Coke cans......
"Elephant Black Powder"--pretty dirty stuff!

The "ugly"--"Poly patches?!!" Those plastic things that replaced a cloth patch? Seems balls tended to fall out of the barrel, etc.

Of course, there has to be more......and some may be regional products. And if there is a "good" regional product, it sure would be nice to know! And some "good" products also went away. For example--Schillinger locks and sights. Likewise, there may be universally accepted "bad" products, too! Anyway, it would be interesting to hear various opinions.

TexiKan

 

[Zonie]

Grand Canyon Powder: An early Black Powder Substitute.
A guy at the shooting range was leaving and gave me two pounds of it one day.
I tried shooting it and after several misfires I finally got off 5 shots. Took it home and left it in my cabinet for a year while it hardened into one big hard lump.

Free Patch Lube: Again at the range, the rangemaster came up to me and handed me a 2 1/2 inch tall container of patch lube. Said someone left it there two weeks ago.
I forgot the name but this stuff was the most foul smelling, sticky, greasy manure I ever tried to use. After using it for two shots, I threw it into the garbage container.

A Spanish 28 guage shotgun I bought new in 1972. After buying some modern 28 guage shells to get the over/under wads and the shot, I loaded it with black powder and fired it twice. Both times so much smoke came out around the breech plug I became afraid to shoot it more. I eventually sold it stressing that "This is a Wall Hanger Only. Don't try to shoot it."

 

[boar]

Texikan What so bad about the Tap-Cap,I just got one it is alright,maybe you had the wrong can. Grandson likes to make them. What about the compression guage they came out with,so you could seat load the same every time.I was going to get one but never did. Dilly

 

[Swampman]

Pyrodex and Triple 7.

 

[trent/OH]

"compression gauge"

I think that's the "Kadooty". I've never seen one in use, but it's definitely got a unique name!

 

[Ashworth]

BAD!!!! Depleated uranium frizzens
sparked great but not healthy.
Alan A :shocked2:

website on DU Frizzens[url] http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/consumer products/dufrizzen.htm[/url]

 

[Halftail]

Hmmmm,Good....Ballistol,Bad....Hmmm....Elephant Powder.....Ugly......Rynite Stocks for a T/C sidelock. :hmm:

 

[fluggies4]

I once won, in a blanket shoot, one of those patch-cutter tools. The one that has the spring-loaded wood ball on a shaft connected to a circular cutterhead. No matter how much pressure is applied, the thing just makes a mess of the patch material. You push down on the knob and rotate it at the same time, but the material snags and frays, and almost never cuts clean. Almost impossible to sharpen too.
Still have it, though. I'll trade it off someday :rotf:

 

[2172]

my earliest was candy-striping my ram-rods...and I bought a used Kadooty at a silent auction...someday it'll go on a flea mkt stall...was very big on artificial sinew and lacing for a long while...I'm sure that there are other things but that's it for now..Hank

 

[CoyoteJoe]

A friend once gave my an aerosol can of Navy Arms Black Powder cleaner. I sprayed it on the breech of a percussion gun and it did absolutly NOTHING! The fouling stayed just as dry and flakey under a coat of that stuff as before. Wiped the stuff off as a still clear liquid! It didn't even get itself dirty! Might have disolved blackpowder but it sure didn't touch the fouling! :grin:

 

[Landngroove]

Good- Hoppe's #9 Plus Black Powder Solvent And Patch Lubricant. Bad- Flush tube, and plastic bottle for cleaning the bore. Ugly- A scope on a traditional percussion, or flintlock muzzleloader.

 

[TexiKan]

Trent and Boar-dilly,

Have seen the Kadooty or whatever at our range. A fellow clubmember used it for a while but hasn't since. It basically seated the ball to the same pressure every time.

As for the Tap-o-Cap--like I said in my first post, a few members had them for a while but ceased using them. Haven't seen one in these here parts for some time. As I recall the comments from those who had them, they said the product was inconsistent and took too much time to make.

