Primative style speed loaders....

[mommicked]

I've used speed loaders for long enough to learn to like them. They are just the ticket for the quick after work hunt that often gets some meat in the pot, and a feller doesn't have to carry a whole bag of gear. The trouble is they are plastic, and that just don't feel right. Every year I try to make my powder hunting a little more old fashioned.

I'm thinking of trying to make something like the modern speed loaders, but of more traditional materials. At this point, I'm not trying to be period correct, just period friendly. Antler, bone, brass or copper, leather and such. Copper plumbing pipe would probably seem too easy, and too modern but may get me started in the right direction.... Has anyone done anything like this? To be sure I'm not the only one.

I also want to experiment with making some sort of speedloader for my shotgun, as it takes a while to reload both bbls of a 12 ga, but I think that speed loader will take more thought and time, because of the diameter of the material, and the fact that you have powder, shot and three wads to deal with. Thinking the shot pellets need to be wrapped in paper to keep 'em from getting loose...

Anybody fool around with this stuff before?

 

[CrackStock]

I would go with copper tubing or a cartridge box with rolled paper cartridges.

CS

 

[flintlockmdj]

Have you considered river cane or bamboo? Cut with the nodule in the middle and you have one end for powder and the other for shot. :thumbsup:

 

[mommicked]

Yeah, considered river reed or cane or bamboo, especially for rifle. Just a touch worried about breaking it. Antler would be cool, but a lot of work, and a lot of good antler to boot. Need to develop one type for rifle, the other for shot gun.

Been messing around a bit with some paper shotgun packages that hold a hard cushion wad, shot, then an OS wad in rolled up paper with twisted ends. May pattern great, may blow up the barrel, who knows? If I can load powder, then one of these, then cap and shoot, it's a quick loading. May try it with dove loads too. Reminds me a bit of the old paper cartridges from when I was a kid. Gotta see how it patterns, and may need to add cornmeal/grits to the pellets for better patterns.

 

[renovato]

If you're worried about the cane or bamboo breaking, soak the insides with epoxy. You won't see it from the outside, but it soaks in and hardens the fibers nicely. I made some from rather thin, brittle cane and I did have breakage problems until I tried epoxy.

 

[Twisted_1in66]

If you're worried about the cane or bamboo breaking, soak the insides with epoxy. You won't see it from the outside, but it soaks in and hardens the fibers nicely. I made some from rather thin, brittle cane and I did have breakage problems until I tried epoxy.

I used some cane from a garden center to make the 90 gr. powder measure that I use. One of the cool things about cane is that after you have drilled or cleaned out the pith and cut the cane to size, you can scrape the outside with a sharp knife (or a real scraper) at a 90° angle to the surface to remove the outer enamel. This makes a disfigured, painted splattered or otherwise ugly looking piece of cane look pretty classy. The power fibers under the enamel are usually very straight and uniform in color.

Then, it's a simple matter to draw on any decoration you want and use a wood burner to burn it into the cane. Finally, rub on a couple of coats of tung oil or your favorite finish, and your done.

Also, if you are using it for a powder measure and the cavity is too deep, you can always melt some beeswax into the bottom to fine tune it.

By the way, use a fine-toothed saw to cut the cane or it will splinter out pretty badly. A band saw works easily enough. Don't worry about a couple of small splinters. The scraping usually removes them as you work it down to a uniform surface.

Twisted_1in66 :thumbsup:

 

[billk]

How do you soak the inside of the cane with epoxy? Do you apply it with a brush or just fill the cavity and let it soak?
Thanks,
Billk