Mine is a percussion gun.
Indian trade musket, 3 band Enfield bored out to .64 smooth bore once the .577 barrels were shot out.
Or so I’m told, I don’t really know much about ML’s.
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So are foxes, goats, pigs & deer. Lol
Looks like the 495 round ball is about 15grains too light to be legal for fallow.
I have a .498 ball mild you can have, not sure it will bump you over the limit or not?
Mate, just use your 30-06 bwahahahahha
Pretty sure it takes 495. But will check. Could you exchange it?
Yep 3006 will to me. Lol
Just don’t patch em?
Interesting idea…
@Keith can you do that? Would it shoot OK. My CVA has rifling. Current using patched 490cal balls
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A patched ball in a rifle will be more accurate, but for fast second shots after the barrel is fouled you can shoot a ball unpatched. Originally rifles did not use a patched ball, same with smoothbores, but the ball was a tight fit & the ball was driven down the barrel with a hammer. I don’t suggest you do the latter.
Keith.
When I went to the BP club in Seymore to have a look and meet Daddybang a really nice guy. Everyone was using hammers to get the ball or whatever started down the barrel.
Keith could you enlighten me on just what they were doing and why is this (a hammer) another tool you have to carry out into the field to reload?
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You should not need a hammer to load a rifle with a patched round ball. If the ball is a tight fit, some people use what is called a short starter which is basically a short stubby ramrod with a wood ball on top. As far as I am aware, a short starter is a modern invention.
Personally I don’t see the point in having such a tight fitting patched ball, better to have just a firm fit that you can load with just the standard ramrod.
Keith.
In the 18th century, smoothbores did not use a patched round ball, the round ball was loaded in the same manner as a shot load, using wads or wadding ( paper cartridges were obviously not seen as being patching, but as wadding).
An Essay On Shooting 1789.
Keith.
Sorry this is not the full post, but as a newbie on this forum I am not allowed to post more than one image.
Copyright: https://woodsrunnersdiary.blogspot.com/2018/11/a-few-words-about-smoothbores.html
A Woodsrunner’s Day. Cleaning a muzzle-loader in the field.
Keith.
Very in-depth, glad modern firearms are easier to maintain.
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good videos
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Keith.
[quote=“Keith, post:29, topic:1042”]
but for fast second shots after the barrel is fouled you can shoot a ball unpatched. [/quote]
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Rifles are harder to load than a smoothbore, once the first shot has been fired with a rifle, the fouling in the barrel generally makes it even harder to load with a patch. But without a patch the ball is easier to load. So if you need that quick second shot when hunting, you load without a patch.
Keith.
Lol. I was being facetious… Depends on your definition of fast
Hey @Keith What’s a good patch lube? I tried olive oil and got a lot of fouling. I believe bees wax, soap and vegetable oil is the go. Is that right?
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