h&a under hammer

[Rifleman1776]

about 90gr of 4f in a .45 T/C Hawken will shoot the hammer back to half cock, 120gr will flip it back to full cock.

As a general statement, that would be incorrect. If you are experiencing hammer blow back you have other problems. Most likely is a bad nipple. Change to a 'hot shot' style and try again. You may also have a weak mainspring. Unlikely but all possibilities should be checked.

 

[Rifleman1776]

i know an individual who has designed a really nice underhammer. He was just starting to make rifles and pistols when some unexpected problems entered his life. All the equipment is just setting there unused.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Never tried with an under hammer, but about 90gr of 4f in a .45 T/C Hawken will shoot the hammer back to half cock, 120gr will flip it back to full cock. I expect if an underhammer were load hot enough to do the same you might get some real damage to the support arm. Just be sensible and you should be OK with the H&A.

4f powder is priming powder. It will develop far too much internal pressure as evidenced by the hammer blowback. Its not sensible to use 4f powder as the propellant powder. Keep the 4f as priming powder only.

Do what it takes to protect your forearm from cap fragments. it may be a leather glove with long cuffs. It make take some form of flash guard to direct fragments away from exposed body parts. You shouldn't have to accept that you will get sprayed by cap fragments.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Never tried with an under hammer, but about 90gr of 4f in a .45 T/C Hawken will shoot the hammer back to half cock, 120gr will flip it back to full cock. I expect if an underhammer were load hot enough to do the same you might get some real damage to the support arm. Just be sensible and you should be OK with the H&A.

4f powder is priming powder. It will develop far too much internal pressure as evidenced by the hammer blowback. Its not sensible to use 4f powder as the propellant powder. Keep the 4f as priming powder only.

Do what it takes to protect your forearm from cap fragments. it may be a leather glove with long cuffs. It make take some form of flash guard to direct fragments away from exposed body parts. You shouldn't have to accept that you will get sprayed by cap fragments.

Yeppers. :shocked2: I missed the 4Fg part.

 

[hanshi]

IMHO, Loads for the .45 factory H&As should not exceed 65 to 70 grains if using 3F. Actually 60 grains of 3F works just fine.

 

[Gene L]

Shot my .36 Off Hand today with 23.5 gr of 3F. Very accurate at 32 yards, about 3/4". I had a problem seeing the front sight without canting it. It shot a little high, about 1/2". I'm not a big fan of the issued sights.

Dry balled one shot, first time I've ever done this...pretty lame. I'd pre-measured the charges into glass vials, then to a funnel powder measure, then to the barrel...just forgot that last step. the weak load is fine for the limited range I expect to use it and zero recoil.

It's a squirrel-accurate rifle. I cleaned it with Ballistol and am very pleased with the results.

 

[Rifleman1776]

IMHO, Loads for the .45 factory H&As should not exceed 65 to 70 grains if using 3F. Actually 60 grains of 3F works just fine.

I would change that to "need not exceed.....". They will safely handle heavy loads but nothing is gained by doing so.

 

[ramrod 62]

bob 308, I live 20 mi. south of Williamsport. guns accuracy is better than I hoped for. 1 hole at 25 yds.,2" at 50yds. and 5"at 100. probably do better at 100 with younger eyes. also new nipple cured blowback problems..

 

[Jay Dobro]

My first muzzle loading rifle was a "Numrich" "H&A" complete shooting kit. As I recall, gun, caps, patches, powder, bullets, and a crude bullet mould with tongs attached that were the same as the tongs that we used to take my baby, "at the time" daughters sterilized bottles from the boiling water. This was 1964.That gun does still shoot. I still have the mould and rifle. I seem to remember Numrich advertising these as having gain twists. Prior to this, we could easily find decent percussion double shot guns for $10 to $15. A pound of powder, five pound bag of shot, a roll of toilet paper for wadding, some caps= one heck of a day of fun.

 

[M. De Land]

I bought my first and only buggy rifle new in Alamogordo, New Mexico in 1970 for $80.00 as I remember it. I wanted a Zoave but couldn't affore it on an A1C pay so settled on the .45 caliber Buggy rifle.
I saw one in good condition at a gun show a couple of weeks ago that was going for $400.00, my how times have changed!