LOL! He emailed me this AM and told me he was mistaken, the drum and vent ARE threaded the same so it's on! otherwise, AMEN! from me too!
AMEN! Them suppository guns are just a passing fad.
"Experience is a series of non-fatal mistakes"
Disarming is a mistake free people only get to make once...
Flints can last 25 shots or more, or they can last 2. They are rocks. And you never know how good they are, which is part of the challenge.
I knap my flints with a brass rod, just tap at it with the right angle and you "sharpen" it. It takes some practice but you can do it.
Amen on buying another BP gun. The one thing about shooting BP, is the clean up. Flintlocks tend to be dirtier than Precision caps in my opinion. I always remove the lock and clean it up after shooting. They are fun though! Use the least amount of powder for priming. A lot of people starting want to fill the pan full.
yeah Greg, that's what I've read. I'm gonna get one of those valves that drops a grain at a time and fit it to this very small horn that I made a while back. I've read that you don't fill to cover the touchhole, only about half way. correct?
The idea is to have the flash go UP into the flashhole. By filling the pan, the powder acts like a fuse, causing delayed ignition. A small amount of priming powder is sufficient, say to the bottom of the flashhole. Your rifle will tell you what it likes.
"Experience is a series of non-fatal mistakes"
Disarming is a mistake free people only get to make once...
Ok, now I have another question. When I have dryballed my percussion guns I have always been able to get a little powder under the nipple and "correct" the situation. I had zero luck with those threaded ball pullers. What is the best way to correct this situation with a flinter? I can count on 1 hand the number of times I've done this, but I know it can and will happen again.
T-Bird, I also had no luck with ready made ball pullers. In searching for another option I came upon steel roofing screws! They are self tapping aggressive threaded hex head units. I wire brushed the heads clean and tinned them then cleaned the heads of 8-32 and 10-32 phillips head screws and solder together. One for each end of my ram rod if I some how broke my ram rod I would have it covered. I have used these twice and they work well as long as the rod tips are cross pinned to the rod they have not separated. Use pressure on the rod, screw in till it tightens and pull.
Graysmoke
The solid soft lead bullet is undoubtably the best and most satisfactory expanding bullet that has ever been designed. It invariably mushrooms perfectly, and never breaks up. With the metal base that is essential for velocities of 2000 f.s. and upwards to protect the naked base, these metal-based soft lead bullets are splendid.
John Taylor - "African Rifles and Cartridges"
Forget everything you know about loading jacketed bullets. This is a whole new ball game!
I will do what Waksupi does ( I say will do because it hasn't happened with my .54) if I'm using my .54( prefers 2f) if I'm using my .50,45 or 40 I use 3f for the main charge and priming (3f for priming is less susceptible to moisture) and it does pop it out. It's only happened once though.
These little brass spring loaded pan chargers are pretty nice. This one actually dispenses a little too much , my little one is set up on the 40 cals bag atm.
This is about what you want for a charge, it is raining here today so it's not laying in the pan quite the way I prefer but it did go poof , albeit with a slight delay because of the moisture.
Last edited by DaleT; 10-07-2024 at 09:06 PM. Reason: Tried to reload photos
I just tried to reload them and they show up on my screen after saving changes but I'm not sure they actually loaded until I refresh .
Thank's Dale, your pics worked. I figured that if you dryballed the gun, the patch and ball would be up against the touchhole where the powder should be, guess not? If I can just stuff a little powder in there,ok. what kind of solder did you use graysmoke? That's a lot of torque to apply to a solder joint, then traction, I would think. I'd be afraid of it separating
T-Bird, I used silver solder and a nice envelope of it, not just a sweat joint. I was thinking as you are, it does work nicely. I would venture to say that a lead solder with silver bearing strength would work as well. I had some silver from an a/c repair man( a friend ) and a good flux only had to use a propane torch for heat.
Graysmoke
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |