Anonymous
7/9/2025, 7:30:48 PM No.63961118
Which black powder gun is more fun? Muskets and rifles or cap and ball revolvers?
Replies:
Thread 63961118 - /k/ [Archived: 451 hours ago]
Anonymous
7/9/2025, 7:37:34 PM No.63961143
Are there even any cheap muskets? Revolvers are at least a couple hundred bucks
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Anonymous
7/9/2025, 8:01:53 PM No.63961217
>>63961143
$270 for a cap and ball revolver and it looks like a lot of muskets go for $500
$270 for a cap and ball revolver and it looks like a lot of muskets go for $500
Anonymous
7/9/2025, 8:04:15 PM No.63961227
>>63961118 (OP)
Shotguns and the big-bore pistols.
Shotguns and the big-bore pistols.
Anonymous
7/9/2025, 8:06:56 PM No.63961234
>>63961118 (OP)
idk if they fixed this, and you there is no way anyone would ever prosecute you for this anyway, but technically in NJ buying a black powder muzzle loader kit and finishing it is or was legally manufacturing a ghost gun, which is a felony
idk if they fixed this, and you there is no way anyone would ever prosecute you for this anyway, but technically in NJ buying a black powder muzzle loader kit and finishing it is or was legally manufacturing a ghost gun, which is a felony
Anonymous
7/9/2025, 8:26:45 PM No.63961299
>>63961143
Flintlocks are about $500, percussion guns are as cheap as $300.
Flintlocks are about $500, percussion guns are as cheap as $300.
Anonymous
7/9/2025, 8:34:47 PM No.63961329
>>63961118 (OP)
Black powder can be a lot of fun especially using modern powder and nicely cast balls. Can brute force even a smoothbore to be semi-accurate to about 300 yards.
>>63961143
Depends where in the world or even country you are. Some they can go quite cheap, elsewhere you are paying premium for a bunch of lumber.
Black powder can be a lot of fun especially using modern powder and nicely cast balls. Can brute force even a smoothbore to be semi-accurate to about 300 yards.
>>63961143
Depends where in the world or even country you are. Some they can go quite cheap, elsewhere you are paying premium for a bunch of lumber.
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Anonymous
7/9/2025, 8:44:38 PM No.63961355
>>63961118 (OP)
>Which is more fun
>Muskets and rifles or cap and ball revolvers?
Are you excited by the prospect of autistically swabbing every nook and cranny of a revolver and then re-oiling her each time you put even a single round through her? If so, get a revolver. You can brick one in a week or two if it's wet out, long guns require a lot less work to keep going. Yes, I wrecked my first revolver, how did you guess?
>maintenance
Rifles, muskets, and fowling pieces are the easiest to clean and keep running. I'd argue a SxS shotgun is probably the most fun because you can use wads to put retarded shit into it or just shoot clays with a smoke generator, but BP rifle precision shooting is also great. Muskets are the budget choice, and you can still get decent results with the right slugs. You can also use larger-bore muskets as fowling pieces, it's not like people didn't back in the day.
>lock-work
Percussion locks are the cheapest to buy, most and easiest to maintain, flintlocks are mostly an aesthetic choice. The best source for flintlocks are those Indian "totally not a real gun" kits where you have to drill your own touch-hole, or well-maintained vintage guns. You can also pull a working flintlock from a trashed vintage gun and pop it onto a modern kit gun, but you'll still probably have to replace the mainspring at some point. If you're making your own gun, then a matchlock or an electric match is the easiest.
Also, be careful with vintage shotguns. Century-old Damascus barrels are a complete crap-shoot. Not least because they hide crippling cracks and rust extremely well. You might get lucky and have a good one, or it might frag the barrel after ten shots.
>Which is more fun
>Muskets and rifles or cap and ball revolvers?
Are you excited by the prospect of autistically swabbing every nook and cranny of a revolver and then re-oiling her each time you put even a single round through her? If so, get a revolver. You can brick one in a week or two if it's wet out, long guns require a lot less work to keep going. Yes, I wrecked my first revolver, how did you guess?
