What Muzzleloading Stuff Did You Do Today?

I took my first ducks today (and ever) with my new Pedersoli 12g SxS! I'm directly responsible for 2 of them, and partially responsible for an unknown amount more. 18 total between the 5 of us. That gun really does it's job, I kept up with the guys shooting moderns without issue.

Inventoried my m/l patching material , and organized it , so if I can remember where it is , I can find what I need. Most times here , finding what I need , is similar to an Easter egg hunt. I have some frequently used hand tools , that when lost , I call ,"escapees". Instead of prison striped suits , they are known by the fluorescent orange tape , they wear. The easily spotted tape , keeps me from doing rash things , like ordering a replacement tool. One way to quickly locate a miscreant missing tool , is to go buy a replacement one. The miscreant will be found , quickly. Inanimate objects are one of the few things in life , that tend to pi$$ me off , when they hide from me. ....oldwood

oldwood said:

Inventoried my m/l patching material , and organized it , so if I can remember where it is , I can find what I need. Most times here , finding what I need , is similar to an Easter egg hunt. I have some frequently used hand tools , that when lost , I call ,"escapees". Instead of prison striped suits , they are known by the fluorescent orange tape , they wear. The easily spotted tape , keeps me from doing rash things , like ordering a replacement tool. One way to quickly locate a miscreant missing tool , is to go buy a replacement one. The miscreant will be found , quickly. Inanimate objects are one of the few things in life , that tend to pi$$ me off , when they hide from me. ....oldwood

Click to expand...

absolutely positively, unadulterated, certified, without a shadow of doubt, 100% truth!

Temp went from below zero to 73 above in a week in NE Missouri. Two days ago, finally got to the woods at almost dusk. Passed on a teeny deer about the size of a beagle, spotted some in the middle of a bean field and put the "sneak" on them by going through the woods. Stealthy as Granny Clampett, I was - old guy shuffling, hitting limbs, caught in blackberry bushes, and such.

Thereupon, I jumped six which alerted the ones in the bean field. All waved "bye-bye" with white tails aloft. Shot off my Ithaca .50 Hawken behind the barn in the dark, cleaned it, laid out stuff to hopefully get out again. Still using DuPont FFg (circa 1960's) marked $3.00 on the can. I'm cheap.

The last day of 2022. Happy New Year to all the contributors of MLF!

I have to say a big thanks to a lot of the folk here. I got to shoot at our local range today testing some information I have gleaned on this site. For good results, I usually use commercial products in my Pedersoli 54 Tryon - a .535 swaged ball with a prelubed .015 patch. This time round, I loaded my own home-cast ball that dropped from the .530 mold at .529, combined with a pillow ticking square cut spit-lubed patch from prewashed material that miked at .019. What an improvement in accuracy and feel-good-ness (That's a word now, so feel free to use it!). Now, I have to get out soon, once all the family and task obligations have been met, and hopefully I'll come across a sleeping Aussie boar like this one I chanced upon last summer. We'll see what the new load delivers in the field ...

Thanks all, for letting me eavesdrop on your collective knowledge.

Pete.

Good luck, Pete.

Took my Pietta 1860 Army down from the wall of guns and oiled it up. No rust in the bore after two years since I last touched it. T/C Bore Butter.

Bought a half yard of 10oz denim to try for patching material.

Took a T/C Renegade .54 out and shot an unopened can of soda I didn't like. 57 grains of powder under a .530 patched round ball, 30 yards. Can burst into three pieces, found top twenty feet away from impact point. Amazing how much energy is in one of those balls! Sucks to be the target I guess.

I have been a target more times than I have liked, and it ALWAYS sucked, no ifs, ands or buts about it.

chorizo said:

I have been a target more times than I have liked, and it ALWAYS sucked, no ifs, ands or buts about it.

Click to expand...

Agreed.

Butt end set in bee's wax. The last coat of the tung oil went on the walnut this morning. Ready for its new owner.

Cast 30 .610 round balls for my newly finished under hammer.

Experimented and learned with “flame bluing” screws. Found out quick to touch them with the flame for a second then pull it away and watch/wait for it turn color, touch it again if needed for the right color, just don’t hold it in the flame, else I would overshoot the color every time. Also much better result the more polished it is to start with. Best part is if you mess up, just polish off and start over. Still learning but very fun project.

Nice job on those screw heads.

I didn't exactly do something "muzzle"loader related, but it could be used for that.
I cut down a 75gr flask spout to I get an actual 60gr 2F for my 45-60 BP cartridges.

Today I rust blued the steel parts for my cherry Lancaster. It turned out pretty dark, so I may rub it back slightly.

Day 2 of 3 of our duck blind draw. Made some new hunting buddies. I didn't get any ducks today, but our group got 3.

Game Wardens dropped by, cool guys, they really seemed to care about what's going on out there. They had never seen a muzzleloading shotgun before, it made for a good conversation. Given my previous negative experiences with law enforcement, it was nice to have a positive one. Shootout to TN wildlife officers.

View from the blind.



Great day, off to bed soon for a 3:30 wakeup.

slathered browning solution on my fowler barrel. hung it in the shower and filled a big mixing bowl with hot water for humidity. meter says 84% so guess it works. run the shower every hour to keep up the temp and humidity.
wife caught me coming out of the shower with all my clothes on after running it. "old fool"

also turned a nice big chert nodule into little pieces in an attempt to get a supply of flints for the fowler. tomorrow i get to clean up the floor of chert slivers. or not!

Felonious said:

Shootout to TN wildlife officers.

Click to expand...

I hope you mean, "Shout out to TN wildlife officers."

I definitely did not want to have a "shootout" with wildlife officers.