Let's talk about our Muzzleloaders

[OlSmokePole]

Hi folks, I'm a new member here. I like all guns, and my favorite of all is, as my username says, an old smoke pole. Muzzleloaders. I own a .45 caliber Kentucky rifle, percussion, 42 inch barrel. I like em long. Although recently I've been wanting a percussion revolver, maybe a pietta 1851 navy, that's on the cheaper end. I would *really* like a walker though. Bit more than I'd like to spend for a while though.

Anyway! Let's hear about and maybe even see those ol' smokepoles!

 

[Bond007]

Hey, glad to have you! That Kentucky rifle sounds awesome and hose long barrels just have a certain feel. But those percussion revolvers? They're like potato chips, you can't have just one

 

[Tom L]

Shooting buddy just bought a kit of a sidearm. I think he's having a blast putting it together. More fun to follow I'm sure.

 

[OlSmokePole]

Hey, glad to have you! That Kentucky rifle sounds awesome and hose long barrels just have a certain feel. But those percussion revolvers? They're like potato chips, you can't have just one

It's *usually* awesome. My brother had given me some traditions brand "foaming bore cleaner" at Christmas time and I used it after last time I shot, about 12ish days ago. NEVER AGAIN. The can says it evaporates... It doesn't. I had used it, ran patches down the barrel, and put the gun away. Today when I went out shooting with my neighbor, the gun would fire caps but not the powder charge. We ended up using my ball puller for the first time and after some scraping, found that the powder had turned into a paste because of the residual cleaner in the barrel. I ended up removing the barrel, drum, and nipple, and rinsing them all with very hot water to get all the powder cleaned out. Now I'm mad because I didn't even get to shoot it today and it's dark now.

 

[white eagle]

I have a 54 cal Hawken and a inline 40 cal that I shoot

 

[Yoopper]

I cut my teeth on black powder. When I was 10, my dad bought me a smooth bore 28 gauge through the NRA. I shot everything out of that shotgun, including pieces of lead, and beach sand. For round balls, I used a round flashlight bulb to make holes in damp sand and filled them up with lead. Sizing these blobs of lead was done with a hammer until they fit the barrel. MOA these balls weren’t, but they made big holes in whatever they hit.

 

[OlSmokePole]

I cut my teeth on black powder. When I was 10, my dad bought me a smooth bore 28 gauge through the NRA. I shot everything out of that shotgun, including pieces of lead, and beach sand. For round balls, I used a round flashlight bulb to make holes in damp sand and filled them up with lead. Sizing these blobs of lead was done with a hammer until they fit the barrel. MOA these balls weren’t, but they made big holes in whatever they hit.

Since making this post I actually bought a shotgun, a 16 gauge side by side with Damascus, made in Belgium between 1853 and 1877. I ordered a set of locks for it because it didn't come with any, and I refinished the stock and cleaned up all the metal parts, and I got to use my lathe to make the missing tang screw. I'm still waiting on those locks, and as long as they fit properly like they're supposed to then I can order my shooting supplies from track of the wolf, except shot, I'll get that from midway probably. 25 pound bag of shot should be about 400 one ounce loads.