new to me .30-er

[The other DWS]

Just got home from the Kalamazoo antique gun and reenactor fest.   I got a chance to meet or at least see a few of our members.

  I came home a bit lighter in my wallet too.  LIghter than I had planned.  Among other things, I picked up a .30 cal flintlock that I just could not seem to walk away fro  Now I have to go back through all them threads an read up on shooting squirrel guns.  never had a small-bore flintlock before.
  Its an old barrel that have been restocked and relocked.  Lock seems to be the L&R Late English.
Seems there is a guy up near Traverse City who makes a hobby of finding good old usable barrels and recycling them this way he sent 3 of them down with a buddy to sell.  I checked the bore with one of those drop in bore lights and it looked clean and a lot of good rifling.  I was told he had pulled the breechplug and inspected them.

Interesting I just tapped a "magic-markered"  tapered 32 cast bullet nose first into the muzzle.   It was sold to me as a .29 cal  but it looks like a 7 land/groove bore that measures nominally .315 or so close to the muzzle.   Might be a bit muzzle worn so it might be tighter farther down, so depending it looks like maybe I'll be able to use #1 or #2 buckshot with the right patching.

guess I'll have to disassemble it and see what I find. 

[northmn]

For a barrel like that I usually find a ball that will just roll down the barrel.  I did that with my 25 and used #3 buckshot.  Others have used #4 with good success in the same barrel brand.  On an old barrel you may ahve very deep rifling such that you will find a thicker patch is needed.  The rate of twist would be interesting also, but most small bores in the size range you have shoot with about 30 grains of 3f. 

DP

[Michigan Flinter]

I was there today also and was kind of discouraged by the lack of gun parts ,ect. .Looks like to me it is turning into a show for reinactors .

[The other DWS]

I have not been to the K'zoo Expo since the traditional archery expo in Jan of '11,  so I was impressed as all get out with the remodeled facility.
They must have added 30 more exhibit space and it was all filled.   There WERE a lot of reenactor supply outfits for sure.  It did take some hunting to find flintlock stuff wading through the bugskin, calico, bead and feather merchants.  however its the only such thing close enough for me to day-trip it.
I just wish I had found and bought the rifle earlier in the day.  I might have been able to spend time hunting for stuff to feed and clean it.

[Majorjoel]

DWS, I find it very fortuitous that you posted about buying this rifle. I sent it down to Kalamazoo with my good friend Rick Lorenzen. You have my favorite "pea shooter". I can save you a lot of time and trouble before you go and get a ball stuck down that tiny little bore. Trust me.....it is a 29 caliber. The muzzle opens up for easy loading. I shot Lead Buckshot #2 which is .270 with 15-20 grains of 3F Goex BP and a fairly thick pillow tick cotton patch. More powder that 20 grains BP caused a lot of fowling and made reloading a second shot difficult. With 15 grains I could shoot several shots without having to swab the bore. Also with this rifle I recommend you use a good steel or brass range rod and save your ramrod for it's good looks. I have broken a couple of them due to their small size. Please feel free to E-mail me if you have any more questions. I hope you enjoy shooting that piece half as much as I have! All the best......Joel

[The other DWS]

Major,  THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!  Its a privilege and a pleasure to be its current caretaker.  I will certainly be in further communication via PM. 

I had tried, very gently, the polished hardened studs from my bore sighter set and determined that if thad been "coned" for ease of loading and that is was indeed 29 farther down the bore.  Now I'll just have to find an area gunshop that still carries shot by the bag.  As far as shooting costs go this one will be a "cheap date"  I'll bet its pretty quiet too.

[northmn]

Just as an aside I find my 25 fouls less witht the Grafs powder than with GOEX.  Buckshot can be mail oredered from other suppliers but I got some stated to be pure lead from Track of the Wolf.  Most buckshot is hardened with antimony.

DP

[Daryl]

My own .32 fouls no more than any other rifle or smoothbore I shoot - I find it extreemly easy to load - 1st or last shot- no increase in loading pressure needed. If anything, it loads easier than any other rifle I have.  Only the .323" 000 Hornady buckshot that are hardened somewhat are more difficult to load yet they still go down with the rifle's rod- without undue stress. One fo the slippery lubes like Shenedoah or Mink Oil, makes them load quite easily as well.

[northmn]

I use my 25 mostly for squirrel hunting and lube the patches with Crisco or Bore Butter (haven't used up the bore butter yet)  with grease/wax lubes the Graf's seems to foul less.  I am sure that the use of some of the other wet lubes that are not suitable for long time carry would work better for range shooting.  I also carry a cleaning jag out in the woods and some prewetted cleaning patches as I often clean after a shot before reloading.  On a shooting range that type of cleaning is a PITA.
I would suggest that if you are breaking ramrods you are using too tight a load.  I used to use 1/4 inch wood in my 32's with no trouble.  Use of hardened buckshot can also cause that problem as there is no give.  A good load usually shows slight indentation on the pure lead ball. 