>maintenance
Rifles, muskets, and fowling pieces are the easiest to clean and keep running. I'd argue a SxS shotgun is probably the most fun because you can use wads to put retarded shit into it or just shoot clays with a smoke generator, but BP rifle precision shooting is also great. Muskets are the budget choice, and you can still get decent results with the right slugs. You can also use larger-bore muskets as fowling pieces, it's not like people didn't back in the day.
>lock-work
Percussion locks are the cheapest to buy, most and easiest to maintain, flintlocks are mostly an aesthetic choice. The best source for flintlocks are those Indian "totally not a real gun" kits where you have to drill your own touch-hole, or well-maintained vintage guns. You can also pull a working flintlock from a trashed vintage gun and pop it onto a modern kit gun, but you'll still probably have to replace the mainspring at some point. If you're making your own gun, then a matchlock or an electric match is the easiest.
Also, be careful with vintage shotguns. Century-old Damascus barrels are a complete crap-shoot. Not least because they hide crippling cracks and rust extremely well. You might get lucky and have a good one, or it might frag the barrel after ten shots.
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Anonymous
7/9/2025, 8:46:31 PM No.63961366
>black powder thread
I have a stupid question, and no BP experience to know the answer:
I understand that if a barrel is fouled up enough (and your shot doesn't have much windage), then it becomes more difficult and more time consuming to ram the shot down the barrel.
If, in such a case, the shot resists being rammed, then is the loader supposed to press the ramrod down against it until it gives out, or raise the rod back up and hammer at it instead?
I have a stupid question, and no BP experience to know the answer:
I understand that if a barrel is fouled up enough (and your shot doesn't have much windage), then it becomes more difficult and more time consuming to ram the shot down the barrel.
If, in such a case, the shot resists being rammed, then is the loader supposed to press the ramrod down against it until it gives out, or raise the rod back up and hammer at it instead?
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Anonymous
7/9/2025, 9:01:29 PM No.63961413
>>63961366
Tapping is more likely to make it go home, just shoving on it is a one-way street to a snapped ramrod. Either way you're going to deform the ball a bit.
Tapping is more likely to make it go home, just shoving on it is a one-way street to a snapped ramrod. Either way you're going to deform the ball a bit.
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Anonymous
7/9/2025, 9:28:12 PM No.63961520
>>63961355
>Century-old Damascus barrels are a complete crap-shoot. Not least because they hide crippling cracks and rust extremely well.
Yes, you have to be extremely careful with antique guns. One major reason has to do with cleaning. If at some point in time in the gun's history it was improperly cleaned and left to rust there could be major pitting inside the barrel which is not obvious from the exterior. But even in the case of a very well maintained gun there can still be flaws inside the metal--inclusions of slag or flux, porosity, bad welds, and so on.
Now that said old barrels are not necessarily weak, one sometimes comes across old Damascus barreled shotguns that have modern nitro proofs, but the buyer needs to be careful.
>Century-old Damascus barrels are a complete crap-shoot. Not least because they hide crippling cracks and rust extremely well.
Yes, you have to be extremely careful with antique guns. One major reason has to do with cleaning. If at some point in time in the gun's history it was improperly cleaned and left to rust there could be major pitting inside the barrel which is not obvious from the exterior. But even in the case of a very well maintained gun there can still be flaws inside the metal--inclusions of slag or flux, porosity, bad welds, and so on.
Now that said old barrels are not necessarily weak, one sometimes comes across old Damascus barreled shotguns that have modern nitro proofs, but the buyer needs to be careful.
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Anonymous
7/9/2025, 9:31:02 PM No.63961538
>>63961366
I shoot a lot of black powder and just keep hitting it until it goes down.
That's the answer.
Typically a bigger hit makes it go better.
Your using gravity and velocity to generate more force probably double or tripple what you could apply from just sheer force by pressing down on the rod.
