Loading of blunderbuss

[rsblack]

Dear Sirs,can you tell me how are you loading a blunderbuss? :hmm:

 

[Roy]

All depends on the caliber :v

 

[spudnut]

Mine is an 85 cal. I would put about 80 gr.2F with a wad of cloth that was about an inch thick when rammed down.Then I dropped about 9 .36 cal balls in it with a felt card cut from an old hat on it to hold it in.Fired at a rack with 5 soda cans dangling on strings at about 10 or 15 yrds.resulted in no hits but you could hear the lead rattling through the brush beyond,Still wouldnt want to be on the recieving end of a blast :surrender: ...Mark PS use lead only...No nails, rocks, or glass

 

[Wes/Tex]

Used everything I could get down the bore, almost literally. Usual load was with shot of various sizes, usually #5. For fun I tried cheap marbles(fun to dust against concrete) and a handful of .22 empty cases I policed up at the range...fired them at an empty oil can and ripped to shreads! Wee-ha! :winking:

 

[J.D.]

This thread reminds me of the first time I shot my blunderbuss.

I was being cautious since I had never shot a 4 bore and loaded only 65 gr FFG behind a small handfull of #1 buck.

One of my friends suggested 100gr FFG behind that same handful of buck...every time I reloaded. :yakyak:

After several shots, each with a slightly more powerful charge, and hearing, repeatedly, "put 100 grains in it", I charged that little gun with 100gr FFG and larger than normal handful of buck and handed it to my friend.

I stood behind him with arms outstretched, ready to catch the "buss" if he lost control of it.

He assured me that he knew what he was doing and turned to fire. That little gun bucked and Leo lost his grip on the forearm. recoil jerked Leo's firing arm out and up to the 2 O'clock position, to the rear of his shoulder, but he did hang on.

He looked at me with a shocked look and said, "that's enough, better go back to 65 gr." :surrender: :rotf: :rotf:

I normally shoot 80gr FFG using a ball of newspaper for an overpowder wad, a SMALL hanful of buck, and a small ball of newspaper over shot.

I can cover three police silhouettes placed side- by-side with buck at about 20 yards.

J.D.

 

[Many Klatch]

In my .72 Brown Bess I shoot 90 grains of 2F and 12 buckshot. That should be a good place to start. I have some friends with blunderbusses. they load them up and shoot them from the hip. Their loads will turn them 1/4 turn.

Many Klatch

 

[spudnut]

My buddy Rod took a shot with it and it hung and he started to put it down and WHAM about two or three inches from his shoulder :shocked2: Mark

 

[Coot]

Since mine is a copy of a Royal Navy blunderbuss, I use military style paper cartridges to load mine (a 10 bore). I make up the cartridges on a wood dowel, tie one end shut with thread & load 10-12 buckshot & then insert a fiber wad to seperate the shot from the powder. I use 90 grains of 2f which includes the priming powder & fold the cartridge as with a Brown Bess. Loading is also like the bess, tear the cartridge open, prime, & pour remaining powder down the barrel. I then crumple the remaining paper down over the wad & load it with the paper helping the wad to both seal the powder & cushion the shot. Thin, weak paper & thin weak thread are needed to help in bursting upon discharge. This system is not likely to be optimal for pattern but my interest was in trying to get as close to a service load as I could. Normal firing of this "decksweeper" was from the waist. I corresponded with both the Royal Navy Museum in Portsmouth and the Royal Armories with out being able to get an "official" service load or certain answer as to what was used for the wad.

 

[sequoia]

Are your barrels of your blunderbusses brass or steel? :hmm:

 

[J.D.]

steel

 

[spudnut]

Mine is a garage sale find.It has a steel barrel marked Liege Belgium .The stock was black laquered when I got it but I stripped it and refinished it.The barrel is only about 18 inches and about 85 cal. I have a .850 round ball mold but havnt gotten the nerve to shoot one of those bowling balls out of it.The lock is small almost a pistol size(I don't have it with me right now so I can't give true dementions)I'll try to post some pics later...Mark

 

[BlackNet]

ok im jealous. MY blunderbuss is still in parts and not finished yet!

I was told this is how you do it.

Ed

 

[Coot]

Mine is brass. Saw a real nice one in steel (a 4 bore) a few months ago.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Spudnut, yours sounds like the one I had. Think they came through Intercontinental Arms, or some-such, back in the 60's. My favorite "messer-upper" load was a big handful of empty .22 brass! Obviously not a hunting load but great for smacking old oil cans! :haha:

 

[spudnut]

Hey Wes/Tex,
Is that where they came from? Someone said they had one like it they got through Dixie Gun Works back in the 60'sor 70's I know the lines don't fit for an original 1800"s or earlier way to good of condition too.Sure is fun though.We joke about it being the complaint department at rondy."Speak into the tube please" :blah:

 

[torn moc]

Spudnut...Waiting on those pics!

 

[rsblack]

Thanks for your infos.Thanks :bow:

 

[Wes/Tex]

Hello tube! :haha: Actually, both the cannon-muzzle and the standard flaired muzzle are both of the same era. You'll find both styles in photos of period blunderbusses or is that blunder beye? :rotf: The only thing that seems to be reasonably figured out is that the longer ones are thought to be military while the sjprter ones are thought to be civilian/coach use. Some insist that brass barrels are navy guns but I'm not sure just how thoroughly we can guess at any of these assumptions.

 

[Coot]

Brass barrels are not that uncommon in the blunderbluss world. A number of them are relatively small (some are blunderbluss pistols) & there are several brass barrel models marked "HM Coach" or "Royal Mail". A large brass barrel does not by itself indicate naval service but when combined with military architecture may give a strong hint of sea service use. "See Boarders Away" by Gilkerson (the firearms volume), also "Blunderbusses" by Baxter (1970) and "The Blunderbuss" by Forman (1994).

 

[spudnut]

Scalper,
I have to get an 8 year old to show me how to move the picture from the other website it's on :surrender: