muzzle loader ?

mehavey,
I use a 20# bottom pour pot set on the highest setting and I do let it stream into the mold. Thanks for the reminder, it's been a while.
 
Thin

0.015" too thin? That has not been my experience. I do not own a .58; I do have guns larger and smaller. I regularly use 0.010" patches with LRBs that are 0.010" undersized. No burn through.
Pete
 
Patch thickness is entirely dependent on two things:ball-to-bore diameter fit, and rifling type/depth.

My Pedersoli Missouri River has shallow rifling and likes 0.010" fine-weave muslin.
However my Green Mountain, TC and Lyman barrels have deep rifling, and would
cut such thin material to shreds.
 
There are some bullets that just require a ladle pour. I had found that for most of my minie bullets that I could find a trick to pouring them with my bottom pour pot and get quality bullets. But when my Pritchett bullets I could not. Ladling made the problem go away. With the ladle you start the pour with the mold sideways, and then turn the mold and ladle to vertical near the end of the pour.

Steve
 
maillemaker

A few pix of the process (sans hot lead), showing the stages of the pour and positional relationship of mold to pot, would be nice.

Also perhaps further explaination of 'free' vs 'contact' pouring for those of us that don't cast yet.
 
A few pix of the process (sans hot lead), showing the stages of the pour and positional relationship of mold to pot, would be nice.

Also perhaps further explaination of 'free' vs 'contact' pouring for those of us that don't cast yet.
Click to expand...

Well, I can't take pictures at the moment, but perhaps I can make do with words.

A bottom pour pot pours lead out the bottom of the pot through a spigot.

Molds are typically two aluminum blocks that split down the center of the bullet shape, with a sprue plate on top through which the lead is poured in from above. When the lead solidifies, you knock the sprue plate away, which shears off the lead sprue as the plate pivots on its hinge.

The easiest way to pour lead into the mold is to simply let the molten lead pour straight down the hole into the mold. But for some bullets, particularly hollow-base bullets, this often results in voids forming in the bullet.

Sometimes you can avoid the problems by holding the mold block at a slight angle, or by letting the molten lead splash onto the sprue plate before it slides down the hole into the bullet cavity.

Some people hold the mold opening directly against the pour nozzle (either pot or ladle). This is "contact" pouring. Other people let the lead pour through the air before hitting the mold, leaving a little puddle on top of the sprue plate. This is "free" pouring. I prefer free pouring and the resultant puddle because invariably as the bullet cools it sucks down a little lead from above. A puddle on top provides some extra lead for the sucking. :)

With ladle pouring, instead of holding the mold block vertically, and letting the lead pour straight in from above, you instead hold the mold block horizontally, and the ladle spout is also horizontal. The ladle is basically a bowl with a hole/spout in the side of it, so that as you tilt the bowl lead starts leaking out the hole in the horizontal orientation.

By holding the ladle spout up against the inlet in the mold block, you start the pour while the mold is horizontal. As you pour you slowly turn the mold, with ladle, from horizontal to vertical, until the mold is full of lead. This can eliminate voids in hollow-base bullets like minie balls.

Steve
 
Does anyone know the difference between TC #13 and TC #17 ?
I loaded the .570 round balls with a .015 patch and they were in the normally as per a guy at the club also shooting a ML. He has had a ML for a few years. I was loading 60 gr of Pyrodex and the first 3 holes were touching but a bit left, I adjusted the sight and shot 3 more that were touching and they were right on the bullseye. I think I am going to really enjoy this ML.
 
HEY!
If it works, it works :D

As to TC #13 and TC #17, they are just expensive substitutes for plain old soap & water. :mad:
 
Sure.... (for breach plug)

...Though I find a drop or two of ordinary BreakFree/Motor oil
works just as well when pulling the nipple when cleaning after
each shooting session, and I never pull the breach plug)
 
removal of breech plugs on a great deal of muzzleloaders out there, will completely ruin the plug and barrel. Traditional breech plugs are not meant to be removed like you do for normal cleaning on an inline. Even some of the first inlines had non removable plugs.

Flushing with warm soapy water does the trick just fine.

Heres the INSIDE picture of a cabelas hawken that was bought new in 2002-2003. You can see some spotting here and there but thats just normal. After using soapy water, flush with alcohol to remove any water that remains, dry, oil and store. Cleaning your breech plug should not be anything you will ever have to worry about.

Snapshot000000_zps4bf045e4.jpg
 
I recommend using a breech face scraper, though I don't know how that would work in the bore picture above. But for my Civil War guns, the breech scraper scrapes any carbon residue off the face of the breech. Sometimes stuff comes up, sometimes it does not. Some folks use a mop and say that works also. Carbon caking on the breech face is thought to contribute to cook-offs during loading if it starts to glow.

Steve
 
I seen there is a small screw or plug right under where the nipple it, should that be taken out to clean in there ?
 
Yes... That's the cleanout screw and gives you a straight shot through
the flash channel and into the ignition chamber with a pipe cleaner.

Put a drop of BreakFree/Synthetic Motor oil in its threads after cleaning.
 
I cannot turn that small clean out screw ? How much trouble am I in not being able to get it out ?

Which ram rod do you guys recommend for a range rod, I have seen hollow and solid aluminum and fiberglass ?

Powder flask, which is preferred the brass or plastic polymer ?
 
brass

Dont worry about the clean out screw, they are worthless and seize up all of the time. Just remove the nipple while you flush the barrel clean.
 
SCREW:
The cleanout screw is neither worthless, nor does it bind up. It give you straight cleanout
access through the critical flash channel.

Oil the threads before shooting, clean/oil the threads after shooting (like everything else
on the rifle) and install finger (not gorilla) tight. It will last you a lifetime of shooting.
Now If someone ignored the screw, then soak inside and out with penetrating oil/Kroil
after each cleaning session and periodically try again.

FLASKS:
Any flask will do (I prefer traditional brass) to fill the powder measure, but use the
measure to fill the barrel (not the flask).

RODS:
Get/use a flexible fiberglass loading rod,
https://www.buffaloarms.com/Muzzleloader_Ramrods_it-852965.aspx?CAT=5591
and a one-piece aluminum cleaning rod --
w/ an integral muzzle guide made specifically for muskets.
http://winchestersutler.com/ShotLoad.html#MCROD
 
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