Sources for musket caps and Minie balls?

[garandman]

Time to think about feeding the 1862 Springfield.

Looking for Minie balls (hopefully a sampler pack, to see what shoots best) and also musket caps - the kind without the wings. I've been told those work better than the ones with wings.

thx

 

[garandman]

Also, quantities less than 1000 would be nice on the musket caps.

 

[Matt85]

i havent been able to find a good musket cap source either. but trackofthewolf sells 8-1m #11 nipples which should fit armisport rifles. (im waiting on one for my 1842 springfield.)

however for minie balls, tackofthewolf sells both molds and premade 58 cal minie balls.

 

[Jim Blair]

The problem ordering percussion caps is,there is a $27.50 HazMat charge whether you order one tin of 100 or 10 rolls of a thousand plus the shipping charge.I just ordered some 11s from this place,never done business with them before but price was decent and shipping was free on orders over $30 but you still have to pay the HazMat charge.
http://www.gamaliel.com/muzzlepercussioncaps/rws_musket_caps_flangeless.asp

Anybody done business with these folks before?

 

[Matt85]

seems grafs and sons carries musket caps. you could order some powder and caps at the same time to make the hazmat charge worth it.

otherwise i just dont see it being worth the hazmat charge. i have a local gunstore that sells CCI #11 magnums for $5.75 per 100. i would have to buy way more caps then i need to get any where close to that price online.

 

[Jim Blair]

I don't think you can ship caps with powder.From what I'm seeing you have to order at least 2 rolls of a 1000 caps to get close to what store retail is.The site I linked to I ordered 2000 caps,they had free shipping over $30 and with the hazmat I ended up with $5.85 a tin of 100,store price retail.If you can't find a source locally your pretty much stuck with ordering them,no way around it.

 

[paulvallandigham]

This is the reason it is to go together with other shooters to buy both powder and caps. I am constantly surprised at the number of members here- particularly new ones-- that are not members of the NMLRA, don't belong to any gun clubs, much less BP clubs, and have no clue how to find fellow BP shooters. Worse, these "Loners" seem to hve no such interest in finding these resources!????! :shocked2: :idunno: :surrender:

For their information, the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association( NMLRA) has charter clubs in every stat, as well as field representatives in each state to contact to help shooter find cubs and components. The monthly magazine - Muzzle Blasts-- is full of articles, and advertisers who can aid you in finding what you need.

This forum also has links to lots of providers and suppliers. Go up to the box on the index page to this forum marked " Member Resources", then scroll down to "Articles, Charts, and LINKS". Click on Links and you will find the list. Click on any name, and you will pull up the company website and catalog. :idunno: :hmm: :thumbsup: :grin:

 

[garandman]

Looking for some Minies. (the ONLY advancement to firearms tech the French ever gave us)

Like to find as wide a selection as possible, to see what shoots well in my 1862. Better, I'd like to start with a sampler pack of weights and diameters, starting about 0.580"

Any links?

Thx!

 

[BrownBear]

Check the Track of the Wolf site. They have lots, but I don't recall if they have samplers or not.

 

[LeMat1856]

.
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7/24/12-0205
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garandman,

actually, the list of sources would be too long for a normal sized "reply" because there are literally hundreds of small, medium, and large shops that have at least something that might be of interest to you, so i would first recommend that you backtrack to the "Forum Index" and then scroll down to the "Links" tag for the list of top sources.

some i have used myself (the gunworks, cabelas, log cabin online, track of the wolf) and others i use for research, price comparisons, and hard to find supplies (mid south, brownells).

i'm sure you'll find plenty of eye candy :wink:

~d~

 

[Matt85]

(the ONLY advancement to firearms tech the French ever gave us)

i disagree with this statement... for starters, durring the revolution the french were a major source of firearms and munitions. also post revolution we used the french musket design to develop our own muskets. the first ever US muskets were near copies of french muskets.

sorry to get off topic but i dislike the anti-french ideals that seem common these days.

back on topic:
www.logcabinonline.com www.trackofthewolf.com www.lodgewood.com (this site offers samplers) www.dixiegunworks.com

there are many more, but i figured this would be plenty to get you started.

 

[scott taylor]

I ordered a 1000 RWS #1075 from Gamaliel a few months ago with no problem. Turned around today and odered another 1000 plus a 1000 flangeless musket caps. I should be set for a while. Seems odd that the musket caps are way cheaper than the rifle/pistol caps. Also kinda odd that they stock caps while most of their line is centered around skeet hunting.
As far as the hazmat fee goes, I got a truck that gets 10 mpg and doubt there is a decent can of caps within a 100 miles of me and I am not going to waste my time driving around looking for them.

Scott

 

[Zonie]

Matt85: You forgot to mention that the first true Flintlock was a French improvement on the older Snaphaunce lock.

The Dutch or Swedish Snaphaunce (c 1540-1550) had the basic idea in mind with its hammer (frizzen) and pan cover combined.
Most historians agree that the idea of a internal sear acting on a rotating tumbler that had a half cock notch in addition to a full cock notch was a French design (c 1620-1630). The name Marin Le Bougeoys is sometimes connected to this design.


Getting back to Minie' bullets I don't know of anyone who supplies an assortment of different slugs so a shooter can try them out.
It is a good idea because there is no doubt that in any given gun one style will shoot accurately but another style won't shoot well at all.

Based on the limited number of Minie's I've shot the most important thing is the fit of the slug to the bore. If it has over .004 diametrical clearance it will shoot poorly.

 

[Coot]

Looking for some Minies. (the ONLY advancement to firearms tech the French ever gave us)

Like to find as wide a selection as possible, to see what shoots well in my 1862. Better, I'd like to start with a sampler pack of weights and diameters, starting about 0.580"

Well, before we get into minies, the French have also given us the gun flint (as opposed to gun spalls which were used until the more efficient French method of knapping was adopted). The first official US musket, as mentioned by Matt 85, the m1795 was basically copied from the Charleville m1766 and the 12 pounder "Napoleon" m1857 was a knock-off of the m1853 Canon-obusier de 12. And the flintlock itself is credited to a Frenchman as Zonie pointed out.

As to minies, both Dixie Gun Works and Track of the Wolf sell a few sizes/styles but the cost of 50-100 is close to the cost of a mold. Years ago I tried some mail order minies but they were not real well cast (minies are more difficult to cast than roundballs) and the skirts tend to get dinged in shipping. Minies are generally sized for a nominal 58 caliber & small differences in diameter can be accomplished by use of a sizing die rather than a different mold. When I was shooting my .577 Enfield p58, I ran the cast "58" minies thru a .575 die. A loading press works great if you have one but clamping the die in a vise & using a mallet with a hardwood dowel (the end of the dowel shaped to fit the base cavity) is also effective. I suggest that you try to find a NSSA group (they shoot a lot & are into that which works well) that uses the same gun as you do & ask what they shoot & then buy the mold for that minie. I had good results with both a Lee "target" minie mold (sort of a wadcutter) and a Lyman PH mold.

 

[Jim Blair]

I received my cap order from them no problems.It is odd they had caps amongst all the stuff they sell which mostly isn't ML related.Group buys might be OK if you've got a group you don't have to wait on or drive all over to organize a buy.I'd rather be in control of what I get and when,that way I'm in control of getting what I need when I need it,$27.50 don't buy much gas as you say.