Kentucky Pistol That I put togther

[KentuckyMan]

Hello Guys,
This is my first Muzzleloader kit finished.

It's the .45cal Kentucky pistol. It has fixed sights, and a 1 in 16' twist 10' barrel.

I'm currently putting together a Hawkins .50cal Rifle. There is to be only two questions about the pistol.

First Question:
One can it shoot anything else other than the ball and patch??? Or I should say has anyone ever shot it with Bull-ets before?? There is this ballet call the Buffalo Bull-et.

I have this Muzzleloader black powder load Manuel. At the back of the book it gives me a lot of Bullets and ball ballistics chart with barrel rate of twist, and also compares different types of black powders for every projectile that is being loaded.

Second Question:
I don't have the right type of black powder for this gun. It's only the FFg. I need a FFFg. Now the Lead Balls is something I want to conform this hunch. I have .451 cal Balls, but I need the .440 cal lead balls. Can I still shoot the .451 balls if their are grease up??
Or are they just useless for this gun??

I'm going to save that box of lead balls for the Ball and Cap kit I'm thinking about ordering in the next few mouths..

Any Links to where I can buy ammo or support this thread would be nice thanks and take care.

 

[tv_racin_fan]

Try whatever style of projectile you want that fits, but there is really nothing better and nothing will be as cheap. The 451 balls are for a cap n ball revolver of 44 caliber, you need 440 or smaller ball and a lubed patch.
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I recently built a 50 cal pistol somewhat like that. I messed up the finish (got the wrong type) and decided to work on it some more and refinish it.

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

As Race Fan said, stick with the .440 ball and patching for that pistol. You'll save yourself a lot of heartache and grief if you try to force the wrong size ball down the barrel, so don't even think about it. You can use the FFG if you want. The finer FFFG powder burns better in the pistol. I would probably start out with maybe a 20 gr charge and go from there. You shouldn't need much more than 25 or 30 gr maximum.
Have fun and be safe. :thumbsup:

 

[KentuckyMan]

Yes I all most mess up this kit as well. I used a finisher/ stainer all in one.
It was all bumpy and had lots of unwanted lines.

so I used steel wool to scrape off the old finish, and re stained this pistol, and finally put on an oil base full gloss finisher.

But thanks for the reply. The point here is that you can use pure lead bullets of the same cal as the gun barrel? huh.. I could never find any information anywhere on the web for that advice. :barf:

thanks again.

 

[DanChamberlain]

Yes, you can use appropriately sized black powder designed bullets, but not modern bullets such as hard cast or jacketed. Sorry if I'm being too simplistic, but your question wasn't in depth enough to determine your black powder knowledge.

The Buffalo "Ballet" should work.

Patched ball will be the most economical and a lubed patch will often allow for softer fouling in the bore after the shot. If you do decide to go with a conical bullet, make sure it has liberal grease grooves and use a black powder style lubricant in the grooves. Seat it directly over the powder charge.

Have fun.

Dan

 

[MSW]

nice looking pistol!

if you try to force a .451 ball down a (nominal) .45 cal barrel, you will get yourself into trouble. Keep the .451 ball for later and get some .440 ball. (take home point- you need to allow for the thickness of the patch; learned this long ago and the hard way :redface: ).

as regards what lube to use in the patch, i'd go with any one of the many lubes described on this site, or, if you're going to shoot soon after loading, you can use spit (but this never worked as well for me - i don't know why). try a few small batches and see what combination of ball, patch thickness and lube the pistol likes best.

as regards the Buffalo Ballet, i've never tried them in a pistol, but the have done well in rifles with a faster twist barrel in the past. again, you'll need to experiment and see what performs best in this particular gun.

good luck with your next build and, until then, make good smoke!

 

[Blizzard of '93]

welcome to the Forum.
as said by others load a .440 rball lube-patched and save some headache.

 

[rafterob]

That pistol is designed to shoot patched round ball, and that will give you the best accuracy and also be the most economical way to shoot. Others have already suggested a good starting load. Is that a Traditions? If so, how did you get a .45?

 

[Rogue River]

Shoot the PRB, they are a lot less expensive than the Ball-et. They don't make the ball-ets anymore and if you can find any they are 18 - 20 dollars per "50" Ball-ets compared to 10 - 12 dollars per "100" .440 balls.

 

[fraungie]

I have had that same pistol for about 20 years now. It will amaze you with it's accuracy. I shoot 30 grains of 3f with a .440 round ball and .015 patch. One hole 3 shot group at 25 yards off a bench. I have also shot 200 grain .450 conicals. I cast them from a mold I bought from Cabela's. They are very accurate as well, but not as accutare as the round ball.I got the mold to shoot them from my cap n ball revolvers. You do not need a patch with these. In your Kentucky you just fill the grease grooves with Crisco.Pour in the powder and seat the slug. They are a lot heavier than the roud ball so you will get a little more recoil but it's still not very bad. Enjoy the pistol. They are a lot of fun.

 

[KentuckyMan]

Ok then.

I will use the .440 round balls instead of the bull-et.

More about the gun: It came form the Traditions company. I was going for the pioneer, because it had the same rate of twist in its barrel, but my mom ordered the Kentucky. No biggy since I got what I wanted for rate of twist.

My knowledge about muzzleloaders is pretty much up there. I read this book, Lyman, Black Power Handbook & Loading Manual end and out.

I needed to find out more about the bull-et and you guys help me figure out what was best for my gun.

What do I still need in supplies is this.

Flask: (something to hold all of that Black Powder).
FFFG black powder:
Lead Ball .440 cal:
Starter Rod:
Jags and worms: (if it fits with my current cleaning rod or the rod for my Hawkins then I don't have to buy one just now)

I had Patches... anything else that I need?

 

[PreglerD]

That pistol is designed to shoot patched round ball, and that will give you the best accuracy and also be the most economical way to shoot. Others have already suggested a good starting load. Is that a Traditions? If so, how did you get a .45?

Over the big pond here we have lots of .45 ML pistols. It is the only cal. we have. Everything bigger is traded in the USA.

Regards

Kirrmeister

 

[Many Klatch]

You will need percussion caps as well. I assume you have those since you say you have a Hawken.

Many Klatch

 

[KentuckyMan]

Oh yes I already have caps. I will need more.
However, what's the best type of caps that I can use.

I heard of there being these very hot burning caps form Cabala. :hmm:


...... side note :yakyak:
If you look closely at the background of the picture you can see my Hawkins stock.

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

You will need a good lube for your patching, don't forget... :thumbsup:

 

[KentuckyMan]

oh I got that as well, and a measuring tool.
I still feel like I'm for getting something. :hmm:

 

[Rogue River]

I didn't mean to imply that the ball-ets were not good just pricey. Any time I run across a box of .50 ball-ets I buy them for my rifle because she just loves them. I plink with the balls and fine tune with the ball-ets and use them mainly for hunting!

 

[KentuckyMan]

Could this gun be use for any kind of hunting??

 

[rafterob]

If you are talking about the pistol, you need to check local regulations. Popular comment here has been that the single shot pistols are not recommended for hunting purposes. That is not to say they would not kill. Maybe just not reliably or efficiently enough for a humane kill.

 

[tv_racin_fan]

IF I was intending to hunt deer with this style of BP pistol I would get myself the Pedersoli Bounty. It has a 16 1/2 or so barrel and can handle the loads needed to generate deer killing power. Anything smaller than deer the Kentucky ought to be able to handle.