Black powder supplies near Reidsville NC?

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I've come into a beautiful Hawken .50 I'm hoping to soon have room to shoot :)

Alas, when I sold the last of my black powder stuff, all my supplies went with it. Anyone know a good source for Hornady etc .490 ball and 3F powder near Reidsville NC?

We've got an Ace Hardware that claims to have some, but when I called the guy I spoke to was..... not well informed and just kept telling me what smokeless powders they had in stock despite me explaining a couple of times what I actually needed, nor did he know if they had any ball etc.

I tried a couple of other gunstores I got off Google, but none of them seem to be open anymore, or they aren't answering their phones at least.

I'd rather not go into the depths of Greensboro etc but if I have to I have to.
 
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Have you already tried the Olde Leakesville Gun Shop in Eden? Barry is a good dude.

Nope, that one didn't pop up, or I didn't see it. I'll give them a call, thanks.
 
I just got one too... havent shot it yet. dont you want FF for big bore rifles?
 
I just got one too... havent shot it yet. dont you want FF for big bore rifles?

Hrm, I thought that was the right size, I'll dig out the paperwork and check again.
 
Mine came with miniballs and sabots. Should I use different charges for the different weight projectiles?
 
I just got one too... havent shot it yet. dont you want FF for big bore rifles?

2f or 3f. Keep the charges reasonable. Absolutely NO need for the whopper charges recommended. Yer wasting powder. I compete with black powder guns and it never ceases to amaze me the folks who think they need 90+ gr for a charge.

Here's the real deal on the holy black. IF you use 2f, you can use a higher charge than 3f to get the same velocity because the granules of powder are bigger and therefore burn SLOWER. IF you are using 3f, cut the charge levels from 2f levels and you will get the same velocity. Just like using smokeless, start with a low charge and work up, and YES, it is possible to damage a black powder gun with too much powder, especially if you sub in 3-4f for 1-2f.
 
Mine came with miniballs and sabots. Should I use different charges for the different weight projectiles?

Yes, different charge levels for different weight projectiles. As stated earlier, start low and work upwards observing accuracy and fouling.

MINIBALLS?? Better check on that one. A >>"Minie"<< is a bullet design used during the late 19th century, most commonly known in this country as the period of the Civil War. A Minie is NOT designed to be shot with a sabot. A Minie has a hollow base that was designed to expand on ignition to grip the rifling. It was purposely under bore sized to allow for loading a gun with fouling in the barrel during battle. Using a charge much past 60g 2f (service charge) does NOT yield more velocity and it DOES kill accuracy by blowing the skirt (hollow base) out as it leaves the barrel.

Catfish- it sounds like you have sub caliber bullets designed to be used with sabots. They were all the rage a while back and still have a popular following.

But let's get back to some basic facts. A Minie bullet weighing in at 500gr will exit the barrel with a service charge at about 1k fps or slightly over. Compare that to the mighty 44Mag with a bullet at 240gr at about 1400fps. Nobody thinks the 44Mag is a pushover, why no respect for the 58cal 500gr Minie with twice the weight at a bit lower velocity? If a 44Mag is considered to be adequate for big game, then why not the 58cal Minie? No need for whopper powder charges, shoot the gun as designed and it will perform as designed. The national cemeteries are full of guys who wore the Blue or Gray who can stand as mute testimony to that.
 
Civil War guns with a pokey medium charge and iron sights aren't accurate? You tell me. The following group was shot from a Parker Hale Enfield Musketoon at 100yds. Bullet is a Minie design RCBS Hogdon right at 400gr. Powder charge is 43gr of 3f Old Eynsford (a Goex product). Lard lube. RWS musket caps. Iron sights. Note the powder charge is 3f. With experimentation, I found 3f to be better in THIS gun than 2f, along with Minie diameter, lube and cap brand. In the North South Skirmish Association, we compete with Civil War arms (including artillery!) and we take the time to tune and find the most accurate load and it's very, very rare that the most accurate load is anywhere near the service charge levels.

20180708_130243.jpg
 
That's it..my next range day is a BP day.

I need to work up the accuracy load for my .32 flintlock and get my boys' .45 and .50 cals.

