What Muzzleloading Stuff Did You Do Today?

[RobertIN]

Grandpa tripped you!

I was texting my wife when I figured out it was missing, I was distraught. I don't have many items to connect myself with him so it was devastating. She said the same thing, Grandpa was walking with me through the woods.

 

[Flint.]

Took the little Border Terrier for another duck hunt this morning. She got 8 water retrieves and located one cripple in thick brush. The little 20 gauge Pedersoli got 4 and my son got 5 with his new fangled smokeless contraption.
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View attachment 278459

Nice outfit you have there! I’m curious about the flask. Is is for shot or powder? Can you post a photo of it?

 

[longcruise]

I was texting my wife when I figured out it was missing, I was distraught. I don't have many items to connect myself with him so it was devastating. She said the same thing, Grandpa was walking with me through the woods.

Seen stranger things. Inexplicable. Seen but not understood!

 

[SciAggie]

Nice outfit you have there! I’m curious about the flask. Is is for shot or powder? Can you post a photo of it?

Thanks. The flask is a Hawksley style flask for powder. I have it set to throw 2 1/2 drams of 2F powder. Sorry I don’t have a pic handy of just the flask. It might show better in this one

 

[Mowgli Terry]

You may want to do a little bit more math before you give up on a flintlock. Caps have gotten pretty expensive, too, and at times, very hard to find.

* Flints from Track of the Wolf for my Kibler are going for $28.60 per dozen... Figure you can realistically get 40 shots (or more) from a flint (we'll go low with 40) and that's 480 shots in a dozen flints for a price of .06 per shot.

* Caps are pretty scarce lately. If you're lucky, you found some at Walmart when they had them for $5.62 per tin of 100... that'll barely edge out the TOTW flints cost per shot. But, if you have to buy RWS caps because no one has CCI or Remington, you're looking at $36.99 for a tin of 250 making them almost ,15 cents per shot. With caps online, you're also looking at paying a hazmat fee for the shipment. If they ever get CCI back in stock, those are listing for $120 per 1000, so that's still 12 cents per shot plus whatever the Hazmat cost you.

I haven't figured in shipping, hazmat fees or sales tax for any of these numbers, but just the rough numbers will tell you that, ironically so, going with a flintlock is the wave of the future.

Oh, and it's not out of the question that with just a little effort (that's kinda fun!) you may be able to make your own flints from locally available rocks... FOR FREE. Score another for the Mighty Flintlock!

Thanks for the information. As it happens, with some rationing, I have enough caps to keep going for a time. I have sticker shock for components for any firearm these days.

 

[Forester]

I stopped by my local gun shops Christmas lunch party where I work part time. The manager, Mike, asked me to look at 3 flintlocks that needed work. One had a broken plastic front sight. I didn't have a replacement, so I fitted a Williams gold bead steel sight. The next was another CVA deer hunter that was missing the frizzen spring screw. Had a replacement for that. The last one was a TC Hawken barrel with something stuck in it. I tried the CO2 discharger we had but it didn't budge. I took this one home to my workshop and tried my CO2 discharger. Mine has a better seal. It worked and a jag wrapped in a patch came out. I went ahead and cleaned the barrel. It was quite rusty and somewhat pitted. I wish people would checkout their equipment a little sooner before season opener.

 

[Tannehill]

Spent another fruitless day in my blind with my new to me CVA Kentucky.45.

Still better than hanging out at home.

 

[IanH]

After a long absence, I'm back with the muzzle loaders. My big deal of the day was finding two full cans of Goex FFFg powder here. Black powder is all but unavailable locally, Also, still reeling from sticker shock on cost of flints. I'm getting resources together to get a Tennessee Gunsmiths 45. caliber caplock Tennessee rifle going. A bunch of catching up to do here on the hill.

If you need some flints I have an excess of 3/4x7/8 homemade chert ones I could spare if it would get you shooting again.

