MidSouth Shooters SupplyLoad DataRotoMetals2Repackbox
Reloading EverythingLee PrecisionInline FabricationTitan Reloading
Wideners
Page 9 of 10 FirstFirst 12345678910 LastLast
Results 161 to 180 of 186

Thread: Buffalo Hunters casting bullets? Fact or fiction.

  1. #161
    In Remebrance


    Bret4207's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    St Lawrence Valley, NY
    Posts
    12,924
    Quote Originally Posted by sundog View Post
    Junior, interesting. Anyone know how ice was made in 1810? sundog
    Same way a lot of folks, Amish anyways, still do it up here. Hit the lake in January/February, saw the blocks, sink them in the ice house. Simple, hard work. Gotta love it.

  2. #162
    In Remebrance


    Bret4207's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    St Lawrence Valley, NY
    Posts
    12,924
    Quote Originally Posted by montana_charlie View Post
    We moved to Montana back in '76, and over the years have learned much about existence in a cold climate. One of those things is that...once our ground freezes, it never thaws out until around late April.

    It was about 15 years ago that we started keeping cattle. Our closest neighbor (Paul) is a native, and was raised on the place he now runs. And, it is from his herd of fancy-quality Polled Herefords that we buy our cows.
    When we bought our first set of heifers from him he had his doubts that this 'Air Force retiree', this 'guy from town', this 'transplanted Texan' could keep them alive long enough to make a calf crop the following summer...especially with a Montana winter to get through, first.
    I was gambling that the 10 years of experience I had picked up from working (off and on - a few days at a time) at a large ranch to the east would be enough to get me going.

    One day during our fourth or fifth year in cattle, Paul and I were out in the field, just chatting. The weather had just recently warmed up from a viciously cold spell. The chinook had been blowing hard for a few days, so all the snow was gone, and the temperature was up near 30, so (in the sunshine and all) it was pretty pleasant.

    Paul was looking at my biggest Angus bull when he asked if I had bulls fertility checked every spring. I was surprised by the question, as I had never felt the need for that test. When I said so, and asked why he mentioned it, he said, "Well, I notice that you don't keep straw spread in the field for him, and he's laying out there now on frozen ground. If his nuts are froze, he won't make many calves next summer..."

    As it happened, the animal had free access to a barn...which was kept bedded...and was laying outside because he wanted to, not because he had nowhere else to lay. But, I had never considered the fact that Paul had so subtly just taught me during that conversation.

    I have learned that when Paul asks a question that seems to come from left field, I should never blow it off as 'just conversation'. Most usually he has an important tip for me...and he's too much of a gentleman to just come out and tell me where I'm going wrong. On the other hand, if he sees me following a program he is not familiar with, he's willing to learn a new trick...even if it comes from someone less experienced than himself.

    Good neighbors are a treasure in any environment, but doubly valuable in a place where the weather can kill you (and your animals) if you are bothered by forgetfulness...or ignorance.
    CM
    Huh. Our cattle spend the whole winter outside and it gets down to -30 on a regular basis here. Never had a bull, stud, ram, buck or dog suffer from frozen....parts.

  3. #163
    In Remebrance


    Bret4207's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    St Lawrence Valley, NY
    Posts
    12,924
    Quote Originally Posted by waksupi View Post
    Hold on that one. I was a farrier for quite a few years, until my intelligence increased enough to stop. Even back then, "keg" shoes were available, that were cold fit, with no need for a forge. Some sort of small anvil and a good 4# hammer would be about all you needed, and you could get by with even less than that, assuming a couple rocks were available. I've did that several times back in the Bob Marshall. Pounded the nails with rocks too, along with doing the clenches. Kinda reminds a guy to take the proper tools next time.
    It always amuses me to see on tv, a blacksmith bending on a shoe, and then quenching it, before studying it. What da heck is he looking at? And why did he quench it? I never quenched a shoe I can remember. Do the forge work, and throw the first one on the ground, and go on to the next one. Let them cool, and be as soft as they will be. Quenching them hardens them, and gives less grip on stone.
    The only ones that needed forging were from bar stock for horses like saddlebreds, and those that would need a Memphis bar, skid plate, or something else out of the ordinary.
    Ric- Gotta question on horses footies. What in your opinion is the best cure for split hooves? My Percherons tend to all run vertical splits, not big wide ones, but enough to shove a fingernail in. Tried the burn at the top, cut wit a file at the top, etc. I figure it's a nutritional thing. They run bare foot year round on ground from mud to ledge rock.

