muzzleloading for Gnome!...

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here's what i have and use... with descriptions and pics

i use CCI magnum percussion caps and use a Traditions Straight Line Capper to hold and load them

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powder horns and also a powder measure.
Left: standard brass powder horn
Center: brass adjustable powder measure to measure your powder charge
Right: custom made powder horn

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the FFFg black powder i use in my gun. do not use smokeless or nitro. some people use Pyrodex but i prefer black powder

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a box of bullets

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my preferred bullet. .50cal 270gr. Black Powerbelt

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here's also a Hornady .50 sabot. the bullet is actually a .44cal 300gr. jacketed hollow point

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here's a bullet called a Maxi-Ball weighing in at 360gr

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round musket ball and patch... i only ever shot 1 from my gun and will never do it again. when i was loading it, it went half way down the bore and got stuck. had to use a tree for a solid base to ram it the rest of the way in. i will never shoot one in my gun again and would only recommend using them in a heavily used and wore gun

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bore brush and cleaning jag

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cleaning and lube patches... not for round balls

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Bore Butter for seasoning and lube

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nipple wrench

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ball starter

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cleaning...

don't use any type of gun cleaning solvent. all you need is hot water and liquid dish soap. fill a sink or bucket with hot water and just enough soap to make it a little sudsy. the hotter the better but it doesn't need to be boiling. take the gun apart and remove the nipple. put the nipple end of the gun into the soapy water and using your ram rod, with the cleaning jag with a cleaning patch on it, run it all the way down into the gun and back up to the top without taking it out to suck the water through the bore several times. i do this until the end of the barrel where i hold it gets almost too hot to hold onto it. repeat once more with a clean patch. normally, you won't need to clean the nipple hole out with pipe cleaners by cleaning this way but you can if you like. then repeat that process right away with clean hot water. dry the gun off and then run a clean patch with lube on it to season and lube the bore. reassemble the gun and you're good to go

edit: i forgot to put in the ball starter

[Gnome!]

Cheers for all the info Space

I'm actually looking forward to getting my first ever long rifle and giving the guys at the range a few giggles while I piss off the smokeless shooters with a nice ole cloud of smoke

What charges do you run?

Also is there any specific running in process to these?

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i normally use 100gr. of powder as i found that my gun and the bullets work great with that much. depending on the gun and bullet, you will likely use something a little different.

running in consists of loading and firing no special process or break in is required

and it's always awesome when those that don't expect the cannon to go off and it scares the crap out of them and then they see the cloud

local gun club invited me and my family to an open house as i had don't some concrete work for them and i asked if i could bring my .50 and they said sure. their rifle range was out of use at the time and they had me set up in the pistol range next to a guy that was shooting a .45cal hand gun. they are loud as hell when you are only 4 feet from them funniest part was that he didn't see me load or take aim. i cut the cannon loose and he hit the ground as it scared the crap out of him

[Gnome!]

i normally use 100gr. of powder as i found that my gun and the bullets work great with that much. depending on the gun and bullet, you will likely use something a little different.

running in consists of loading and firing no special process or break in is required

and it's always awesome when those that don't expect the cannon to go off and it scares the crap out of them and then they see the cloud

local gun club invited me and my family to an open house as i had don't some concrete work for them and i asked if i could bring my .50 and they said sure. their rifle range was out of use at the time and they had me set up in the pistol range next to a guy that was shooting a .45cal hand gun. they are loud as hell when you are only 4 feet from them funniest part was that he didn't see me load or take aim. i cut the cannon loose and he hit the ground as it scared the crap out of him

Would love to have seen that on video

Do you patch the barrel out to remove the bore butter before loading a charge and shooting?

One assumes that one should give the new barrel a wash/clean n dry to remove any manufacturing/transport grease.

[Gnome!]

Will I require a patch/wad for the projectiles like the ones you use or does the plastic at the base do that job??

[Gnome!]

Found this today and think of all the ones I have watched this one is very informative and has great tips for cleaning

http://blog.davide-pedersoli.com/cleani ... ing-rifle/

[spaceace]

no need to patch clean the lube out. after cleaning and lubing with Bore Butter, it is ready for powder and bullet. and no patch for the bullets that i use. so you are correct in the plastic sealing the powder charge but when the gun goes off, it also slightly expands the back of the bullet for the rifling to cut into the bullet.

and cleaning the new gun is always a must as you never know what could be in it. i actually use an air compressor to blast air in from the nipple to make sure the barrel is clear.

[Gnome!]

Reporting to say that my wife has managed to totally surprise me by saying "How about you ring up and put a deposit on that Pensylvania Scout Percussion you have been looking at the past few days " ... I looked at her to see if she was joking and she assured me it was fine as it's my Fathers Day gift from her. Needles to say I'm one VERY VERY SURPRISED and HAPPY MAN right now

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Now I'm jealous lol

Very nice gun. One recommendation i would have if you are fairly new to them is to get the single trigger for it until you are used to the gun. You pull the rear trigger to set the hair trigger but they will sometimes fire when setting the trigger so always aim whem you pull the set

[Gnome!]

I think it's great that we got it at the pre-dollar drop price ($795 as apposed to the next order coming in at $1380.) that the importer got it in at and the fact that he never once considered slapping a higher mark up on it. We will be dealing with this guy again on future items for sure