Kadooty, and such like items

[JiminTexas]

Please bear with a newbie here. There is a thread in another forum on this web site that got me to wondering. The thread had to do with someone looking for a spring loaded device for putting the exact same pressure on a shot/powder charge. It sems to me that this would work perfectly on the first shot, but what about the second, third or tenth? Wouldn't barrel fouling give you a false indication of when the proper pressure has been achieved?

 

[jtmattison]

I believe it would. You would have to clean the bore after every shot. IMO such gadgets aren't needed. You'll get the feel for loading your rifle and you should be able to maintain consistency without the help of gadgets.

HD

 

[sparsons]

HD is right, you will get the feel of your rifle and not need those devices. I would add if you have not marked your ramrod yet you should do so. By marking it you will know by dropping it down the barrel if its loaded. Trust me there will come a time when you will ask yourself did I load this or not. The mark will tell you and save you time and frustration. You will know by the mark if you forgot the powder (you will), we all have. Key thing is while you load try and keep your mind on one thing loading. Forget talking to the people around you till you are done--saves time and frustration of having to pull a ball because you didn't add powder. Been there and done that and its no fun. Happy shooting

 

[boar]

They was for sale in older muzzleloader magazines. When you loaded you gun this was put on end of your ramrod, when you hit the powder you pushed till you had the right compression you wanted, say like 5-8-10 ozs,just guessing at these numbers. This way you could make it the same every time. Their were made of brass I think. They never caught on too good as I remember. Dilly

 

[reddogge]

No wonder. They're ridiculous and are a gadget designed to part the newbie shooters from their money.

 

[2172]

Had a demonstration of one at the Charlotte NC NRA convention...impressive demonstration. I did not buy one. A year or so later, I won a used won in a raffle.....I tried it once...saw no value in it...it is still in its box somewhere...maybe I'll donate it to the club for the next raffle...I agree that one quickly learns the feel of what's right in loading...Hank

 

[silverfox]

jimintex Just look on ebay to see what one looks like. But like everybody said you don't really need one thats why they aren't seen very often. I think they call it accurashot.
Fox :hatsoff:

 

[Many Klatch]

If you are looking to compress your powder you can try this trick. After I push the ball down the bore, I bounce my ramrod off the ball. This can mean throwing the rod down the barrel 5 or 10 times depending on how dirty the gun is. Eventually the powder, patch and ball will compact as much as they are going to and the rod will suddenly bounce right out of the barrel. If you do this everytime, the load will be compressed close to the exact same pressure each time. Do this with a wooden ramrod, I think a brass ramrod would be too heavy.

Many Klatch

 

[shmrck1]

Just another worthless gadget. IMHO
snake-eyes :hmm:

 

[paulvallandigham]

And in following Manny's advice, you will distort the heck out of your round ball, and do it differently with each shot. So much for shooting accuracy. If you cast your round balls, sort them by weight, and by appearance, take the time to load them down the barrel carefully, with the sprue up, why would you want to beat them flat by bounding a ramrod down the barrel on them, until the ramrod will bounce out of the gun?

Now there is a scientic procedure. How long is Manny's barrel? How long is yours? What caliber is yours? how much does your ramrod weigh, and whats it made of?

Instead, develop a good shooting( accurate) load off the bench, and if you are shooting a percussion rifle, it will shoot better if the powder is compressed. Use FFFg powder as it compresses much better than FFg. Use a chronograph to determine what pressure produces the most consistent velocities. Then mark your ramrod, and range rod to indicate when you have that compressed load each time, and "load to the mark".

Clean your barrel between shots, so that crud doesn't change the volume of your powder chamber so that you need more pressure to bring the load to the mark than when its clean. That will ruin your groups.

Manny has a lot of good advice, but IMHO, bouncing ramrods on pure lead balls isn't one of them.

Paul

 

[renovato]

I've heard of competition shooters using scales and such to gauge their loading pressure. This is done with a clean bore. A little trick I picked up along the way that made a big difference in my own accuracy is not to thwap the rod to compress the charge, but to press. Instead of thumping the rod, press down on it with 25 lbs or so of force. You'll soon develop a feel for it and can do it quite consistently, even with a bit of fouling in the barrel. I'm not a competition level shooter by any means, but this method shrunk my groups a lot.

 

[Runner]

You would need to make sure your balls were close to the same weight. You would need to run a wet patch on both sides and a dry patch on both sides using something that has alcohol so it will dry well. You would need a false muzzle with the rifling bored out to start the ball into before it hit the rifling. That holds your starter square with the barrel so the ball starts centered on the rifling every time the same way. You would need to develope a system where you are getting consistant velocities before using the a tool to check compression. If you do the others first, the Kadooty or whatever it is called has a chance of helping a small amount. For the field, I bounce. On the line at a shoot, I load by attempting to use the same amount of force each shot. Been a long time since I could blame the gun for any of my misses.
I have a hunting nipple that gets used just for hunting. It is a hotshot. For target work I use a standard nipple and a regular non-magnum cap.

Loading and shooting is too complex a knot for one thing to make large improvements in a gun that has had an accuracy load already worked up.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Be suspicious of anything used in muzzleloading that is patented or has the words "New", "Revoultionary", or "Extreme" on the box. Everything necessary for muzzleloading has been around more than 150 years, most of it even longer.

Just because it is available does not mean it is an improvement or even necessary. Certainly there are modern conveniences, but the less you carry in your pouch the less there is to lose, break or become reilant on.

If you don't carry it while hunting, you probably shouldn't carry it target shooting. :winking:

 

[renovato]

Very sound advice, Stumpy, especially about the new gimmicks.