    I guess our threads do wander a bit, eh?

  4. #164
    Moderator Emeritus / Trusted loob groove dealer

    waksupi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Somers, Montana, a quaint little drinking village,with a severe hunting and fishing problem.
    Posts
    19,340
    I can sure remember cattle with part of thier ears froze off. Shoulda wore thier muffs.
    The solid soft lead bullet is undoubtably the best and most satisfactory expanding bullet that has ever been designed. It invariably mushrooms perfectly, and never breaks up. With the metal base that is essential for velocities of 2000 f.s. and upwards to protect the naked base, these metal-based soft lead bullets are splendid.
    John Taylor - "African Rifles and Cartridges"

    Forget everything you know about loading jacketed bullets. This is a whole new ball game!


  5. #165
    Boolit Grand Master


    missionary5155's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Last trip to Arequipa... till April.
    Posts
    7,133
    This may already have been mentioned... But Buff hunters had access to WOOD. Down in the creek bottoms there STILL grows TREES. All ya need to do is gather up some dead fall, place it in your wagon and cast as needed. Buff hunters opperated out of personal camps that followed the GREAT herds. Buff hunters may sit on the same spot for a week or two. When moving they KNEW what they needed and planned their routes accordinly. The molds never got cold. It sits on the edge of the fire and does NOT get cold. Ever wonder why the old molds were all metal ??? No wood handles to catch fire.
    Does anyone read history ??? I am in Peru and have 5 old reprints about the Buff hunters... Use the library !

  6. #166
    In Remembrance
    montana_charlie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    West of Great Falls, Montana
    Posts
    8,414
    Quote Originally Posted by missionary5155 View Post
    Buff hunters had access to WOOD. Down in the creek bottoms there STILL grows TREES.
    Buff hunters opperated out of personal camps that followed the GREAT herds.
    And...even if the hunting party was so ignorant that they didn't know where the cricks were...they only had to follow the (thirsty) herd.
    CM
    Retired...TWICE. Now just raisin' cows and livin' on borrowed time.

  7. #167
    Boolit Mold
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Wonderful Wyoming
    Posts
    6
    This is a great thread.
    I wonder if silver can be melted and cast over a campfire ? Did the southwestern Indian silver smiths do it that way ? Copper I suppose would be possible, too ?

  8. #168
    Boolit Buddy Fixxah's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Peoples Republic of Massachusetts
    Posts
    230
    Quote Originally Posted by wills View Post
    This does not answer the question but is interesting.
    http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/reso...ve/buffalo.htm

    What a great read. Thanks for posting.
    Lighten up, life is too short.

  9. #169
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    2,377
    Quote Originally Posted by missionary5155 View Post
    Use the library !
    I did a search on line at home, didn't find much. took your advice and went to the library. searched on line with their computers, still didn't find much.

  10. #170
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Arkansas
    Posts
    752
    Copper and silver can be melted with charcoal and forced air although they are becomong reactive at those temps and need to be protected from the air. A wood fire would be very marginal. I have never tried it but have found evidence that both became liquid in house fires.

    Silver 960.6 deg C 1761 deg F
    Copper 1083 deg C 1981.4 deg F

    Obtaianable but not practiclal
    Jewelers and smiths started doing it to end the stone age without advanced technology.
    The man who invented the plow was not bored. He was hungry.

  11. #171
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    just outside Sulphur Springs in north east Texas
    Posts
    158
    Boys
    I enjoyed the thread.Cow chips do burn good.Never cast any boolits over it but think you could.
    God is good all the time

  12. #172
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    N W CO
    Posts
    187
    Chips don't burn on the other side of the pond because they are soggy wet with malt vineger

  13. #173
    Banned

    PatMarlin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    6,341
    Yuk Yuk

  14. #174
    Boolit Bub natty bumpo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Orange county and a cabin in the mountains
    Posts
    48
    Quote Originally Posted by Junior1942 View Post
    >In short, I genuinely believe that the casting of bullets around the campfire, using buffalo chips for fuel, is just another myth of the Old West.

    Wrong. See http://www.castbullet.com/hunting/bhunt.htm

    I used mostly pine cones, but buffalo chips would probably give more heat. It was actually easy to do on a small fire.
    I'm with you JR. Smelting lead over a fire , just about any kind of fire, would be a piece of cake in my opinion. With some well seasoned oak it will be quite easy and I have every intention of doing just that as soon as I can make it back up to the cabin. Within the week.

  15. #175
    Boolit Master Guesser's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    North Central Montana; across the wide Missouri
    Posts
    2,069
    Wow!!!! Raising the dead........from 2008; even!!

  16. #176
    Banned

    44man's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Posts
    22,705
    Yes, it was true. But molds were a *****. HOT handles.

  17. #177
    Boolit Grand Master


    Larry Gibson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Lake Havasu City, Arizona
    Posts
    21,299
    Even before the buff hunters Lewis and Clark had the black powder they took with them in lead "kegs" carefully calculated to cast the amount of ball needed for the powder contained there in. They also had arsenal supplied moulds for the arsenal supplied pre Model 1803 rifles. They cast the ball needed along the way. Many accounts of mountain men and buff hunters doing the same. I once cast, at a rendezvous in Bend, Oregon some 45 cal ball for my rifle in a Lyman cast iron pot on hot coal fire made with oak. Worked fine.

    Larry Gibson

  18. #178
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    B.C. Canada
    Posts
    2,719
    Quote Originally Posted by Guesser View Post
    Wow!!!! Raising the dead........from 2008; even!!
    Yes but it shows people are reading the old posts and that is a good thing.
    R.D.M.

  19. #179
    Boolit Grand Master GhostHawk's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Fargo ND
    Posts
    7,075
    I have to admit I had not seen this one.

    I also have to say that I have melted lead hot enough to cast boolits with a variety of woods, scrub, shrubs.

    To use just chips you might need a bit of breeze or a bellows/blow tube.

    Put the lead on to melt when you start eating supper. Time your done you can start pouring.

    I used to prefer to smelt down wheel weights outside. For one my trailer was small, LP gas was not cheap, and firewood was everywhere plentiful and free for the picking up. Second it left the oil stick outside. Third I did not have to worry where the hot clips landed. If they landed in the fire so be it. They got cleaned up along with the ashes before the next one.

    Don't need oak neither. Pine, cedar, hell poplar will do it if you have a good bed of coals.
    That is the only thing reallly needed. A good bed of coals and a little patience. A nice cold beer does not hurt anything either.

  20. #180
    Boolit Mold Three Steps's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Posts
    1

    Wood on the plains

    Quote Originally Posted by missionary5155 View Post
    This may already have been mentioned... But Buff hunters had access to WOOD. Down in the creek bottoms there STILL grows TREES. All ya need to do is gather up some dead fall, place it in your wagon and cast as needed. Buff hunters opperated out of personal camps that followed the GREAT herds. Buff hunters may sit on the same spot for a week or two. When moving they KNEW what they needed and planned their routes accordinly. The molds never got cold. It sits on the edge of the fire and does NOT get cold. Ever wonder why the old molds were all metal ??? No wood handles to catch fire.
    Does anyone read history ??? I am in Peru and have 5 old reprints about the Buff hunters... Use the library !
    I'm just reading this post 10 years late but you are right about the trees. I live 60 miles west of Amarillo right in the heart of the southern hunts. I have metal detected a buffalo hunter's camp that is a half mile from my house right by a small canyon with a spring. The canyon is full of cotton wood, walnut, willow, and other trees. I don't know how thick they were in the 1870's but the journals mention them. Mesquite bushes and trees are all over the flats. North of here it gets pretty flat with fewer canyons and springs but they are scattered throughout the Panhandle. The second largest canyon in the U.S. is just south of Amarillo. Anyway the artifacts included (8) 45 caliber paper patched fired slugs, several pistol bullets, 80 some Berdan primers (with a sewing needle that was used to clean flash holes?), 3/4 pound of spilled lead near the primers with indentions of wood where it was spilled in the fire on the larger pieces, and small square nails from packing crates. I have cast many a round ball on camp fires and now I will need to cast some Sharps bullets over cow chips for fun. It was 28 degrees today with 40 mile per hour wind. Will put that project off until green up.

Page 9 of 10 FirstFirst 12345678910 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check