short starter

[olgriz]

Here's one that should bring about some discussion. I'd be willing to bet that if not all of us, more than 99% use a short starter. Here's my question. How come, in all the books I've read and that show photos, and all the museums over thirty years, that show shooting pouchs with accouterments that have survived in tact all these years, how come there is never a short starter? Think about it, have you ever seen an original short starter? Powder measures, yes, vent picks, yes, patch knives, yes, patch material, yes, remains of lube, yes, worms and ball pullers, yes -- short starters, nope. Do you suppose they all used a loose enough fit to thumb start the ball? If they did that, wouldn't it require a lot lighter powder charge than what we will use a lot of times now days, especially hunting? I know in my 40 I can thumb start using 30 grains of powder and have good accuracy. In my .62 a thumb started ball never does worth a hoot, no matter how little powder I use. What do you think? How did they do it?

 

[Bob J]

What do you think? How did they do it?

Coned muzzles.

 

[LRB]

Not all of the originals were coned. They simply used a smaller ball, and a patch no thicker than they could thumb load their ball with. The lighter charges are not going to affect getting the ball started to any great degree. I can load without a short starter in my .54 longrifle, but when shooting target, I use a starter for easier loading. I do not wipe between shots, but do, God be with me, blow down the barrel. I always shoot my best accuracy load which is 90gr of ffg. I can shoot all day and still load without a starter any time I choose to. My muzzle is NOT coned, and I doubt it will ever be.

 

[Legionair]

Never used one, myself......

Legion

 

[Cherokee]

I dont think the shooter were as into target loads or patch thickness as we are today. From what can be read it looks like they were just happy to have a chunk of lead and some cloth to have a couple of shots.
Most probably dealt with how the gun shot with loads and maybe different patch material to make it work. IM just figuring from the standpoint of making something work when you have nothing to work with.

 

[buckknife]

Besides every thing mentioned i belive that the lube they used may be why a short starter wasnt needed.Tallow,lard about any rendered animal fat with enough on a patch makes for a easy loading ball.I have a real tight weaved muslin patch material that mikes around .013,i shot a .010 under size ball.With lard or tallow a short starter wasnt needed.When i started using moose milk on this same patch i had to use the starter again.

 

[paulvallandigham]

My brother bought an old gun many years ago at Friendship. It was missing a hammer, the stock was torn up a bit, and there was something blocking the bore of the barrel. Turns out the barrel was almost 200 years old, and while we thought the muzzle had been worn down and out of round by years of passes with a ramrod, it actually was a coned muzzle, and the caliber was more like .34 than the .36-.38 we thought originally. He had the barrel re rifled, because of deep pits that could not be dealt with safely any other way, and it is now a .42 cal. percussion gun. About six months after he got the gun restored and in shooting condition, an article appeared in Muzzle Blasts talking about coned barrels. We new immediately that this was a far better explanation of the condition of the muzzle than 200 years of ramrods passing down the bore. The taper was very shallow, and was maybe 3 to 3.5 inches long, or deep from the muzzle. If the bore had not been in such terrible condition from neglect, and could have been saved, at most he would have had to cut a 14" off the face of the muzzle to restore the original muzzle dimensions, and he would have had a 200 year old, coned rifle barrel on a 100 year old, Left hand, Percussion, patent breech rifle. His first five shots on paper with that gun occurred at Friendship, off hand at 25 yds, and he shot a .42-2X ! The original sights were still in exact alignment with the re-rifled bore, and new caliber. He should have bought a lottery ticket that day!