 

[Old Grunt]

Put together a little patch knife to put in wife's stocking

 

[.36Rooster]

Cut 2 threads each off of the screws for the ramrod pipes on a .36 caliber rifle I picked up. Gave it a thorough scrubbing with scotch brite to remove a light coat of rust and reveal a shiny bore, greased all screws and moving parts, and got halfway through hand cutting a blank rear sight into a semi buckhorn with a nice "V" and shallow notch at the bottom the width of a .040 screw joint file.

 

[Mowgli Terry]

If you need some flints I have an excess of 3/4x7/8 homemade chert ones I could spare if it would get you shooting again.

Don't know what I have: Thanks for the offer. Right now I'm going through what I have. Let me pass of your offer. I've got the job of getting all this mess here in good order. This undertaking should keep me out of trouble. Merry Christmas/Seasons Greetings

 

[smo]

Took the .54 on a Christmas Eve hunt….

No deer were injured during this hunt….
But that’s just because I didn’t see one!
Merry Christmas too all!

 

[oldschoolhunter55]

I guess failing to bring home venison wasn't the only thing I did yesterday. Put my bags and horn on to go into the woods earlier, noticed my grandfather's (whom I'm named after and looked up to more than any other) knife is missing from its sheath.

Now I'm wet, sitting in my blind on a cold rainy afternoon with a broken heart, barely stocked freezer, and a yucky folding knife to cut a patch if I need to. What a freaking bummer this season has been.

Edit: I couldn't stand it, left the blind and went looking for it. Fell down a hill and luckily didn't get mud in my barrel, guess what? At the bottom of the hill I FOUND ITView attachment 278732

im glad u found it. glad u didnt get hurt falling. ur luck and my luck is the same be safe. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND FAMILY

 

[deerstalkert]

friday i got a shipment of .019 canvas for patch material. cut som and lubed it with bear/bees lube.
loaded my Darwin .54 with 60g fffg swiss and a .530 ball using the .019. tight loading but seems to be worth it. got to feeling bad friday so didn't shoot until today. shot a 3 inch 5 shot group at 50 .
i got tired searching for my white patches in the snow so changed things up .
seems to be easier to see.

 

[RobertIN]

im glad u found it. glad u didnt get hurt falling. ur luck and my luck is the same be safe. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND FAMILY

Thank you! Merry Christmas and God bless you and yours

 

[wiscoaster]

Finally finished "blueprints" for the pistol loading stand V.2

 

[oldschoolhunter55]

If you need some flints I have an excess of 3/4x7/8 homemade chert ones I could spare if it would get you shooting again.

thats nice of you.

 

[oldschoolhunter55]

friday i got a shipment of .019 canvas for patch material. cut som and lubed it with bear/bees lube.
loaded my Darwin .54 with 60g fffg swiss and a .530 ball using the .019. tight loading but seems to be worth it. got to feeling bad friday so didn't shoot until today. shot a 3 inch 5 shot group at 50 .
i got tired searching for my white patches in the snow so changed things up .
seems to be easier to see.
View attachment 279088

thats a good idea

 

[Monk]

Christmas Eve Salute To Liberty

Beautiful Sunday from the barn in coastal Maine. Seems like a fitting time to send off a rifle salute from the flintlock to our Creator for the blessings and beauty of the day, and for the miraculous event that took place this very eve, some 2,000 years ago. The birth of our Savior Jesus Christ…also in a humble barn.

Bruce

 

[Gordoncourtney]

Christmas Eve Salute To Liberty

Beautiful Sunday from the barn in coastal Maine. Seems like a fitting time to send off a rifle salute from the flintlock to our Creator for the blessings and beauty of the day, and for the miraculous event that took place this very eve, some 2,000 years ago. The birth of our Savior Jesus Christ…also in a humble


If only I could smell the smoke on my ipone. Gave away Boxing Day we will family meet at next weekend brill as I got on with my cape rifles . Over a week of mandrel hammering out dents , filing and using a stone plus dremmil, finally put the barrels on the buff . The top rib fell off a few days ago, the barrels were stuck together with like bees wax or glue at some historic time, your guess as good as mine also the stock was in two bits now put back together with epoxy

Happy new year and good hunting



Bruce