I shot my Blunderbuss today. :)

wittzo · August 5, 2010, 01:48 PM

My steel Blunderbuss from MVCT came in more than a week ago, my flints came in the mail today. Specifics: 14" steel barrel, .678" bore, my .68" lead balls won't fit. I plan on using a patched .60" ball, birdshot, and buckshot.

I've barely touched a flintlock before. Via Pete's advice I bought a few different styles of flints from Track of the Wolf and figured out how to make sparks, then I filled the depression of the pan with Goex Pinnacle 3F and pulled the trigger and it went whoosh! and filled my kitchen with smoke. It ignited instantaneously and I heard the whoosh go through the flashhole and smoke came out of the barrel, so I know it will shoot quick. I was so excited and it was so fun, I called my girlfriend to tell her.

Now I need to see if the Shockey's Gold 2F will work in the pan.

I have some Goex 2F and 3F BP, I was just seeing it it would be possible to use the substitutes so I can use them up faster to get to the good stuff.

Any advice you want to give me will be appreciated.

FrontierGander · August 5, 2010, 01:55 PM

jsg-american pioneer will not work in the pan. But surprisingly the 2f american works really darn good in the barrel!

noelf2 · August 5, 2010, 03:06 PM

Advice? If anyone askes, just tell them you were boiling eggs in the kitchen, or you ate something that didn't agree with you.

Model-P · August 5, 2010, 03:20 PM

Shockey's Gold has to be compressed to have a suffient burn rate. Probably not good for either a priming charge or a main blunderbuss charge where the projectiles are not under a great deal of compression.

wittzo · August 6, 2010, 09:23 AM

There are a lot of variables even under good weather conditions. I didn't think about condensation when I took a 75 degree gun outside into a 100 degree, 50% humidity environment. It was sweating all over. I used 3F Goex Pinnacle as the ignition charge, just filling up the depression on the pan. I used 50 grains of Shockey's Gold as the main charge with wadded TP over the powder and fired it as a blank to see if it ignited. It was slow, probably from the sweating and the Pinnacle. I then loaded it with the same charge of powder, 50 grains of #7 birdshot, and wadded up TP as the overpowder wad and overshot wad. It went off again, but it was slow. Pinnacle's really greasy, a lot like 777, that was probably also a factor. Every time I flashed the pan or shot it, I used a pick on the flashhole to make sure it was clear. I showed my kids the sparks when they got home from school and it greatly amused them when I flashed the pan in my bedroom. No worries, I have a ceiling fan.

I cleaned the bore and flashpan last night so I can get her dirty today.

I'm going to use Goex 2F and 3F as the ignition charge today and 60 grains of Goex 2F as the main charge. I'm going to let the gun acclimate to the heat and humidity after I load the main charge. I'm going to use a greased felt wad over the powder like I do with my rifles. The flint is looking pretty ragged, but it's a soft French amber and I didn't have it set up right the first few times I made sparks, I'll try a Tom Fuller next.

wittzo · August 7, 2010, 08:46 AM

Oh yeah!

I put the blunderbus out on the porch for an hour so it would acclimate and the sweat would evaporate.
I used the ragged French amber flint I've been using all this time and loaded it with 60 grains of Goex FFg Blackpowder and primed it with KIK 3F. I made some packets out of a page of an old phone book sort of like how I make paper cartridges for my rifles. I wrapped it around a half inch dowel rod and glued the edge with a glue stick and slid it to the concave end and folded it like a roll of coins. Poured 60 grains of shot in it and folded and glued the end to make a shot packet. I also used my 3/4" greased felt wads over the powder and tamped it home. The paper packet collapsed and acted as an over shot wad. I think I'm going to bump it up to 80 grains of shot like I load my Howdah, but I only use 45 grains of powder in it..More shot gives a tighter pattern with high density, more powder and the pattern opens up with less density. The flare at the end of the barrel just acts like a funnel for loading. It also acts like a muzzle brake, like a post-Renaissance Noveske Iron Pig.

It's also neat that the flare at the end of the barrel is spotless, the soot ends right where the barrel starts to bloom out.

Rifleman1776 · August 7, 2010, 10:32 AM

Other than having a toy, what are you going to use a blunderbuss for?
You don't need to fill the pan with primer, a line along the bottom is sufficient and will ignite faster.
If the frizzen is hard almost any flint will work with that gun.
This is not a longrifle with a small lock, you don't need to be fussy.

