Idiots guide to muzzle loading

[DeanWinchester]

With my new H&R rifle coming in soon, I was thinking of buying a muzzle loader barrel for it. Problem is, you can write everything I know about front stuffers on a round ball with a wide tip marker.


Any recommended reading for the truly ignorant? I know which end to shove a boolit in.....but that's about it.

[bubba.50]

you can sign up over at www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb or www.traditionalmuzzleloadingcheap.com and learn more about muzzleloading than you ever thought there was to know. luck & have a good'en, bubba.

[Theditchman]

go on youtube and look at videos and you will get a good idea...come back to this site to refine your knowledge

[Zymurgy50]

Powder first!!!! Then the bullet!!!
DO NOT ask me how many times I have had to learn that...................................

[nagantguy]

When you've figured out enough to shoot it, clean it and then clean it again then have one or more of your front stuffing buddies go over it and tell ya what you missed. Not really that bad once you get the hang of it, my first front stuffer mis hap at 14 or so taught me to clean em like Jesus was coming to dinner. If you've cleaned a lot of mil surp corrosive primer salts then you've got a good head start. Also don't make the mistake I made for a time and tryed to make a smoke pole into a 300 yard magnum. They will kill at 300 and over but don't let getting there ruin your fun, you being a cast boolit head you get the large chunk of lead at modest fps kill just as good now as it did 200 years ago.

[Good Cheer]

you can sign up over at www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb or www.traditionalmuzzleloadingcheap.com and learn more about muzzleloading than you ever thought there was to know. luck & have a good'en, bubba.

What he said.

[tigweldit]

What Zymurgy50 said. Time after time. I still have to learn that.

[Maven]

How about this, Dean? http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Black...owder+shooting

[w0fms]

Or don't worry about it. If you have a modern inline.. and use modern powder substitutes, it is pretty simple.. Certainly easier than metallic cartridge reloading or shotshell reloading is.

I was a bit sheepish the first time, but I started off with my 45 ACP 230 gr "GI Ball" cast in on-sale from Midway Hornady Sabots at a full, (90 gr) but not "magnum" load in my cheap CVA Wolf. Tack driver with that load. Really was impressed. I decided I liked Muzzleloaders at that point..

I bought it for practice for the kids YHEC. Found they shot 30gr and a patched 50 cal ball (out of a Hawken, but the inline is still good enough practice). The only difference, really is that it wasn't so much a tack driver anymore, but was still accurate enough.. and that I didn't have to clean it quite so much.

With 777 anyway, it's not much worse than cleaning up a Mosin-Nagant. On the modern inlines, I pull the breech plug out more than I clean the bore when target shooting and clean it.. but that mainly is because I'm too cheap to pay 4x as much for special "muzzleloading" 209 primers.. and the slightly hotter shotgun primers seem to foul up the plug a little sooner...

I suppose it does matter what you are shooting though. If it's an inline.. well.. just go out and shoot it with loads okay in the manual.

[725]

Sam Fadalla (sp?) wrote a book a long time ago about introduction into MLing. Very fun read. Look for some old books on the subject. Of course, ask here about anything at all. One of these guys will have the correct answer.

[longbow]

The Lyman Black Powder Handbook is a pretty good reference too.

If you plan on HB boolits and BP substitutes life will be pretty easy. If you go patched round ball then a little tougher.

What caliber muzzleloading barrel?

Many years ago I got an H&R Huntsman in .58 cal. and it shot pretty well. I used real BP and minies mostly. Accurate and easy to clean... and tough! I was young and foolish and tended towards heavy loads but it ate up everything and came back for more. Not recommending overloading by any means, just saying it is a strong action and barrel.

Hodgdon used to put out a muzzleloading guide that gave typical BP and Pyrodex load data. I have one so if you want starting loads let me know and I will post or PM info.

You should have fun with that one.

While mine shot well I am too much of a traditionalist and wound up selling it to go back to a side lock. Nothing wrong with the gun though.

