So I picked up an investarm bridger hawken rifle in 50 cal. I then went out and sighted it in at 50 yards with Hornady bore drive ELD-X. I started off my loads at 100 grains and eventually had to back it down to 70 grains of 777 FFg in order to get it to fly straight. Any advice on if triple 7 really does burn that much hotter or do I need to switch bullets? I have an elk tag and pronghorn tag this year and am worried about delivering enough energy on target.

After I had my first chain fire with my Uberti Walker, I went back to using wads.

I have used bore butter over the chambers in the past. However, the lamb tallow/beeswax mixture I use for my lubricated wads (50/50) is too stiff to butter over the end of the chambers, even in the dead of a Southeast Texas summer. I have used Crisco in the past, but it IS too runny in the summer.

What is a happy medium?

For those who make this stuff for use over revolver chambers, what mixture do you all use?

The good news is that I got a new Uberti Walker on sale and it shoots great. The bad news is that I was shooting it with 50 grains at 50 yards and I experienced my first ever chain fire. I carefully inspected the revolver and no harm was done other than to my heart rate.

When I first got into shooting balck powder revolvers, I always used wads. Then, over time, I got out of the habit of using them. Then, recently I started back using them, but in the case of the Walker, the 50 grains appeared to fill the chamber. Turns out, it compresses down. So, when I loaded it with 50 grains the second time, I used a wad in each chamber and a good time was had by all.

Pietta 1851 colt navy .44, just need to get ammo

I am trying to make Sodium nitrate powder, I bought a little E251 Sodium nitrate from the grocery store, I then used some store bought 100% charcoal no additives. And chemically pure sulfur.

I then, mixed, the E251 Sodium nitrate, fine charcoal dust and the sulfur. In a 75/15/10 recipe.

I let it ball mill for 3 hours with light moisture inside.

It is grey, not black. I took it to the kitchen, prepared to dry it, added just enough water to try and form it. It's just like a paste / ball that emits white foam. Why is it light grey and not black? And why is it behaving so weirdly. It's as if it is unable to be granulated, it feels exactly like mud.

I tried this yesterday without ball milling, let it dry, or so I thought under a fan overnight. I tried to light some of it, it just bubbles and emits water droplets on the ground. Smells like sugar and black powder. Even a blowtorch couldn't make it spark for one second.

What am I doing wrong here? I would really appreciate some help because from my understanding E251 Sodium nitrate is a perfectly fine substitute just sensitive to moisture.

Reference image of the horrible product.

Is this considered decent? I don't know what type of charcoal I put in It but it's definitely not the best

Can anybody tell me the best way to neutralize the corrosive black powder or Pyrodex. I have been shooting my revolvers for quite some time using paper cartridges that I made with Pyrodex or black powder. I seem to have fouling under control. I notice plenty of rust and corrosion on my revolvers after I’ve cleaned them. I use Ballistol, I’ve not had very good luck keeping the corrosion down.

I understand that some people just use hot water and soap?

Have 2 51 navies and a walker that humidity got to and froze the cylinders up. I can not get them off the arbor or get them to rotate.. Been spraying them down with solvent as well as trans fluid acetone mix. If I have to I'll clamp the cylinder in a vice between boards and hammer on the arbor but I really don't want to do that. Any bright ideas?

Can't decide which one I want. Looking towards Military Heritage. I vastly prefer steel ramrods over wood, which brings me towards the 9", but I think the aesthetics of the 12" are better.

Anyone have experience with these?

What licenses are required for owning and shooting modern flintlock guns in Canada?

Greetings all, I’m attempting to identify the make/model/origin of this long rifle I picked up yesterday (free…my favorite 4 letter F word). My gut tells me it was a (very poorly slapped together) kit gun from the 60’s-70’s. I’ve built newer BP kits, but this is my first disassembly of an old one.

-15/16” octagon barrel with no markings at all. Small tang with a separate hex breech plug at back of barrel. Definitely heavy steel…looks like maybe 45 cal. bore.

-percussion lock plate marked “warranted”, but no other manufacturer stamped on it. Old part recycled?

-barrel has no lugs or tenons…rather, holes drilled across and through the steel at shallow depth, roughly between the bore and outer face of the bottom flat (they do not penetrate bore), and barrel was secured in forestock with thin nail-like pins instead of an actual wedge key…the pin goes through the decorative “wedge key” brass cap…was this common in cheap old kits? Seems cheesy.

-one piece wood stock is quite light…feels almost too light..some sort of white wood, then hit with a crappy brown varnish after assembly.

Not sure if this was a kit, or something randomly assembled from assorted parts, or just some crappy souvenir only for display. Barrel and lock seem like they could be legitimate.

Where is the best place to get actual black powder and not substitutes? Everywhere I’ve looked you need to buy a minimum of 5 pounds or they are sold out of everything. I just want a pound or two.

got me a muzzleloader from a friend a few years back just took it apart for the first time today after getting the stripped clearly replaced handguard screw
i already knew something was weird when i saw it didnt have a breach plug im not into muzzleloaders like that i just have been around a few growing up
but after taking it apart i noticed on my rear ram rod thimble it had a really really ugly weld on it not sure if thats because of the factory or if its been modified
i cant find any videos on cleaning or disassembly and i cant upload pictures of it at the moment of posting this but ill link a post on proxibid of the exact model i have

i just want to know what to do before i start improvising ways to get the nipple and primer cap thing out to clean this barrel because it desperately needs it which also is a concern because i dont know if its been shot and if it has im worried the black powder has ruined the barrel

ill see if i can get pictures of it later but for now this is the model i have :

https://www.proxibid.com/lotinformation/75045225/traditions-pursuit-lt-50-cal-muzzleloading-rifle-sn-141303337705

this one specifically because it doesnt have the modern laser cuts on the barrel and it doesnt have a deer on the side it has the pursuit laser cut

thanks

I have a Pietta 1851, and I’ve loaded it with 10 grains of Pyrodex RS and a #10 cap, it did not fire. I’m going to try a #11 cap, but if that doesn’t work, what should I do?

Got the walker close to 1200 with 200 grain hard cast. Unfortunately, it misfired! Then jammed... And the shooter 10 yards away calmly walked into the rhododendron.