BACO Bore Wipes

[Captain*Kirk]

That could have been really ugly! Glad it all worked out for you. I can't believe you hauled that many (priceless!) Ballards all the way to Happenz. But you have a legacy of outstanding videos out there. I watched all the Ballard ones Friday night and learned a bunch. Thanks for sharing all that info with the world!

[marlinman93]

That could have been really ugly! Glad it all worked out for you. I can't believe you hauled that many (priceless!) Ballards all the way to Happenz. But you have a legacy of outstanding videos out there. I watched all the Ballard ones Friday night and learned a bunch. Thanks for sharing all that info with the world!

Thank you. I actually never thought much about hauling them a day's drive until the breakdown. Then I suddenly realized it wasn't the best choice to take the mountain route with places that had no cell service. I could have gone another route that was longer, but about the same driving time, and not been on all those windy mountain roads.
Glad you enjoyed the videos. They're all done by one guy in our group, and often we're not even aware he's filming us. He does a great job of documenting all of the Happenz we've done from the first year forward to year ten.

[Captain*Kirk]

As for me, I'm sorry I wasn't aware of you guys and your YT channel until this year. I bought my Pedersoli Sharps from a friend about 4 years ago and finally decided it was time to start shooting it. I discovered SBLS while watching Sharps vids and figuring what loads to work up for it. I've developed two so far; the .45-70 535 Postell bullet over 61gr of Grafs 2F, and the 405gr bullet over the same. This is my first venture into BPCR and I'm hooked!

[marlinman93]

As for me, I'm sorry I wasn't aware of you guys and your YT channel until this year. I bought my Pedersoli Sharps from a friend about 4 years ago and finally decided it was time to start shooting it. I discovered SBLS while watching Sharps vids and figuring what loads to work up for it. I've developed two so far; the .45-70 535 Postell bullet over 61gr of Grafs 2F, and the 405gr bullet over the same. This is my first venture into BPCR and I'm hooked!

I've always been a smokeless powder shooter, and only ventured into BP with a Thompson Renegade I owned and shot in our ML matches. I also have a Vincent half stock built by Ron Scott in .38, but rarely shoot it.
So I've shot long range with mild smokeless loads, but now I want to shoot with the BPCR and BPTR guys at our range. I'm working up a .45-70 load for my Ballard #4 Perfection in this caliber. It's a first year gun, with a 34" half octagon barrel, and the first Ballard I ever bought. It was a $250 wreck that had a great forged action, but ruined barrel and stocks. I had a friend rebarrel it in the same contour and length, using a new Green Mountain 1:18" twist barrel, and I built new stocks for it. I rust blued the barrel, and had the guys at Ballard rifle color case the receiver and buttplate.
The buttplate is a issue, and I may switch to my Hepburn for that reason. It's got the early Brown Mfg. buttplate, which is a deep crescent, and those pointed ends beat me up pretty badly, even with my PAST recoil pad on my shoulder. My load is 64.0 grs. of Old Ensford 2fg, with a 526 gr. Paul Jones mold bullet. It's accurate, but I think a more comfortable buttplate would help me shoot better. My Hepburn is a checkered steel shotgun style buttplate. The gun is lighter, but more comfortable to shoot with the buttplate it has. Think I rebuilt this about 40 years ago?

[Captain*Kirk]

Wow! That is sweet! Gotta love the old originals!
I also load smokeless as well. Lots of it. I have a Browning Hi Wall in .45/70 that I only shoot smokeless rounds out of; 405gr jacketed SP bullets over various powders. I notice a lot of you SBLS guys like Unique; I use it in many loadings but never tried it in a rifle cartridge other than .44-40 which I load for my Winchester '66...and frankly, it's more of a pistol cart for a rifle, like my .45 Colt loads. When I bought the Sharps I made my mind up to shoot BPCR out of it and don't regret it. It's a hoot!

[marlinman93]

Yes, a number of the guys enjoy Unique, as i do also. But I don't use it much on larger rifle cases, even though it does shoot well for those who do. I use a fair amount of 2400, and even more 4198 for big cases.

[Captain*Kirk]

I've used IMR 4320 and 4895 with 405gr jacketed bullets. I suppose you are using cast boolits and gas checks on your smokeless loads? 4895 seems like the load I will stick with for smokeless rounds out of the Hi Wall, but for the Sharps I'll stick with cast boolits and black powder for the time being. I really enjoyed seeing a portion of your collection on the videos and the photos in this thread. Thanks for sharing them! I can only imagine what else you've got tucked away!
Just curious; did you find most of your Ballards local, or did you have to deal with the sharks on the auction sites?

[marlinman93]

I've used IMR 4320 and 4895 with 405gr jacketed bullets. I suppose you are using cast boolits and gas checks on your smokeless loads? 4895 seems like the load I will stick with for smokeless rounds out of the Hi Wall, but for the Sharps I'll stick with cast boolits and black powder for the time being. I really enjoyed seeing a portion of your collection on the videos and the photos in this thread. Thanks for sharing them! I can only imagine what else you've got tucked away!
Just curious; did you find most of your Ballards local, or did you have to deal with the sharks on the auction sites?

I don't shoot any jacketed bullets, and very little gas check bullets either. Plain base cast is my preference, and that's 99%+ of what goes down my barrels.
I've only bought one Ballard online, and that was off the old Auction Arms before it changed names. And it was a "buy it now" that was priced so cheap it was well worth the risk of buying without an examination. A Zettler Bros. Ballard #6 Schuetzen, with Stevens scope, and mounted in a pair of very rare HM Pope scope rings! It's a .22 Short barrel, and threaded off center on the shank to allow the CF firing pin to strike the .22 rim.
My other Ballard rifles have mostly come from out of town gun shows. But about 1/3rd of them I've bought locally at gun shops, or gun shows. I'd guess another 1/3rd came from the Denver gun show, as it's always had huge numbers of great single shot rifles for sale.
I've been very lucky at times, and been in the right place at the right time, to stumble into some very desirable Ballard rifles. My friends tell me I've got crazy luck finding them, and I have to agree in some instances, as even I wonder why I've had good fortune to find some? Of course being constantly on the lookout, and having friends who often tell me about a gun they saw has also helped a great amount too!

[tnlonghunter]

Stupid question: what do y’all do to thread the felts onto the brush?

I got a bag if felts - ended up with ones from Tipton instead of VGI. The center hole is sized for their little jag and not easily enlarged. They kinda just come apart before I get them threaded on.

[marlinman93]

Stupid question: what do y’all do to thread the felts onto the brush?

I got a bag if felts - ended up with ones from Tipton instead of VGI. The center hole is sized for their little jag and not easily enlarged. They kinda just come apart before I get them threaded on.

I'd toss the Tipton if they fall apart that easily. The VFG I'm getting from Brownells are only $20 for 250 pcs., and are very high quality. I simply push them on the end of my nylon brushes, and stop before they push through. Probably about 75% through the felt, and they stay right there in use.
I figured eventually they'd wear out, or get where they might not work as well, so the extras I got will replace them. But I haven't used them enough yet to figure out how long it will take to wear them out?