Military heritage brown bess

[Rat]

I appreciate the advice! I'll try some 150+ grain loads the next time I shoot it

Well, I find that 140 grains works for me. That is with 1fg. If you are using 3fg or 2fg I'd tone that down to 130 grains. Just a suggestion. The reason that the Brown Bess service loads varied from 150 to 165 or so depended or the quality of the powder. Quality of powder in them days varied depending on who made it and where they got it from. The powder charge would be adjusted accordingly. The powders we use today probably are more like their best powders, so I certainly would not go over 150 grains with 1fg, and again, less with 2 or 3fg.

 

[Rat]

Finally got the boys together for a shoot!!!
The bess was an absolute blast!!!!
It had no problem igniting for the 30+ times we shot it. Found that while a .690 may not have as much potential accuracy as a .715 or .735 the ease of loading and shootability was awesome! I could have loaded and shot 40 of my .690 paper cartridges without swabbing the barrel. Only issue we had was it shoots very low. At least 1.5 feet at 30 yards. I believe the inletting has a lot to do with that. You'll see in the pictures
That with just the barrel pins in, the tang floats above the stock. And with just the tang screwed in, the barrel sits above the forearm. And yes the stock is straight. I assume having a high spot like that in the middle of the barrel channel inletting can "pull" the muzzle down shifting the poi.
I will work on the channel inletting and take her out for round two!

Have you tried dipping the ball end of your cartridges in wax? Keeps them sliding down the barrel real nice. These are for my Jeager, but same deal/idea.

 

[Commodore Swab]

How do you kill the super polish job? Some say just use it. Scotch brite pad ?

Toss the parts in a tumbler with a bit of dry laundry soap and water. Bits too big can be decreased and blued.

 

[¡Señor.Casualidad!]

Have you tried dipping the ball end of your cartridges in wax? Keeps them sliding down the barrel real nice. These are for my Jeager, but same deal/idea.
View attachment 295612

What kind of wax? Would plain old candle wax work?

 

[Rat]

What kind of wax? Would plain old candle wax work?

Yes, I like bee's wax, but any old wax will do. Some mix in lube with the wax, but I would not do that as lube can seep into the powder over time. Not a problem I guess if one is going to shoot them within weeks of making them, but as far as I can tell just wax provides plenty of lube it's self. I usually shoot my musket with patched ball when hunting or trekking/hiking/exploring, and just carry paper cartridges for "emergencies". So my cartridges may remain loaded for years.

 

[Rat]

A .690 will work with military cartridge and easily give you accuracy enough to a hunt or most woods walk type competition

Truth, and I will add that minor differences in ball size, in a smoothbore, does not make major accuracy differences as it will in a rifle. With a smoothbore, you can fire quite an undersized ball and just adjust your fit with thick patches, such as denim. If you "chew" the ball, you can go to a thinner patch. The road to accuracy in a smoothie is with trying different powder charges, (not being afraid to go up) patch thickness, (like a rifle) lubes, and some guns prefer bare-ball over patched ball. Playing around with wadding can make a big difference.

My Brown Bess, shoots best with a chewed .690" ball, a .020-.023" patch, one wax wad and one wool wad under the ball, and 140 grains of 1fg. Another one, exactly like it, might not like that. I have a .58" smooth bore that shoots most accurately with a chewed bare ball, wax and wool wad under the ball, and a wax-wad over the ball to hold the ball in. Go figure!!

 

[FlinterNick]

What kind of wax? Would plain old candle wax work?

I use a mixture of bees wax and Rosen, with a small amount of cooking oil.

70% wax, 25% Rosen, 5% oil… heated and mixed in a tin. This creates a mild type of mild cutlers resin that will harden and moisten with contact

I dip the ball end of the cartridges in the mixture then let it air dry

Then add my powder charge.

 

[springfield art]

Hey all!
I ordered a military heritage brown bess on tues 1-9-24. I received this auto email the day I ordered, it is now 9 a.m. on Thurs no shipment confirmation as of yet and the money has not been pulled from my account. I will keep ya'll updated with confirmations and ship time as I go through the process!
*edit* my assumption is it will ship next Thursday 1-18-24

Looks good! Good luck!

 

[¡Señor.Casualidad!]

Looks good! Good luck!

Thanks! its been awesome so far

 

[¡Señor.Casualidad!]

Truth, and I will add that minor differences in ball size, in a smoothbore, does not make major accuracy differences as it will in a rifle. With a smoothbore, you can fire quite an undersized ball and just adjust your fit with thick patches, such as denim. If you "chew" the ball, you can go to a thinner patch. The road to accuracy in a smoothie is with trying different powder charges, (not being afraid to go up) patch thickness, (like a rifle) lubes, and some guns prefer bare-ball over patched ball. Playing around with wadding can make a big difference.

My Brown Bess, shoots best with a chewed .690" ball, a .020-.023" patch, one wax wad and one wool wad under the ball, and 140 grains of 1fg. Another one, exactly like it, might not like that. I have a .58" smooth bore that shoots most accurately with a chewed bare ball, wax and wool wad under the ball, and a wax-wad over the ball to hold the ball in. Go figure!!

Chewed ball? Is this a roundball where you rough the surface?

 

[¡Señor.Casualidad!]

Also are yall loading your paper cartridges tail down or ball down?

 

[Rat]

Chewed ball? Is this a roundball where you rough the surface?

Yes, two horse-shoe rasps work perfectly.

 

[Rat]

Also are yall loading your paper cartridges tail down or ball down?

I have tried both, and can't find any difference. So I go tail-down, just to speed up the process a bit.

 

[Rat]

I use a mixture of bees wax and Rosen, with a small amount of cooking oil.

70% wax, 25% Rosen, 5% oil… heated and mixed in a tin. This creates a mild type of mild cutlers resin that will harden and moisten with contact

I dip the ball end of the cartridges in the mixture then let it air dry

Then add my powder charge.

Never heard of adding Rosen. ? What does it do? I love all these different formulas. ! Mad Science!

 

[FlinterNick]

Never heard of adding Rosen. ? What does it do? I love all these different formulas. ! Mad Science!

It makes the bees wax more elastic and hard, so when its on other cartridges it doesnt stick together or stick to the box.

When you press the ball end into the bore, it emulsifies and becomes a bore lubricate.

You just want to make sure you don’t use too much Rosen in the mixture, or it will be as hard as epoxy.

 

[ColonialRifleSmith]

Have you tried dipping the ball end of your cartridges in wax? Keeps them sliding down the barrel real nice. These are for my Jeager, but same deal/idea.
View attachment 295612

I use bees' wax. seems to be oilier than candle wax. No buildup in the barrel. Semper Fi

 

[Rat]

I use bees' wax. seems to be oilier than candle wax. No buildup in the barrel. Semper Fi

Yes, bee's wax is my go to for about everything, but I ran out recently. That stuff is so expensive now, used to be not-expensive. Canning wax is good stuff.

 

[ColonialRifleSmith]

Yes, bee's wax is my go to for about everything, but I ran out recently. That stuff is so expensive now, used to be not-expensive. Canning wax is good stuff.

Go to Lowes or Home Depot. Bees wax is still reasonable there. Semper Fi.

 

[Rat]

Will do.

 

[¡Señor.Casualidad!]

I'm getting a new vise setup in the next week or 2 l. Have any of you filled the breech plug on one of these indian made muskets? What would you fill it with? I've bore scoped my barrel and confirmed I'm having trouble getting that cavity cleaned out