Any muzzle-loader builders out there?

[hobby climber]

I've enjoyed hunting since the early '80's. Rifle, shotgun, handgun, long bow, compound bow, crossbow(legal in Ontario), but my favorite is black powder guns. Here's the BP line up: .32 cal. hammer, 12ga. side by side hammer, .50 cal.T/C Hawkin hammer, and a ? ga. Blunder-bust. This blunder-bust is a CVA kit that I purchased a while ago. It has a Brass barrel & furniture but the lock (a flintlock), is low-end as well as the trigger. The stock it came with is also crap because the opening for the lock & trigger had been made to big. What I'm looking to do is upgrade the lock & trigger to a "Davis" and get a fresh chunk of wood for the stock. I've seen some beautiful wood used for gun stocks that have come from walnut tree stump/roots. Its the section of wood that's at the base of the trunk as it flairs out to the root,(below ground). This stump/root wood has incredible detail and character. Are there any traditional black powder shooters or builders out there??? Just think it would be cool to harvest that wood from a tree job and have it made into something. Imagine if you will, a brass barrel blunder-bust with brass nose cap & trigger Gard set into a beautifuly hand rubbed oiled walnut root stock. Kinda unique don't cha think! HC

[YUKON 659]

HC, I don't consider myself a muzzle loader builder but I have put 2 kits together. The first one was a 50 cal. CVA Mountain Rifle that turned out pretty good and the second one I did was 50 cal. TC Hawken that I took a little more time with and it turned out real nice. In my opinion it's nicer than the factory ones because of the hand rubbed oil finish I gave it.

Jeff

[hobby climber]

Yukon, I know exactly what you mean with the hand rubbed oil finish. I have the same T/C Hawken kit gun. (have drummel tool will travel, eh). I've shot just about every "type" of firearm ( pistol,rifle, shotgun and bow) you can think of. From slingshot to 50 cal. machine gun. Yet I alway return to the muzzle loader. The in-lines are good guns but I like the traditional best. "Lock Stock & Barrel" ! They are a piece of hand crafted art, IMO. I'm looking at a custom gun next. It will be a Late Lancaster in a larger caliber suitable for moose, deer & bear. If you are interested in seeing what I'm talking about take a look at "Tennessee Valley Muzzle-loader" under late Lancaster custom gun. www.avis.com/tvm or search (T.V.M.) on the net. Its cool stuff! HC

[underwor]

I put together a 45 caliber flintlock I picked up at Dixie Gun Works in Union City Tennessee in about 1972. Had to cut in all the dovetails for the sights and pins to hold stock to barrel, thread all screws, drill and tap all holes, all brass was sand cast, so required a lot of polishing, and stock was roughly carved. Finished it with an oil finish. It shoots about 4" to left at 80 yards. I flinch more than that when it goes off, so I haven't bothered to try to adjust the sights any closer. The inlines are not real muzzle loaders, just highpowers modified to get in one more season IMO.

It makes a good project to keep you out of trouble for a few months.

[hobby climber]

Ya Dixie did make alot of kit guns, they had their own 50 cal that was discontinued about 15 years ago that was hard to beat for quality & price. Hey Underwor, you know that you could probable change the trigger to a double set trigger without much trouble. Depends on your lock and how good your wood carving skills are! OR you could try polishing some of the internal lock & trigger parts to get a smoother & lighter trigger pull. Just be careful not to go overboard with the pollishing or the trigger pull will be to light and become dangerous!!! The brass is rough finish because it is up to you to inlay it into the wood,(before you Polish it). Once its cut to "shape" and set into the stock, you then file & sand it at the same time as the rough cut stock. That how you get that perfect match finish of wood & brass! A simple trick to get your gun shooting straight... You say its shooting 4" to left at 80 yards eh? Thats very good & most people would say to leave it alone & their right is saying so. If you have peened the fixed sights and are not willing to mess with re-adjusting them, then heres what you could do: Take a fine file and gently file on the the right side of the front blade sight. By doing this, it will bring your MPI over to the right and on target. Go slow & don't go crazy with the file, a few light strokes is all that you need. Your right about the in lines, every bit as accurate as the modern rifles. To wack a deer with one of those is not the same as with a flint-lock using real black powder. There are a lot of good books out there that will help the new, as well as the old black powder shooters. The two best "Must Have" books are: 1)-Lyman- Black Powder Handbook, & 2)- The gun Digest- Black Powder Loading Manual (By Sam Fadala). There are many little tricks you can do to ensure better accuracy, more dependable & better ignition, safer firing, easier clean-up, etc. etc. etc. If anyone has any questions or concerns, or just want to talk about muzzle-loading, please ask because I love talking about this stuff !!! HC

[Al Smith]

I didn't build it,but I have a 58 cal Zouave[replica of 1842 Remington].It shoots a 540 grain maxi,with 80 grains of powder.I think it would down a moose,if close enough.

