Any Of You Boys Shoot Muzzleloaders?

Discussion in 'Guns & Weapons' started by Faye Fox, Oct 17, 2019.

  1. Faye Fox

    Faye Fox Veteran Member
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    My favorite was my homemade .54 Hawken style, Green River barrel 1:66 twist, Cherry Corners lock, Bob Roller double set triggers. Here it is early 70's by the log cabin I was building. My workwomanship was not as good as professional gunsmiths, but it was very accurate with a round ball and 90 grs Pyrodex load.
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  2. Faye Fox

    Faye Fox Veteran Member
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    I made it myself early 1970's
    I sold it in the 1990's
    It was a fun winter project
    when I was living in the mountains
    Keep your powder dry,
    Faye
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    Last edited: Nov 5, 2019
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  3. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Faye Fox 1:66 rifling?? That's akin to one turn within the barrel, even less. .223-5.56 military runs from 7 to about 11. The "tighter" the rifling (more spin) the more energy is lost overcoming inertia to spin the bullet. Bullets typically may spin at over 100,000 revolutions per minute. Some jacketed bullets, unable to contain the centrifugal force, disintegrate in flight. Not good!

    Never used Pyrodex, though some say it's equivalence to Black Powder is exact. Only black powder weapon I ever shot was my 3" bore Civil War cannon, now long gone.
    Frank
     
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  4. Faye Fox

    Faye Fox Veteran Member
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    @Frank Sanoica The 1:66 twist is for a patched round soft lead ball. The barrel length was 34." I made it to the original Hawken .54 cal best I could. I had a friend that built muzzleloaders and cannons and like yourself a master machinist and also hobby blacksmith. He gave me the pattern and specs. and guided me through the process. Seating the breach perfectly was quite a process, but necessary for a safe gun. The Bob Rollers double set triggers were all machined, not cast like most. I later bought a lock from Roller and it was also machined from solid stock and a real beauty as were his triggers. I liked Pyrodex because it didn't corrode and foul up the barrel like black powder. Looking in the barrel it was a half turn for the 34" length just right to stabilize a round ball. A bullet would wobble wildly at this twist. It was very accurate. One of our shooting places had a 2 foot 1/2" thick steel round disc hanging with a small cable from a branch. It was adjusted so if you aimed at the branch it would hit the disc hanging below at 250 yards out. I used 120 grains powder and could hit it every time. With that load the ball was moving 1500 FPS so at 750 feet there was a half second delay from muzzle blast to clanger target ringing. It was such fun!
     
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  5. Cody Fousnaugh

    Cody Fousnaugh Supreme Member
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    Wow, Faye, it's been a long time since I've heard "boys" referring to men or guys. That's an old spaghetti Western term.
     
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  6. Faye Fox

    Faye Fox Veteran Member
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    Well, this rifle was built early 70's and I have always lived in the West (a few years in Texas) so I am an old western girl or gal, and I have been known to wear tops with spaghetti straps and enjoy Italian food, so that works for me. So have you or your wife ever shot a muzzleloader? When you move to Wyoming maybe go to one of their buckskin rendezvous. Imagine yourself dressed in heavy smoked buckskin shirt and pants and your wife in a light buckskin dress! I bet she could out shoot you with a muzzleloader. Probably throw the hawk better also. As a lover of western dress, you two need to go back in time and attend one of these awesome events. I think this one was in Green River, Wy. about 2013.
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    Last edited: Nov 6, 2019
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  7. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Faye Fox

    Keep going in this direction! Ballistics and firearms are a life-long thing with me!
    Frank
     
