Smoothbore recommend....

My original percussion T/C Hawken sat in the closet for many years with a stuck load. Very stupid, I admit but it is a fact. Anyway, the powder obviously destroyed the original size and shape of the bore of the barrel in the spot where the load was. I put a new barrel, that matched the original and that is what I currently shoot.

I have been thinking of having someone rebore it and make a larger smoothbore out of it.

Anyone have any recommendations on someone who could do this for me and what the cost might be?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Bobby Hoyt, $60.
Search on his name for posts with contact info...I'm deer hunting and don't have it with me

Pssstt...roundball.....theres a spike to yer left!!

Mr Hoyt is the go to guy!
One man shop and he likes to fish. it may take some time.
Robert Hoyt, 700 Fairfield Station Rd. Fairfield, PA 17320 717-642-6696

makeumsmoke said:

Mr Hoyt is the go to guy!
One man shop and he likes to fish. it may take some time.
Robert Hoyt, 700 Fairfield Station Rd. Fairfield, PA 17320 717-642-6696

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I should go on down there sometime....

By "fish" I'm guessing that you mean drowning worms while consuming adult beverages? :haha:

Thanks guys, I will contact him tomorrow. Sounds like a good deal.

No problem with time, it just sits in the closet anyway...might as well make some use of it.

Contacted Bobby this morning. My barrel will be in the mail to him Tuesday. It is good that a barrel that I thought I had destroyed will be functional as a smoothbore this time. Now, I will have 2 barrels for the Traditions Pennsylvania.

As the matter of fact, I did some teaching, this morning, to a gentleman in the Master Gardening organization, that I am also a member of. He, also, thought that once a barrel was marred that it was destroyed and he also thought that smoothbores were not good for anything. He had not shot his gun in a while and I told him to come to this forum and start learning and that smoothbores do have a use. I am starting to recruit people to this forum now.

It is interesting that, although we are in deep south Texas, there are very few BP shooters around here....Traditional that is. Maybe I got one more recruited. :grin:

Note: He gave me an old can of FFF Dupont powder that he considered too old. The can has a light rust on it. Any thoughts?

South of Alvin, you are probably rather exclusive! :haha: I can make that daft remark cause I'm originally from the only town in Texas named for a singing chipmunk!!

As for the powder, unless the the can's seal is broken or he stored it under the bottom porch step, it's probably fine. One gun shop I worked for in Houston, many moons ago, had a lot of loose rounds of really old ammo laying around. Several were Maynard which is basically a brass case with a pin hole in the bottom that was set off by a standard percussion cap and nipple arrangement. They got in a .50 Maynard one day and the only logical thing to do...see where this is going? Point was that in spite of a hole in the bottom and laying around Texas humidity for a century...KABOOM! Even though they aimed it into the gunsmith's tube way in the back room, every window danced and jiggled out front..."Thanks for letting us know ahead of time, yah idgits!" :rotf:

Yes, Wes, the seal is broken on it but the rust is extremely light and no holes in the can. The powder is very free flowing. I am just kind of wondering if, because the seal is broken, if powder degrades over time, etc.?

And, yes, it is pretty rare to find a traditional black powder shooter in this region. As the matter of fact, the "collector" that I have mentioned, and his friend are from somewhere around Pearland and many of the others are from around Alvin, West Columbia, etc..

The only other guy that is close to me is the guy that runs the BP club and he lives in Clute also....right down the street from me as the matter of fact.

So, I would guess you know the pains I have to go through just the get BP products. I have to get everything over the internet....except the powder which the club president purchases by bulk box and then resells it to us as we run out. If it were not for him, I might not even be able to get BP.

Actually, the area I live in is one of the most historical areas in Texas but it is not published a lot.

For example, half way between Houston and the Clute/Lake Jackson/Angleton area there is a giant statue of Steven F. Austin....probably the largest in the state of Texas. Austin used to come to this area a lot. Also, the city of Lake Jackson is named after President Andrew Jackson because he had a plantation here, with which there is a large, horseshoe shaped lake that he used to use as a vacation place. The house and many artifacts are still here.

One last bit of information.... :grin: the president of our blackpowder club (The Greenwood Longrifles) has a family member, from about 10 generations back, that was one of 16 guys to defend the Alamo. He is proud of it and has all of legal paperwork to prove it.

I understand perfectly. Though, back in the dim dark past, black powder was available at almost any gun shop who was wanting to handle it. The other gadgets and goodies depended on the amount of business any one shop did. Most gun shops handled some muzzleloading while others were in it big time. As time and all the daft regulations and rules have got tossed in the mix, many, if not most, opted out. Powder, cannon fuse and all the no-no's were on the shelf. Says a lot that with all the pipe bomb possibilities out there, the only time we tried it was to see how many alligator gar we cold get in one BOOM!

As far as your question about blackpowder deteriorating after the seal on the container is broken the answer is no it will not. The subs are a different though and may. I would have no problem using the DuPont powder in the condition you describe.

a can with rust??!! this will create a completely unacceptable condition... you should get rid of this travesty by sending it to me, where it can be disposed in a safe and professional manner ... in sixty five grain increments...

:rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

seriously- if it pours freely out of the can, I wouldn't hesitate to shoot it.

make good smoke!

As an aside, I'd have a bigger concern about not knowing the chain of custody / ownership of a previously opened can of ANY gun powder not knowing what some yahoo might have put into it...worth examining closely / maybe testing a little amount first.

That said, I got these 3 full cans of what appeared to be unopened Goex powder made back in 1971, rust on the cans, etc, and it shot better (seemed sharper/faster) than today's Goex...wish I'd run across a couple cases of it.

Roundball,,now you know that that old fff won't work properly in that Virginian of yours,better just send it up the mountain,an I'll dispose of it for you. :blah:

Come to Brady three times a year, join the TMLRA and get all the supplies you need. Tell Any Larson hello.

mtmike said:

Roundball,,now you know that that old fff won't work properly in that Virginian of yours,better just send it up the mountain,an I'll dispose of it for you. :blah:

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Oh OK.....wait...the cans are empty...so let's see, going on 45 years old, vintage antique cans no longer made... :hmm:


:wink:

The fact that it will not deteriate sounds good and I got it from a good friend, that I trust, and he is the only one that had had it so everything sounds good.

Thanks, roundball, my can is solid red with one small logo of Dupont on it with an ink stamp of FFFg on it. It had a paper seal on it that was broken by my fried when he originally bought it. It looks very similar to your cans without the cannon or powder logos on it.

Richard, yes, you are correct. I am a member of my club and a member of the NMLRA but the TMLRA.....yet. I do need to join but still....how would I get powder shipped without having some kind of explosives expert license? Does being a member of the TMLRA give a person that license?

Is Brady where your club is at or is it a state shoot or something? You must sell it there or something.