Halloween at the Range
 

So it must be time to break out a "pumpkin thrower", right? I even had a valid excuse to do so - I just put a new set of sights on it and have been eager to get it zeroed.

"It" is my .72 caliber double muzzle loading rifle. It's a round ball only rifle, hence the moniker "pumpkin thrower". I was never happy with the issue open sights:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1572557436.jpg

They just seemed kind of indistinct and hard to see, especially in the dark woods or heavy cover in which we use such a rifle. So, I came up with this:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1572558488.jpg

The rear sight is from XS Sight Systems. They call it a "ghost ring" (hah - another Halloween reference ;) ). It is meant to be mounted on the rear of a rifle's receiver, where a normal peep sight would go. This one is meant to fit a Model 70 Winchester. I've tried this setup on bolt guns and lever guns, and found the huge aperture to be too imprecise for my tastes. Mounting it further forward like this, however, seems to be just the ticket for a rifle meant for quick shooting in heavy cover.

Curious as to how my improvised sights would work out, I hit the range today. After zeroing it off the bench at 100 yards (which is honestly too far to be shooting these things), I took to my hind legs and started firing quick right-lefts offhand at 50 yards, emulating how it is used in the field.

I'm going to declare "success". I couldn't be happier with how this worked. Here are five pairs of right-lefts at 50 yards, kind of "snap shooting" like we would if something was after us:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1572557436.jpg

That ought to slow down those Halloween zombies... :D

Holy Crap, that hole is as big as my 12ga slug!

Very nice. SmileWavy

Heh heh - that's because it is a "12 gauge". .72 caliber is just about what the muzzle of a cylinder bore 12 gauge should mic out to. That, and it took ten rounds to chew that big of a hole.

What really tickles me is that this rifle is so perfectly "regulated" at 50 yards. That's no mean feat, really, and is actually one of the costlier processes required in building a double rifle.

The big British manufacturers employ someone who shoots the rifle "in the white", before it is finished, to determine if both barrels hit the same point of impact - we call this being "regulated". Most don't. When they don't, the gunsmith has to actually unsolder the upper and lower barrel ribs, separate the barrels, add shims, re-solder, and try again. Often over and over again.

Once the rifle is regulated they can finally blue it and finish it. It is forever stuck with one bullet weight in one specific load - any change in the load will affect regulation. Even just changing powders, still shooting the same bullet at the same velocity, can adversely affect regulation.

This is kind of where a muzzle loader has a bit of an advantage over a breach loader. I was lucky in that this one regulated with the same load in both barrels. If it didn't, I would have the option of slightly varying the load in each barrel in an effort to regulate it. It is, however, only regulated within a very narrow range of powder charges - if I go up or down more than about ten grains, it starts to cross or diverge. Fortunately, it regulated with a pretty stiff charge of powder, plenty enough to make it a very viable heavy game rifle. At least at very close range.

I really enjoy your threads and posts about firearms. I have a highly advanced and learned question which you may not be able to answer: Isn't that thing a gun which does not take cartridges? So...you pour stuff down the barrel, gunpowder, wad, ball....pack it down, look up for the first time in minutes... How is this a "a rifle meant for quick shooting?" Respectfully. grin

LOL when I saw that first pic I thought it was a blunderbus!

a double muzzle loader must require a lot of care & presence of mind during loading...

Correct, it does not accept cartridges. Everything has to be introduced from the muzzle end.

We start by pouring the powder from its container, either a traditional powder horn or some kind of a flask, into a powder measure set to the desired volume. The powder then gets poured into the barrel from the powder measure.

We then cover the muzzle with a piece of some kind of cloth, which will serve as the "patch". This patch takes up the windage between an undersized ball and the bore. Placing that ball over the patch, we then ram the combination down the barrel onto the powder charge. There are no "wads" of any kind, just this cloth patch between the ball and the bore. The patch is lubricated with anything from spit to some kind of grease, depending on the shooter's preference.

Next we draw the hammer(s) to half cock and place a percussion cap upon the "nipple". The gun is now ready to fire.

With this kind of a routine to follow when loading each and every shot, a double rifle is a clear advantage. That quick second shot, without having to go through this laborious process, could potentially be a life saver. If you need more than two shots, well, fast-forward to modern repeating rifles. Our ancestors didn't have that option, of course. This was the best they could do.

Absolutely. No distractions and a very strict routine. Many, many of these have been blown up, with less than desirable results for the shooter unfortunate enough to have made a mistake. It's very unforgiving of fools, or distractions. No texting while loading... ;)

One of my main bird guns is also a double muzzle loader, a 10 gauge side by side. There are more things to ram down its muzzle than there is with a rifle, so it's even more important to pay attention.

Thank you, Jeff. I really enjoy your writing, and my learning.

Yeah, thanks Jeff.

The great thing about Jeff is I don't need to know anything, I just ask Jeff LOL

Heh heh. He said nipple. Heh heh heh!

TWO nipples... perfect... ;)

Another great Jeff thread! That thing looks like an anti-tank weapon. I'm amazed you hit anything, much less the center of the target, at that distance. Definitely takes two balls to shoot that thing.

Holy cow you’re not kidding!

What's the recoil on that thing? I don't think my shoulder would last long.

I would bet that depends on how much powder he loads in. A full load would be a shoulder bruiser I bet.

Reading the thread title, was expecting to see pumpkin carnage. What a beautiful rifle, looks like fun.

Three would be better, one on back fer slow dancing. :eek:

Recoil really isn't all that bad. I do wear a strap-on (heh heh heh - he said "strap on"... :D ) recoil pad, as the rifle has a steel shotgun style butt plate. The darn thing weighs about 14 pounds, so that really helps as well. And yes, recoil depends a great deal on the powder charge but, like I mentioned above, there is a very narrow range of charges in which it regulates properly. In other words, unlike a single barreled muzzle loader, you can't "load it down" to reduce recoil, because the barrels no longer shoot to the same point of impact. The ball itself weighs about 583 grains, so that kind of helps to define the recoil you experience. I would put it somewhere in about the .375 H&H level of recoil.

you're killin it with this thread :D

Thx - very informative & interesting, despite the fact that I don't even target shoot anymore (or practice with edged weapons either)

Yep...VERY disappointed in ya Higgy :)!