Got this kit from Dustin, He has a youtube channel Guns of the west. You just supply the power and bullets! I will try them out before I make any more and I want to try it with pyrodex also! Its for my 36 cal pietta.
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Trying my hand at paper cartridges
- Thread starter Ts_1911
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I'm a bit disappointed in the glue stick. I wanted to see pictures of you boiling hides & hooves for period-authentic glue! 
I just ordered some round ball... curious as to how these work out.
I just ordered some round ball... curious as to how these work out.
I'm a bit disappointed in the glue stick. I wanted to see pictures of you boiling hides & hooves for period-authentic glue!
Thats funny, my Mom used to call that supper.
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- Dec 19, 2016
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Have you checked out the cap and ball channel on YouTube. He has some good info on rolling your own. He sells the kits like you have and the reproduction ammo boxes.
BudE
Hillsborough, NC
Years and years ago when my kids were young and they shot three times if the dove was in sight (most of the time they hit) I had to start reloading shotgun shells. I bought paper shells and Sears and when it came time to reload they were the best I've ever had. Good luck with them.
I learned something here today! Several somethings, actually.
I chased the rabbit down to the "Eras Gone" channel and watched his videos on nitrating paper and making quick loaders for C&B loads.
I hadn't heard of "duplex" loads, where you'd use a filler (grits, in his video) to fill chamber space & push the ball to the fore of the cylinder, thus reducing the jump to the rifling (for accuracy).
A "duplex" load is a combination of black and smokeless powder in the same powder charger. Filler is just that, filler and in no way contributes to what the powder charge does.
Here's the skinny on duplex and filler-
Duplex loads accomplish a couple things. First, they help ignite the black powder to a degree. Second, they change the characteristic of the pressure curve of black powder. Third, it can contribute to greatly reduced fouling from the black powder. It's been done for as long as smokeless has been around. Duplex loads also exist in the smokeless powder world as well. It's scary territory but some reloaders have worked with it with good to great results and others, well, it didn't go well. So DUPLEX= 2 (or more but named triplex) different powders MIXED
Filler is just inert material used to take up space in a black powder load and to a much lesser extent, some smokeless loads. There are several reasons. First is reliable ignition and therefore a reliable pressure curve. Second, it puts the projectile near the rifling for the same reason that you want it near the rifling in a smokeless load, accuracy. Third, it can sometimes contribute to a reduction of fouling from black powder. In a smokeless loading, as with black powder, a filler can keep the powder against the flash hole making for reliable, consistent ignition. In smokeless, it's generally in very reduced power loads in large capacity cases. One example is 45/70. Some powder charges that are safe in a 45/70 in reduced loads require a filler to achieve consistent ignition. Usually kapok or some other inert material is used. In black powder, fillers are common and are often something like Cream O Wheat (abb. COW in black powder literature) or grits if yer a good ole boy from the South. I've heard of oatmeat, barley, and ground rice being used, but the goal is the same- take up space and keep the powder charge at the flash hole.
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And for what it's worth, I shoot a paper cartridge 1863 Sharps carbine in competition. It's the fastest gun on the line in terms of loading in our competition and quite accurate.
Muzzleloaders are slow, duh, cartridge guns faster but within that genre there are differences. Of the cartridge guns, Sharps, Smith, Gallagher, Starr, Burnside, Maynard, Spencer and Henry, the Henry is hands down the fastest but it is the first fairly large scale production of what we consider as a "cartridge arm" today with completely self contained ammo. The Spencer is right behind with completely self contained ammo, meaning primer, case, bullet, powder in one unit. The Henry completes the loading cycle with each stroke of the lever and is ready to fire. The Spencer is ready after cocking the hammer for each shot and is a bit slower and it also holds less ammo than the Henry.
Following that are the others, but each is a percussion gun and requires the use of a percussion cap to be placed on the nipple for firing. Each is a single shot using cartridges. Each, except the Sharps, has to have the spent cartridge removed in loading. The Sharps, you just drop the block, shove another round in, raise the block, cap and fire. In short, one less step than the rest.
In our competition, we have a Carbine class that permits muzzleloaders, Smiths, Sharps, Gallaghers, Starrs, Maynards and Burnsides in one class. Spencer and Henry each have their own class. The competition reality is, in terms of accuracy, the muzzleloaders can be extremely accurate, but have a much slower rate of fire. I have an Enfield musketoon that is easily a sub 2moa gun in .58cal. My Sharps is close, but not quite there in accuracy but what it gives up in accuracy is far more made up in speed. The Musketoon is at best, 4 shots/minute. The Sharps, 10+.
Muzzleloaders are slow, duh, cartridge guns faster but within that genre there are differences. Of the cartridge guns, Sharps, Smith, Gallagher, Starr, Burnside, Maynard, Spencer and Henry, the Henry is hands down the fastest but it is the first fairly large scale production of what we consider as a "cartridge arm" today with completely self contained ammo. The Spencer is right behind with completely self contained ammo, meaning primer, case, bullet, powder in one unit. The Henry completes the loading cycle with each stroke of the lever and is ready to fire. The Spencer is ready after cocking the hammer for each shot and is a bit slower and it also holds less ammo than the Henry.
Following that are the others, but each is a percussion gun and requires the use of a percussion cap to be placed on the nipple for firing. Each is a single shot using cartridges. Each, except the Sharps, has to have the spent cartridge removed in loading. The Sharps, you just drop the block, shove another round in, raise the block, cap and fire. In short, one less step than the rest.
In our competition, we have a Carbine class that permits muzzleloaders, Smiths, Sharps, Gallaghers, Starrs, Maynards and Burnsides in one class. Spencer and Henry each have their own class. The competition reality is, in terms of accuracy, the muzzleloaders can be extremely accurate, but have a much slower rate of fire. I have an Enfield musketoon that is easily a sub 2moa gun in .58cal. My Sharps is close, but not quite there in accuracy but what it gives up in accuracy is far more made up in speed. The Musketoon is at best, 4 shots/minute. The Sharps, 10+.
I'm a bit disappointed in the glue stick. I wanted to see pictures of you boiling hides & hooves for period-authentic glue!
I just ordered some round ball... curious as to how these work out.
Well ifn ya gon be period-authentic shouldn't you be meltin lead and casting those balls?????
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Well ifn ya gon be period-authentic shouldn't you be meltin lead and casting those balls?????
You mean like these? 69cal smooth bore round ball
Or maybe these? 1858 Smith Carbine bullets, .518cal
Or what about this one?
12lb round shot.
The cartridges I made worked well but there was unburned paper left in the cylinders which I had to clean out. I read about using potassium nitrate to soak coffee filter paper when making cartridges to aid in burning up the paper. One YouTube video showed a guy using spectricide stump remover,mixing it with water and soaking the filter paper. Would it be better to buy 100% potassium nitrate from Amazon to use or the stump killer from lowes? Anyone have any better ideas to nitrate paper?
I'd get the purest potassium nitrate possible. You could also try different kinds of paper. My Sharps generally has a chunk or two of burn tubes still in the bore. By pointing the bore downwards while loading, they usually fall out but don't have any effect on accuracy. It's amusing to see bits smoldering in the grass just in front of the firing line.