I started BP hunting with an old fashioned side hammer percussion gun using Buffalo bullets that were pre-lubed and didn't require a patch. It seemed every time I took it out it was damp from light rain or snow and I had trouble getting it to fire. I finally got an in-line BP rifle after snapping several caps on a buck that was just standing there staring at me. The gun finally fired but it was a hang fire and I flinched and missed.

I now have 2 in-line BP rifles, one for me and one for my wife. I have taken one deer with mine several years ago and I am just now getting back into using it in hopes of getting another. Since getting back into BP though, I am now interested in taking the old style gun off the wall and giving it another try. My younger brother has bagged two deer with a patch-and-ball from a gun he had never even shot until he shot the first deer (it was borrowed from a friend).

So not to be out done and having the desire to get a deer with a historical style gun and ammo, I would like to get mine ready for next year. Can someone give me a brief intro on how to select ball ammo and patches?

Thanks.

TRADITIONAL RIFLE….


Make sure the rifle is clean and empty. So take a patch, lightly apply some isopropyl alcohol and swab the bore of the rifle. When you swab, put the patch over the end of the barrel and push the ramrod with the cleaning/loading jag into the patch. As you work the patch down the bore, work the patch in short strokes. Work from the muzzle to the breech. This is done in the beginning to remove any gun oils in the barrel. After the damp patch, then work two dry patches through the bore. With a dry patch pushed down to the breech, put a #11 cap or musket cap, which ever one your rifle takes, and pop that cap. Now pull that dry patch and check for burn marks on the patch. If you see none, do it again. Once you see the burn mark, I like to pop one more cap. Now you are ready to load the rifle.


Measure out the amount of powder you wish to shoot in your rifle. You can pour the powder from the jug into a powder measure, but never pour from the jug into the barrel of the rifle. So now you have a measured charge of powder down the barrel. Take a patch and if it is not pre lubed, apply the lube to it. Set that over the muzzle of the bore. Now put a round ball onto the patch. With the short starter, knock that ball under the crown. Now with the long nose of the short starter, push the patch and ball as deep as you can, into the barrel. Finish seating the ball and patch with the ramrod.

If you are shooting conical bullets, after you have dumped the powder, put the lubed conical (if the conical requires lube) and with the short starter, drive that conical as deep as you can into the bore. Now finish seating the conical onto the powder charge. Make sure you do so firmly.

Now c o c k the hammer of the rifle back. And place a cap or musket cap onto the nipple. Carefully lower the hammer down to half c o c k. Once you c o c k that rifle it is ready to fire.

If you want to swab between shots the alcohol makes a good swab solution or just about anything other then solid lubes. Just be sure to seat the projectile firmly on the powder.

Some helpful hints to people just starting out. Use a witness mark. (and it does not hurt experienced shooters either). A witness mark is a mark on your ramrod that indicated the rifle is properly loaded. After you have a load in the barrel, for the time being.. leave the ramrod resting on top of the load. Note how much of the ramrod sticks out of the barrel. Take a piece of masking tape and level to the bore of the rifle, wrap this around the ramrod. Next time you load the same charge, that tape should be level to the outside of the muzzle. If not.. Stop and figure out why. Did the barrel need swabbing. If too much is sticking out, was the projectile seated properly? If to little is out, did you forget powder or perhaps the projectile. The witness mark can tell you a lot. I like a bright color tape for a witness mark because you will spot that also if you forget to REMOVE THE RAMROD before shooting.

Starting out shooting, set your measure at 70 grain of powder if 2f and 60 grains if 3f powder. Then work your load up from there. Move upward in 5 grain amounts until the group falls apart. Also know the limitations of powder charges in your barrel and do not exceed them.

If your loading and it gets hard to do.. swab the bore next time. If you think too much moisture is in the bore, pop a cap or two and burn the alcohol out.

Losing to the elements:

I will assume your gun was acceptably accurate and reliable with the Buffalo ball since you chose to go afield with it.

