R.O (Slim) Ackerman is one of the top authiorities
on the care and feeding of front loaders,
flintlock or percussion, rifle, handgun or fowling
pieces. Here's the full story---all you need
to know to become a muzzle man.
It is indeed sppropriate that an article covering the basics of muzzle-loading shooting. techiques should be included in the 25th ed. GUN DIGEST Long before the appearance of the first practical breechloader, individual shooters were forning their separate opinions as to the best powder charge for a given caliber, the proper granulation, bullet fit, etc. No self-respecting frontiersman would have loaded his muzzleloader the way it is usually depicted on television--by contrast, many black powder shooters were a marvel of precision.
This has carried over to the present day, when a new upsurge of interest in muzzle-loading has made this definitely on of the fastest growing of all shooting sports. Watch one of today's more experienced "charcoal burners" at an important match, and you will quickly realize that precision and uniformity are the key words of success in muzzle-loading shooting, as they are in handloading metallic cartridges.
Admittedly, there are differing schools of thought on the technical aspects of this sport, as with any other. The type of person who takes it up in the first place is a rugged individualist, with the attributes of patience and an inquiring mind. De manding concentration itself, the sport is a haven of relaxation for the pro fessional man who needs to leave his problems at the office or the clinic.
The author fires his favorite big bore rifle, a 58 caliber custom-built replica of the famous Haw ken, made by Lee Paul. The load is 100 grains of black powder behind a 505-gr. bullet.
Rare indeed is the muzzle-loading club which does not include at least one doctor-- be he lawyer, dentist or surgeon.
Their manual dexterity finds an additional outlet in the hand crafting of many shooting accessories, a bonus hobby that's an important and happy psrt of muzzle-loading shooting.
One of the first questions asked by the newcomer to the sport is how to determine the powder charge for his rifle. Herein lies one of the sport's controversial issues, so in fairness I'll outline the different approaches-but first things first, ok? Right here and now let me warn against the unwise practice of taking Grandpappy's old “ hawg rifle "out of the attic, pouring down an undetermined amount of aged powder from the old horn or flask, stomp- ing down a ball with the finesse of a bulldozer and letting her rip. This is funny if you read it in Mark Twain, but in real life it is more intelligent - and far safer – to have the old smoke-pole competely disassembled, cleaned up and inspected by a competent gunsmith first, and I mean one who understands and spe- cializes in muzzleloaders! There isn't a state in the Union which doesn't have one, except possibly Hawaii.
The reason for this warning is not so much that the old relic may blow up. Much more likely is that ancient threads have rusted away, so that a drum or a nipple can fly out with injuring force.
Another strong warning-- equally obvious to the initiated. After knowledgeable gunsmith has pro- nounced the old rifle safe and sound (perhaps with a replaced mainspring and nipple), do not shoot it with anything other than the black powder for which it was designed. If you pour in the powder from a couple of today's shotgun shells you'll lose more than just the rifle. In spite of repeated warnings, people keep doing this but only once for each person!
Powder Charges
Now then, here are some of the original rules for selecting the powder charge you need. You'll note that the results vary from very mild to pretty being that they stout, the were designed for different purposes. After these have sufficiently confused you, I'll give you a safe formula as a starting point.
Some of our hardy forefathers stipulated 3 grains of black powder for each 7 grains (avoirdupois) of the weight of the round lead ball. This gives fair medium-strength loads, but for top efficiency the cited ratio should not be the same for small calibers as for large. Another old rule was "a grain to a caliber." This is suitable for target shooting but it isn't sufficiently versatile. This means that a 45 rifle takes 45 grains of pow- der. The heftier rule for the longer- range "40 Rod" rifles was "11% cal- ibers under 40, 2 calibers over 40." (This means that a 32 would take 48 grains of powder, while would take 90 grains.)
A cardinal rule to remember at this point is that maximum power and gilt-edged accuracy seldom if ever go hand-in-hand. You should decide which you want and work for it. AC- tually, most experienced front-feeders either have certain rifles for competi- tion and others for hunting, or else they work up a different load for each purpose. Not only does their powder charge vary, but some use the round ball for target and the heavier hollow- based conical "Minie bullet" for big game. My own trend has been in that direction in recent years.
My advice is to the beginner is to concentrate upon accuracy first, and leave hunting loads until he knows his rifle better. Here is a reasonable procedure with the average "patch- ball" rifle, whether it is flintlock or percussion. Use as a starting point a grain of powder to a caliber (a 40- caliber rifle would take 40 grains of black powder by weight). Then work up from this, about three grains at a time, until you find the point of maximum accuracy at normal target ranges. This will usually be found somewhere below the point of "1½ grains to a caliber," beyond which you may expect accuracy to drop off slightly.
Another thing to watch for: when the rifle report changes from a mushy boom to a sharp, businesslike crack, you should just about be at peak efficiency.
A properly loaded muzzle-loading rifle normally has a much milder recoil than a modern rifle of roughly equivalent power classification, de- spite the myth that they all kick like a mule. For target work, if recoil is excessive, you are beyond the point of peak efficiency and are defeating unless the rifle your own purpose is a very light one.