Longbow

[OverMax]

I tell those who are considering a B/P rifle purchase. Go to different business place's and try shouldering them all before buying one. Traditional & inline. Don't let some counter person talk you into a purchase. {your just window shopping for the time being} When a rifle fits you well and its barrel sights are easily used. (That's the one for you.) 50-cal is a good starter barrel and the easiest to find components for. You'll be pleased with its performance. Target practicing or hunting. 50-cal will get the job done. No doubt about it. Good Luck with your venture into the World of B/Powder weaponry. Next stop. The Dark Side. (Black Powder// the making of.)

[Dryball]

There are only 3 words that you have to remember...powder, patch, ball. Remember those three words and don't sweat the small stuff.

[richhodg66]

I have killed more deer with a Traditional Hawken my dad gave me about 16 years ago than any other rifle I have. We have a nice muzzle loader season here and I wanted to take advantage of it. I had shot muzzle loaders as a kid, Dad was really into them at one time, so I had some institutional knowledge, but the learning curve was still steep.

For starters, you can almost bank on the fact that it's gonna rain the first few days of our season and traditional ones get ornery in wet weather. I had problems with misfires until I read an article in my Hogdon reloading manual (I think Fadala wrote it) about how to load and weather proof one and I have sat on stands with that rifle in driving rains since then and not had hangfires or misfires with it.

First, make sure it is clean and dry, point the muzzle at some loose grass or something and then bust several caps while watching the muzzle to make sure fire is getting through. When you pour your powder down, hold the muzzle up and tap the rifle with your ball starter to make sure the loose powder gets all the way down and fills in right up to the nipple.

I use big conicals lubed with Bore Butter and always worried about huntig in war weather that it would melt and contaminate the charge, so I put about a one inch square of Seran wrap between the bullet and the charge. It doesn't affect accuracy and gets burned up completely. If I know it's going to rain, I'll usually rubber band a small piece of Seran wrap obver the muzzle to keep water out (do this in such a way that it doesn't interfere with you seeing the front sight).

I replaced the stock nipple on my rifle with a Hot HSot nipple that had a bigger aperture and is supposed to deliver more fire. I also found some things CVA sells that are simply some small neoprene tubing cut about 1/8" long that slide over the cap while it's on the nipple to kind of seal out water, again, these have never hindered the hammer from setting off a cap on my rifle.

I try to carry a cloth or something to hold over the lock of the ifle while I'm sitting if it's likely to rain, just as an added measure to keep things dry.

The rifle is an Investarms, Cabela's now imports them and calls it theirs. I can vouch for it being a good choice and I have killed several deer with it, including the three biggest bucks I have using the Lyman Plains Bullet (good bullet for any quick twist .50) and 100 grains of Pyrodex RS. That rifle comes in two vaieties, one wth nice brass hardware and one that is matte and has a recoil pad (mine). They seem kind of pricy at Cabelas, but I see them often used for not very much.

By the way, inlines are cool too, I've used one with my own cast .44 bullets and loose powder, never tried the pellets. Mine is set up to iuse musket caps. It's a cheapie, but it shoots true and is absolutely dead reliable.

[quilbilly]

Keep it clean. Invest in a soup pot of your own so you can clean your rifle with hot water in the kitchen without irritating your wife by using her soup pot. Wipe down the area in the kitchen where you get that carbon filled cleaning water on the sink so that your wife won't have to supervise. Your wife will be happy, your rifle will shoot better plus last longer and you will be happy because your wife is happy.

[waksupi]

I have found that cleaning with just cold water works best. Hot water seems to actually set the fouling harder.

[DeanWinchester]

Is there any validity to Lees claim that their REAL boolit reduces fouling dramatically?

[richhodg66]

I never did much of a side by side comparison, but the REALs in a .45 Kentucky pistol shot as well as patched round ball for me and are a lot easier to load.

[mooman76]

Is there any validity to Lees claim that their REAL boolit reduces fouling dramatically?

I don't know if they really cut fouling down or not but it would seam when you load the next one, they kind of scrape the fouling down the barrel so it's shot out.

[mooman76]

Sam Fadalla (sp?) wrote a book a long time ago about introduction into MLing. Very fun read. Look for some old books on the subject. Of course, ask here about anything at all. One of these guys will have the correct answer.

He wrote a few books on it. That's how I got started.