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View Full Version : I forgot how much fun they are.



Ghugly
01-26-2008, 07:46 AM
I have an H&R Huntsman .58 that I got back in the early 70's that I hadn't shot in a long, long time. I managed to aquire a box of musket caps and about 4lbs of single F Pyrodex in a trade, so I put a musket cap nipple on the Huntsman, cast a couple of hundred balls and took it out to the range with a can of Crisco and a bunch of patches. The single F was old, course, nasty, and I think the wrong powder all around. Fortunately a buddy of mine went along and had the good sense to bring along a pound of FFF Goex. I didn't want to shoot up all his powder so I tried 20g of FFF topped off with 80g of the nasty single F. Worked like a champ. Burned clean, shot as accurate as I remember it ever shooting, and the shock wave was impressive as hell. I was having a great time, and so was my buddy, when my kid walked over. I asked him if he'd like to give it a try and he said, "sure, I don't think I can do any worse than you guys are." (smart ass). Anyway, I told him that it was shooting a bit high and he said, "OK." So he proceeded to cut the X out of the Bullseye at 50 yards ( and I mean dead perfect center), shrugged and said, "seems ok to me," and handed me back the gun. Of course, I couldn't get him to shoot it again for love nor money (he's no fool). I'd forgotten how much fun those things are. The wide eyed shocked stares of the other guys on the range and the "thumbs up" after I fired the first round out of it was priceless.

Buckshot
01-27-2008, 05:34 AM
..............Something special about that big throated thunderous 'BOOM" and the cloud of smoke. I've noticed many times at the range when someone touches off an old musket, everyone turns their heads to look.

...............Buckshot

hpdrifter
01-27-2008, 12:09 PM
Kinda makes you wonder why we put up with fooling with brass and having to decide what white powder we use.

northmn
01-28-2008, 01:38 PM
Reading these posts has done the same for me. Don't know why I quit doing it as much as I used to. Would occaisonally take a flinter of cap gun out hunting, but got involved in archery and modern guns. Maybe burned out at competition shooting and club politics. Its fun to talk BP, and to stat rebuilding them again.

Northmn