What Muzzleloading Stuff Did You Do Today?

[Canadian Dragoon]

I picked up a traditions flintlock kit at Cabelas along with a few flint-ML accessories today.. this is to keep myself busy while I ponder what gun to buy to use as a shotgun for turkey.. right now I’m leaning towards a Brown Bess cavalry musket from Loyalist, gotta call Monday to see what is in stock..

 

[JakeGa]

I broke in a new Lee Precision .490 round ball mold and punched out some felt wads for the .50 caliber rifles and the .36 and .32 caliber guns. Headed to the range tomorrow afternoon.

 

[Dutch7]

started planning a new build - making a parts list, checking it twice

 

[Flint.]

Shot at Bledsoe Fort for our December club shoot. We had a blast!

 

[PathfinderNC]

Finished my newest Kibler - a .54 Colonial Cherry.

 

[tenngun]

Just home from an event, spread canvas out in garage to make sure dry, I didn’t shoot but well swab and oil my gun, checked my kit.

 

[centershot]

Since the previous thread was shut down (locked) by our new moderator, I thought I would start one up again, as per the suggestion.
So, let's get this thread going again, and share your muzzleloading related adventures of the day!

I wiped the bore on my old .54 Renegade and set in a fresh charge. She's ready to go for tomorrow's opener here in western NY! Almost sounds like the start of a country song, don't it....

"I wiped the bore,
on my old .54........."

LOL!

 

[centershot]

Shuffling piles to finally get all range rods, cleaning rods, patches, cleaning stuff in one place. Next on "the list" ...same thing for caps, primers, flints. This will take awhile.

Oy! It never seems to end in my workshop either! Sometimes I get to feeling like I've got too much stuff - I mean really, do I need 7 deer rifles? And 4 shotguns? And all the STUFF that goes along with them and just where do I find space for all that stuff and do I REALLY need to have it ALL out on the bench at the SAME time? Oy, sometimes it makes me, you know, ..........edgy? But, after deer season I can go put it all away. Again.

 

[deerstalkert]

i read a post here where a knowledgeable builder commented on a newbie builders efforts.
newbies rifle looked swell to me but old time builder pointed out where the barrel/stock join was left flat. Not knife edged is the way he put it.
being a newbie to long rifle building i hadn't caught that on my SMR that i just "finished".
Soooooooooo.... today i disassembled the entire rifle, sanded it and contoured the forestock to "Knife edge" to the barrel.
What a difference in looks. that's why i am on this forum. Knowledge shared is knowledge banked.
also shot my TC Flintlock .50 just for fun.
am too tired to clean it until tomorrow though.

 

[tnlonghunter]

Day 3 of getting to know my new .50 Haines/Woodbury/God-only-knows-what-I was-thinking rifle. I've got about 70 rounds through it now. Have it about sighted in for 50yd targets. Still trying to figure out what it likes at 100. I love the way it carries and balances, but it's much lighter than I'm used to from my straight-barreled .54, so I really have to be on my game to shoot it off hand.

Also put a couple cylinders through my new-to-me 1851. It shoots about a foot high at 25yds. Didn't have time to really get serious with it, so I'll play around with some other distances and loads before changing out the front sight.

 

[Omahkapi'si]

Out on a cold winter day in my NEW buckskin pants made by andy52.....they fit great and with the longjohns on are nice & warm at 10F....he made the waist adjustable for me so looks like no suspenders required at all.....Big thanks andy52!!!

 

[andy52]

Out on a cold winter day in my NEW buckskin pants made by andy52.....they fit great and with the longjohns on are nice & warm at 10F....he made the waist adjustable for me so looks like no suspenders required at all.....Big thanks andy52!!!

View attachment 110529

Your very welcome, I'm always happy when my work turns out the way it should.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

As soon as the kin leave on Saturday, Ill be making balls for next season.
Today Im pulling everything out of storage and getting ready

 

[oldwood]

Start to Inlet the head of patch box. Gotta git this done......

