women and loading

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

Does anyone have any suggestions for simplifying starting a roundball?

I've got a .50 and .54 for my two daughters that are shorter trigger pulls. The problem is, they can't get a patched ball started without my help. They have short starters but that is of no help.

I've tried two different thicknesses of patches, different ball diameters. The one load that one of my daughter CAN start doesn't group worth a darn.

Is there any secret other than having them lug a mallet with them?

 

[Zonie]

...

Is there any secret other than having them lug a mallet with them?

Not that I can think of.

It doesn't have to be a big mallet. Even something like a hammer handle could work.

To load this way and to keep them from smashing their fingers I suggest they use their short starter plus the mallet.

Starting the patched ball into the muzzle and then holding it in place with the short starter will allow their fingers to be on the sides of the ball, well away from the top.

A good tap with the mallet on top of the starter ball should do the trick.

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

You could cone the barrel

 

[mooman76]

You could try using cotton flannel for patch. Not the strongest but usually holds up under light loads. Other than that can you go to a smaller ball? What size balls are you using? Does your short starter have the small nub on the side?

 

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

I could try coning the muzzle of the .50. But the .54 is a T/C with the QLA muzzle. The QLA works to get the ball into the barrel but it still hangs up at the rifling. I don't know how to reach the rifling to cone it with the QLA there.

The patch materials I've tried are .020 pillow tick, .012 denim, and paper patches. The balls for the .54 are .527 and .530, and for the .50 caliber I have .490.

The paper patches were the only ones that my daughter could start, but they hit all over the paper at 50 yards off the bench (me shooting).

Oh. And yes their short starters have the short nub.

 

[mooman76]

Cotton Flannel is spongy enough, it may work for you.

 

[coloradoclyde]

I would start by giving them a pommel stone and a couple of buckets of walnuts to crack for practice.
Actually a small pommel stone that fits well in the palm of their hand can add a lot of kinetic energy”¦ a little hard on the ball starter though.
You could make one out of dense wood small enough to be effective and still fit in a shooting bag.
A tight loading block can pre-squeeze the patch and ball making loading easier.
I would also try some more patch materials.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Your posts suggest they are new to shooting and, to boot, have rifles unfamiliar to them. I do wish you had gotten them a smaller caliber. But, even with what you have they can learn. Do get smaller balls. Their first challenge will be to learn loading and shooting. Ease of loading will encourage them to stay in the game. Later, with experience, they may be wanting to seriously hunt 'X's'. Then they can experiment with larger balls requiring tighter fits. Too many up front challenges will disuade them from wanting to stay in the game. Trust me, I know from experience. :redface:

 

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

Been shooting muzzleloaders for 19 years. But this idea of getting my daughters to load by themselves is a bit of a new twist. My sons can load just fine.

I would have preferred something more like a .45 too, but price and overall gun size were more important than caliber.

I am not so worried about hitting X's as I am about hitting deer. The paper patched balls were not consistently in the vital zone.

As far as I'm aware Lee does not make a .485 ball mold do they?

I will play with other cloth material and see what I find.

 

[Billnpatti]

The most obvious answer is to use as small of a ball as you can get with a thin patch that is well, but not overly, lubed. If this is not as accurate as you need, you can add an OP wad to the load. Then use a small mallet if it is needed. While I understand your not wanting to add equipment to what they already have to mess with, you do what you have to do so they can load their rifle. If you don't, you stand a good chance of loosing them to the sport of muzzleloading.

 

[swathdiver]

Track sells a .480 Lee gang mold and round balls. One could size it to .485 if need be.

 

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

Thinner patch plus a hammer handle worked for the .54 T/C.

The thinner patch I'm not so sure of in the .50. It starts, but she was flinching as well as I was finding the condition of the patch not-so-good. I loaded it with 50 gr of FFFg. I may try 50 gr of FFg after some serious dry-firing work to get the flinch out. She did not complain about the recoil, it was just the noise that bothered her (yes we use ear plugs).

 

[coloradoclyde]

If your handy with tools you could make a ball starter that acts like a slide hammer.

 

[AZbpBurner]

A lot of suggestions are about as practical as suggesting you have sons next time, so I'll bring it back full circle to the mallet.

No need to change loads, balls, muzzle geometry, or patch material, when the mallet allows you to keep everything as it is now.

I have one particular rifle that I tired of shooting, simply because the palm of my hand hurt at the end of the day.

A 4" section of mesquite branch, barked and drilled for a wooden handle solved the pain, and the rifle sees more range time now.

 

[mooman76]

I made my short starter by going to a craft store and looked at there wooden knobs they had. The one I picked is a little larger than most and shaped more like a door knob than completely ball shaped. Fits my hand better and because of that doesn't hurt as much to smack the short starter. Also if they wear a glove on that hand it will absorb some of the hit.

 

[cynthialee]

Nothing wrong with taking a mallet to the range.

 

[Alden]

Mallets were sometimes standard issue to muzzleloading riflemen in the military. Surely your daughters are worth no less than an enlisted man!

 

[Billnpatti]

By golly, I have a piece of brass rod and an antique brass door knob........and now I have an idea. :hmm:

 

[Sean Gadhar]

Maybe I missed it.
But, what lube?
Did you swab between shots?

Also did you try holding the rifle for them so they could get the technique down?

Lastly did you have them using the nub starter on the short starter ball/handle or just the round side of the ball/handle.

My wife went with me today for her first time shooting muzzleloaders & we found she could do it herself on her T/C renegade .54 after I held the rifle while she learned & when I kept the patch (just a tiny bit) wetter then normal. It also helped when she just used the round of the ball rather then the little nubby starter.

 

[Bob J]

Chamois - my .62 wanted a tight patch/ball combo that required real effort with a ball starter. Now I use genuine chamois purchased at the auto parts store. I cut round patches with scissors, lube with East Maine Products Premium Lube (wonder lube), and get my best groups ever. Four out of five times the ball and patch can be THUMB-STARTED because chamois is so compressible! Be sure to use GENUINE chamois and not synthetic.