Good reads on muzzleloading

[xcr440]

Going to the book store today. To pick up some books for my daughters birthday (1yo).
Thinking about picking up a few muzzleloader books. Heard the lyman muzzleloading book is a good one.

Anyone have any must reads?

[Boerrancher]

I firmly believe in starting kids out early on firearms, but don't you think that the Lyman muzzleloading hand book is a bit heavy reading for a 1 year old?

In all seriousness, the Lyman book is a good place to start. I read it and passed it on to a friend who did the same. Once you read the Lyman book, it will give you lots of avenues to pursue to improve on your ML skills. There is no magic spell that will work for every gun, every time. Each one of my MLs is as different as night and day from each other though they are all 50 cals. I have found that between what I read in the Lyman book, and what I learned from a few old timers I grew up around combined with the brilliance of the people who post here, buying more books was just a waist of money. Waksupi, has probably forgotten more about loading and shooting the ML than many of the people who write books on the subject ever knew. Buy the Lyman book if you can find it, and between it and this forum you will find everything you could ever want to know about loading and shooting the muzzleloader.

Best wishes,

Joe

[xcr440]

I firmly believe in starting kids out early on firearms, but don't you think that the Lyman muzzleloading hand book is a bit heavy reading for a 1 year old?



Joe

:-P
:groner:

Nice.

I have read alot on here before joining. Figure some reading material on top of this wouldn't hurt.

I have had my t/c hawken .50 perc for probley 13-14 years. Got it as a gift from my in-laws. I have shot it quite a bit over the years.
I actually lve shooting in over my smokless guns.
It is my go to gun.
I recently got a gm .50 LRH off eBay. So I have some shootin' to do to figure this new to me barrel.

[Boerrancher]

If you have been playing with MLs for 13-14 years, you have probably figured out a great deal of the do's and don'ts already. With a bit of luck the GM barrel will not be super finicky about what it likes, and you will fall into a ball, patch, lube, and powder charge combo that works with out too much effort, but the only way to find it is start shooting. I think the Lyman book will serve you well, and give you some other options you may have not tried or thought about.

Best wishes,

Joe

[waksupi]

The Muzzle Loading Cap Lock Rifle, by Ned Roberts

[Shooter]

The Muzzle Loading Cap Lock Rifle, by Ned Roberts

+1 Great book.

[bubba.50]

that green mountain long range hunter barrel has a 1 in 28 inch twist so it's goin' to want conicals or sabots instead of prb's. for what it's worth and have a good'en friend, bubba.

[mooman76]

Sam Fadala has put out a few good books on ML guns. He goes into depth pretty good and I enjoy going back an doing a reread to pick up on what I have forgotten about.

[xcr440]

I just purchased lyman black powder handbook 2nd edition, Sam fadalas muzzleloading notebook and the muzzleloading cap lock rifle.

I'll be busy for awhile.

[RhodeHunter]

I'm reading George Nonte's Black Powder Guide, second edition, which is from the State's library system.

They had one copy of Ned Roberts' book, but they lost it, so I will have to purchase it online if I want to read that one.

Have read Fadala's.

The chapters in this Nonte book are:

1 History of Black Powder
2 Yesterday's Guns for Today
3 Lock Types and Ignition Systems
4 Selection, Repair and Maintenance
5 Shooting the Caplock Rifled Musket
6 Shooting the Caplock Round Ball Rifle
7 Shooting the Caplock Revolver
8 Shooting the Slug Gun
9 Shooting the Scattergun
10 Bullets and Bullet Making
11 Sights
12 Accessories
13 So You Want to Build Your Own Black Powder Gun
14 Build a Caplock Pistol
15 Cleaning and Preservation
16 Competition and Games
17 Early Black Powder Breech Loaders and Cartridge Guns
18 Cannon
19 Restoration and Refinishing
20 Echoes of the Past
21 Cartridge Gun Replicas
22 Performance of Modern Black Powder
23 At Last, a Black Powder Substitute

and Appendixes

[RhodeHunter]

This is my favorite passage from Nonte's book:

-Page 69: (Shooting the Rifled Musket) "As for power, don't fret. On paper that big Minie develops less than 1000 fps of energy at the muzzle. But it's performance is much more impressive than that figure suggests. It hits like the flat of an axe swung by a lumberjack. Any deer hit squarely with it will either plow dirt with his nose or die of pneumonia from the wind going through that huge hole in his hide."

..but he does list some dangerous loads, for example:

-Page 71: (Shooting the Caplock Round Ball Rifle) "The round-ball rifle drives its bullet faster than any other muzzle loader and uses considerable power to do so. A Hawken .52 or .53 caliber might well consider 200 grains of FFg or FFFg powder a perfectly normal full-charge diet. A .40 caliber rifle with 40-inch barrel can produce well over 2400 fps with its 95-97 grain patched ball, using 120 grains of FFFg powder."

..that's DOUBLE the MAX load listed in the manual for my Lyman .54

[451 Pete]

RhodeHunter,
You are correct that Nonte's book has some loadings listed that can be dangerous. In an otherwise very informational book he gives loads that would be closer to proof test loads than something of more practical use for hunting or target shooting. If load information is what you are looking for it is best to go with the manufacturers recommended load or if that information is not available a load for a similar rifle from one of the Black Powder Loading Manuals by Fadala.

Just my thoughts .... Pete

[waksupi]

I have said for years that Nonte is an idiot when it comes to recommending loads, and wish every copy of that book was burned.

[oldseventy72]

I have said for years that Nonte is an idiot when it comes to recommending loads, and wish every copy of that book was burned.

do you know of or is there a good book on loading plastic shot shells with BP,? thanks

[stubshaft]

The Muzzle Loading Cap Lock Rifle, by Ned Roberts

A must have +2.

[451 Pete]

oldseventy72:

Try this link for BP in shotshells and reloading them http://www.tbullock.com/bpsg.html

hope this helps .... Pete

[oldseventy72]

oldseventy72:

Try this link for BP in shotshells and reloading them http://www.tbullock.com/bpsg.html

hope this helps .... Pete

thanks, I've done all his loads,I don't want to waste any shot as we had to buy it.. We have plenty of lead and molds for balls and buck,I'm looking for something written or some proven good loads for different buckshot. right now I have a load to try today with five 395 balls and 75grns of BP.