Another item that seems to have "lost favor" is the fiberglas ramrod. When those first came out, they were considered a great replacement for the wooden ramrod.......until it was discovered they were abrasive to the barrel.

Does anybody have.....if I recall the name correctly....Kodiak???...one of those double barrel muzzleloaders from the late 70's or early 80's? Heard they were pretty heavy. Again, never saw one at our range.

Oh boy.......some of the submissions being listed are a hoot! :rotf:

TexiKan

 

[RedFeather]

"Hey, I resemble that remark!!!" - Curly, Stooge #3. Are you implying the Kodiak doubles were/are a bad idea? They ain't target guns, no, but if you want a double rifle in the old style, you're about $3,000 under the next cheapest thing. Nicely made, too.

My bids:

Plastic sabots. They work but litter the landscape. Is it that hard to paper patch?

Powder pellets on cards. Now my local stores don't carry loose powder anymore.

RedFeather

 

[TexiKan]

Are you implying the Kodiak doubles were/are a bad idea?

Nope! I heard they were a nicely crafted rifle. However, their weight was a factor that prevented them from becoming popular. Remember my original post......"good idea at the time." For some reason, they didn't "catch on." Kind of like wind flags. Back in the 80's, they were dang popular at most ranges! Haven't seen much of them, anymore. Useful items, but for the most part, they went the way of the "Baby on board" car signs.

I mentioned Schillinger locks and sights. I have a Schillinger long tang Hawken sight on my rifle that I ordered from him back in the 70's. Wonderful craftsmanship! I wish, at the time, I had ordered a lock! And if I recall correctly, he lived in Wichita, KS. Folks have longed wondered what became of his tooling for locks and sights.

Anyway, haven't seen any Kodiaks around, so I was a wonderin'......

TexiKan

 

[ryoung14]

Gotta agree with Swampie, Pyrodex is great stuff :grin: ...on his recommendation I will try Triple 7 next. :thumbsup:

As for you, Halftail, call my Rynite stocked T/Cs ugly will you? :winking: Well it's fine by me if no one wants my four ugly gals, 'cause they sure treat me right. :hatsoff:

As for my contribution: Stainless Steel....as before, the beauty's in the eye of the beholder.
Bob

 

[bpollock_sr]

Years ago I tried a thing called the poly patch.It was supposed to take the place of the cloth patch and be the new and better invention of the day.Realy didn't impress me much as far as being any better than a good cloth patch. It did however add to my knowledge as a shooter,as by using them I learned all about the pleasures of plastic fouling in a rifle barrel.

 

[David Teague]

BAD!!!! Depleated uranium frizzens
sparked great but not healthy.
Alan A :shocked2:

website on DU Frizzens[url] http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/consumer products/dufrizzen.htm[/quote][/url]
manure... I had a poor boy I got it the 80's that was faced in some wonder metal that sparked up a storm... you could darn near use a piece of wood in the cock... Depleated uranium! manure, manure, manure... the guy that traded me that flinter said it was magnesium!... but I recognize that frizzen from the web site... :shake: manure.

I shot that rifle a lot... :shake:

The the Kodiak rifle is the very gun the put the fine magazine "The Buckskin Report" out of business. "The Buckskin Report" did a firearms review that questioned the safety and strength of the Kodiak's breach... and the importer & manufacture sued them in to bankruptcy. :shake:

Sad...

David Teague

 

[brubincam]

if no one wants any now that might make them cheaper,,,,WHAT,,,DID YOU WANT TO LIVE FOREVER?,,,,CAN THEY STILL BE PURCHASED?

 

[David Teague]

It's not that I want to live forever, it's just that I watched a friend die from a cancer he got from inhaling "little bits" of stuff from a summer job back in 1974... He died a drawn out horrible death at 47.

Live forever? No.

Just don't want to check out like my friend... :shake:

Stay far away from those frizzens. :youcrazy:

Pax,

David

 

[brubincam]

IM SORRY ABOUT MY STUPID COMMENT,,,ALSO SORRY ABOUT THE LOSS OF YOUR FRIEND,,,