Black Powder firearms discussion

[Delmar]

I have been looking and reading up for a while and I'm about to order me a 1858 black powder pistol. Cabelas has them on sale for $200 so not a bad place to start.

For those that don't know there is a group north of fort wayne that shoots every month. I'm going to go watch them shoot and get some knowledge before I get too deep in Black powder

More info on the North of Ft Wayne group please.

 

[warhawk77]

More info on the North of Ft Wayne group please.

The group meets at Fort Wayne rifle and revolver. I have only talked to one person on the phone but he was nice and invited me out for their next meet.

 

[ScouT6a]

I shoot lots of BP. Mostly with flintlocks that I build. I also enjoy making period accoutrements for them. Here are some pics of my work. I hope you enjoy.

 

[darend505]

Scout that is some awesome work!!!!

Does anyone know the name of the family run shop that does flintlock and cap and ball near Martinsville, IN???

 

[ScouT6a]

Scout that is some awesome work!!!!

Thank you, Sir.

I get as much enjoyment out of seeing the look on a person's face when I hand them their new horn or other item as I do making the item to begin with. I like to share.

 

[darend505]

Scout that is some awesome work!!!!

Thank you, Sir.

I get as much enjoyment out of seeing the look on a person's face when I hand them their new horn or other item as I do making the item to begin with. I like to share.

Might have to commission you to do a powder horn for me down the road!

 

[indy1919a4]

Those powder horns look to die for, but it brings to mind a question...

In the day how did one measure the amount of powder to put in gun with a traditional powder horn.. Was it eye balled or measured into a measuring container?????

The wolf horn is nice.. What would something like that cost giving fridays spot horn market price?????

 

[spencer rifle]

I use this:

 

[ScouT6a]

There are many different types of period correct powder measures. Yes, most measured from the horn into a "calculated" measure before the powder went down the barrel.
Drilled out wood, a section of river cane, simple copper, tin and brass tubular measures, hollowed deer antler, the tip of the cow horn hollowed out.

The fox horn is a flattened "bag" or "day" horn that I flattened to about 3/4-7/8" thick. These were commonly placed inside a shooting pouch or dropped into a pocket, as opposed to hanging from a strap around the neck. A similar horn would go for $100.

 

[indy1919a4]

The fox horn is a flattened "bag" or "day" horn that I flattened to about 3/4-7/8" thick. .

I am intrigued what is a makes a powder horn a "bag" or "Day" horn...

And like are there other styles or horns***????

Yes I see that is a fox now.... My bad

 

[Seancass]

Scout, that's some amazing work! If you have the pictures, do a build thread! I would LOVE to see this start to finish! Do you do your own actions? Barrels? If you have some pictures of them being used, post them up to! Those are just beautiful arms!

 

[Grizhicks]

quick notice: the Indiana SASS Blackpowder Shoot will be this weekend (June 28-29-30) at Paradise Pass in Etna Green (about 10 miles west of Warsaw). Looks like about 35-40 cowboys, all shooting nothing but the "holy black". If you are in the area, stop by on Saturday or Sunday, and say HI..... Grizhicks

 

[ScouT6a]

Here's an "action" shot with me shooting my .50 caliber Isaac Haines/Jacob Dickert style Pennsylvania rifle.

 

[ScouT6a]

I've never documented one of my builds, start to finish. There are many great books out there that will walk you through a build. The Art of Building the Pennsylvania Longrifle by Chuck Dixon is a great book, if you decide to try a build. It is well written in simple to understand language and has lots of great illustrations.
I took a few pics during my last rifle build but definitely not a step by step. More like a "before and after"
First picture is where I sketched out my carving that I was going to do behind the cheek piece.

Next pic is the carving "roughed in"

Next is the rough carving behind the entry thimble, cove moulding along the ramrod channel, wrist carving, front sight and carved barrel band and the carved barrel breech band.

