What Muzzleloading Stuff Did You Do Today?

[The Damned Yankee]

Original Hessian Tornister 1770s

My reproduction

 

[Bnewberry]

My first lock inletting attempt is getting closer:

 

[pacanis]

I took possession of a couple 50 cal moulds today. A Maxi Ball and a .490 ball.
116 to my door. With handles. Good trade.

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

Don't count on it. One animal that becomes feral almost instantly is a pig. If there is a mate somewhere out there, soon you'll have a big feral hog issue. Semper Fi.

Good. More stuff to shoot and I prefer pork to venison.

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

Original Hessian Tornister 1770

Just asked the female half of the household (born and raised in Deutschland) what a "tornister" was: "A kind of satchel that kids take stuff to school in." Apparently tornisters are still in general use, albeit for another purpose.

 

[MAPMFF]

It was a fairly productive week, also pre-rolled some tubes, mainly for blank rounds for reenacting. Period cartridges, on the American side were made from all sorts of paper, old correspondence, plain paper, old newspapers., I personally like the look of news print, so printed out some papers from Boston from Feb-early April 1775 and got to rolling.

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

It was a fairly productive week, also pre-rolled some tubes, mainly for blank rounds for reenacting. Period cartridges, on the American side were made from all sorts of paper, old correspondence, plain paper, old newspapers., I personally like the look of news print, so printed out some papers from Boston from Feb-early April 1775 and got to rolling.

View attachment 201932

Hmmmm.... I got an old platen press upstairs. This give me ideas...

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

Decided to go out into the "wintry mix" today to dispatch an aluminum can with my T/C Patriot .45. Yes, this is my second attempt as you can tell by the impact point in the slush. Could not get YouTube to finish "processing" the initial attempt. .440 PRB atop 20 grains of 3f BP.

 

[19112tap]

Went to visit my uncle this last weekend as he is declining fast from various ailments, we used to hunt a lot back in the 80's and 90's and even into the 2000's some. He can no longer shot so he wanted me to have his rifles and shooting supplies, one was a CVA Mountain 50 cal factory finish in almost perfect shape and the other was a Lyman GPR in 50 also factory finish also. Getting to visit and recall all of the hunts we had been together on and the good times around the camp fires was a great visit but also a lot of tears shed knowing his days are short. I was standing next to him when he took his first deer back in 1986 he was so excited I can still see him as if it was just yesterday. I'm hoping I can take these guns and put them in my grandchildren's hands in a few years and hopefully they will get the bug to shot BP also.

 

[bothenook]

Today I sent the money for this’
View attachment 201895
It’s in the Express Parcel Post tomorrow, insured.
French, 1850s.

Beautiful. I have 2 Pedersoli Lepage pistols, one cap, one flint that are your guns cousins. Lepage checkering is the only outward difference in appearance. I love shooting them. They both have the hand feel of bespoke pistols. Great find

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

After dispatching the aluminum can, I discovered that there was something wrong with my lock assembly... or rather trigger assembly and the firing trigger would no longer fire trip the hammer. Upon taking the gun apart, I discovered a broken part.

Bummer.

I don't know the name of it, but it is the part that gets released by the rear trigger to strike the lock. As T/C parts are no longer available, I will likely have to try to MacGyver something up that will work. I'm thinking to remove the original trigger assembly and replace one of the triggers with something like a trigger with a long extension that will push up on the hammer release in the lock and trip the hammer.

Or maybe just clean it, put it back together and hang it on the wall. I still got the .36.

 

[TDM]

Made the first of several fixed powder measures. Made a 50 gr today and plan a 60, 70, & 80. I’m using dried river cane for the powder and red cedar turned down on the lath for the stopper & tip. One note about rive cane is that it needs to be fully dried before using or it will crack. I have a bunch of cut sections that have been drying out a couple of years that I made flutes with. Also when you cut a section run a loose bore brush through the inside to remove the loose wall fibers. Another thing I did that I’ve been wanting to do is to check how accurate my adjustable powder measures are. There was a long thread on this last year and I just hadn’t taken the time to check. The first photo at 49.2 gr was from filling the measure up, set for 50, without any taps or shakes. The other 2 photos, 50 & 60, are after several taps on the measure to settle the powder. Can’t get any closer, I was pleasantly surprised as I thought there would be some discrepancy. I had 2 of 3 adjustable measures out and the 2nd gave the same results as long as you tapped the sides and topped it off. Was using 3F Goex for the test.

