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What Muzzleloading Stuff Did You Do Today?

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Rifle testing today, I had coned the barrel with a Joe Woods coning tool in .54.

RUuScpK.jpg


I could thumb start a .530 ball and an .018 patch all the way in easily, before coning I had to pound in a .526 ball with an .018 patch. With the cone I could seat the ball with minimum effort, I believe I could have gone to a .535 ball if I wanted to

I started shooting and wasn't doing too well, I was chasing balls with what turned out to be a fairly loose back sight. Somehow, I had bent the front sight, I straightened it several times before I was satisfied with it. I was hitting left and low at 50 yards and had already drifted my rear sight as far as I was comfortable with so I gave the front sight a slight tap.

I was shooting 80 gr of 2F and shooting low with about a 3" group at 50 yards, I had trouble seeing my front sight.

I decided to bump my load up to 85 gr, BINGO!

I had a shiny front sight for the high shot, the sun came out couldn't tell exactly where the blade was, I had a spray can of sight black so I sprayed the sight and took two more shots, I think I can live with the results.

I have a GM drop in for a TC in .54, it too has a very tight bore, it is next one the coning list.

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Made a 10 lb mess today. Put my mold on top of a full pot of lead. I guess I bumped the handle. I walked back in the room just in time to see the last of the pot drain. Luckily it sits in an aluminum pan which I destroyed when freeing the pot base from the lead. That was my happy day!😥
 

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Made a 10 lb mess today. Put my mold on top of a full pot of lead. I guess I bumped the handle. I walked back in the room just in time to see the last of the pot drain. Luckily it sits in an aluminum pan which I destroyed when freeing the pot base from the lead. That was my happy day!😥
But you saved the lead!
 
I shot today and found my rear sight was loose. Still is. Should I peen it when I get it close or no?

I am about two inches right at 25 currently
Yep. What TDM said: "shim it." This is the most effective way for sure, no messing with the tolerances of the dovetail, I find. The best shim material for me is the trusty aluminium drink can. Just cut a couple of strips as wide as the dovetail and slightly longer with about 10mm hanging over each side. Place one piece in the dovetail, tap in the sight for a good fit (may need two thicknesses for a loose dovetail). Once the sight is where you like it cut the extensions of either side of the barrel flush with the sight using a Stanley knife (box cutter?) - cuts super easy. And, you don't see the shim! Nice.

Sometime down the road, you may want to change your sight, and if you peened it, things could get tricky with a sight that now seems too large.

Cheers Pete
 
Got the 1860 ready to go to work for show and tell, walking across the living room hard wood floor and....
The dang thing slipped out and hit the floor butt first.
Good thing it was in the pin between cylinders.
 
Took a gourd from the porch where it had been since Thanksgiving and put it out back for a target. Loaded up a Hornady .50 caliber 410 grain HBSP with 7 grains of Old Eynsford 3f topped with 70 grains of 3f Triple 7. This load is somewhat overkill on gourds, just so you know. Shot the gourd three times. It never moved. Walked down range and discovered three holes in the target. Apparently gourds are stubborn and don't want to move when hit.

As to Hornady Great Plains Bullets, I'm starting to like them a little bit for their accuracy and relative ease of loading. Still don't care for the waxy stuff they use for lube though.

Shot them with a T/C Hawken .50 caplock with factory QLA muzzle. Might have to acquire more of these bullets and see how they do at longer ranges. Should have a plastic jug to "hunt" any day now.
 
we still haven't replace our girls with a pup. both died last year. not sure we are going to get another one, though my wife was talking puppy breath yesterday.:eek:
any pictures of your pup?
I am 76 and our Lab Chloe is 12. When she goes I don't think it would be right to get a puppy. Dog should not have to mourn its master. Maybe a mature rescue dog is an answer. Chloe is our 6th Lab and I remember each one of them. Just can not imagine living without a dog.
 
Y’all ever make something, then put it up so well that you can’t find it later? Man that irritates me - cause I do it to myself…
Yes. We call that "putting it someplace safe". Once we put something "someplace safe" it is lost forever.
"Someplace safe" must be the biggest room in our home, but I don't know where it is.
 
Yes. We call that "putting it someplace safe". Once we put something "someplace safe" it is lost forever.
"Someplace safe" must be the biggest room in our home, but I don't know where it is.
i can do this 3-4 times a day! be using something, set it down and somebody comes along and hides it.
i figured more drawered cabinets was the answer, all they do is give more places to look!
 
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