Measuring spout

[skunkskinner]

I'm thinking I would like to put a 75 gr. measure spout on my powder horn,how dangerous is it to load from the horn? How long should you wait between shots? All coments are appreciated, Thanks

 

[bwhoffman]

skunkskinner,
You dont want to load from a spout and I dont want to be near you if you do!
Put a nice plug on that horn and pour into a measure AND then into the barrel!
You will be glad you did.
There is a thread a little lower addressing the same thing fwiw, here is a qoute from that post....

"I would advise against attaching any kind of measure to the powder horn. The valves in them collect dust, and finally don't close off the powder well at all. Without constant cleaning, the valve can prove as dangerous as dropping a match into an open horn. Most rules require you to pour your powder from a storage container( like your horn) into a SEPARATE measure. This if for safety sakes, yours, and anyone standing around you. "

Brett

 

[wszumera]

Pour 75g down your barrel, don't seat a ball, touch it off. Notice the sharp noise of something violent going off.

Now think of 3000g going off in your horn if there is a ember left in barrel.

Clutch

 

[shmrck1]

skunkskinner,
In other words DON'T DO IT!
:nono:
snake-eyes

 

Two words---HAND GRENADE

Bill

 

I agree with the postings whole heartedly. Yet, there are those who insist on loading a barrel without swabbing or blowing down the barrel.
There is either a chance spark down the bore or there is not. For safety sake, use a powder measure AND swab or blow between shots.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I think blowing down the barrel can be a bad, and dangerous habit. If you can forget to put the powder down the barrel first, then the patch, then the ball, you can also screw up, " Shoot the gun, Then blow down the barrel". The first screw up introduces to the exalted club of dry ballers; the second can get you killed. It ain't worth it.

I stopped blowing down the barrel years ago, when I realized that I was teaching a dangerous habit to observers who had not taken the years of practice to learn to be safe. I have used a pre-cut patch wet with a little saliva to wipe the bore, and put out any embers for more than 15 years, and have never looked back. On really humid days- I can tell when humidity is a problem, or I have put too much spit on the patch( it happens), when the gunk on the patch comes out shiny and greasy looking- I run a dry patch down to fish out any gunk I have pushed to the back of the chamber. That keeps the gun one shot dirty all day long, and I have no problems shooting regardless of weather. Accuracy also stays constant.

 

I am glad you DO one of the above options. But, to preserve the integrity of this thread, I will propose that we recommend at least swabbing between shots. Also, I recommend NEVER load without it.
I repeat, there is either an ember down the freshly fired barrel or there is not. Use a powder measure that is not attached to the horn and swab between shots. Loading on a hot barrel is asking for lost fingers or worse. There is no way to use a muzzleloading firearm without having some part of your body in front of the muzzle for loading and cleaning purposes.

 

[paulvallandigham]

peopel who write here about shooting without cleaning between shots make me very nervous. I would not want to be around them when they shoot. Far too much smoke has come out of nipples and vent holes in my guns when I run a damp patch down the barrel after firing for me to be convinced that you can safely reload the gun without worrying about embers in the barrel waiting to ignite your powder.

When my club is marching in a parade, and firing off blanks, our range officers check each member to see that his short starter and ball bag is NOT in his possibles bag, and that the ramrods that go with the gun also stay in their gun cases, or car trunks. We do blow down the barrels before reloading in that situation, only. But, you can see the extraordinary steps we take to keep everyone safe from their own habits! Those barrels get really dirty by the end of the parade, and our horns are usually empty!

 

[Stumpkiller]

I'll do strings of shots without swabbing and have yet to "poof" a charge. I always assume it will happen the next time I load, so my face is never over the muzzle, the gun is pointed in a safe direction, no body part, including a hand over a rammer or short starter, is ever over the muzzle. If it cooks off I'll have burned fingers and a really surprised look, but no holes in me or my friends.

That's what safe gun handling is all about. Treat every gun as though it were loaded and could go off on it's own at all times.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Stumpkiller; I use the same loading techniques you describe. I have new shooters asking me why I don't wrap my thumb around my short starter, or ramrod! I always answer that question, and then show them how to load the gun without doing that. I call the grip we use a " monkey grip ", as it reminds me how an orangutan grips branches with his hands.

 

[TN.Frank]

IF you swap with a spit patch between shots there's about a zero chance of getting a hot ember that'll touch off the new charge of powder but it's the "about" part that ya' have to worry about. If you must put a spout of somekind on your horn just epoxy a spout to the hole and put a plug into that then use a proper measure to dump the powder in and put the powder from the measure into the gun, it's much safer to have 75 or 80grs of powder go off then an entire horn full. And this brings up another thing, when you're out camping and sitting by the fire at night made sure your horns and flasks are well away from the fire.

 

[Joel/Calgary]

IF you swap with a spit patch between shots there's about a zero chance of getting a hot ember that'll touch off the new charge of powder but it's the "about" part that ya' have to worry about.

The "about a zero chance" part changes if you have a patent breech that your swab never reaches.

 

[fw707]

I've always swabbed between shots with a spit patch, and I haven't had a bad experience yet.
I saw a shooting show last night on the History Channel, and the guy who owns the largest firearms collection in the world was loading a Civil war musket from a spout attached to a BIG horn!! I can't ever imagine doing that myself.
One of the regular members here replied to one of my posts a couple of days ago and said he had the powder he poured down the barrel from a measure go off twice in the 40 years he's been shooting ML's. If he had been loading from a spout on a horn it would only have happened once. :winking:
No spouts on horns for me.

 

[musketman]

I saw a shooting show last night on the History Channel, and the guy who owns the largest firearms collection in the world was loading a Civil war musket from a spout attached to a BIG horn!! I can't ever imagine doing that myself.

The wonderful (or sometimes scary) thing about muzzleloading is that we (the shooter) control the loading process, we must decide what margin of safety best fits our needs and abide by it...

Whereas the cartridge shooter must trust the company who produces the round (unless they reload themselves) to be safe and up to standards...

Muzzleloading is more personal, one on one, we must make the choice to load safely and correctly, no one else...

The sad truth is that not everyone will make the safest choices, people take short-cuts, it's human nature to take chances, that doesn't mean everyone has to copy them...

 

IF you swap with a spit patch between shots there's about a zero chance of getting a hot ember that'll touch off the new charge of powder but it's the "about" part that ya' have to worry about.

The "about a zero chance" part changes if you have a patent breech that your swab never reaches.

That is exactly why I continue to blow down the barrel immediately after I shoot. Blow until no more smoke comes out of the nipple. If you can't tell when your rifle goes off or not you better start golfing or bowling. :rotf: It's a lot safer than these scary old muzzle loading rifles. :shake: