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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Higgs Field
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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:  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:  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:  That ought to slow down those Halloween zombies... 
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Jeff '72 911T 3.0 MFI '93 Ducati 900 Super Sport "God invented whiskey so the Irish wouldn't rule the world" |
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10-31-2019, 01:50 PM
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New kid in town
Join Date: Nov 2001
Posts: 2,288
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Holy Crap, that hole is as big as my 12ga slug!
Very nice. 
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I wish I still had 9111113443... |
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10-31-2019, 02:22 PM
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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.
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Jeff '72 911T 3.0 MFI '93 Ducati 900 Super Sport "God invented whiskey so the Irish wouldn't rule the world" |
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10-31-2019, 02:40 PM
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Lacey, WA. USA
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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
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Man of Carbon Fiber (stronger than steel) Mocha 1978 911SC. "Coco" |
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10-31-2019, 03:49 PM
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Location: a wretched hive of scum and villainy
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LOL when I saw that first pic I thought it was a blunderbus!
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10-31-2019, 03:57 PM
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AutoBahned
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a double muzzle loader must require a lot of care & presence of mind during loading...
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10-31-2019, 04:09 PM
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Quote:
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. Quote:
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.
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Jeff '72 911T 3.0 MFI '93 Ducati 900 Super Sport "God invented whiskey so the Irish wouldn't rule the world" |
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10-31-2019, 05:12 PM
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Lacey, WA. USA
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Thank you, Jeff. I really enjoy your writing, and my learning.
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Man of Carbon Fiber (stronger than steel) Mocha 1978 911SC. "Coco" |
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10-31-2019, 07:58 PM
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Yeah, thanks Jeff.
The great thing about Jeff is I don't need to know anything, I just ask Jeff LOL |
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10-31-2019, 08:05 PM
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Model Citizen
Join Date: May 2007
Location: The Voodoo Lounge
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Heh heh. He said nipple. Heh heh heh!
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"I would be a tone-deaf heathen if I didn't call the engine astounding. If it had been invented solely to make noise, there would be shrines to it in Rome" |
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10-31-2019, 08:29 PM
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TWO nipples... perfect...
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Jeff '72 911T 3.0 MFI '93 Ducati 900 Super Sport "God invented whiskey so the Irish wouldn't rule the world" |
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10-31-2019, 08:34 PM
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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.
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10-31-2019, 08:55 PM
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(the shotguns)
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Maryland
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Quote:
Holy cow you’re not kidding!
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***************************************** Well i had #6 adjusted perfectly but then just before i tightened it a butterfly in Zimbabwe farted and now i have to start all over again! I believe we all make mistakes but I will not validate your poor choices and/or perversions and subsidize the results your actions. |
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11-01-2019, 02:01 AM
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I see you
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: NJ
Posts: 29,876
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What's the recoil on that thing? I don't think my shoulder would last long.
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Si non potes inimicum tuum vincere, habeas eum amicum and ride a big blue trike. "'Bipartisan' usually means that a larger-than-usual deception is being carried out." |
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11-01-2019, 04:54 AM
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Get off my lawn!
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Quote:
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Glen 49 Year member of the Porsche Club of America 1985 911 Carrera; 2017 Macan 1986 El Camino with Fuel Injected 350 Crate Engine My Motto: I will never be too old to have a happy childhood! |
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11-01-2019, 05:29 AM
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unsafe at any speed
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 12,319
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Reading the thread title, was expecting to see pumpkin carnage. What a beautiful rifle, looks like fun.
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Bill Swartzwelder 2002 R1100S Prep/ 2024 Tenere 700 |
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11-01-2019, 05:31 AM
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Quote:
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11-01-2019, 06:07 AM
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Quote:
Quote:
) 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.
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Jeff '72 911T 3.0 MFI '93 Ducati 900 Super Sport "God invented whiskey so the Irish wouldn't rule the world" |
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11-01-2019, 07:11 AM
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AutoBahned
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you're killin it with this thread
Thx - very informative & interesting, despite the fact that I don't even target shoot anymore (or practice with edged weapons either) |
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11-01-2019, 11:55 AM
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?
Join Date: Apr 2002
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Quote:
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11-01-2019, 12:24 PM
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Carrera