A long barrel will burn a little more powder efficiently than a short- er one, but don't be too impressed. Best to pick the barrel length that suits you, and take it from there. One pioneer method of determining the correct powder charge for hunting was to gr adually increase the charge while firing across an area of clean snow, until unburned grains of powder started to appear upon the snow sur- face. Then they would back off three or four grains, knowing that they had the load giving maximum power with- out wasting powder. Theoretically, peak efficiency falls off when a given amount of expanding gases are required to move unburnt powder in addition to a projectile. But this is nly an exercise in interior ballistics, and negligible for practical consideration.
Balls & Patching
Black powder is made in a number of granulations, of which only the three smallest sizes concern us here. FFFFg, the finest granulation, is used only for the priming pan of a flintlock or for priming a percussion nipple to overcome or avoid a misfire. FFFg is used in all pistols of average bore size, and in rifles of small to medium caliber. FFg is preferred by many shooters for big bore rifles, and is almost universally used in muzzle- loading shotguns. The exact line of demarcation varies with the Some switch from FFfg to FFg when they reach 45 caliber-- not until 50 caliber or even larger.
Ignoring extremists, the consensus would seem to average between those calibers. The difference in pressures is not great, so your choice should be governed by performance in your individual rifle, and by which one burns the cleanest.
The ball is traditionally cast of pure lead, although I consider any alloy soft enough if it can be cut with the thumbnail. A bullet mould so cheap that it will not cast a good, spherical ball with a minimal sprue surface is a poor investment. Balls may be rolled between two pieces of plate glass, if desired, to remove the sprue surfaces altogether.
Bullet patching should be of some tough, smooth-surfaced cloth vary such as denim, sailcloth, pocket drill or pillow ticking. The general rule is thicker patching for deep rifling grooves, thin material (even linen) for shallow rifling. Here again, ex- perimentation will show what gives best results in your rifle. Wash your patching material to remove all siz- ing before use.
Exact ball diameter and patch thickness are not considered sepa- rately, but in conjunction with one another. One popular approach is to measure the thickness of your chosen patching cloth by closing a microm- eter down firmly on it. The mea- surement of one thickness of cloth (in thousandths of an inch) will be the difference between the rifle bore dia- meter (from land to land) and the proper diameter of the ball. Example: bore diameter is .445", patching is .008", ball is thus .437" diameter. By the time the patch is gathered on all sides of the ball, and overlapped in places, you need not worry about the fit being tight enough. Check this by starting a patched ball into the muz- zle and then pulling it out again by the cloth. It should be tight enough so that the weave of the cloth will be impressed visibly into the lead ball. If further adjustment of this fit is desired, it can be obtained by try- ing different patching.
All of the foregoing tips apply equally to either flintlock or percus- sion rifles, The only difference is in the method of ignition. Caps for a percussion arm should be chosen for hot ignition and for fit on the nipple. The fit should be snug but the caps should seat without splitting. Be sure the nipple cone is not shorter than the cap, for this will create a cush. ioning effect, often causing misfires. We used to have available numbers 9 10. 11, 12 and 13 percussion caps. plus musket or "top hat" caps. Mod. ern nipples have become more stan- dardized, and numbers 9 and 13 have been discontinued by most manufac. tures.
I find Remington No. 12 caps hotter than their others, and Alcan's GIIF is their hottest.
Before we discuss the techniques of loading, there are a couple of acces- sories – a powder flask with an ad- justable charger and capper to dispense your caps - can be a great convenience in the field. However, don't buy every gad- get you hear of until you're familiar with all available types, and have really determined your own needs
Loading Techniques
Prior to firing the percussion rifle, the bore, nipple and flash channel should be thoroughly degreased and left dry. This can be done with a bit of mineral spirits or other safe grease solvents, but allow plenty of time for complete evaporation before loading. Many shooters snap a cap or twO on the empty rifle just before load- ing, to clear oil or previous-shot foul- ing from the nipple. Hold the muzzle several inches from some dead grass when doing this. If the grass moves, the vent is clear.
With the hammer on safety half. cock, pour a measured charge of pow. der down the bore. Moisten a corner of your patching on your tongue and place it, damp side down, over the muzzle. Press in a ball, keeping the sprue surface uppermost and cen- tered. Place the ball just below flush with the muzzle by a light blow from the hand on the handle of the "short starter" (see illustration). Gather all excess cloth up and sever it cleanly at the muzzle with a very sharp patch knife. Some shooters use one of the old straight razors for this chore. the bore with the "long starter." Then seat the patched ball onto the to seat it firmly but without pounding and crushing the powder grains. If you wipe out most of the sure fouling with a moistened cleaning patch between shots, the ball should go down without undue effort. Be sure you seat it all the way, without leav- ing an air gap, which could be haz- ardous.
Now you're ready to cap the nipple and fire. It is optional, but you may wish to use one of the new nipple primers before capping. This sifts a tiny bit of FFFF| priming powder in- to the top opening of the nipple, giving hotter ignition and fewer mis- fires.
For safety's sake, if your rifle has a set trigger, you should have thor- ougly learned its operation before going to the range. Some rifles fire only with their trigger set-others give
