That "Oh Crap!" Moment
 

The brutal summer is almost behind us. Is it shooting weather yet?

Today's forecast was for a high of 71°. And even with a predicted humidity of 91% I decided it was time to break my long no shooting dry spell and head to the hunting lease for a little work and a range session.

Because this would be the first session with my new eyes (no cataracts) I figured it should also be with a new gun. So I took the H&A Minuteman that I acquired last July and have yet to shoot.



After checking my game cameras and taking care of a few chores around the camp ground I headed to our rifle range with the Minuteman.

I had no idea how the rifle was sighted, but figured it must be good enough to put a ball on target at 50 yards - so I put a target out at that distance. Loaded the gun with 110 grains of GOEX FFFg under a .575 ball with a .018 pillow tick patch lubed with Liquid Wrench.

This is what the target looked like after three shots.



Man, I was pumped. The first shot was from a clean bore. Then I swabbed the fouled bore with both sides of an alcohol patch between shots. The third shot just barely enlarged the hole from the second shot. That would get anyone pumped, right?

Now, a comment about the gun. First, even though it weighs in at 11 lbs. with that 1⅛ barrel, I really felt the recoil. It seemed to me the flat butt transferred recoil differently than slight curve butt of my .58 TC Hawken. Second, the trigger is a bear. Actually, it's a Grizzly Bear. I really had to concentrate to keep the sights on the bull during a very hard trigger pull. I'm guessing something over ten pounds. That will need to be addressed at some time in the future.

Anyway, I was still pleased with those first three shots. So I adjusted the rear sight a bit to the left to bring the POI to the bull, and loaded up again with the plan of shooting three more shots at 50 yards then moving out to 75 and then 100.

Now comes the Oh Crap moment. As I rammed the ball down for the next shot the loading rod went in too deep. I immediately knew - DRYBALL!

Now here's the thing about underhammers. When you dryball a load the ball and patch are sitting over the flame channel from the nipple. There's no chambered breech as with TC, Lyman and Green Mountain barrels. You can't remove the nipple and trickle powder behind the load to shoot it out.

I did have two ball pullers with me. They have slightly different style screw configurations. But after a number of tries neither one would pull the ball. Even though I could get them screwed in the ball, all they did was strip lead when I tried to pull it out. DANGIT! Shooting session aborted.

I have another ball puller with a deeper and more aggressive thread, but didn't have that one with me. Once home, it took care of the problem on the second try.

LESSON LEARNED. When shooting an underhammer, use a seating stop on the loading rod that prevents you from pushing the ball all the way to the nipple (because you know you're going to dryball sooner or later :s2:).

That is some good shooting. And a real nice caliber. The rifle looks like its a shooter, and that is all that is necessary.

Aw man that was a bummer. I would have really liked to see more on this report. That is a unique rifle especially in a .58. Maybe you can tinker with the trigger and get it down to a "bear-able" level for your next session.
I'm headed up the camp today for PA's early ML season - along with my bandaged foot. This will be the first time I've ever gone to camp toting a bag full of gauze pads and wraps and tape! I could be a medic!!

I give you alot of credit to shoot a load that good with a trigger as heavy as you mentioned. Last time I tried shooting (a friends rifle) with a real heavy trigger, after making the first shot (that flew way wide of bull) I couldn't get the rifle to go off again. It was just way to hard for me to stay on the target AND try and squeeze the trigger. I gave up. LOL

Look fwd to seeing how she shoots for you once you get that lightened up some :D

Just looking at that rifle, I bet if you altered the angle of that butt stock a bit the recoil wouldn't be felt as much. Why don't you try putting a shim in temporarily making it wider at the toe to make the butt more perpendicular with the barrel and see how it works?!?!

I'm thinking either a Sims Limbsaver "Grind to Fit" recoil pad or the "Slip-On" Limbsaver. The current length of pull is 14" which is just perfect for me. So I'd need to cut the stock for permanent installation of a grind to fit. On the other hand, the extra inch of the slip on may not be a problem on the bench, and I could remove it for hunting. No one feels recoil on a hunting shot. :D

Then there's the simple matter of just reducing the charge. That 110 grain load I shot probably had a velocity somewhere around 1475-1500 fps. Dropping the charge to 95 grains should produce something like 1400-1425 fps. The lower charge would have a greater drop at longer ranges, but would not lack anything in killing power.

Im still waiting to see more from swamp dragon

I know. I know. But there are two other guns I acquired over the summer that I've yet to shoot. So many guns - so little time.

Semi, Just looking at the pictures of the 3 guns you posted in this thread. The last 2 have butts that are nearly at right angles to the barrel & the top of the stock appear a bit more parallel to the barrel. The butt on the underhammer is angled forward at the bottom, plus it is very straight. My thought is that the flat butt and that angle would act as a wedge when you shoot & drive that slightly steeper top of the stock right up against your cheek. A bit of curve, similar to the other 2 guns would probably help anchor the stock to your shoulder.
I don't claim to be an expert in stock building, but that just seemed to jump out at me when I looked at the pictures.
Paul

Good eye Paul. And a good point.