[hobby climber]

The Zouave is a good gun for moose and with the right bullet & load it is very accurate as well. Just make sure that you shoot your moose within 100 yds as this heavy bullet will loose energy fast! A friend of mine had a "3 band" Zouave a while back and poured his own lead bullets. It was a Lyman mold #577611 which is a 530 grs hollow base bullet. Whats great about this bullet is that the base flairs (opens) during powder burn making the lead dig deeper into the groves creating a better seal and higher pressure. We had tried different bullet but found the #577611 to be the best. Each gun maker that makes the Zouave replica will have different load restrictions and barrel rates of twists and barrel length. This info is a must to know because it will help you to determine the best bullet and powder load for any gun! If your thinking about hunting moose with your Zouave, you should try to build a load that will give you at least 1000 ft/lbs of energy at 100 yds. Without knowing if your gun has 2 or 3 barrle bands on it, the barrel length and rate of twist or the manufacturer who made it. It would be difficult to suggest a load for that gun! Because black powder burns slower than modern powder, an ideal load is one where all of the powder is burned up inside the barrel at the time the projectile exits the muzzle. If you have excessive flame, your likely using to much powder. If you use to little powder, the powder burning inside the barrel will end long before the projectile exits the muzzle creating drag (resistance) on the inside of the barrel causing slower velocity. There's more to it than this but you get the general idea. So for each different bullet you shoot, try the following: (for the Zouave) Choose your bullet, using FFg real black powder, start at 70grs and work your way up by 10 grs intervals till you start to see obvious flames exiting the muzzle. Then work your way back till the flames and barley noticeable. You now have the optimum efficient load for your gun. (keep in mind the manufacturers maximum load restrictions for each gun as you work up your load)!!! This info will be marked somewhere on the barrel or see the owners manual. If anyone is interested, I have a barrel cleaner solution that I think works better that any store bought stuff. Its cheap, easy to make and makes since. The recipe is: 2 parts alcohol, 2 parts hydrogen peroxide & 1 part Murphy's oil Soap. If you increase it to 2 parts oil soap, it makes a great patch lubricant. Keep it in a dark spray bottle (out of the sun), and make sure you shake it well before use because it will separate. HC

[Al Smith]

Well,I really wasn't going to hunt moose,with a muzzle loader.That was just a reference.I have used the old cannon for deer,in the past.It is pretty accurate out to around 150 yards.After that it drops like a mortar round.

[hobby climber]

I didn't think you were serious about hunting moose with it but if you had been, you've got the right gun for the job! That thing will drop any big game animal in North America. I once owned a Harpers Ferry 58 cal. flint lock. Nice accurate gun but didn't like the factory finish or the lock. I would like to buy another one some day but will get the kit and finish it myself. Nothing better than hunting with a muzzle-loader that you built yourself! Anyone else hunt/shoot black powder? Flint lock etc.? HC

[trailerguy]

I've built several muzzle loaders over the years. From kits, a Navy Magnum 12ga. double barrel, a .45 cal TC Hawken. Then I built a .54 and a .36 drop in barrel for it. Which was followed by a custom Curly Maple stock with a hand poured nosecap. Which means I have three barrels and two stocks that interchange,lol. Then I went from scratch and built a .36 cal poor boy with a 42" douglas XXX barrel. I've hunted waterfowl and upland game with the 12 ga and many deer and two black bear with the .54 Hawken, as well a bunch of squirrels with the poor boy.

[hobby climber]

Now your talking my language! I've got a upland SxS 12 ga. shotgun that I use for rabbits & pheasants...love that thing. Was having some trouble with ignition in damp weather. I switched from using the #11 nipples to a musket nipple that uses musket caps. Boy what a difference. It creates hotter and deeper flame penetration into the powder charge. So if your powder is a bit damp at the nipple, the extra flame of the musket cap will set the charge off better than if you had a #11 cap. You can buy these musket nipples that replace the #11's at Cabela's. They are made by "Mountain State Manufacturing", and are 1/4 x 28 thread. The other advantage to using the larger nipple is that its easier to use it in cold weather! Hey Trailerguy, what kinda furniture is on your poor boy .36 cal.? Would your lock be a Davis , L&R or other? If your thinking of building another gun from scratch, then check out this web site: www.logcabinshop.com . They have lots of good stuff! Also have a look at "T.V.M."(Tennessee Vally Muzzleloading) on the net as well if your looking at quality kits or finished guns, especially their custom guns, (Late Lancaster in Flintlock), its a beautiful thing! Let me know what you think. HC

[pbtree]

Have not done so as of yet, but that is a project I have marked for the not too distant future...

[hobby climber]

pbtree, many companies sell kit guns that you can put together yourself. Just remember that some will need more work to finish than others! "Lyman" probably makes one of the better kits that are aprox.95% finished at an affordable price. With the Lyman kits, all you really need to do is fit it together, give it a light sanding, hand rubbed oil finish & start shooting. Its about $100 less than the factory finished ones and looks better with an oil finish as oppose to a lacquer finish. HC