Frontier .50 Nov 27th, pre-1840...

[RanchRoper]

Spent a few hours at the range today with this new rifle. No targets to post, didn't shoot well, 65 mph wind but today was not about targets it was about learning the rifle. As a new BP shooter I needed to take time to establish a routine that works, and be able to shoot multiple times...and have confidence in what I was doing. Mission accomplished on that front.

I put about 8 or 10 lead balls downrange today in various places on a sheet of cardboard about 12" wide and 16" high at 50 yds off hand standing. The sights are something that will need some getting used to. Lots of drop today in that crazy wind. But more importantly I now have a shooting routine that works!

1. two or three dry patches down the barrel, using a .45 copper brush instead of .50 jag, also use the little patent breech brush too
2. I have a sewing needle in my kit now and run it through the nipple into the flash hole
3. fire a cap or two
4. check the nipple again
5. powder/patch/ball...no extra lube on the pre-lubed patch...no more bore butter
6. cap on, and shoot
7. discard the spent cap
8. repeat steps above

after 4 or 5 shots, run a wet alcohol patch down the barrel, then start over from #1

Worked like a charm.

when done shooting, I plugged off the nipple with a little leather patch under the hammer, poured a little bit of alcohol down the barrel, let it sit for a minute then swabbed it up and down with 2 or 3 patches. Poured out whatever was left, dried it with a couple of patches and headed for home.

Once home, plugged off the nipple with the leather, poured a little Hoppes in the barrel this time and swabbed it real good with lots of suction up & down. Then poured the crud out. After that it got cleaned like my other rifles, removed the nipple, blew air through it, and put it back in. Then finished with a Ballistol patch down the barrel and and light coat of REM oil over the whole outside of it. Wiped it down and put it away muzzle end down. After supper I looked down the barrel with small bright light. Shiny all the way down to the patent breech. I do need a nipple wrench though, and it wouldn't hurt to have a couple of extra nipples too I think.

This has been a successful day.

..and yes that is an HRA tuque.

[BigAl52]

Sounds like you are in the learning curve now. How do you like that makin smoke.

[JEBar]

Worked like a charm.

tuque .... had to look that one up .... good to see you have an evolving routine that works for you .... a strong wind can make 490 round balls do some funky things .... looking forward to your continued reports

[RanchRoper]

Great fun to shoot, the big boom and the smoke are very cool. I need to hold my position after the shot though. I am moving the barrel too fast. Not enough follow through.

[RanchRoper]

Worked like a charm.

tuque .... had to look that one up .... good to see you have an evolving routine that works for you .... a strong wind can make 490 round balls do some funky things .... looking forward to your continued reports

Haha, I had to look up how to spell it too....how about wool hat instead...

[JEBar]

down here we call them toboggans .... my wife's relatives in South Dakota call them stocking caps and tell me a toboggan is a sled without runners ..

[fortyshooter]

Just amazed how you can stand and hold that heavy rifle in a 65 MPH wind!! Great work in raw weather conditions RR!
Be interesting to see a video of that with the sound of roaring wind!

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

Sounds like a productive outing.

Shooting in near 110 kilometer per hour winds is real dedication. That range must be located in one heck of a place - wind gusts in Pincher yesterday were 55 - 65 kilometers per hour. As a wildfire person winds are something I instantly tune into. Those 65 mph winds are basically like Santa Ana winds in southern california and under those conditions assuming low rh and dry fuels fires do what they want. I don't know if I could even begin to aim at anything standing up in those winds.

The important thing is learning the rifle which you certainly are.

-Ed-

[RanchRoper]

The range is west of Pincher Creek and right at the slope of the Rockies....wide open and she blows hard there for sure. Next weekend we are putting the big sliding doors on the shooting sheds for winter, that's always an adventure in that wind. We had winds of 130 km the other day....last year the electronic sign that measures wind speed went down near the hwy....laying in the ditch with 187 km on the readout....trees around the house got a pruning that day.

[BigAl52]

Guy wouldnt want to wear a dress for sure.