took my first muzzle stuffer out...

T

tahunua001

New member
...for the first time today. I got it a couple weekends ago at my local gunshow. it's a 54cal Connecticut Valley Arms carbine. it was severely rusted(by centerfire standards) and I was able to talk them down to $90 out the door. it took a great deal to get it shooting. the nipple was rusted shut and there wasn't enough powder making it to the Frisson (or whatever you call the charging area on a cap and ball muzzle loader) so I had to use a sewing needle to clear the nipple and dump enough powder into the frisson to get it to go off but after that the old girl ran like clock work. maybe I'll get a chance to see what she does to a deer this weekend.
 
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nomenclature

Assuming this is a PERCUSSION rifle based on NIPPLE
start at the nipple itself. The nipple screws into the drum.
If you can get it out you can get a new nipple.
If not you might be able to unscew the drum from the barrel
Both can be ordered on line several places. I would start at Dixie gunworks ot the possibles shop, just google them
The area at back of the barrel where the drum screws in would be the chamber area.
This is wear the powder accumulates when you pour it down the muzzle, the forward open end of the barrel.
The FRIZZEN is on a FLINTLOCK rifle.
There is a lot of info here on the net in this forum and others about black powder shooting.
BP is corrisive so you need to clean thoroughly after shooting. Plain hot soapy water will work, or rubbing alcohol, or commmercial products.
Hope you have fun shooting it.
 
thanks for the nomenclature. I had to dump powder into the drum to get it to go off the first time. I have fired enough percussion capmuzzle loaders to know the basics(powder charge, wadding with round balls, cleaning, ETC). I don't have a bullet puller yet so I was very irritated when the caps kept going off but the powder wasn't igniting. I had to remove the nipple to access the drum and clean the nipple. besides the rust from a lack of bore butter and possibly poor storage I would say it's still in pretty good condition. she'll get a bath tonight and a good amount of bore butter all around and she should last for a few decades.
 
If not you might be able to unscew the drum from the barrel
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Do not attempt this on a CVA. They have a complex system that ties in the entire breech system. An amatuer trying to take this apart could ruin the gun. Removing the nipple (and later replacing with a new one) then flushing the breech with hydrogen peroxide followed with a soap and water bath will clean it up just fine. If there is a rusty bore, that is another challenged that might need lapping.
And, Bore Butter is not a necessity, it is just a gimmik product.
 
Rifleman + 1 on Bore Butter

I don't shoot rifles and so I can't cover all of the bases of this conversation, but I certainly don't like it for revolvers.
 
well I ran super hot water through it until it came out clear, ran some rags down the barrel, used a q-tip to clean out the drum, soaked the nipple in hot soapy water and ran water through it again just to be sure. let it sit for a while and gave it a light coat of bore butter. some may say it's a gimmick product but for $7 a tube I think it's a negligible expense. it definitely helped slow down rust deposits on my dads muzzle stuffers up on the mantle and it definitely helps with loading. my brother in law swears by it though he has a home made bullet lube that he likes more but he's too stingy with it so I have to just use bore butter as a bullet lube as well.
 
bore butter +1

hahaha I too have family that are openly stingy in a friendly way to out shoot eachother.
I'm a rifle shooter, and as far as i know, there is nothing bad I can say about bore butter. We all have our own goofy crap we do haha but gimmik or not, I think he's right, It doesmake for consistently easy loading, and i"ve noticed cleaning has been gettin a little easier each time. Hell, i've started to use it on all my old rifles for rust control (only) and it even smells pretty good.:p
I'll pay seven bucks for bullet lube,Its good stuff, ready made, and thats what i started out with. It kinda grows on ya:D
 
Did your rifle come with an instruction & parts manual? If your rifle is still being made. It might benefit you in trying to find one.
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no it came from a pawnshop's stand. I got it cheap because it was quite rusty and well worn and I was able to talk them down. I rarely read manuals...I prefer to break my guns good and thoroughly before I resort to pansy ideas like reading the manual :D

with all that said I am primarily a rifle man myself and though bore butter is a great invention IMHO, I don't think I would rub it on my springfields or enfields any time soon. I tend to just use the much more...er... aromatic CLP and not have to worry about wood swelling or greasy feeling since I am allowed to use traditional solvents on them.
 
I can attest personally that TC 1000 is most defiantly not a gimmick. Extensive testing with two (for all intensive purposes) identical rifles....A CVA bobcat and a Traditions deer hunter. Cleaning both first with nitro solvent then with scalding water, the CVA was shot several time over a week each night cleaning with scalding water, clean patches and bore butter only. The next firing was with both rifles...The CVA with the "seasoned" bore, and the Traditions with the clean metal bore. Firing 15 rounds from each rifle using the same bullets and powder charge with no swabbing. The CVA I'd swear to it, that it actually became easier to load the more it was shot. While the traditions was so fouled by the time the 15th shot was loaded it was a complete FIGHT to get it seated.

All firing during the entire process in both rifles was 70grs of pyrodex RS behind 285gr Remington pre lubed conical lead bullets with No. 11 ignition.
 
hmmm

I think dish soap WOULD ruin the seasoning effect of the bore butter wouldn't it...... didn't think that part through. NEW METHOD:D
 
thanks Berdan, that might explain why my fathers 45 cal thompson center and 50 cal CVA are so much harder to load than any of the other muzzle loaders I've tried. all of the others used bore butter while his remained...er... unseasoned. actually broke the ram rod on the 45 trying to load it after about 5 rounds when we had it out for my little brother's birthday party.
 
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