Rampant_Colt · August 7, 2010, 11:39 AM

I'd like to see a video of that thing being fired at night!
I'd also like to see how it patterns out to 25' ft or so with buckshot

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rifleman1776

Other than having a toy, what are you going to use a blunderbuss for?

If you have to ask, you wouldn't understand..

troy_mclure · August 7, 2010, 01:11 PM

my local cabellas has a ton of flints on sale, 4 for $4.

wittzo · August 8, 2010, 03:57 PM

When I show it to my friends and let them shoot it, I want it to click and BOOM, not click and nothing.

Firearms aren't toys to me; I enjoy shooting them, and they're fun, but they're not toys. I know I could probably hit a squirrel or rabbit with the Blunderbus now that it's ignition is fast. It's just as good as a single shot 20 gauge now that I understand and anticipate it's limitations.

I like to experiment and learn things for myself. I don't want to be a zipperhead.

B.L.E. · August 9, 2010, 08:55 PM

.678 bore = 14.95 gauge. 15 gauge wads should work. Track of the Wolf sells real wads in nearly every gauge imaginable and they should work a lot better than wadded tp.

wittzo · August 9, 2010, 09:09 PM

I used some of my 3/4" lubed wads and they worked well. I'm planning on making some 5/8" which will work once they're lubed. The lube makes them swell a little.

I picked up a used Pedersoli 1805 Harper's Ferry pistol today. I used 30 grains of Goex 2F and KIK 3F in the pan. It shot perfectly the first time, but I couldn't get it to spark at all after that. I'm going to clean it and go from there.

August 5, 2010, 01:48 PM	#1
wittzo Member Join Date: February 10, 2010 Posts: 95	I shot my Blunderbuss today. :) My steel Blunderbuss from MVCT came in more than a week ago, my flints came in the mail today. Specifics: 14" steel barrel, .678" bore, my .68" lead balls won't fit. I plan on using a patched .60" ball, birdshot, and buckshot. I've barely touched a flintlock before. Via Pete's advice I bought a few different styles of flints from Track of the Wolf and figured out how to make sparks, then I filled the depression of the pan with Goex Pinnacle 3F and pulled the trigger and it went whoosh! and filled my kitchen with smoke. It ignited instantaneously and I heard the whoosh go through the flashhole and smoke came out of the barrel, so I know it will shoot quick. I was so excited and it was so fun, I called my girlfriend to tell her. Now I need to see if the Shockey's Gold 2F will work in the pan. I have some Goex 2F and 3F BP, I was just seeing it it would be possible to use the substitutes so I can use them up faster to get to the good stuff. Any advice you want to give me will be appreciated.

August 5, 2010, 01:55 PM	#2
FrontierGander Senior Member Join Date: January 30, 2009 Location: Boncarbo,Colorado Posts: 651	jsg-american pioneer will not work in the pan. But surprisingly the 2f american works really darn good in the barrel! __________________ https://buckskinsbp.blogspot.com/

August 5, 2010, 03:06 PM	#3
noelf2 Senior Member Join Date: April 14, 2008 Location: Stuart, VA Posts: 2,473	Advice? If anyone askes, just tell them you were boiling eggs in the kitchen, or you ate something that didn't agree with you. __________________ Liberty and freedom often offends those who understand neither.

August 7, 2010, 01:11 PM	#9
troy_mclure Senior Member Join Date: November 17, 2008 Location: gulf of mexico Posts: 2,716	my local cabellas has a ton of flints on sale, 4 for $4. __________________ There is only one tactical principle which is not subject to change. It is to use the means at hand to inflict the maximum amount of wound, death, and destruction on the enemy in the minimum amount of time."

August 5, 2010, 03:20 PM	#4
Model-P Senior Member Join Date: February 24, 2009 Posts: 727	Shockey's Gold has to be compressed to have a suffient burn rate. Probably not good for either a priming charge or a main blunderbuss charge where the projectiles are not under a great deal of compression.

