• This community needs YOUR help today. We rely 100% on Supporting Memberships to fund our efforts. With the ever increasing fees of everything, we need help. We need more Supporting Members, today. Please invest back into this community. I will ship a few decals too in addition to all the account perks you get.



    Sign up here: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/account/upgrades

swivel gun

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I use what many call quills or squibs.

Quills, modern type, are made from cellophane tape, ffffg blackpowder and sections of thin diameter plastic drinking straws.

To make a quill, first, cut a goodly amount of plastic drinking straws into 1" to an 1.5" lengths with one end cut on an angle. Slit the diagonal cut end, on the short side, .5" to .75", lengthwise. Now, set these aside.

Next pour a small amout of ffffg blackpowder into a shallow bowl or saucer and spread it thinly.

Tear off a 2" length of cellophane tape, cut this in half lengthwise. Take one piece at a time, and place sticky side down onto the ffffg blackpowder. Make sure the sticky side of the tape is evenly coated and brush off any excess blackpowder back into the bowl or saucer.

Lengthwise fold the end of the tape in half, and thread it into a section of a plastic drinking straw, until a .25 to .50 of the powdered tape is exposed on the diagonal cut end of the straw.

To use, insert the diagonally cut end into the vent of your handgonne. The slit end will help to fit the squib into a variety of different size vents, by allowing the straw to decrease its diameter.

Using a fuse with a quill offers a delayed time before ignition of the powder charge. A quill, unless delayed by the addition of fuse, offers instantaneous ignition.

Hope that helps,
CP
 
You may want to use Paper Straws they won't leave any residue or shoot melted plastic in the air.

Andy
Legion Ville Historical Society[url] www.legionville.com[/url]
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ok I found my camera and took a few shots of the way I make quills.

Step #1 Get some paper straws. I use 4mm dia straws
140_4041.jpg


Step #2 Cut them to length. I make them so the paper straw fits about to the center of the bore.
140_4042.jpg


Step #3 Cut a length of double sided tape in half lengthwise. I cut it about 1/2 inch longer than the straw.
140_4043.jpg


Step #4 Roll the tape in 4f powder.
140_4044.jpg


Step #5 Slide the tape into the straw. Till it just sticks out the other side.
140_4045.jpg

140_4046.jpg


Here are a few other ones I use. You can make them any length needed I tried the one on the bottom with the cone rolled out of paper but it's not necessary.
140_4048.jpg


Last here is the company that makes the straws
140_4049.jpg


I hope this helps. Like I said this is the way I make them I'm sure there are many other ways but this works good for me.

Andy
Legion Ville Historical Society[url] www.legionville.com[/url]
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks that'll help alot. It's always a trip to learn new ways of doin' things, Now I'll have a few more ways to drive the wife crazy tring to explain what I'm doin' :haha: :haha:
 
54,

I use the same straws as Andy, but I start with thin string, Elmers glue and powder:

Primers_1.jpg



I let them hang out to dry overnight. They're anything but straight, but gravity will take care of that.

Primers_2.jpg



Next, I cut my straws, slit one end cross-ways and then fold the end out like the petals of a flower. Slide a self-adhesive paper hole reinforcer up from the bottom and then add one ot the top and you'll get a nice rim to increase the surface area to hit with the slow match. I slide a powder-coated string down into the straw and bend it over 90 degrees when there's about 1/4" of string sticking out of the bottom. Next, I add glue using a q-tip to smear it all around the top and then tamp it into a pile of powder and set the whole thing out to dry.

Primers_3.jpg



A little closer look:

Primers_4.jpg



There's 40 primers drying; tomorrow I will snip off the excess string sticking out of the top and I'll be done!

Primers_5.jpg



Sometimes the string comes loose from the top, but that's OK - it will still work just fine. This is a LOT more work than Andy's method, but I can say that I've never had a misfire. That doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with Andy's method, in fact, I know a couple of crews that do it his way and I plan on giving his method a whirl on my next batch.

Whatever method you choose, I think you'll find it a hell of a lot more fun to touch it off by hand than using fuse or friction primers! :grin:
 
rifleshooter2 said:
You may want to use Paper Straws they won't leave any residue or shoot melted plastic in the air.

