My first time shooting black pwder

[Dave B]

I was 17 yrs old a sophmore in high school and was taking a night school class in rifle building at the highschool. I hadnt gotten it assembled yet, building it from a blank. That Christmas my Dad bought me an Ultrahigh .58 Zouave rifled musket.  We bought what the sales man told us we needed and headed over to the gravel pit to see what we could do. We had no instructions other than pour enough powder over the round ball to cover the ball cupped in your palm. I didnt have a powder measure yet. It was probly 30- 40 grains. We were shooting at the side of an oven some one had dropped off. It was 50 yds. I touched it off and we heard the round ball zip to the oven and impact the side flatening the ball into a half dollar coin size. It had not penitrated the metal just dented it.  We bumped up the charge several times and started blowing holes clean through both sides of the oven. We were hooked that was in 1976. the exictment with my friend and I talking back and forth resulted in a dry ball..
.end of the fun. Had to pay a gunsmith to pull the ball. That first can of Goex 3F was $3.86. it gas been an awesome journey

[Kurt]

That was a good read. The Zouave was the first rifle that held my desire but I never had one. One of my brothers and I had 40 caliber single-shot percussion pistols and I remember a day we sat on a big cold rock in the summer, eating cold liver and longhorn cheese sandwiches, and shot those pistols into the creek behind the house just to hear them boom and see the water splash. Your tale stirred that memory. Thanks.

[Daryl]

The first black powder Taylor and I shot, was in home-made cannons, small of bore as in about 1/4" drill size. Seems to me the powder, Curtis & Harvey's was around $0.98. That would have been around 1960-64, just guessing.
WE poured molten lead into 1/4" holes in a wooden block as a mould and shot these in short chunks at pods of weeds floating down the Thames river behind our house in South Western Ontario.
We didn't even realize these little cannon were the equivalence of small bore pistols. LOL
Then, when Taylor was 16 years old, he got some pictures from the Library in London, Ont. and build a .50 calibre left-handed FLINT pistol - LOCK STOCK AND BARREL. It would even fire upside-down. He still has that pistol.
This would be an opportune time to post it's picture, Taylor.

[Hawg]

I was 12 years old in 1969. I had saved up my grass cutting money and got my mom to take me to the gun store to buy a new .22 revolver to replace the one I'd worn out. I saw a 58 Remington in the display case and had to have it. I got it a pound of Dupont powder, caps and a ball mold. I had chain fires galore but I loved it. A year later I bought a .45 flintlock rifle. It hardly ever fired and turned me off of flintlocks for many years. I had a few percussion rifles and just got my first flintlock since 1970 last year. A Kibler woodsrunner and I'm just as hooked now at 67 as I was with that Remington when I was 12.

[Clint]

I 1970, I was 15 and I had every page of the Dixie catalog memerized, My mother decided that when I turned 16, I could take the hunter saftey course and perhaps buy parts to build a rifle. That summer, my grandfather 'hired' my brother and I to empty a tin shed that was in back of the Masonic hall in town, The fire marshal had condemed the shed and all of the lodge guys were old so my brother and I broke the lock and entered the shed. It had a dirt floor and was stuffed with old wood & sawhorses.the floor had brass buttons and rotten dark blue cloth. As we made our way into extracting the junk, I noticed some vertical objects in the back corner and my brother agreed. Those were musket barrels! It took another half an hour of junk removal until we could reach them, but in the end we recovered seven 1855 Springfield rifle muskets. We spent the summer disasembling and scrubbing the guns and learning about the tape primers, cartridges and everything we could find to read about them. Back then anyone with a drivers licence could buy powder so we did, we poured lead into 1/2 water pipe and pounded slugs out then sawed them to wad cutter length. We had a great time in back of my grandfather's house, shooting boards pounded into the ground, and I finally turned sixteen and got legal so that I could buy parts with my mother's permission.

[Bob Roller]

My black powder time began in 1951 at the ripe old age of 15.I bought a fine Tower 58 caliber short rifle for $20.I had to go to Charleston 50 miles away to get black powder and I paid $1.50 for a pound of DuPont in the old oval can with a pretty label.A pawn shop,Uncle Jake's Loans@11 Summers street and my mother had to buy it because of my age.That was the beginning of a journey from 1952 until 2019 when I stopped making locks and any other shop work.I did shoot in some local shoots,mostly for hoots and giggles and not caring about winning or losing.Same with Mountaineer flintlock rifles.Some didn't like my use of a Whitworth but I told them I was shooting for fun and my paper scores should not be counted if they were high. It's been a fun and a long time.I still have the shop and all the tools I accumulated and did a LOT of non gun related jobs like bronze bearings for  what whatever used them and reconditioning stator supports for a GM car transmission.
Returning to the ,Whitworth,it had NO advantage over a round ball rifle at the short ranges used but the reputation it had was earned at much longer ranges.The lock was a "4 pin"Brazier that inspired me to try to upgrade any locks I made.The lock IS inside the  plate and the outside can be beyond plain or fully engraved.With a poorly made mechanism it isn't worth using.With the generous help of Lynton McKenzie I was able to borrow and keep as long as needed,any lock he owned in the high end style of the best English lock filers.I asked him if he was in the habit of sending valuable relics to someone he had never seen or met and he said others had told him that I was not a problem ever.
Lynton McKenzie made it possible for me to make a major upgrade in every lock I made.He passed away from cancer in 1996 and is still much missed.In the early 1980's I renewed my interest in flying and a friend had bought a Cessna 195 that looked like a classic relic from the 1930's with its radial engine and high wing with no visible supports.I really liked that old bird and put a lot of hours on it.Memories are good and I have had a good run,
Bob Roller

[Leatherbark]

Around 1969 or 70, Vietnam vet had just returned home and found a "Honaker" rifle in an old attic or under an old house at Coal Mountain, WV.  He found what he needed at Dixie Gun Works to get it shooting. It was a 30 caliber.  He let me and his brother shoot it a few times.  I was hooked, but it took me several years to afford my CVA Kentucky.  I envied the guys with the TC Hawkens.  I finally got me a Hawken, but it never shot as good as that old CVA.

