Digging new rabbit hole-ML Slug gun

[Rockingkj]

Local gunshow this weekend. Found this rifle this morning. Lester Cox built.36 slug gun. Made in 1969. Bore is pristine. False muzzle and bullet starter. Any advice in feeding/shooting 325929325930325931325932325933is welcome. Need a Unertl or similar scope. Unfortunately no slug gun competition in Nebraska to tap local knowledge. Please share what you know about this subject. Thanks.

[Nobade]

Neat! Nice find. The false muzzle looks like it is set up to use a cross patch. Two thin strips of paper that fit in the cut out slots. The bullet will depend on the twist rate of the rifling and what thickness of paper you choose to use. That should be a fun learning experience, hope you can find a nice scope for it as they are getting harder and harder to come by.

[Rockingkj]

Been searching and found limited information so far. Nobade is right the false muzzle is made for cross paper patch. The challenge of correct bullet has me head scratching. Seems a smooth sided bullet is what’s called for. The starter is stamped .357 cal. So does that mean the bullet should be .357 and paper patched? Or patched to .357? Lester Cox likely had very specific instructions for the owner when he built the rifle. That information is lost in the sands of time.

[MrWolf]

I had never heard the term before so did a bit of digging. I did run across this. No idea if it helps but might lead you somewhere. Copy of the tect and a link follows. Good luck.
Ron

Slug Gun Shooting Tips

by Phil Orem

Back in the 1940's and early 1950's, there was a very active and skilled gunsmith and shooter who worked and shot slug guns. His name was Lester Cox. I have a picture of Lester receiving the slug gun aggregate medal at the 1950 Friendship National Championship matches. He died of a heart attack a few years later, shortly after returning home from another Friendship shoot.

Lester made numerous slug guns and left a very important set of instructions on building them. I believe he probably had intended to have these published, but didn't get to it. I have a set of these instructions, eleven pages, and I have donated a copy to the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association library so that it will be available to interested parties to read and perhaps to copy. I will summarize some of the important parts of the article so that those that may be interested will know what material it contains.

At the heading of this article there is hand written note as follows: "I try and show how I make and match my bullets to the bore of the rifle I intend to use them in; also how I make and install the false muzzles used on them."

First he presents a table that gives length of bullet, bore diameter, and tangent of twist to bore. The above is to be used with one or more grains of powder to 5 grains of lead. He then gives another table that is the angle of twist required for the following bullets length to bore size. He then gives the aperture size of the front sight when using iron sights at 50, 100, and 200 yards.

The ratio of powder to lead for slug rifles is as follows:

PowderLeadApproximate Velocity171247 feet per second161340 feet per second151475 feet per second141650 feet per second

Most slug rifles will use around 1 to 5 or 1 to 6, or somewhere in between.

Mention is made of using the two piece bullet that is hard on the front portion and pure lead on the rear section. The best composition for the hard nose end is given as a melted mixture of 2 pounds of linotype mental (unused), 1 pound pure lead, and 1 ounce pure block tin.

Next are complete instructions for making and installing a false muzzle. This is very complicated and extensive instruction and anyone interested should study the complete instructions. A diagram of the two piece bullet and instructions for making both a bullet mold and swage are included, as are the steps in making the half round reamer that is required in order to make the bullet mold and swage. These instructions are very complete and are too extensive to be included here. Next, instructions are given for making the bullet starter. Complete instructions are given for making the bullet mold and the two piece hard lead and pure lead parts and the swaging of these two parts together to form the finished bullet. Finally, a sketch is given of the finished bullet starter and a description of all of its parts.

This article is a brief summarization of the complete article and those interested should see it at the NMLRA library and perhaps copy it. It is further suggested that the reader read a copy of "The Improved American Rifle" by Jon A. Chapman . This book is also in NMLRA library.
https://www.muzzleblasts.com/Library.MBO/V2N4.MBO/Articles.V2N4.MBO/A4.V2N4.MBO.shtml

[Woodnbow]

Wow! What a find!!

I would beg borrow or steal a copy of The Muzzleloading Caplock Rifle written by Ned H. Roberts. I believe your rifle would take a .357” bullet including the patch. Yes, it would be smooth sided and likely sized .350” or .351” before loading. You will want to check the bore size with pin gauges and verify the rate of twist of course but then maybe get in touch with Tom at Accurate Molds and have him make a mold for you. He can help you determine the proper paper patched bullet. It may well look something like this example, and of course he can adjust dimensions as needed. That’s a beauty of a rifle you’ll enjoy learning to work with it!325934

In the post above the ratios should be formatted as follows,

“PowderLeadApproximate Velocity1:7 1247 feet per second1:6 1340 feet per second1:5 1475 feet per second1:4 1650 feet per second” those would be approximate numbers only by weight.

[Rockingkj]

I would beg borrow or steal a copy of The Muzzleloading Caplock Rifle written by Ned H. Roberts. I believe your rifle would take a .357” bullet including the patch. Yes, it would be smooth sided and likely sized .350” or .351” before loading. You will want to check the bore size with pin gauges and verify the rate of twist of course but then maybe get in touch with Tom at Accurate Molds and have him make a mold for you. He can help you determine the proper paper patched bullet. It may well look something like this example, and of course he can adjust dimensions as needed. That’s a beauty of a rifle you’ll enjoy learning to work with it!325934

I have Roberts book. Read it multiple times and reviewed parts last night. This rifle has scope blocks but also is tapped for iron sights. Anyone have a Cox rifle? And can post pics of the sights. This rifle is heavy but is much lighter than what have found on current slug guns. This one could be shot offhand and not be uncomfortable.

[Woodnbow]

Nice. Steve Earle makes scope and sight blocks. I’ve used them to mount period correct Redfield sights, both front and rear. Sometimes you can find them on ebay, Gunbroker or others. Williams foresights can fit some of the bases.

http://www.steveearleproducts.com/scopeblocks.html

[Rockingkj]

Has 1-15 twist barrel. Ordinary .36 cleaning jag with patch will not go in.

[waksupi]

Has 1-15 twist barrel. Ordinary .36 cleaning jag with patch will not go in.

You might get one of the small patch pullers. Sharpen the end a bit, and use tow or shredded rope
for cleaning.

https://muzzle-loaders.com/collections/muzzleloader-jags/products/muzzle-loaders-patch-puller-32-cal-mz1322

I use tow for cleaning all the time now, works well. Get some from Ebay, it lasts a long time.

[Rockingkj]

Thanks. Going to be baby steps to get ready to shoot this rifle. Suitable bullet, sights. either Unertl style scope or iron sights of some kind. Found this pic of a Cox rifle and adjustable rear sight.325955

[Rockingkj]

Had some cast .357 pistol bullets. Took the false muzzle off and “seated” a bullet through it. Resulted in a slug engraving by rifling that measured.357. So looks like if I could come up with a .350 paper patch bullet would be in shooting business.