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Powder, Patch, Ball

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Steel Horse Rider

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Jan 4, 2012
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Loveland, Colorado
We all know the basics. After building a new house, surviving the Covid Panic, and retiring, I decided that I should dig out some black powder arms to properly observe Independence Day. It has been at least 5 years since I have smelled the holy black so I decided to take my Pedersoli Hawken Flinter with me to shoot today. After double checking to insure that I had the correct powder, measures, balls, and patches, including my bore butter lube as well as the proper swab and cleaning rod, I headed out to the range. The sky was overcast and it spit some drizzle on me so I fired a couple of magazines from my latest acquisition, an Enfield #5. By then the drizzle stopped, so I retrieved all of my BP stuff and laid it out in order on the table. I then lubed up a patch, centered it on the barrel, laid a .490dia ball perfectly in the center, and pressed it into the barrel with the starter. I then remembered the powder........
 
One of my most treasured possessions is a plaque awarded to me back in about 1992, at the Oregon State Muzzle Loader shoot. It was for my proficiency in dry loading the muzzle loading rifle.

I do have a very sturdy, four piece, rod I keep in my shooting box, with a ball puller along with it. One can trickle a bit of powder behind the nipple on a percussion gun, but it's a different ordeal with a flinter.
 
Kind of makes a case for sacrificing a bit of accuracy for a looser ball and patch combo. I never leave home without a ball-puller, and so far, knock on wood, I've never had a ball or slug that refused to come back out.

Well I hope you got your ball back out without too much trouble.
 
Steel Horse Rider said:
We all know the basics. After building a new house, surviving the Covid Panic, and retiring, I decided that I should dig out some black powder arms to properly observe Independence Day. It has been at least 5 years since I have smelled the holy black so I decided to take my Pedersoli Hawken Flinter with me to shoot today. After double checking to insure that I had the correct powder, measures, balls, and patches, including my bore butter lube as well as the proper swab and cleaning rod, I headed out to the range. The sky was overcast and it spit some drizzle on me so I fired a couple of magazines from my latest acquisition, an Enfield #5. By then the drizzle stopped, so I retrieved all of my BP stuff and laid it out in order on the table. I then lubed up a patch, centered it on the barrel, laid a .490dia ball perfectly in the center, and pressed it into the barrel with the starter. I then remembered the powder........
Click to expand...
:what::(:rofl: Been there done that.

Haven’t read to the end of the responses. But I’m sure you were able to correct the situation.
 
Was cleaning mine one day, long time ago. Got a jag and patch stuck all the way down there. (It disconnected from the rod completely. Wasnt a thread issue. Whole sleeve disconnected from the wood rod.

From what i recall, i worked powder under the nipple several different times until i was able to get it to discharge from the muzzle.
 
Air is good.
:thumbup:






A an aside, I was using a Brown Bess at the skeet range (yes, the Bess makes a great shotgun),
when I got the idea that pouring some Moose Milk down into the shot column would be beneficial.
You can guess the rest... :cuss:
(Air is good) ;)

.
 
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I wise man once told me, "There are two types of muzzle-loader shooters. Those that have dry-balled their gun; those that will dry-ball their gun." I have no idea why the expression is "dry-balled" as a patched ball on top of powder isn't any more "wet" than when it's loaded on an empty breech...., but he was right and I'm in the first group, several times over in the past 40 years. ;)

LD
 
Actuly it’s fairly easy to do loading revolvers on a stand.Six powder charges, six wads, six balls. Until someone at the local range looking over your shoulder asks “watch a u doing” distracting you and you lose count of the powder charges. Then the loading lever thunks down full stroke and, well crap ……….!:(
 
I've never tried it, but I'm pretty sure I could get some 4fg through the flash-holes in both my Jeager and Bess. Neither have what I would call tiny flash/touch holes. In both guns, 3fg will dribble out the holes, so I assume 4fg would dribble in. ? But that is why I use 2fg or 1fg in those guns, aside from the fact the the hole in the muzzle end of the gun(s) is/are....large.
 
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