So my muzzle loader of a different flavor!

[tacklebury]

I've been itching for some time to do this and finally got all my ducks in a row and have succeeded. Bear with me as it's a bit long and I'll try to detail a bit. As an introduction, I've been wanting to make a .22 caliber muzzle loader, but at the same time, I really thought why make a new gun just for this, there's got to be a way to make a .22 work for muzzle loading easily. As a platform for my project, I decided to use my Marlin 70P "Papoose" since it has an easy to access barrel end and breaks down into a nice case:



Big issue is that I still want to be able to use it with std. .22 LR ammo as well. So with a bit of research and testing I came up with the following tap:



Which is the correct tap size to directly tap the chamber of a .22 rimfire and small enough thread to avoid having brass extruding itself into the threads when shooting regular ammo. Here's the nipple:



Sorry, phone doesn't do well with the close-up, so later I'll try to take some better pics. Anyway, I ran the tap into the chamber of the Papoose barrel about 3/8":



Once this was done, I made sure there were no burrs with a round file and then went out and shot up a clip of ammo... Good to go so far! No apparent effect on the ammunition extraction. 8) So now I thread in the nipple with a tiny bit of breechplug grease that I use on my Muzzle loaders:



Then I re-attach the barrel to the receiver of the Papoose:



Finally, I use my smallest Lee Dipper (.3cc) to measure out some Goex ffffg:



For ammo, I've picked up two things, first off round lead BB's made by Gamo, but they are too loose and roll out the bore, so I use thermal recept paper to create a wad. Once the balls are started, I rip off the tail and ram it down.

[tacklebury]

I have picked up some 30gr. NAA CBB style bullets too, but haven't had a chance to test with them yet:



So finally, I load up my brass cap dispenser with Remington #11 caps and step out on the back porch with the breech locked back in it's retaining divet:





Anyway, I am still working on the bolt release mechanism, but basically, It acts as the hammer and fires the cap. I have drilled a small hole in the retaining divet on the left of the frame and I'm making a spring clip, which can be snapped on when wanting to do the muzzle loading:



Rifle shot pretty close to POA, but it's a rainy day here and didn't have much time to set up paper and such. Will post back more when I can put some on paper too. 8) I was simply letting the bolt go manually today. 8)

[coopieclan]

W0W,
You have somethin' there.

[tacklebury]

Well, I got out to my Dad's today and shot it quite a bit more. Does really well. I haven't finished the thumb firing mechanism yet, so all these are

still just manually holding open the bolt. 8) I had dad take some videos documenting it's firing etc. on my phone. He did ok and I got 3 usable ones

anyway. hehe Not bad since he's almost 70 and hates techy stuff. Below are links to the 3 You-Tube videos for you to watch if you want to see her

in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJAwvttpWzE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_A_M3TO9i0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In3CcM2hFTc


I also got picks of a couple of the groups I shot today on paper plates. I forgot to take my dirty bird targets along. 8(

First one here is at 15 yards using the .22 Round ball pellets and thermal receipt paper wad:




Second one is at 15 yards using the 30 gr. NAA CBB bullets:



The first three shots grouped right around the bullseye on this one, then the last two flew to the right and almost one holed. I'm thinking that the

microgroove rifling liked these, but wanted to be cleaned after a 3-shot. The Round balls didn't seem to care how many I shot, but weren't too

consistent in comparison.


So anyway, hope you guys enjoy watching and seeing this. I'm entering phase two of my testing with this concept, so hopefully, I'll have some more

interesting stuff to report on this in the next few weeks.

[tacklebury]

I have one small request if anyone is interested. I'd like to proof this concept using a std. .22 cal rifle mold. I will in time buy some molds to try, but it'll be a while before this can become a reality. If anyone has some .22 molded bullets and would send me 10 or so, I can test each mold out see about groups and figure out which ones will stabilize with the microgroove rifling. Anyone who'd be willing to help shoot me a pm with the Mold maker and cherry number. That way I am not getting lots of duplicates. If we find some that work well, I'll be sure to post the data here too.

[Erich]

Wow! What a neat thread/idea! Thank you for sharing.

[tacklebury]

Well one quick update so far. Cornbelt a.k.a. Tim was kind enough to send me something I'd never heard of in the form of Daisy VL .22 caseless ammo. Apparently, this was used in a firearm Daisy designed in the 60's and fired .22 cal bullets without a case using compressed air heat to set off the charge. Kind of a neat concept. Anyway, the idea died and here's a picture of some of this now defunct ammo:





Tim apparently bought some mistakenly years ago and thought it might work in my .22 Marlin Muzzle loader and work it did! It worked perfectly with no misfires or other issues. Unfortunately, I still haven't finished my thumb release bolt spring, so I am still dropping the hammer, so to speak, in a manual manner and tonight I had only 20 or so minutes when I finally made it to the range and got set up. Thus, I have only one group that wasn't that stellar. The wind was about 25 mph today also, and kept spinning my target, so sometimes, the bullets were slicing into it at about 45 to 60 degrees. Ah well, I was still pretty happy to see how nicely they loaded and all. Thinking later, I might wet some ffffg powder with a water & dextrose binder and try making some little charges like this in a board with a dowel rod to push out the finished caseless round. Thanks so much for contributing to my research Tim, was a blast to shoot em. I will try the other pellets also at some point, but didn't have time today. 8( Anyway, here's the target from 25 yards: