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Blew the Dust off My 3rd Model Pat 53

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Heelerau

45 Cal.
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Apr 26, 2013
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Gentlemen, this is the rifle I started my black powder shooting with when I was about 11 or twelve years old. When I took it first to the range I was lucky to get 50% of the bullets on target at 50 m and would get the odd bullet stuck half way down. My late mate John Humberstone told me about how to lap the bore, so at the age of 15 I pulled the breech plug and lapped it with a minnie bullet covered in fine valve grind past. I slightly damaged the nipple bolster and could no longer get the nipple in when I had removed the breech plug. The rifle was retired. some years later I got it to a gunsmith who sorted the thread out but in the meantime I had bought a PH Navy rifle and was busy with that. So I have never loaded this rifle after having sorted out the roughness in the bore. 43 years later I took it to the range yesterday, shot a few .568 pritchetts which as usual did not work, just some old cartridges I had on hand. The rifle did not foul at all. I then loaded up using 50 grains of FFg and my old PH shorter Minnie bullet, after a couple of ranging shots got into the black and shot a score of 87, best 10 out of 13 at 50 m off the bench. I then proceeded to shot an 81 at 100m off the bench also, best 10 out of 13 , I only wiped the rifle out between the 13 shot groups and the last shots pretty much loaded as well as the first. so as you can see the old girl shoots ver well and will now get a bit more range time. In due course I will try some .55 pritchetts in her. At 100 m I have to use a fine sight at 200y setting a bit below the black, so there is some sighting error. Top photo is 50m off the bench, lower photo is 100m off the bench. P1300056 by Gordon Hazel, on Flickr P1300055 by Gordon Hazel, on Flickr
 
heelerau:

Gentlemen, this is the rifle I started my black powder shooting with when I was about 11 or twelve years old. When I took it first to the range I was lucky to get 50% of the bullets on target at 50 m and would get the odd bullet stuck half way down. My late mate John Humberstone told me about how to lap the bore, so at the age of 15 I pulled the breech plug and lapped it with a minnie bullet covered in fine valve grind past. I slightly damaged the nipple bolster and could no longer get the nipple in when I had removed the breech plug. The rifle was retired. some years later I got it to a gunsmith who sorted the thread out but in the meantime I had bought a PH Navy rifle and was busy with that. So I have never loaded this rifle after having sorted out the roughness in the bore. 43 years later I took it to the range yesterday, shot a few .568 pritchetts which as usual did not work, just some old cartridges I had on hand. The rifle did not foul at all. I then loaded up using 50 grains of FFg and my old PH shorter Minnie bullet, after a couple of ranging shots got into the black and shot a score of 87, best 10 out of 13 at 50 m off the bench. I then proceeded to shot an 81 at 100m off the bench also, best 10 out of 13 , I only wiped the rifle out between the 13 shot groups and the last shots pretty much loaded as well as the first. so as you can see the old girl shoots ver well and will now get a bit more range time. In due course I will try some .55 pritchetts in her. At 100 m I have to use a fine sight at 200y setting a bit below the black, so there is some sighting error. P1300055.jpgP1300056.jpg
I should have put a picture of the rifle in. It is South Australian marked, Holliss and Sheath. Came from what would have been my local rifle club in the 1860s The Watervale Enfield Rifle Club P1000054 by Gordon Hazel, on Flickr
 
Glad to hear things are going well in the black powder shooting down under. Too often here on the forum we think only in terms of american shooters. :idunno:
 
Ah, Gordon -

Good things come to those who wait!

Little did you think, when you were happily lapping away at that barrel at the age of 15....

Richard/Grumpa :wink:
 
I cleaned the old girl today, and a bore light shewed the bore to be shiny mirror like. Still the odd bit of pitting which likely means it won't shoot the paper patched pritchett. Thanks for the interest. There is a pretty active black powder scene here in Australia and has been since the early 1960's.

Cheers

Heelerau
Grumpa Skype about 11 am my time ?
 
Richard I use 5parts by volume of beeswax to 1part by volume of unsalted lard from the supermarket. I live in a pretty hot country and even the winters are not like you blokes in the northern hemisphere. The bullet is the old Parker Hale minnie that a mate lapped out slightly. Both this old rifle and my mated Daves Volunteer which also has the same 1 in 78 twist likes it and they stabilise nicely. I might be able to shoot a 55 grain charge but likely not much heavier as the skirt is quite thin and the base is quite shallow.
 
Wish I could get my artillery carbine on paper like that, darn thing shoots about a foot high at 50 yards.
 
snubnose57 said:
Wish I could get my artillery carbine on paper like that, darn thing shoots about a foot high at 50 yards.
How does that go?
Aim lower.
Lower the rear sight.
Raise the front sight.
Use a lot less powder.
Use a heavier bullet.
Yup, one of those should cure it.
(LOL) Been there, done that.
 
Thanks for the load info Gordon.

Odd that;
I too have mould I reamed out a bit. minie looks Ugly but it shoots better than an 'un-messed up " minie.
Have a target somewhere, only 50 yards, but it grouped V. nicely.
Been trying to send Maurice some of this Bl***y snow, but he wont accept it in Kiwiland. You're next on the list!
When are you coming up for our annual shoot??
Don't do what Colin did....
 
RJDH, the mould was in fact just lapped by a chap in my old club, in Adelaide years ago. It improved my scores on average by 10 points to high 80s and the odd 90 plus. When I got a Trevor Bugg minnie which had a thicker skirt and a deeper base and slightly longer, better suited to the 1 in 48 of my PH Navy rifle it was 90 plus on average at 50 m off the bench.
It is on my bucket list to attend one of your shoots !!
 
Bill,
nobody I know at the moment shoots minnies for hunting. I have done when I was a youngster, shot a lot of kangas and rabbits with my PH Navy rifle when I was Jackarooing in the south east of South Australia. I used the standard 2 1/2 drams of FFg with the Parker Hale short minnie I was using at that time (same one I used in the old 3 band rifle) There was a chap here in Western Australia who hunted pig with a musketoon , he used 120 grains of FFFg and a thick skirted minnie.
Personally the regulation charge I find ver good, the damage done to a roo, I remember hitting in the upper leg was horrendous. I remember looking at the shattered thigh bone, great longitudinal splits and a thumb sized chunk out of the bone. I think even one of todays orthopedic surgeons would be hard put to fix. I am referring to what happened during your late awkwardness.
So I reckon 68 grains of FFg with a thick skirted minnie would be fine on any of your north American game.
The drawback with the rifled musket is the loopy trajectory , so you have to be within a yard or two in your range estimation to put your bullet in the right spot. Most of my hunting was from 30 to 80 yards range, in fairly heavy country.
There may be the odd chap hunting buffalo in the Northern Territory with a rifled musket, would not surprise me but they are likely off the grid, or at least its done in private and I am not aware of them, just an educated guess
Cheers

Gordon
 
Here is a photograph of me at the ver beginning of my black powder obsession. My original SA stamped 3rd Model Pat 53, and a galah that was unfortunate enough to stop a minnie, well it did not stop it and it was key hole . I am no longer nasty to galahs and have one as a pet as pennence for my past sins. I am 11 or 12 years old and we lived on a sheep and cattle station which my late father managed.
Gordon and First Kill.jpeg
 
What is a galah? Not familiar with it, does it translate into an american bird?

That is a great picture my friend, looks like a childhood to be envy.
 
A galah is a ver common Australian cockatoo, pink and grey. They come in large mobs, and ruin farmers' crops. They are amusing pets and ver long lived. They are pretty noisy. I don't know if there is a US equivalent.
 
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