Therefore, the problem of it not going off was strictly the wet environment. With any muzzleloader, keeping it covered in foul weather range between absolutely necessary (flintlock) to highly advisable (the most modern closed breech m/l).

Having hunted in up to a downpour (1" an hour plus), you can keep your gun working, but one or more layers of protection need to be used.

1) Keep the muzzle down, no need to invite water down the bore.
2) A Cows knee or similar lock cover; slows your shot down.
3) Shelter you gun under your rain gear, pancho, etc.
4) Check your lock area every 30 minutes or so.

Hunting with PRB:

a) Things have to fit tightly. I tightly patched round ball can be every bit as difficult to load as a sabot in a clean bore.

b) Patch material is the key. I has to be tough, and the right thickness to meet item a). Pillow ticking, self cut, or pre-cut is as good as I have found.

c) Lube as little as necessary. I have used everything from Crisco, to wax based ball lube, to bore butter, moose milk and spit. They all work, but too much will diminish your charge, and make a mess of you and your gun.

d) Know your limits. The PRB kills as well as anything, within it's limited range. It sheds velocity quickly, so, depending an the initial velocity and the ball size, sight in at a conservative 50 to 75 yards and plan get close and wait for good presentation.

e) Be patient. Time spent waiting for a reasonable shot is time well spent.

Knowing what rifle you have would really help.

There are alot of things to do if you want to properly shoot round balls. Spend some time reading alot of peoples opinions.

First do a google search on how to read shooting patches. When you shoot your rifle you want to walk down range and pick up your patches. There are tricks to reading the patch that can telll you what your rifle is doing. Research and read about it. There is way too much information to write it all down in a post.

More powder is not necessarily better with PRB. Your barrel will only burn so much BP. That is the amount you need to determine.

It does not matter if your rifle is burnig 90 or 100 grains of powder in the summer. You need to be concerned with how much powder your rifle is burning during a cold and wet winter hunt.

For example, your rifle may shot 100 grains and hit the bullseye in July. But if you shoot that same load in December when it is cold and damp then your barrel might only burn 80 grains of powder in the barrel. And shove the last 20 grains out of the barrel. If that happens then your ball will hit lower than it did last July.

This is the main reason most old time shooters in PA use the snow test for testing their rifles and sighting in their rifles. Read about the snow test also.

Join a primitve weapons forum and read some posts. There is a ton of information on those sights. I am a member of "The Muzzleloading Forum". Which is strictly a primitive sight. If you mention an inline or BH powder they will throw you off the sight(exaggeration). There are some real smart guys over there that are more than glad to help you out.

Just be very careful. These rifles are highly addictive. I just bought my second custom MZ. And there is no going back. Tom.

After giving your rifle a thorough cleaning as described above, you will need to select the correct ball/patch combo. You want a combination that is tight, but not so tight that you have to hammer it down the bore.
Assuming you are shooting a .50 cal rifle. it should have a twist rate of 1:48 or slower, (1:60 - 1:70 is best). I would start of purchasing some .490 round balls and .010", .015" and .018" (pillow tick) patches. Or if you don't have the $, start out with the .015" patches. If too loose, get some pillow tick (or .495" balls). If too tight, get some .010" patches. As for the powder, start with 70 gr of FFg and work up in 5 gr increments. You should find a sweet spot somewhere between 70 and 90 gr. For best accuracy results you should swab between shots. If using black powder, a spit patch will do using both sides. If you purchase unlubed patches, you can lube them with bore butter or olive oil. (be sure to squeeze out the excess lube).
Any more questions, don't be afraid to ask

Head........................Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh a lefty flint. Can I have it?

Oh no, Muley, don't tell me ur a lefty too. (now you're more like me than I want you to be!)

all great info....cayugad 1st post on cleaning and getting ready to shoot is huge. follow how he does it fireing the caps and if you swab the barrel do it again....i have miss fires after I swab sometimes and don't fire a cap I had a hangfire last year at a doe and I didn't clear the nipple with a cap...follow what these guys said and use fresh powder/new or a like new nipple be ready.....