I've only ever shot patched round ball - my father is a Rendezvous period guy - so I've never messed with minies. I may work that up in my .54 for deer season; though I've never been disappointed using round ball on game.
 
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@Dave951 I mean to say that I got both type projectiles with the gun. Heavy cast full diameter that look like shotgun slugs and smaller lighter projectiles riding in a sabot. Thanks for the info I hope I get to shoot it soon.
 
That's it..my next range day is a BP day.

I need to work up the accuracy load for my .32 flintlock and get my boys' .45 and .50 cals.

I've only ever shot patched round ball - my father is a Rendezvous period guy - so I've never messed with minies. I may work that up in my .54 for deer season; though I've never been disappointed using round ball on game.

I'll need to do the same. If I get this land I'll have enough room to practice AND space to hunt. Should be a new experience for me, never quite got to it before.
 
2f or 3f. Keep the charges reasonable. Absolutely NO need for the whopper charges recommended. Yer wasting powder. I compete with black powder guns and it never ceases to amaze me the folks who think they need 90+ gr for a charge.

I agree with Dave951 here. The charges I described were maximum loads - you'll find better accuracy working up from smaller charges. Sorry if I misled.
 
Hey Dave, what alloy is your lead?
Pure as I can get. Wheel weights are no go with Minies. Commercial ones outside our group might be suspect. The guy selling bullets through Lodgewood is gtg and one of our members.
 
That's it..my next range day is a BP day.

I need to work up the accuracy load for my .32 flintlock and get my boys' .45 and .50 cals.

I've only ever shot patched round ball - my father is a Rendezvous period guy - so I've never messed with minies. I may work that up in my .54 for deer season; though I've never been disappointed using round ball on game.
A 32 prb can be stupid accurate however, it is on the lower end of the power scale.

There are Minie molds in 54cal as there were a couple muskets types in the war in 54.

Key is to get the minie to within .001-2 of bore size. Doesn't matter what the gun is marked, you have to verify. I have a couple Colts that are "supposed" to be .577, but they actually measure right at .581. Once I verified that and worked up bullet and load, here ya go20170904_082823.jpg
 
Gun is repop Colt Contract 2 band length. Minie is .580 Rapine trashcan pure lead. 44gr 3f Old Eynsford. RWS caps, Lens lube. Iron sights, rear non-adjustable peep front post.
 
I agree with Dave951 here. The charges I described were maximum loads - you'll find better accuracy working up from smaller charges. Sorry if I misled.

I'm enough of a wuss to start at the bottom safe load and work up lol
 
I think there was a song a while back about smoke getting in the eyes.

We have had shoots where the early morning mist combined with the smoke from about 1k competitors blasting away with muskets made it problematic even seeing the targets. Cool thing about it though, the minies left trails through the mist you could see.
 
Hrm, I thought that was the right size, I'll dig out the paperwork and check again.
I shoot a mixture of 2f & 3f in my 54 and use 4f in the pan. the reason for the mixture is my horn holds a little over 2 lbs & a can of each poured themselves in my horn. It shot well do I never messed with changing it. Damn I gotta have roundball & Flint's too.
 
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I've been told it's the crack of shooting sports............

I had a single flintlock in late 2017. I just bought the fourth one today, an absolute beauty. .40 Cal rifle, brass furniture, brass inlays....a gorgeous curly maple stock. Double set trigger - it breaks like glass by just thinking about the squeeze.

I saw it at the Hickory show a week ago, the table didn't take plastic, but he's local and I met him today with cash and picked it up.

Once I can get some good pictures taken I will post them up.
 
I had a single flintlock in late 2017. I just bought the fourth one today, an absolute beauty. .40 Cal rifle, brass furniture, brass inlays....a gorgeous curly maple stock. Double set trigger - it breaks like glass by just thinking about the squeeze.

I saw it at the Hickory show a week ago, the table didn't take plastic, but he's local and I met him today with cash and picked it up.

Once I can get some good pictures taken I will post them up.

Looking forward to seeing them


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If anybody in the area shoots Swiss 1 1/2 I have several lbs of the stuff I can spare. It works real good in the cartridge rifles but I don't know about the muzzlestuffers.
 
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