Bob

[CLPace]

1956 I had a trapdoor 45/70 and a Dixie Gun works catalog.  In it was a replacement barrel for a Trapdoor in .45 caliber.
Ordered one and bedded it with plastic wood to take up where the receiver had been.  Friends dad had black powder, patch material, and balls that would work. What fun it was going to the river and shooting sticks floating by.
Then in 1958 I met Don King and got to shoot his Flintlock Bedford ( Kings Ransom) he had built for himself.
Next rifle was a Numrich H & A .45 under hammer shot it a few years  and finally got Don to build me a .54 fullstock flint Hawken plains rifle.
Still own several flintlocks by various makers.
After that I am still shooting flintlocks along with my wife, 84 & 76.
Carney

[Marcruger]

My friend and blackpowder mentor shoots and medals at Friendship regularly.  I had long been interested in longrifles, and thought he would be a good person to ask.  I called and within 30 minutes he was at my door with a gift Thompson Center New Englander.  He warned me that with the first shot the fish hook would be set.   We was right.  With his excellent advice clearing away old-wives-tales and giving solid info, getting up to speed was a cinch. 

I will admit that what got me really wanting to learn was meeting Bob Hill at the NC State Fair Village of Yesteryear.  Getting to talk to Bob and see his work made me really want to learn and someday buy one of his rifles.  His thumbpieces often have the SC Palmetto, which is ultra cool in and of itself.   You never know who you will reach and how you will influence them.  Making friends in our hobby is by far the best part. 

God Bless,   Marc

[bigsmoke]

What a great walk down memory lane this thread is.  I really enjoyed reading all of them.
Myself, the voyage started in 1964 when a friend came home from college with an 1858 Remington.  We went out into the country to a friend's farm and killed a bale of hay.  Had to shoot it about 50 times to make sure it was dead.
Then Uncle Sam called and I learned all about guns that shot lots of times with a single pull of the trigger.  Wasn't really interested.
 After I got out of the Army, my next door neighbor rekindled my interest and I bought an 1851 Navy, then an 1858 Remington.  A few years went by and I saw a T/C Renegade at a sporting goods store.  My wife bought it for my birthday.  I went down to the store and bought a T/C starter pack (short starter, powder measure, a can of Maxi Lube and 20 Maxi Balls), a can of powder and a tin of caps.  The hook was set and I was hooked.  All they had was that starter set an I didn't see how I would be able to use another set of those tools, so I bought a round ball mold, handles and a melting pot and started making round ball.  My neighbor bought a Renegade also, so we started making ball for both of us.  Then we decided that if we couldn't buy ball in town, nobody else could either, so we got more molds and went public.  We started going to rendezvous and setting up there and eventually decided to enlarge our inventory.  That led to having three other businesses, Thunderbolt House, October Country and Powder Horns and More.  In the late 1990's, I got bitten by the big bore bug and we started producing rifles from .62 caliber up to 4 bore in classic English sporting rifle style.  I believe the .72 caliber was my favorite, seconded by the .62.
Over the years I have had a multitude of rifles and pistols, both flint and percussion.  I never really cared much for flint guns, regardless of how much I tried to like them.  Probably my favorite rifle was that original Renegade.  it wound up with a Douglass premium barrel and Hawken Shop hardware.  Like an idiot, I sold that one and most of the others that came along.
In later years I have not shot much, mainly at rendezvous and such.  Our local range is closing down on 1/1/25 so I guess I will have to drive a ways further to shoot, if and when I go.  But that's all right, I figure I have sent my body weight in lead down range over the years, probably more.  It's been a great way to live and make a living.  Never made a lot of money at it, but had a great time and got to travel all over the country and meet some fantastic people.  When I was in my shop, making all those powder horns, it never felt like I was working.  Low stress all the way.
John (Bigsmoke)

[axelp]

My muzzleloading journey also started with an Italian made Zouave .58.

In 1978 I was a young teen, I had an itch to get a cap and ball revolver after reading about a thousand western novels. My pops bought me an 1858 remington and the man behind the counter of the gunstore was a Colonel (Vern Johnson) in a local Civil War reenactment club. My Dad thought I might enjoy the hobby so he bought me the Zouave as well. I dabbled in reenacting and shooting bp for about 2-3 years then went off to college. The revolver was sadly stolen from me back in 1990, But I still have that Zouave. It's pristine, like new as I kept excellent care of it. My Dad passed in 2019, so this musket is special to me even though I have not shot in since maybe 1982?

In 1987 I bought a Dixie gun works Tenn. poor boy rifle in percussion. Then I got married and had kids to raise. Taught my boy to shoot that Tenn. rifle when he was 8? We braced it on the back of a folding chair so he could shoot it.

For 23 years now I have been all about 18th C flintlocks. Have a handful of Jim Chambers kit guns and had a custom Lehigh Cty style gun built for me by Brent Gurtek. Taken pheasant, turkey and lots of tree rats with them. Poked holes in a lot of paper, rang steel, knocked over pinecones and blew up watermelons too. --Fun times.

Ken Prather