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Generosity of Forum Member Gets Me Shooting Again!

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Ben K

40 Cal.
Joined
Feb 18, 2015
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G'day All!

Some of you may recall I shot my new-to-me muzzleloader for the first time a few weeks back. That was my first and only experience with shooting a muzzleloader or black powder until today. Due to not being organised enough, and not knowing enough, I only had sixteen or so roundballs that were kindly sent to me with the rifle. They went pretty quickly that first afternoon.

Anyway, I live in a remote Aboriginal community, and it can be hard to get hold of some things. About four weeks back I put in an order with Track of the Wolf, for a few odds-and-ends including patches and roundballs. Each Tuesday, when the mail plane comes, I have been waiting with excitement only to have my hopes dashed. And it was the same again today. The parcel got to Sydney over three weeks ago, and hasn't made it here yet. I'm not sure who to ask about it. It isn't TotW's fault, as they sent it just fine. And Australia Post are impossible to get in contact with. I'll try anyway.

But today's disappointment evaporated in an instant when I realised there was a package from a forum member here, a bloke from Queensland! He had kindly offered to send me some roundballs to try, and I was overwhelmed and delighted to open the package to see a variety of .530" soft and hard, and .535" soft and hard. It meant that I could shoot my rifle again, and that's what I did!

After work, Meg and I grabbed the CVA Mountain Rifle and her .22, as well as some camembert cheese and crackers (unfortunately no wine allowed where I live), and in the process of trying to remember all the odds-and-ends necessary and loading the ute, I locked us out of the house. Luckily my mate Mick had a spare key. I walked over to his joint, and soon had the problem sorted.

We drove to the river and arrived on evening. A small herd of buffalo was feeding nearby. I am not yet ready to hunt (soon, though!) and needed more practice, this time without Mick's experienced eye on me. I had a few shots, and although a little high at eighty metres, I'm pretty happy (the sun was going down, and I couldn't see the foresight well). I was using 100 grains of Alliant Black MZ, and shooting the .535" hard roundballs kindly sent me. First I shot a folded newspaper at about thirty-five metres, and did alright, and then I shot a tree at about eighty, and shot a little high. My patches had holes burned in them - they are just cleaning patches for my .375H&H.

Meg did really well shooting her .22, too. She's learning fast.

When I got back and told Mick how the patches had burned-out, he told me I'd messed-up by diluting the special brew his Old Man uses for lube and cleaning. You only dilute it for the cleaning! I won't forget that lesson!

Anyway, I'm very grateful to Owen (the kind member here) who sent me those roundballs and got me back in the game!

Hopefully I have a hunt report to share in the next few days or week or so.

Kind regards,

Ben
 
good for you!

There certainly are some very generous and kind people on this list and in the world.

Best of luck

Fleener
 
Excellent! Mail plane once a week though? How do they keep the McDonald's stocked like that!?
 
Those cleaning patches are way less than ideal as ball patching. Look for some canvas or denim. Somewhere in the closet is some ideal stuff.

Dude, are you going to take on those buff with your.54? I wanna read all the details of that adventure!!
 
Mother Nature is our own MacDonald's, supplying wild cattle, buffalo, kangaroo, wallaby, goose, turkey, fish, water goanna, turtles, file snakes... :wink:

We also have a shop that sells quite a bit of stuff, even reasonably fresh vegies and fruit. The food truck gets here every Thursday, unless the road gets cut during the wet season.
 
Well, we'll see about the buffalo. I've got every confidence it will work on a young one (not all buffalo are equal!) but not sure about the old ones. I'll have my back-up rifle in the other hand when the time comes.

I've got some proper patches in that TotW order, but will attack an old pair of shorts that got ripped.
 
It is very pleasing to see that there are such good-hearted and well meaning people around!
I hope you enjoy your muzzleloading experiences.
Ron
 
As you may know it was only recently I learned you had some of those big water buffalo down there. Your .375 H&H sounds a decent backup to a .54 muzzleloader then.
 
The members here have a way of being a special crowd.
Lots of good folks.
Thanks to the men here, my day horn and almost all my lead came to me as gifts to get me shooting.

Glad to hear you got shooting again.
 
Ben K said:
Well, we'll see about the buffalo. I've got every confidence it will work on a young one (not all buffalo are equal!) but not sure about the old ones. I'll have my back-up rifle in the other hand when the time comes.

I've got some proper patches in that TotW order, but will attack an old pair of shorts that got ripped.

Make sure the old shorts are 100% cotton. You don't want any synthetic material in your shooting patches as it will melt and make a mess of your barrel.

Have fun with your new gun and happy hunting once you are ready to do that.
 
Guess that would work out for those short shots! :haha:

Good patch material shows up in odd places if you keep your eyes and mind open. Found an old boat cover in the shed yesterday. Looks like good stuff.
 
Ben,
old washed denim from jeans is good patching material, but not from stretch jeans as they are not pure cotton. PM me your phone no and I can give you a call.
going slightly off topic, generosity, an old mate who has just died at the age of 84, over the years since I was about 14 has given me the lead pots I use, bench rest, and finally as he was unable to shoot them any more, a .36 Flintlock long rifle, Parker Hale 2 bander and a .451. A chap in the States on another forum sent me some inletting chisels. There are some lovely people out there !! Bless them all.

cheers

Heelerau
 
Heelerau, g'day!

Fancy seeing an "-up" place on here! I grew-up at Dalyup out of Esperance. I'll shoot a PM your way.

Cheers,

Ben
 
Thanks for the patch advice, All! After work today, Meg and I will go for another shoot, and maybe even a hunt!
 
I live in a remote Aboriginal community.

Each Tuesday, when the mail plane comes.

The food truck gets here every Thursday, unless the road gets cut during the wet season.


It sounds so isolated and yet you have internet service.

Sounds like my kind of place :)

Enjoy
William Alexander
 
No luck, yet. We searched for miles, but the conditions were noisy and I couldn't get close enough. One that I could've got close to had a calf, so no-go there. It was a thrill to be carrying a muzzleloader on a hunt for the first time!
 
G'day William, yep, part of our Government scheme to provide remote Australia with satellite internet. We get subsidised, so it costs about the same as it would with a regular connection in a town.
 
:eek:ff

Ben K said:
G'day William, yep, part of our Government scheme to provide remote Australia with satellite internet. We get subsidised, so it costs about the same as it would with a regular connection in a town.

emphasis added

glad to see that at least someone is getting something for their tax dollars: what I pay in property taxes on my modest little patch of scruffy forest would finance a decent used Lexus, and yet I pump my own water, haul my own trash, plow my own driveway, educate my own kids, drain my own septic fields, and fetch my own mail.

(and my internet only works when the ISP feels like fixing it: they're the only provider in the area, and they act like it)

sorry about the tirade.

Make good smoke!
 

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