DP

[Daryl]

As I see the ramrod deal, breaking a rod is uaually due to too-loose a load causing excessive fouling buildup, whcih makes for sticking loads when trying to re-load.

The other scenario is that as DP says, hardened buckshot can also cause problems, but in my .32, loading the .323" hardened buckshot from Hornady with a .0215" patch, once they are in the bore and down 5" with the short starter, they go the rest of the way down with the rifle's hickory rod. They are must a little tough getting started with the oversize ball and thick patch as well, but - they go in and go down without breakage.

[The other DWS]

I've got a couple boxes of the hornady .283 coming from TOTW and a partial bag/box of .273 buckshot from Dennis.   Hopefull by next weekend I'll be able to give it a try.

[Daryl]

Sounds good.  Looking forward to seeing or hearing how it goes.

[The other DWS]

Gotta pick up some brass jags tomorrow and turn them down slowly (on with a drill and a belt sander) to get a tight bore riding slip fit so that I can get a mike on it to calculate patching thickness. I'll just have to guess at groove diameter for starters.  I know the barrel was salvaged from an old percussion squirrel rifle.  I'll go down to the local exotic fabric shop and see if they have any tightly woven linen and what thickness it is.  Assuming a .29 bore a .283 ball I going to be tight with even a thin patch so it better be tough material.  I'm thinking .010 might even be a might thick to load with that thin ramrod. With the. 273 shot I'll have more leeway patch-wise.

[The other DWS]

Well at least I think I've got a bore diameter figured now.  I visited a couple industrial tool supply shops this am  (not many good machine tool places around here---mostly wood working with all the drills in fractions)  found a few drills to try as go/no go gauges.  found that a "M" drill miking .292 is a slip fit without much play a good 3 or 3 1/2 inches down the bore.  I figure that should be far enough down to clear any "coning" or bore wear.  I tried wraping it with a single layer of thin plastic packaging tape which yielded a diameter of .295.   It hung up about an inch and a half down and showed even land scuffs on the tape.

The .283 balls from TOTW should work with a thin tough patch (gonna be looking at some linen I think)  and the nominally .270 #2 buck shot with a thicker patch.   All depending on rifling depth, patch lube, and bore condition of course.

[Bob Roller]

Look in any industrial supply catalog and you will see sets of small hole gauges. One style has a expanding ball configuration and the other style is a half ball with a flat side to use for both holes and slots. They work by turning a stem that make them expand in the hole or slot being measures and then a reading with a micrometer is taken. Easy to use tools.

Bob Roller

[The other DWS]

strange coincidence, Bob.   Today at a local used-tool/pawn shop that seems to acquire up a lot of machinist stuff (except for a cheap old wooden machinist tool box---been wanting one of them for years for a shooting box) I picked up a set of four of those small hole gauges--the full expanding ball collet  type-- they cover a range from 1/8 to 1/2.   And they're made in USA not "overseas"  gave 10$ for them in  nice little padded envelope/case.  Perfect for bore measuring.  ----- but they don't reach down past the relieved bore area---- but I knew that and bought them anyway.  those old precision gauges and tools just fascinate me like jewelry fascinates some women.

[Bob Roller]

I buy these old tools even if I don't need them.I have a set of Lufkin micrometers 0-1,1-2,2-3,and 3-4 I bought years ago at a flea market for $40 and the workmanship in them is stunning.I didn't need them but like the ladies with their jewelry,i grabbed them. My wife and I have no use at all for jewelry other than several nice wrist watches she has. My old Timex works fine for me.

Bob Roller

[northmn]

Instead of messing with turning down jags I buy those made for modern rifles and cut off the sharp tips.  I did so for my 25 and they work OK.  Many are made with 8X32 males threads.  I got my 1/4 inch ramrod tips from Muzzle loading Builders Supply.

DP

[Bob Roller]

New wooden machinist tool boxes have been available from Harbor Freight on an irregular basis. Probably made in a prison in China but they seem to be of good quality. My wife got me one for my  70th birthday which was 6 years ago and I keep my wood working tools in it. I think it was marked down from $100 to $70 or there about.
Old American Gersteners are costly as are new ones.

Bob Roller

[Pvt. Lon Grifle]

Sometimes pocket drill can be had in the .006-.008" range and it is very tough.   Lon