 

[deerstalkert]

After dispatching the aluminum can, I discovered that there was something wrong with my lock assembly... or rather trigger assembly and the firing trigger would no longer fire trip the hammer. Upon taking the gun apart, I discovered a broken part.

Bummer.

I don't know the name of it, but it is the part that gets released by the rear trigger to strike the lock. As T/C parts are no longer available, I will likely have to try to MacGyver something up that will work. I'm thinking to remove the original trigger assembly and replace one of the triggers with something like a trigger with a long extension that will push up on the hammer release in the lock and trip the hammer.

Or maybe just clean it, put it back together and hang it on the wall. I still got the .36.

Brother, post a picture of the broken part. if i have it i will send it to you. if i don't have it i am sure it could be fabricated.

 

[pacanis]

Made the first of several fixed powder measures. Made a 50 gr today and plan a 60, 70, & 80. I’m using dried river cane for the powder and red cedar turned down on the lath for the stopper & tip. One note about rive cane is that it needs to be fully dried before using or it will crack. I have a bunch of cut sections that have been drying out a couple of years that I made flutes with. Also when you cut a section run a loose bore brush through the inside to remove the loose wall fibers. Another thing I did that I’ve been wanting to do is to check how accurate my adjustable powder measures are. There was a long thread on this last year and I just hadn’t taken the time to check. The first photo at 49.2 gr was from filling the measure up, set for 50, without any taps or shakes. The other 2 photos, 50 & 60, are after several taps on the measure to settle the powder. Can’t get any closer, I was pleasantly surprised as I thought there would be some discrepancy. I had 2 of 3 adjustable measures out and the 2nd gave the same results as long as you tapped the sides and topped it off. Was using 3F Goex for the test.

Did you allow for shrinkage?

Nice work.

 

[user 31232]

Went to visit my uncle this last weekend as he is declining fast from various ailments, we used to hunt a lot back in the 80's and 90's and even into the 2000's some. He can no longer shot so he wanted me to have his rifles and shooting supplies, one was a CVA Mountain 50 cal factory finish in almost perfect shape and the other was a Lyman GPR in 50 also factory finish also. Getting to visit and recall all of the hunts we had been together on and the good times around the camp fires was a great visit but also a lot of tears shed knowing his days are short. I was standing next to him when he took his first deer back in 1986 he was so excited I can still see him as if it was just yesterday. I'm hoping I can take these guns and put them in my grandchildren's hands in a few years and hopefully they will get the bug to shot BP also.View attachment 201943

So happy you're there for him

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

Brother, post a picture of the broken part. if i have it i will send it to you. if i don't have it i am sure it could be fabricated.

Thanks. I'm sure I could fabricate it, even in a primitive smithy with only files to do machine work, but it is a fairly complex part and seems to be poorly designed with such a tiny dimension in a hardened part that has to take impacts in order to function. As I am not long for this world anyway, I'm not sure yet if it would be worth the effort. I have other guns to shoot, other projects, and it might be time to just put it up for sale as a parts donor so others can fix their own guns.

T/C was such a GOOD company to work with. I will never forgive S&W for discontinuing service on the older guns... but that is business I guess.

 

[aussie pete]

What is this "wano" of which you post?

Wano is the brand of real black that is most commonly available in Australia. It is a German made powder that is available in a wide range of grades to meet standards for mining, fireworks, and shooting sports. Research tells me that it is rebadged Schuetzen. It is sold in 1kg jugs. We pay for our sins over here. At present, the best price I can match for Wano at a gun shop is $179 Aust for a 1kg bottle. At today's exchange, that's $121.61 US per kilo - or $53.60 US per pound.

We are fortunate to have the current importer, Combat Simulations, down at the bottom of the state in Helidon. That's a 2,800-kilometre round trip from here in Townsville. When someone is doing a run to the bottom corner, we usually ask around and pick up several kilos for mates who prepay - saves at least a few bucks, and we are thankful it's available. Black powder is a unique Dangerous Goods product here; almost all cargo carriers refuse to transport it due to the cost of regulation compliance.

Economically, my aim for target shooting is to get the very best accuracy out of each rifle or musket using the lowest charge. Hunting of course is a different matter, as there you need the oomph for humane outcomes.

Pete

PS That's not me having sticker shock in the image below!

 

[Dobegrant]

Wow, those prices are painful, I would also be developing minimal loads.

 

[TDM]

Did you allow for shrinkage?

Nice work.

At this stage, I allow for shrinkage on everything.

 

[TDM]

Went ahead and made the 60gr measure and cut the cane for the 70 & 80 tubes.