August 6, 2010, 09:23 AM	#5
wittzo Member Join Date: February 10, 2010 Posts: 95	There are a lot of variables even under good weather conditions. I didn't think about condensation when I took a 75 degree gun outside into a 100 degree, 50% humidity environment. It was sweating all over. I used 3F Goex Pinnacle as the ignition charge, just filling up the depression on the pan. I used 50 grains of Shockey's Gold as the main charge with wadded TP over the powder and fired it as a blank to see if it ignited. It was slow, probably from the sweating and the Pinnacle. I then loaded it with the same charge of powder, 50 grains of #7 birdshot, and wadded up TP as the overpowder wad and overshot wad. It went off again, but it was slow. Pinnacle's really greasy, a lot like 777, that was probably also a factor. Every time I flashed the pan or shot it, I used a pick on the flashhole to make sure it was clear. I showed my kids the sparks when they got home from school and it greatly amused them when I flashed the pan in my bedroom. No worries, I have a ceiling fan. I cleaned the bore and flashpan last night so I can get her dirty today. I'm going to use Goex 2F and 3F as the ignition charge today and 60 grains of Goex 2F as the main charge. I'm going to let the gun acclimate to the heat and humidity after I load the main charge. I'm going to use a greased felt wad over the powder like I do with my rifles. The flint is looking pretty ragged, but it's a soft French amber and I didn't have it set up right the first few times I made sparks, I'll try a Tom Fuller next.

August 7, 2010, 08:46 AM	#6
wittzo Member Join Date: February 10, 2010 Posts: 95	Oh yeah! I put the blunderbus out on the porch for an hour so it would acclimate and the sweat would evaporate. I used the ragged French amber flint I've been using all this time and loaded it with 60 grains of Goex FFg Blackpowder and primed it with KIK 3F. I made some packets out of a page of an old phone book sort of like how I make paper cartridges for my rifles. I wrapped it around a half inch dowel rod and glued the edge with a glue stick and slid it to the concave end and folded it like a roll of coins. Poured 60 grains of shot in it and folded and glued the end to make a shot packet. I also used my 3/4" greased felt wads over the powder and tamped it home. The paper packet collapsed and acted as an over shot wad. I think I'm going to bump it up to 80 grains of shot like I load my Howdah, but I only use 45 grains of powder in it..More shot gives a tighter pattern with high density, more powder and the pattern opens up with less density. The flare at the end of the barrel just acts like a funnel for loading. It also acts like a muzzle brake, like a post-Renaissance Noveske Iron Pig. It's also neat that the flare at the end of the barrel is spotless, the soot ends right where the barrel starts to bloom out.

August 7, 2010, 10:32 AM	#7
Rifleman1776 Senior Member Join Date: April 25, 2010 Location: Arkansas Posts: 3,309	Other than having a toy, what are you going to use a blunderbuss for? You don't need to fill the pan with primer, a line along the bottom is sufficient and will ignite faster. If the frizzen is hard almost any flint will work with that gun. This is not a longrifle with a small lock, you don't need to be fussy.

August 8, 2010, 03:57 PM	#10
wittzo Member Join Date: February 10, 2010 Posts: 95	When I show it to my friends and let them shoot it, I want it to click and BOOM, not click and nothing. Firearms aren't toys to me; I enjoy shooting them, and they're fun, but they're not toys. I know I could probably hit a squirrel or rabbit with the Blunderbus now that it's ignition is fast. It's just as good as a single shot 20 gauge now that I understand and anticipate it's limitations. I like to experiment and learn things for myself. I don't want to be a zipperhead.

August 9, 2010, 08:55 PM	#11
B.L.E. Senior Member Join Date: December 20, 2008 Location: Somewhere on the Southern shore of Lake Travis, TX Posts: 2,603	.678 bore = 14.95 gauge. 15 gauge wads should work. Track of the Wolf sells real wads in nearly every gauge imaginable and they should work a lot better than wadded tp.

August 9, 2010, 09:09 PM	#12
wittzo Member Join Date: February 10, 2010 Posts: 95	I used some of my 3/4" lubed wads and they worked well. I'm planning on making some 5/8" which will work once they're lubed. The lube makes them swell a little. I picked up a used Pedersoli 1805 Harper's Ferry pistol today. I used 30 grains of Goex 2F and KIK 3F in the pan. It shot perfectly the first time, but I couldn't get it to spark at all after that. I'm going to clean it and go from there.