MuzzleLoaders

[hyena426]

i got a few black powders my self..got a colt dragoon reissue by colt..a repo 44 remington old army<~~getting a converstion cilinder so i can shoot 45 long colt and black powder by just changing cilinders. we had a zuave 58 cal..a old parker snow 58 cal,,and a reproduction springfield 58cal 1861 i beleive...good gun..shoots over a ounce of lead..lol..my brother wants a 69 cal brown bess..lol

what i enjoy about the military black powders is there easy to load..the bullets drop allmost all the way down..some hunting and hawkins style you have to force it down threw the riflings..the military style shoot the mini ball more than round bal..expans and grabs the rilfings instead of being forced threw them...i read articals in a gun mag about knight inline blackpowders...very nice hunters..there not legal to hunt with in washington state for some reason..but you cans till use old military styles and hawkins style..and davey crocket specials..lol..in the mag thou..knight bragged there black powders was more accurate than most regular bullets..said cause there inlines had no brass crimping around the bullet..the bullet was sent out of the barrel on a more strait path than a regular bullet...atleast thats what the artical said..maybe thats why there illegal in washington?,,hehe

i shot the pyrodex..it aint too bad..works fine..im using real goex..lucky a guy has the license for it about 30miles from me..its worth picking up a can or 2 if you can..ya..the pyodex smokes..i think even more than regular black powder..and smells little worse{atleast i think}..but it works just fine..never had any troubles with it

[StarOfAfrica2]

Originally posted by Captain Virgil Hilts
Yes, Pyrodex smokes almost as much as genuine Goex black powder. The new Triple 7 doesn't. Few places carry real black powder, like Goex. You need a special license to keep and sell it, for commercial sales. The hardcore black powder people use the real stuff. I use Pyrodex, because it is easier to get, and more convenient. I might switch to Triple 7 when I use up my Pyrodex.

Watch the 777, its hotter than the others.  You'll want to use a little less volume than with Pyrodex or Goex.  Its also pretty corrosive, but if your used to using Pyrodex its not much worse than that.

[StarOfAfrica2]

Originally posted by Reschke
I can't stand the new fangled "black powder" rifles. Any of those new fangled "black powder" rifles can do exactly what my .30-06 Model 700 Remington can do and to me that is not why I am shooting black powder rifles. To me a black powder for hunting is just like bow hunting. Get in close and make it count. I try to get inside of 50 yards now with my black powder. Anything else and I am taking my .30-06 or .30-30.

Reschke, dont sneeze at anything just because its "newer".  There is a point to modern black powder rifles.  To me its not about hunting, its about survival.  I go deer hunting with my Kentuckian.  Its fun.  I keep a NEF break action black powder gun because if all else in the world fails and technology fails us, we can still make black powder.  That little NEF rifle is half the size (and weight) of that nice old Kentuckian of mine.  I already cast my own balls.  If something happened and I had no bullets for all my other fancy guns, I'd still have a brace of pistols and my rifles that can use loose powder.  Which would you rather carry for hours in the woods, a 7 ft long 8 lb rifle, or a 4 ft long 3 1/2 lb rifle?

Besides, look at the modern BP rifle, and then look at the original "rolling block" rifles.  They were muzzleloaders but they have an inline hammer like a single shot rifle.  The design of a modern one is so amazingly similar its eerie.  You dont improve much on the rolling block design, because Remington learned 150 years ago that inline ignition is far superior to side ignition.

[Leslie]

One of the things about deer hunting with a muzzleloader that makes it fun for me is using the old fashioned style sidelock hammer rifles.  Half the fun is just sighting-in practice before hunting season, with the inevitable powder grains that blow back in the eye from the nipple (they aren't dangerous but more of an annoyance.  They may leave a small single grain burn on the eye though, which heals quickly).  I practiced under the same conditions I hunted.  In those days I had great eyesight and didn't wear glasses hunting.  So I didn't wear them at practice.  One thing about it...It develops shooting discipline to overcome flinching

I usually used 65 grains of black powder FF in the .58 Zouave for hunting.  This was the standard Civil War load and it is accurate for short range hunting (30 yards).  In most cases in Alabama woods, this is the most common range you need to be sighted in for deer.  I load patch and ball for the first shot and have a REAL bullet (rifling engraved at loading) ready for the next load.  I carry a piece of half-inch wooden dowel for the ramrod.  Needless to say, for deer hunting it's not necessary to have more than one reload so I can travel as light as possible.  Even then, just about have to be on the ground or solid surface to reload...not from a climber stand.  The ramrod dowel is an extra loose component to deal with.






Les

[ClevMan]

I've been using the CVA optima for the last couple of seasons now...  It resembles the same characteristics as the T/C Omega, but much more affordable.  It is a break action, and it is horribly accurate.  I have the Mossy Oak version...  Very cool!

http://www.cabelas.com/products/Cpod0020995.jsp

[cpxxx]

Originally posted by Leslie
One of the things about deer hunting with a muzzleloader that makes it fun for me is using the old fashioned style sidelock hammer rifles.  Half the fun is just sighting-in practice before hunting season, with the inevitable powder grains that blow back in the eye from the nipple (they aren't dangerous but more of an annoyance.  They may leave a small single grain burn on the eye though, which heals quickly).  I practiced under the same conditions I hunted.  In those days I had great eyesight and didn't wear glasses hunting.  So I didn't wear them at practice.  One thing about it...It develops shooting discipline to overcome flinching
Les

I was involved in filming a TV series set in 1798 along with the rest of my reserve unit once. We all trained on the the old 'Brown Bess' flintlock muskets although some had ACW muskets with fake flintlock furniture. The one thing I do remember is blowback from the pans of powder. Something the didn't warn us about until we actually fired. It was tough not to flinch the second time around:( The other thing I remember were the massive clouds of smoke produced when a line of men fired. It was an interesting insight into how men fought in the past. We didn't use musket balls of course but once someone left a ramrod in the barrel which neatly speared the leg of one of the assistant directors.

My company must have been one of the very few modern military units to be trained in the use of flintlock muskets, percussion lock muskets, bolt action rifles and automatic rifles. Ready for action no matter what the era.