What Muzzleloading Stuff Did You Do Today?

[Banjoman]

After some recent frustration with my Frontier flintlock, I had a great day with it at the range. Changed things up a bit, but the biggest change was switching from Schutzen 3fg to Goex 3fg. With the Schutzen I have had misfires, hangfires, and pan flashes. Enough that I lost confidence in whether or not the rifle would fire. That sure messes with your POI. Played with flints, angles, etc. The Goex today changed all that. I put 30+ shots downrange today with 1 flint, and all went kaboom just like it's supposed to.
Also found out that my rifle hates .490 lead balls. I set up 3 paper targets at 25 yds.
- .480 ball, .010 patch, 50 grains Goex = 4 out of 5 in the middle
- .495 ball, .010 patch, 60 grains Goex = 3 out of 5 in the middle
- .490 ball, .010 patch, 50 or 60 grains Goex = 1 out of 5 on the 12" circle, bottom left nowhere near the bullseye...4 not even on the paper!

I could not believe it. I hit steel at 50 yds with the .480 ball, but absolutely nothing with the .490 balls, not just today but most of the last few outings. But the difference in powder and consistent ignition was very surprising.

Flintlocks....funny little fellers ain't they? My caplock seems ok with .490's so I have no idea what the deal is but happy I can hit something with my flintlock.

 

[Banjoman]

After some recent frustration with my Frontier flintlock, I had a great day with it at the range. Changed things up a bit, but the biggest change was switching from Schutzen 3fg to Goex 3fg. With the Schutzen I have had misfires, hangfires, and pan flashes. Enough that I lost confidence in whether or not the rifle would fire. That sure messes with your POI. Played with flints, angles, etc. The Goex today changed all that. I put 30+ shots downrange today with 1 flint, and all went kaboom just like it's supposed to.
Also found out that my rifle hates .490 lead balls. I set up 3 paper targets at 25 yds.
- .480 ball, .010 patch, 50 grains Goex = 4 out of 5 in the middle
- .495 ball, .010 patch, 60 grains Goex = 3 out of 5 in the middle
- .490 ball, .010 patch, 50 or 60 grains Goex = 1 out of 5 on the 12" circle, bottom left nowhere near the bullseye...4 not even on the paper!

I could not believe it. I hit steel at 50 yds with the .480 ball, but absolutely nothing with the .490 balls, not just today but most of the last few outings. But the difference in powder and consistent ignition was very surprising.

Flintlocks....funny little fellers ain't they? My caplock seems ok with .490's so I have no idea what the deal is but happy I can hit something with my flintlock.

View attachment 326613

Were those store bought or home cast balls?

 

[Omahkapi'si]

Hornady. I know it sounds weird but they are just all over the place when shooting. Even from a rest.

 

[Banjoman]

Hornady. I know it sounds weird but they are just all over the place when shooting. Even from a rest.

Hmmmmm,,,

 

[Omahkapi'si]

Everything the same just different ball size.
.480 and .495 good
.490 not

 

[deerstalkert]

that is the wonderful thing about Flintlocks. they are just like courting a woman. takes some time to find what turns their crank but when it all comes together it is such a pleasure.
reminds me, i haven't fired a shot in a week! maybe today.

 

[yellowhammer]

Gonna work on the rear sight on my Woodsrunner, which got loose and fell out while shooting at local meet and made me look like a doofus.

 

[BS]

Needs a polish job, but is near done!
My own design and it works, and has a half cock.
Push out the one pin and it all comes apart for cleaning.
Not the prettiest design, but it should make a good hunting gun.
Small large bore in .58 cal.
It is also designed for interchangeable barrels.
I can see a .69 in the future.
Updated picture to include sight.

 

[ZastavaGuy]

I just finished a 3-month project to refinish my old Investarm "Hawken". It now has both a 28 inch and a 24 inch barrel. All the steel was redone with Track Of The Wolf's browning solution, German silver front sights and period correct rear sights on both barrels, recontoured and refinished the stock, refitted and polished all the brass components, added a toe plate, etc.

 

[PEARL DRUMS]

I've been filing, sanding, buffing and polishing Kibler bronze for 3 nights straight. I'm very particular and it takes me forever to get a single piece done. I'm nearing the end of my bronze work. Next up, readying the barrel for a bluing treatment.

 

[Big Tom 52]

got some shooting in this morning. The bottom 2 shots and the 2 above were with a cut up cotton shirt and Blakemore Reel Magic for lube, just curious to see if the Blakemore stuff would work as a lube. The 4 shot group at the top was with 7-1 moose milk and ox yoke patch material, over powder wad, .445 RB and 65 grains 2F Goex

 

[TDM]

One of my Sons has a .36 rifle and I could have sworn that several months ago I grabbed a big handful of his swaged Hornady .350 balls and brought them to the camp. Had planned to shoot the new SMR this morning. But the balls were no where to be found. So I bush hogged half the day, which was badly needed, put out weed poison after that, and spent the rest of the afternoon casting .350 balls. First time casting this size and man does the lead go a long way, could hardly tell any was missing from the pot. Ended up with 184 so I’ll be set for a while.

 

[Omahkapi'si]

Success with my flintlock today. 50 grains Goex 3f, .480 ball, .010 patch. All shots went off like a champ, no issues. Hit 50/75/100 yd steel targets and in a 30-40 mph wind to boot. So happy doesn't even begin to describe how I spent my 67th birthday. Perseverance pays.

 

[aussie pete]

Morning all!! Great weather in North Queensland for casting; so made up 350 .530's for the .54 Hawken - should last a while. Going up to the block at the end of the month; if I'm successful with game, I'll let you know.

Shiny balls huh? Plumber's lead, lovely and soft.

Cheers, Pete

 

[TDM]

Very shiny balls there @aussie pete !

 

[Psycho Mike]

I went digging through some of my old black powder stuff today. I found my old priming flask....but the tube split, so it is toast But, I do have a couple short starters

I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and get a powder horn and priming horn for the flinter now

 

[TDM]

Braved the heat and shot the new SMR for the first time. Luckily the humidity is low today but still hot. I started out with 30 grains of Swiss 3F, .350 RB, .018 PT, and Goex 4F prime.
I also used a thin Dawn/water spray for lube, sponging off any excess with a paper towel. Then tried 35 grains of Swiss. I’m pleased for a first outing, still lots of experimenting to do before I touch the sights. The rifle performed perfectly, nice, fast ignition. And what really surprised me was that I had zero fouling problems. I shot a couple of times offhand at my steel targets so a total of 16 shots without swabbing and the last loaded as easy as the first. Was pleasantly surprised to see how little fouling there was on the patch after I finished. Not sure whether it was the bore polish I did or the Dawn/water lube that minimized the fouling, probably a combination of the 2. Picked up a few of the ball patches and they looked fine.
The .018 patches were all I had to choose from. I bought a pack of precut .020, but they compressed to only .016. I’m going to cut out some true .020’s for the next outing. Wanted to shoot some more but the heat finally stopped the fun. Now to get her cleaned up.

 

[Psycho Mike]

Braved the heat and shot the new SMR for the first time. Luckily the humidity is low today but still hot. I started out with 30 grains of Swiss 3F, .350 RB, .018 PT, and Goex 4F prime.
I also used a thin Dawn/water spray for lube, sponging off any excess with a paper towel. Then tried 35 grains of Swiss. I’m pleased for a first outing, still lots of experimenting to do before I touch the sights. The rifle performed perfectly, nice, fast ignition. And what really surprised me was that I had zero fouling problems. I shot a couple of times offhand at my steel targets so a total of 16 shots without swabbing and the last loaded as easy as the first. Was pleasantly surprised to see how little fouling there was on the patch after I finished. Not sure whether it was the bore polish I did or the Dawn/water lube that minimized the fouling, probably a combination of the 2. Picked up a few of the ball patches and they looked fine.
The .018 patches were all I had to choose from. I bought a pack of precut .020, but they compressed to only .016. I’m going to cut out some true .020’s for the next outing. Wanted to shoot some more but the heat finally stopped the fun. Now to get her cleaned up.

Pretty darn respectable for its first dance, TDM. I can only hope my Colonial two-steps as well on her first time out.

 

[flatcreek]

Want to do my barrel in french grey so I cold blued it the other night. Well the blue looked so nice I was afraid to remove it for fear of what I may get. Well today I got up my nerve and went for it. I like it, looks more fitting for a tenn rifle but the blue looked good also. First the french grey then the blue. Did I do the right thing?

 

[TDM]

Want to do my barrel in french grey so I cold blued it the other night. Well the blue looked so nice I was afraid to remove it for fear of what I may get. Well today I got up my nerve and went for it. I like it, looks more fitting for a tenn rifle but the blue looked good also. First the french grey then the blue. Did I do the right thing?View attachment 327028View attachment 327029View attachment 327024

They both look good, couldn’t go wrong either way.