 

[deerstalkert]

cast a bunch of .32 rb. boy those things add up quick with a 4 holer mold!
shot the .32 flintlock. put a sight on the 32
so cold i would load in the living room, go to the porch, shoot and scoot back into the living room! 7 shots in a circle 1 1/2 across at 25 off hand.
removed a couple broken screws from a stock.
cleaned both the 32 and the 50 from yesterdays shoot.

 

[JamesA]

Spent a couple haours at the range. 1858 Remington. Offhand. 25 paces. 25 gr. Pyrodex P (FFFG). I had one horrible flyer but at least "he" will walk with a limp from it, the rest were okay.

We may have snow (again) in a couple days all the way through Christmas.

 

[mmb617]

Well not today but yesterday, although I do intend on going back to the range today. I got to try out my new Traditions flintlock mountain rifle. I knew it was scheduled for delivery yesterday but figured it would be late in the day with shipping being the way it is and especially with Christmas just around the corner. But to my surprise it was delivered via USPS at 6:40 AM. I thought I heard something at the front door, and then the distinctive sound their trucks make so I checked and there it was.

I kind of debated going to the range as I never really liked cold weather and dislike it even more now that I'm somewhat older. But by afternoon it wasn't real cold, mid 30's, and there was very little wind and lots of sunshine, so off I went. Once I got there and started shooting I wasn't cold at all, and even shed my gloves after a while.

Since it was the first time shooting this rifle I set my target at 25 yds so I could get an idea how the sights were on it. I have a couple other Traditions flintlocks and they all seem to want the front sight just barely visible in the rear sight notch to be at the correct elevation. Using that same technique with this one caused the shots to hit low. I do have a rear sight elevation adjustment but didn't play with that yet, instead I tried seeing a bit more of the front sight and that worked better.

Another thing I wanted to check out was how well it sparked. This is the 5th Traditions flintlock I own and I'm convinced some of them ship out with improperly hardened frizzens. Both my trapper pistol and my hawken rifle didn't spark worth a manure when I bought them, but both started to work well once I changed the frizzen. On the other hand both my deerhunter and kentucky rifles sparked good right out of the box. It seems like a random thing. At any rate I had no problems getting good spark from this one.

I shot 20 balls yesterday which is about what I usually shoot through one gun before calling it a day. I'm going back this afternoon to see how I do at 50 yds with it. I do all my shooting offhand so 50 yds is as far as I normally shoot. If I get one of my rifles to consistently hit near center at that range I'll try some shots at 100 yds, but my eyes make that a challenge. Before I can hit a target I kind of need to see the target.

 

[John May]

I pre-lubed about 200 patches in various sizes, mostly for pistol practice and a few (60+) for my 'Old Ironsides Cannon'. For pistol shooting I always use ready cut patches lubed with Wonder Lube (my choice) and I also find that the cannon seems to like them too. In the cannon I shoot a .695" LRB with a 025" - 028" x 1 & 3/4" patch over 60 grains of Swiss 1. Works for me...

 

[Rod Man]

started planning a new build - making a parts list, checking it twice

Same here, ...sorta. I am too chicken to do my own work! However, I have a .40 flint gun that is almost done and I am working on the next one as I write. Was looking at a fowler as the next project but ... thinking about a Hawken build instead. That W.B. Selb rifle of @srkmarine1101 's, got the juices flowing so to speak. Looking at a budget and working with the builder on the have to have's and can do without... We'll see. I mean its only money right...LOL!

RM

 

[Dutch7]

Same here, ...sorta. I am too chicken to do my own work! However, I have a .40 flint gun that is almost done and I am working on the next one as I write. Was looking at a fowler as the next project but ... thinking about a Hawken build instead. That W.B. Selb rifle of @srkmarine1101 's, got the juices flowing so to speak. Looking at a budget and working with the builder on the have to have's and can do without... We'll see. I mean its only money right...LOL!

RM

Yeah and the value of it is getting less and less everyday so spend it wisely! I am going to tackle a matched pair of pistols, I have everything save one barrel is on backorder. Going to be my winter project and may extend well into summer! I have had the wood for two years and just now ready to get after it so I thought I better get the parts ordered and nearly everything was in stock (to my surprise!).

Good luck on your gun(s)