Rendezvous buy - Loading Block

F

FrontierGander

New member
I bought a few of these at the last Santa Fe Trail Rendezvous in June '17

The guy basically carves out half of the loading block so theres less stress on the patched ball when loading the block up. Plus, the balls hang out further and easily drop into the bore where you then use your short starter and pop'em right in! I have a number of them that hold anywhere from 3, 6 & 7 balls.

All the balls here were cut at the block. Once the lubed patch material is placed over the block, push in the ball then use your patch knife the cut the material away and you are ready to go. Its really nice how the balls are spaced out in a way that the balls are easily placed into the muzzle. Hopefully hes back next year so I can buy some more. Right now, he charges 50 cents per hole. They fit from a .015 patch to my thick .020 hunting patch.

 
LOVE it!!! Have been looking for a loading block for my plains rifle for some time.

You wouldn't happen to have a .54 caliber one you could sell, do ya?? :D

-M12
 
Enjoy making my own "Possibles"

Shouldn't be hard to make Model12, especially if you have a band saw and a drill press.
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BuckSkinners and "Vintage" folks, love to make their own "accoutrements". Some can be fairly ornate. I have one that is in the shape of a Turtle and another is a Beaver. Don't need great shop skills, just the right tools. ..... ;)

Be Safe !!!
 
4V50 Gary said:
Rendezvous are fun, but how come you didn't make your own?
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Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to make every muzzleloading accessory or gun yourself to have fun in this sport. I buy most (not all) of my traditional muzzleloading tack and equipage. Call me what you will, I still get plenty of happiness from it.

The smokeless powder people aren't ever expected to make all of their stuff from scratch, why are the black powder people always expected to?

These kinds of attitudes and expectations especially towards newcomers is but one of a number of reasons the gap between the "old timers" of the buckskinning revival and those of today are widening and why the cantankerous old curmudgeon is the most common sight on the rondy shooting line.

"You've got to shoot a flintlock! You've got to make your rifle from a kit! You've got to make your own accessories!"

Sometime we're our own biggest detriment to the next generation.
 
Making your own stuff can be a challenge and add some real enjoyment to the sport. I like working a little with leather making my stuff like possible bags, knife sheaths, etc...
I have had a lot of fun making up knives using bones and antlers to get more authentic looking rendezvous stuff.
I don't rendezvous anymore as age is getting in the way somewhat..but I still enjoy making some of my muzzleloading stuff, and it's just part of the hobby.
 
I enjoy making simple stuff. A lot of it I have no talent for but I wish I did. I think the ones that use modern renditions of fur trade era guns like the TC's CVA's etc don't want to get involved in making stuff too much but the ones that make the effort to get a rifle that looks like what was actually used are the ones that also want to make stuff. It kinda goes with the territory. I'm sure there are exceptions but that's my thoughts on the matter anyway.
 
"...I've none..." You can make one of those ML speed loaders with basic hand tools. No need for a band saw or a drill press. They just make it a bit easier.
"...black powder people always expected..." Too, um, frugal to use a cartridge. snicker.
 
Shouldn't be hard to make Model12, especially if you have a band saw and a drill press.
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Shucks, I could probably make one with a hand saw and a 'lectric drill. Forstner bits are worth the extra cost if you want to cut nice clean holes in wood. You can then fine tune the final size of the holes with a round file, sand it smooth and give it a coat of varnish, or not.

You can even get fancy and carve your name on it.

I doubt that the mountain men and Injuns had band saws and drill presses.
 
No not necessary but it beats carving one out of a log with a knife and smoothing it up with loose sand. :D
 
Old Stony said:
Making your own stuff can be a challenge and add some real enjoyment to the sport. I like working a little with leather making my stuff like possible bags, knife sheaths, etc...
I have had a lot of fun making up knives using bones and antlers to get more authentic looking rendezvous stuff.
I don't rendezvous anymore as age is getting in the way somewhat..but I still enjoy making some of my muzzleloading stuff, and it's just part of the hobby.
Click to expand...

One of my other hobbies is building and flying radio control airplanes, and I'm one of the few remaining holdouts who actually builds his own model planes instead of just buying one that's ready to fly.
There's just something about watching something you built yourself take off and fly that just can't be matched by watching something you bought take off and fly.

Of course, there's different degrees of building it yourself ranging from assembling an assemble and shoot kit to actually making your own barrel and lock and carving a stock out of a rough plank.

Muzzle loading guns has long been a gunsmith's hobby.
 
There's just something about watching something you built yourself take off and fly that just can't be matched by watching something you bought take off and fly.
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6MFLAWal.jpg


I don't have the skill set to build a stock. Some do, some don't. I just don't. Now the guy that built my Hawken not only made the stock out of a board he made most of the metalwork from scratch too.
 
Roaddog.. Some mountain men did use things like loading blocks. I've seen examples is places like the museum at Chadron Nebraska. Some were made out of a really plain piece of wood or antler and some were carved out in the shape of turtles, etc... The turtle was sort of a good luck spirit thing to some of them.
 
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