Ready to make smoke.

[Noisydad]

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This weekend is The Seymour Black Powder Club's AGM weekend with a bunch of once a year events including the "Military Walk Up"
Its 5 rounds at each distance and fired from 150, 100, 50 yards off hand so I've been making paper cartridges for my .58 cal 1863 Remington aka "Zouave".
The leather cartridge bag (and cap box) is my own effort and holds 40 rounds.
The cartridge is a 530 grain pure, soft lead Minnie from an RCBS mold and lubed with a good slathering of 50/50 beeswax and bacon lard, 60 grains 2F powder. This load will put ten shots in 6" circle at 50 yards off a bench. Fingers and eyes crossed for a good score

[on_one_wheel]

Make sure someone snaps plenty of pictures. I always like to see them.

As always, you're sounding like you're well prepared.

Good luck.

[pete1]

What group would you get at 150 yards?
Such a nice gun, black powder is always facinating.

[duncan61]

good luck and looking forward to the reports

[Noisydad]

What group would you get at 150 yards?
Such a nice gun, black powder is always facinating.

Don't know yet. I've just st fitted it's 4th rear sight. This one is the he best so far. It's normally shot up to 80 yards and previous rear sights required a 6 o'clock hold under the target board to get a hole in the paper at the top of the 2' standard target. Now I can aim at the bottom of the black centre circle.
I was going to try it at 150 last week nd at Noisy Ranch but guess who left the lead home?

[Gamerancher]

Have you loaded up plenty of rounds for your Sharps so you come and play "silly-wet" the following weekend at Rankins Springs?

[bigpete]

Cool work noisy !

[Mich]

Professional work on the bags Noisydad

[Gamerancher]

Here are some "soldiers" ready to go and do their bit!
440 gr of 20:1 set to be loaded on top of 70gr of 2F black-powder in the .40-70 Sharps and sent down range @ Cooyal this week-end.

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[Gamerancher]

It is the ratio of Lead:tin. The tin in the mix hardens the lead up, ( also makes it shinier, but that is not why it is used ).
The shine is also the result of having high quality molds and the right temperature of lead and mold.
Too high a temperature will cause "frosting" which is instantly duller.

[brett1868]

Looking forward to joining in the action soon myself, the rifle's at the shop and I have a PTA in the car ready. I managed to buy a Hexagonal bullet mould from the U.K which is currently in the air heading south. I've got 100kg of a lead type metal at home that was supposed to be printers metal but it tests as 8 brinnell which makes it a little too soft for smokeless pistol bullets so it'll get moulded into Whitworth bullets. Already have a flask and measure compliments of Zhen at Midway Aus so hopefully first shots within a fortnight

Noiseydad / Gamerancher....any chance of a write up on how to roll the paper cartridges and what you have found to be the best lube recipe?

From reading and YouTube I need to get a long powder funnel (ill make this once I get the rifle), pour the powder 50-60grs, paper patch (Beer Coaster), felt patch soaked in lube, bullet then cap before firing. I've bought a hexagonal wad punch along with a 400 pack of pre-punched felt wads as a start. I believe the secret is to not ram everything home with brute force but to ensure a consistent light pressure so as to remove air gaps but not compress anything. I'll get in touch with the Colonial Muzzle Loaders Club at Sackville and organise to get up there for an education in the black arts but thank full of any tips you can pass on in the meantime

[Gamerancher]

I shoot with a mate who has that Whitworth rifle. He has had it for less than 12 months but is quite pleased with the results he is getting with it. He runs a standard .45 calibre lube groove bullet , ( similar to those in my post above ) cast from pure lead. The soft pure lead will obdurate out and fill the hexagonal bore when fired. We have dug a few of his bullets out of the mound and found that they indeed are fully hexagonal.
As for paper cartridges, not my field. I use brass, my guns are breech loading designed for metallic cartridges.
If the metal you have is indeed "printers metal", it should be linotype. It should have a BHN of 22. Pure lead is 5. Lead wheel weights are usually 95.5% lead, .5% tin and 4% antimony with a BHN of 9. Mixes with antimony should be avoided in black-powder rifles due to the fact that they tend to "lead" the bore.
If it has a BHN of only 8 it would certainly be soft enough, I would be casting a few up to see how they go before going overboard.
We should have a couple of muzzle-loader shooters attending this week-end, I'll quiz them for you.

[Blackened]

Here are some "soldiers" ready to go and do their bit!

There is something hypnotic about that