First test fire questions

[Justin]

The Chambers building instructions suggest test firing your rifle in a lab or at least from a gun vise with a string tied to the trigger.

A friend of mine says the lawyers probably made him say that 

What do you guys do for a first firing? This is my first rifle build.

[Hungry Horse]

Get behind him, and let an enemy shoot it. Or better yet, let’s see if my mother-in-law will do it.

  Hungry Horse

[Dave Marsh]

I just fire them like normal.  Kinda like the warning on a bag of wood pellets that says don't eat them.  I'll stop now. 

Dave 

[Mauser06]

I too was nervous as heck to fire mine when it came time. 


I started off with really mild charges and worked my way up. Inspecting the breech, tang, barrel pins, wrist etc after each shot..hoping if anything was failing that I would see the signs....


My last charge was pretty ridiculous....t survived that so I don't even think about it anymore lol.

[Justin]

Get behind him, and let an enemy shoot it. Or better yet, let’s see if my mother-in-law will do it.

  Hungry Horse

lol where does she live?

[Stoner creek]

Get square with the Man Upstairs.
Seriously, if you have plenty of threads and a nice snug fit on the touch hole you’ll be fine. Let er rip!

[Mike Brooks]

Let 'er rip! (That's what I'd do if you used quality parts and put them together correctly.)

[Cory Joe Stewart]

If everything is right, nothing catastrophic should happen.  Now I do fire just a load of powder first, no ball, just to make sure everything is clear.

Cory Joe Stewart

[saltland]

 I haven't done a build yet but plan to.I've thought about this very subject.My plan is to take it to Dixon's and have them check it out.So you could take it to a reputable builder/dealer to look things over.
 Scott

[rich pierce]

All the older books on how to build a longrifle said to proof it when done.  I don’t do that anymore.

[okawbow]

I test every gun I make, or anytime I do work to the breech plug, vent, drum, or nipple. I put the barrel in a special made mount and set it off with a fuse or a hammer pulled with a string. I use a double load of the normal black powder load, double shot or balls.

Makes me fell safe. Never had a failure.

[bama]

How much faith do you have in your ability as a gun builder? I would not hesitate if I thought I did my job correctly

[David R. Pennington]

I had a new old stock barrel from 1973 that I made a new breechplug for. I made a test rig, clamped between two boards and test fired  with fuse. I fired it twice with double charge and two patched round balls. I recorded barrel dimensions every inch before and after.

[sleddman]

If you are really fearfull of the first shot, ( and by looking at your rifle, i would not be). I would load it with 50 grns of ffg and a paper wad to hold the powder all the way down.  Put on a jacket gloves and eye protection.  Prime it and shoot away.   Ok,  it works get over it you did a great job shoot the darn thing.  I always use eye protection anyway.   Let us know how you do.  It will all be fine.   Shoot away.

[elkhorne]

Justin,
Before you shoot, go look at the YouTube video of Iraqveteran8888 titled Smokeless vs Black Powder. I believe tha is the one where they fill their barrel mostly with black powder and fir it. They show the results and you definitely would not want to be holding it. They also show firing smokeless in a muzzleloader and how dangerous that is. Everyone that shoots Muzzleloaders need to watch these "experimental" videos to learn the dangers. I just forwarded it to my son who is just starting in muzzleloading. He had a guy in a sporting goods store try to sell him Pyrodex as "real" black powder. He was amazed at the results of someone putting smokeless powder in a muzzleloader and the deadly consequences. As far a first shooting a new rifle, I have always shot one in a tire with a heavy load. The member that earlier shot his rifle building the load up gradually and inspecting after each shot had a great idea. Good luck and let us know what you decide and the results.
elkhorne

[flehto]

I function fire every MLer I make  and the loads are fairly hefty...haven't had any problems doing this at all because I keep my tongue up against the roof of my mouth..... don't know what would happen if it was somewhere else.....Fred

[Dennis Glazener]

I test fire every gun I make with at least a normal charge not to see if it blows up but to see if the sights are on paper close enough for the new owner to regulate them to his eyes.
Dennis

[James Wilson Everett]

Guys,

Here is how I do this on wrought iron barrels.  But  when using a modern made steel ML barrel, I don't proof test.  On the modern barrels I just shoot to set the sights.

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=26193.msg250152#msg250152

Jim

[Justin]

I would like to strap the thing down to a lead sled (or some equivalent) but I'm worried about it jumping out of that and damaging the wood / finish.

I feel pretty good about the barrel and vent liner. Though I drilled the vent a little high, it is in there properly.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

[Don Steele]

Justin,
If you feel the need to do any kind of "extra heavy load" testing I'd recommend you NOT use a Lead Sled.
In addition to my interest in traditional muzzleloaders, I've spent a good bit of time with centerfire large bore Dangerous Game rifles,
.458 Win mag. and up. Folks interested in those rifles sometimes try using a Lead Sled for sighting in and load development to save wear and tear on the body. They also sometimes find that when you restrict a rifle's ability to physically move to the rear under heavy recoil, the wrist of the stock cracks.
Just an FYI, do as you see fit.
 

[Justin]

Justin,
If you feel the need to do any kind of "extra heavy load" testing I'd recommend you NOT use a Lead Sled.
In addition to my interest in traditional muzzleloaders, I've spent a good bit of time with centerfire large bore Dangerous Game rifles,
.458 Win mag. and up. Folks interested in those rifles sometimes try using a Lead Sled for sighting in and load development to save wear and tear on the body. They also sometimes find that when you restrict a rifle's ability to physically move to the rear under heavy recoil, the wrist of the stock cracks.
Just an FYI, do as you see fit.

Yes, this thought occurred to me as well. Seems like you could put the stock under a lot of stress. Also, I don't plan to load test by putting a larger than usual charge in there....

[KC]

I shot the first shot out of mine and actually hit the target I was shooting at, a little high, but I hit it. That gun still isn't finished but it was a Chambers kit similar to yours. I'm pretty sure for liability reasons they have to give that warning but it's probably not a bad idea to do a test fire before you put your face right up beside the powder charge.
K.C.

[n stephenson]

To quote Troy Landry off the "Swamp People"    "Shoot , Shoot , Shoot that ting Justin"     Just load it normal and, shoot it.    Nate

[sleddman]

Cant take this any more,  just shoot the darn thing. All will be fine. 

[snapper]

I used to strap down the rifle to fire the first round, or on an old shotgun or rifle that I picked up.

I have not done that now for quite a while.  Like others said, if it is a quality build and good parts, I would not worry about it.

You can always take the barrel out and test fire it by itself.  Use a fuse.  Done that many times.  Hide behind a big oak tree.

Fleener