Notice that not all of the castings had not been completely cleaned up at this point. The casting sprues had been filed off and they were roughed in close enough to inlet. This can be seen on the lock side plate and the ramrod thimbles. Also notice that there was some final shaping to be done. You can see this in the picture of the front sight/muzzle. The wood along the barrel channel on the upper forearm was thinned to about a 1/16 of an inch on the final product. It's still about 3/16" to 1/4" in the photo.

 

[ScouT6a]

This is a picture from this past February. The gun in the picture is a smoothbore fowler that I built several years ago. It has a 36" octagon to round barrel that is .62 caliber/20 gauge. I have harvested squirrels, rabbits and crows with this one.

 

[atalon]

I need some help finding a bullet puller for a .50 cal. I just got a rifle that has a ball or sabot stuck in it and the previous owner has tried to use the screw type bullet puller but only drilled a whole down the middle of it. Now the screw won't hold and all I am finding online so far is the screw type and the wire pronged patch puller.

Any help would be great

 

[ScouT6a]

I need some help finding a bullet puller for a .50 cal. I just got a rifle that has a ball or sabot stuck in it and the previous owner has tried to use the screw type bullet puller but only drilled a whole down the middle of it. Now the screw won't hold and all I am finding online so far is the screw type and the wire pronged patch puller.

Any help would be great

Sir,
What type of muzzleloader are we talking about? An inline, a side lock percussion or a flintlock?
I am guessing it's not an inline as you would just pull the breech plug and push the ball through from the muzzle. (I say "guess" because I was watching a guy trying to pull a ball from an inline and I said, "Why don't you remove the breech plug and push it through" and his response, with a sheepish grin was, "I didn't think about that")
Ok, if it's a side lock percussion or flintlock. The first thing I would try is to pull the nipple on a percussion and using a toothpick, needle, small stiff wire, 1/16' drill bit or whatever, to work as much powder into the drum/barrel as you can and shoot the ball out (into a safe back stop) or if it's a flintlock you can do the same thing by working 4F priming powder into the touch hole and shooting it out.
Work as much powder as you possible can into the gun. You aren't going to over load it in this fashion. It may take a couple of times to do this to get the ball moved forward enough to get enough powder behind the ball to expel it from the barrel.
If this doesn't work, it will probably be time to get it to a gunsmith who specializes in black powder or one who is very competent and willing to work on a muzzleloader. A breech plug/powder drum/snail drum pull may be necessary.
If you get to this point, PLEASE, spray a copious amount of WD-40 down the barrel to deactivate the powder before you take it to a gunsmith. If he has to pull a breech plug, heat from a torch MAY be necessary.
If you have any problems/questions with this, let us know. Good luck

 

[indy1919a4]

I need some help finding a bullet puller for a .50 cal. I just got a rifle that has a ball or sabot stuck in it and the previous owner has tried to use the screw type bullet puller but only drilled a whole down the middle of it. Now the screw won't hold and all I am finding online so far is the screw type and the wire pronged patch puller.

Any help would be great

The Gunpowder in the nipple hole idea is a good one, Lots of fun...

Another is using some compressed air...Can be just as fun, but not as flashy... Here is a link with some ideas on doing it....

Air pressure to remove bullet - Traditional Muzzleloading Forum - Muzzleloader Flintlock Black Powder

 

[atalon]

side lock percussion, I am not sure the air would do anything with the whole down the middle but maybe some powder might help move it.

The son of the person that owned it thought he was helping his dad clean it and put some oil down the barrel which is why he didn't just fire it to get it out himself so it may still be a muddy mess behind the bullet. Once I get my nipple wrench in I will find out.

I also ordered one of these so hopefully it is a larger diameter then the screw.

 

[Buck67]

I find that three sizes of ball puller work well. The smallest one might pull the ball, but it usually strips out instead. The next bigger size goes into the hole that was just stripped out. If that doesn't work then the biggest, lag bolt size, will pull the ball. Make sure that you have put some oil down the barrel to help the patch/ball combination slide out.