Blackpowder = FUN!!

[MountainDon]

0r... Making Big Holes with Big Balls of Lead is FUN!!

or... Making Billowing Clouds of Sulfurous Smelling Smoke is FUN!!

This past week in the mountains was NOT all work and no fun. We took time out to exercise the T/C 50 caliber black powder rifle more than once.



My first 6 shots. Half inch holes. Not all later ones were as great. That's partly because the above was done at the ridiculously close range of 25 yards. Moving out to 50 yards, where I don't see as well, produced somewhat looser patterns, but still a load of fun. I do better with a scope. All three of us took turns (K, myself & our son) although I fired off the majority of the lead.



Here I am behind the barricades defending the ranch.    Here the wind was blowing the smoke away; I was not always so lucky. Black powder shooting is also dirty.  

We fired off about fifty 175 gr. lead balls and some 385 gr. lead bullets. That does take some time and effort. I worked up to 80 gr. of Pyrodex RS Select with the balls and 130 gr with the bullets. Those were noticeably louder (so I'm told; the new Peltor 7S electronic ear protection made it difficult for me to tell). The heavier bullets also had a bunch more kick (the Peltor 7S's did nothing at all for that  )

We also ran a hundred+ 22's and a few shotgun loads just to round out the celebrations.

Oh yes! We celebrated Memorial Day up there.



Wait till the Fourth of July!!!

[glenn kangiser]

Looks like a blast.

[peternap]

 

[diyfrank]

looks like a lot of fun!

[MountainDon]

short video clip

[Windpower]

That looks like a dead ringer for the 58 cal I built from a kit


great fun building and shooting

[MountainDon]

For those who may have missed the acquisition thread for this firearm, it is a used Thompson/Center Renegade 50 cal blackpowder muzzleloader.

[Alasdair]

When I used to work on tallships we went to a few festivals in and around the Baltic.
One of my favourites was this one:

http://www.tordenskiold.dk/

It was a historic rather than purely a tallship festival. The ships had a mock sea battle at the climax of this festival - complete with cannons, muskets, depth charges etc. It was loud, smokey and very effective.
There was quite a bit of illicit black powder trading going on! It was supposed to be tightly controlled but the minute any of the gunners got near some they turned into giggling schoolboys. A little disconcerting since half of them were "worse for wear" all weekend! One of the Russian Captains showed me a video of them at sea, firing a real cannonball. The thing that always stuck with me was the sound, not the bang, but the sound of the ball - you could hear the thing ripping through the air like it was cloth! He estimated that it went around 3 nautical miles!

[peternap]

When I used to work on tallships we went to a few festivals in and around the Baltic.
One of my favourites was this one:

http://www.tordenskiold.dk/

It was a historic rather than purely a tallship festival. The ships had a mock sea battle at the climax of this festival - complete with cannons, muskets, depth charges etc. It was loud, smokey and very effective.
There was quite a bit of illicit black powder trading going on! It was supposed to be tightly controlled but the minute any of the gunners got near some they turned into giggling schoolboys. A little disconcerting since half of them were "worse for wear" all weekend! One of the Russian Captains showed me a video of them at sea, firing a real cannonball. The thing that always stuck with me was the sound, not the bang, but the sound of the ball - you could hear the thing ripping through the air life it was cloth! He estimated that it went around 3 nautical miles!

I have a couple of small ships cannons and a 4 bore shotgun. I love taking them to the range. Like you said, the thud a second after the boom gets everyone's attention

Happily, nothing is regulated here.

[MountainDon]

I want a cannon too. 

I told Karen it would be a perfect centerpiece in our mountain cul-de-sac entry. 

[peternap]

I want a cannon too. 

I told Karen it would be a perfect centerpiece in our mountain cul-de-sac entry. 

DOM Tubing and 3" trailer balls

[rick91351]

My father in laws estate has a canon in it.  A three quarter scale Parrot Rifle mounted on a caisson.  The civil war reenactment club fired it the last time it was shot at his funeral.  They told my wife (she is the executor) until the bore gets reworked it is pretty much a 'wall hanger'.  We used to pour round balls for it and that took a lot of lead.  Someone at the club so I heard was making a mold for minie balls to shoot in it.    . 

My father in law lived in black powder heaven.  However I always have chosen not to.  His family could never understand why I was that way as they were all black powder enthusiasts.  It just never really tripped my trigger and they had some real old pieces as well as kit made guns laying around to shoot.  I guess different strokes for different folks!!!

rlr 

   

[rwanders]

I believe the common civil war field cannons shot a shell the same diameter as a beer can and so many reenactors use beer cans filled with concrete instead of lead or iron balls in their cannon firing contests.