Black Powder Shooting

I've shot BP before and I love it. I bet if you clean the trigger mechanism and/or stone the contacts you'd get a better trigger pull. I bet that mechanism is full of crap/rust.

YAY BP!

I've got a couple BP guns; inline, cap and flint. They're a hoot - my favorite boomstick is my Lyman 54cal carbine with a set trigger. It's stupid fun, that's about the best way I can explain it to anyone that's curious about them. 18" barrel with a 1:26 twist for sabots. Loves 80gr of 3F, though I've been meaning to test loads with a different powder because GOEX is a PITA to clean in it.

First things first - check and see if Lyman didn't make a clone of that gun. They made a ton of guns, for a lot of companies, so they could have made yours. I don't see a set trigger on the group, so you'll have a simple spring release for the hammer on the cap. If you take out the two screws on the hammer side, that'll pull the action so you can see the trigger link/sear assembly for the hammer. Once you see it, you'll know what needs to be "cleaned up". They're really simple, and a little polishing goes a long way - but because you don't have the set trigger, you'll have a fair amount of trigger pull no matter what. Is what it is, unless you can change the geometry of the sear.

While you're taking things apart, take the barrel off also - so you can see how it's attached and lines up at the rear. Not likely, but you might need to remove the barrel for cleaning so it's good to know how to strip it.

As long as you're new to BP, there are a few things that you should really get.

1) Accurate powder measure - this is manditory, keeps things consistant.
2) A ball puller - looks like a little screw that can attach to your ramrod - if you need this, you really need this.
3) Ball set, or a ball starter - reduces damage to the crown when starting a ball/conical before you get your ramrod ready (they have these on some quick loaders, or you can make your own).
4) Palm saver (slips over the end of the ramrod, saves your hand - it's nice to have)
5) A decent ramrod. Wood ram rods suck ass. TC made a nice one, and if you're spendy a delrin rod is really nice with no chance of screwing up the rifling.
6) A bottle of Windex with Vinegar - no fooling, this shit works awesome, especially if you're using Triple 7 powder. Vinegar cuts the salts from BP and helps with cleanup.
7) Spendy again, but a Spinjag makes all things in relation to dealing with the barrel easier. I love mine and would buy more if lost in the field.
8) Buy the square patches by the bulk. You'll need them for everything from cleaning, to clearing, to even tick if you get the right size. If you need pillow tick for the ball, you can get that from Jo-Ann fabric for cheap, then cut it down to a 2x2 square for the ball.

For cleaning, get a piece of tubing that'll fit over the nipple on the cap tightly, and put the end of the hose into near boiling water. Then with a hot(wet) swab, on your ramrod, push/pull to make a siphon and pull that hot water into/out of the barrel. Once the salts have been cleaned off, then hit it with alcohol to get rid of the water, then some bore butter. That'll keep it in top shape.

AFA patching the ball, this is where the art/voodoo of BP comes into play.

The pillow tic is basically the filler between the ball and the bore. Fabric can mic out at different thicknesses, and that's what will effect how strong the bite between the ball and the rifling is. Tight is good, but too tight is bad. You need to figure that your rifling is probably 1:66, so really slow, though you can always verify this. Same goes with the powder - you want just enough to push the ball evenly, but too much will cause it to screwball as it leaves - start low in powder and work up until the shots are grouped. You'll see it if you start too hot.

Remember earlier about the bore butter? A little bit of that rubbed into the tic before you load it will help with tamping the load down, and seal up the powder nice so you don't get blow by. You just need enough tic to make sure the ball is in the middle, and overlap the sides. A 2x2 is usually way too much, but it's a good start. most of mine are cut down to 1x1 or slightly larger, but I've gotten used to what my gun likes. Like I said before, it's just to fill the gap between the ball and the rifling, so all the extra is flopped down infront of the ball once loaded.


What are you using for caps? My Lyman loves the 1075's, but I've noticed they're becoming a pain to find.

Have fun!

Man that's good to hear that the shop owner set you up right the first time. I had to learn the hard way, unfortunately - thankfully I'm too stubborn to admit defeat most of the time.

Re the borebutter patches, so long as you use them in a timely manner they should be fine. Just keep 'em in a ziplock bag and put as many as you'll likely need for a session or two. I also keep a little spray bottle (like for glass cleaner, those little travel size bottles) with the Windex/Vinegar in it in a stock pouch for the in-between shots cleaning. I'm not cool enough to have figured out a good possible's bag for hunting, and I've got an old plastic toolbox full of crap for the range.

Re the flask pourer, if it's spring loaded gate keep an eye on it - last thing you want is to direct dump powder down the barrel. Always pour to measuring cup and then into the barrel. If you're direct pouring and for some reason a spark/ember/whatever's still in the barrel - well, POOF - and not in the good way.

TC makes a good steel ramrod, just be careful around your crown. I like the Delrin ones on the Spinjag site.

Never made paper carts, when I go hunting I usually have 8-10 shots pre-measured and stored in poly/screwcap test tubes I got from lab. They fit nicely in the .308 cartridge loops on the stock bag and are moisture tight. If you're going to make paper carts, get some big Zigzag papers and pinch/twist 'em up that way - a few of the local Rendezvous nuts around here go that route and it works well/cheap. Just keep them dry.

I think I shot CCI #11 for one tin, then moved on. I had spotty ignition with them vs the 1075's. 1075's are also tighter on the nipple (10.75), so depending on which nipple you have in the action, that could explain why the fit is poor. You can change the nipple if you want, or find a different cap. I went the cap route.

Next get yourself a Flintlock. You think caps are fun, oh Nelly wait until you get that flash right by your face followed by a split second then BOOM! I remember the first time I shot a flint, I saw the flash and thought "BOOM - hey wait, where's the -" BOOOM! Pro-tip - just because you see the flash, DON'T RELAX YOUR HOLD!

I had a nice bruise on that one.

Historically (and someone correct me if I'm wrong, I'm not a history guy - I'm a blinking lights, high voltage, and photons guy) the paper carts were for keeping powder premeasured. On the field, they were typically some kind of wax/parchment style paper that would keep the charge from getting wet. You'd tear off the end, pour the charge down the barrel, discard, then load the ball/tick. You don't put the paper charge into the barrel. Most of the pillow tick was either pre-torn squares that were waxed (bore butter in modern times) or greased, or some kind of combination of the two. If you ran out of the pre-soaked patches, they had strips that they could tear off immediate patches.

I forget the exact count, but you were supposed to be able to charge, load, tamp, and ready the rifle for shooting in under 15sec I think - it's been a long time since I saw the presentation at Gettysburg so don't hold me to the numbers.

Modern day, I'd just pre-lube up some patches and keep 'em in a ziplock in my pocket or possibles bag.

I'll warn you right now - flintlocks are guaranteed to increase your BP Crap locker by two fold. Between flints, 4F, etc, you will slowly feed the monster that is BP.

Are you shooting balls or conicals in that beast? Get some trashcan's if your twist rate will allow them. They'll put down a Cadillac in the right size.

Yup, according to my research minie balls made loading rifled muskets much faster.

Yeah, that expanding hollow at the base of the bullet was a big step forward.

Are modern minie balls readily available for calibers you typically shoot in ball? The only conicals I have seen were hunting sabots.