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  8. Faye Fox

    Faye Fox Veteran Member
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    @Frank Sanoica I see this thread is about your lifelong dreams and now with your approval, I will venture into some girl talk about muzzleloaders. I made this rifle in the early 1970s. It was all made with hand tools. Home carved maple stock with Green River round ball barrel, 1:66 twist, 34 5/8" length, 1" octagon, .54 caliber, custom cap breach I made from stock steel and hand threaded it. I seated it using Persian blue to get a perfect seal. That took a lot of patience but necessary so black powder (I always used Pyrodex) would not erode the seat. Threading the nipple was a precision job so the Cherry Corners lock hammer would strike it perfectly. The lock only required final polishing and the barrel needed crowning and polished after breach and sights were installed. I made my own sights. The double set triggers were custom machined by an old friend Bob Roller, an amazing machinist. I bought another set of triggers, a lock, and a barrel with breach fitted from Bob. I never finished that rife and sold it. Bob's machine work was the best ever.

    The lightest load I used was 60 grains and the heaviest was 120 grains. My normal load was 90 grains. For the patch cloth, I used duck cloth as the thickness was perfect. I always spit on the patch as was popular among the mountain men of old. The ball weight was about 231 grains of pure lead. The barrel was grooved at .011 deep with seven lands and grooves with 1:66 twist. I don't remember the ballistics at 100 yards with 90 grains, but you could hear the delay from muzzle blast till the ball hit the 1/2 steel 24" diameter clanger. My favorite shot was 250 yards with 120 grains Pyrodex on our mountain range. On a still day, I knew what branch above the clanger to aim at that would put the ball bullseye perfect. I sold that rifle a few years ago.
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  9. Hal Pollner

    Hal Pollner Veteran Member
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    Yeah, Faye...I have a .54 cal. "Great Plains" rifle, with dual-set triggers. I took it to the range a few times, then after seeing how much cleanup was required, I went back to my .223 cal. Remington 700 with scope, using ammo with SMOKELESS POWDER!

    The muzzleloaders are fun if you want to impress people with big clouds of white smoke, but I prefer seeing my target right after making the shot, not waiting for the smoke to clear.

    My Muzzleloader serves one purpose in my household: Being displayed above my Mantlepiece!

    Hal
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  10. Faye Fox

    Faye Fox Veteran Member
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    A better photo of my old homemade Hawken style mountain rife. I sold it several years ago.

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  11. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Faye Fox

    The only muzzle loader I ever owned was a 3-inch bore Civil War cannon, marked 1862 on the muzzle. Fired by a touch-hole, I have no picture of it, unfortunately. I made a wooden projectile for it (cannon stood in our basement, I was 20, living with my folks still.), used about 1/4 teaspoon SMOKELESS powder, rag wrapped around projectile, fired the length of the basement at the brick wall other end. Report not very loud, velocity slow enough to see the slug move through the air. Volume inside barrel, diameter of slug, no chance of detonation of the smokeless.\\

    Frank
     
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  12. Faye Fox

    Faye Fox Veteran Member
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    Bumping this up for Bruce E @Bruce Andrew :) Yeah, yeah, I know it isn't a dating site, but knowing Bruce like guns, I must make another pathetic attempt at seducing him hahaha ;) When bikini, low-cut tops, or scandalous shorty shorts profile photos are reviewed with apathy, an old widow girl, one such as myself, must resort to primitive rifle talk, where barrel length and caliber are of importance and my preference for a percussion lock over a flintlock due to flints having a higher rate of misfires, can be discussed. :rolleyes:

    ***This is all in fun, so don't get your undies in a 1:77 twist, relax. No call for a self-imposed wedgie***
     
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    Last edited: Aug 27, 2022
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  13. Bruce Andrew

    Bruce Andrew Very Well-Known Member
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    Wow, so you're a Gun-Babe too?? Shouldn't be too hard to seduce me, I'm a male slut.

    I built a BP handgun back in the mid- '70s, not sure what happened to it, I think I gave it to a buddy.

    Here's me shooting another buddy's Barrett semi-auto .50 BMG caliber, back around 2001:

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  14. Faye Fox

    Faye Fox Veteran Member
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  15. Bruce Andrew

    Bruce Andrew Very Well-Known Member
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