Andy,

I know a couple of crews that use plastic and they say that the straws blow out of the vent so fast that they never melt. They prefer plastic because they don't hit ht eground smoldering like paper does. Personally, I prefer paper because while mine may not look like an 18th century primer tube, at least I don't have to explain multi-colored stripes! :grin:
 
Hey Grapeshot I like the idea of using paper renforcment rings. I had tried cutting circles out by hand and it just took way too long. I think I'll try that out. The older I get the harder it is to see the quill :cursing: . The extra area should help. :hatsoff:

Andy
 
I've never had a question about the stripes, as we never allow spectators to come within 50 feet of a loaded and primed piece. Massachusetts law forbids it.

527 CMR 22.00: CANNON OR MORTAR FIRING
22.05: Range Conditions and Other Prefiring Requisites
(11) The audience at a supervised blank- or live-firing of cannon shall be restrained behind lines 50' on the flank area back of the muzzle and 50' to the rear of the gun.

12) Unless otherwise allowed by the Marshal, no piece shall be discharged with blank ammunition unless all spectators are at a safe distance from the front of the piece and at least 50' to the rear or flank. Adjacent pieces must be at a safe interval.


After firing we immediately police the area for straws and embers.
 
Grapeshot,
I will admit that your quills look closer to the originals than mine or Andy's.

The original 18th century primers I saw were fashioned from goose quills and had a round paper "pillow" on top. The entire affair was filled with priming powder. Reminded me of a golf tee. I'll have to find the photos and post them.

Paper straws are expensive and hard to come by here. I have tried, nearest place to carry them is 40 miles over in Boston.

CP
 
Grapeshot
thanks for the info, looks like it is'nt to tuogh i'll have to make some up and try them out. Even with a short fuse I get a 5-10 second delay it'll be cool to have instant gratification. :thumbsup:
 
Claypipe your right on Grapeshots looking more original. I think I'll add his top but keep using the double sided tape it seems a little less messy than the glue and string method when making them.
Andy
 
Claypipe said:
I've never had a question about the stripes, as we never allow spectators to come within 50 feet of a loaded and primed piece. Massachusetts law forbids it.
>snip<
After firing we immediately police the area for straws and embers.

Niether do I. At a reenactment they never even get close, but at demos like we do at Fort Frederick, we follow NPS guidelines and they never get closer than 17 yards (10 yards from the gun to the box and then another 7 yards). However, in order to burn that 5 minute waiting period between shots we describe what we're doing and show them the implements and I usually will show them a primer, though never letting them handle it and the cartridges never come out.

After a firing we do allow the public to come up and look at the gun, but only after the gun is secured and the ammo box locked and removed.

R/s,
Charlie
 
Claypipe said:
Paper straws are expensive and hard to come by here. I have tried, nearest place to carry them is 40 miles over in Boston.
CP

$29.99 for a box of 1800. I get four primers out of each straw, so my box will probably last the rest of my life! :grin:
[url] http://www.unitednow.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=C-9030[/url]

R/s,
Charlie
 
Last edited by a moderator:
rifleshooter2 said:
I think I'll add his top but keep using the double sided tape it seems a little less messy than the glue and string method when making them.

I'm planning the same thing for my next batch! I won't have to wait for them to dry overnight and my wife won't complain about finding powder on the kitchen counter! :thumbsup:
 
The last set of demos we did, we used 26 quills a day. So, that's 208 over an 8 day period. We use these for both cannon and gonnes, so we go through a pile in short order.

CP
 
Claypipe said:
Grapeshot,
The original 18th century primers I saw were fashioned from goose quills and had a round paper "pillow" on top. The entire affair was filled with priming powder. Reminded me of a golf tee. I'll have to find the photos and post them.

As promised:

rev_quill1.jpg
rev_quill2.jpg
 
mckutzy said:
i dont have any 4f, but i carefully grind up 3f and use that? eh

I'm sure it woud work, but I would only crush small amounts at a time and keep your face away from it! Not that it's unstable or anything, but why take unnecessary chances 'cause ya just never know, eh?

:hatsoff:
 

Latest posts

Back
Top