>>63961413
I use military muskets so snapping ramrods is no concern to me cause their made of iron or brass.
I shoot a lot of black powder and just keep hitting it until it goes down.
That's the answer.
Typically a bigger hit makes it go better.
Your using gravity and velocity to generate more force probably double or tripple what you could apply from just sheer force by pressing down on the rod.
>>63961413
I use military muskets so snapping ramrods is no concern to me cause their made of iron or brass.
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Anonymous
7/9/2025, 9:35:23 PM No.63961566
>>63961538
>Your using gravity and velocity to generate more force probably double or tripple what you could apply from just sheer force by pressing down on the rod.
This.
It's also a safety thing. You don't want to lean any part of your body over the muzzle. You can't press very hard on the rod without doing that, but you absolutely can hold the muzzle away from your face and use the ramrod sort of like a battering ram to push the ball down with multiple hits.
>Your using gravity and velocity to generate more force probably double or tripple what you could apply from just sheer force by pressing down on the rod.
This.
It's also a safety thing. You don't want to lean any part of your body over the muzzle. You can't press very hard on the rod without doing that, but you absolutely can hold the muzzle away from your face and use the ramrod sort of like a battering ram to push the ball down with multiple hits.
Anonymous
7/9/2025, 9:46:02 PM No.63961620
>>63961355
>Also, be careful with vintage shotguns. Century-old Damascus barrels are a complete crap-shoot. Not least because they hide crippling cracks and rust extremely well. You might get lucky and have a good one, or it might frag the barrel after ten shots.
>>63961520
>old Damascus barreled shotguns
Keep in mind that many US-manufactured shotguns did not use damascus, but instead mimicked the patterning. 1892 and onwards almost guarantees it's not damascus but fluid steel. This is not true for Belgian and British imports, which most certainly do have twist steel barrels. Neither are unsafe so long as you mind chamber length and the tightness of the forcing cone.
The most reasonable method of detecting it is through sonar.
Be safe.
>Also, be careful with vintage shotguns. Century-old Damascus barrels are a complete crap-shoot. Not least because they hide crippling cracks and rust extremely well. You might get lucky and have a good one, or it might frag the barrel after ten shots.
>>63961520
>old Damascus barreled shotguns
Keep in mind that many US-manufactured shotguns did not use damascus, but instead mimicked the patterning. 1892 and onwards almost guarantees it's not damascus but fluid steel. This is not true for Belgian and British imports, which most certainly do have twist steel barrels. Neither are unsafe so long as you mind chamber length and the tightness of the forcing cone.
The most reasonable method of detecting it is through sonar.
Be safe.
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Anonymous
7/9/2025, 10:24:57 PM No.63961740
>>63961329
Are any of the Indian ones that need to be drilled into worth the price?
Are any of the Indian ones that need to be drilled into worth the price?
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Anonymous
7/9/2025, 10:27:18 PM No.63961745
>>63961740
They use better materials than the original muskets at least. That and you wont feel as bad hammering brass tacks and wire wraps onto it for your frontier LARP because it was cheap.
They use better materials than the original muskets at least. That and you wont feel as bad hammering brass tacks and wire wraps onto it for your frontier LARP because it was cheap.
Anonymous
7/9/2025, 11:06:21 PM No.63961886
Anyone know of any problems with the AGC Diablo? It's probably the cheapest thing that's close to a howdah out there
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Anonymous
7/10/2025, 2:16:12 AM No.63962529
>>63961740
>Are any of the Indian ones that need to be drilled into worth the price?
The metal is dependably mediocre at worst. This may sound like a bad thing, but trust me - the absolute bottom-of-the-barrel Wonderbread of modern metal is better than 95% of the steel produced before 1850. They have good springs and frizzens, and if they don't you can return 'em. You don't have to spend days or weeks on finishing the gun. They're also the cheapest and easiest way to get ahold of a lot of things, especially weird shit like a brass blunderbuss with a flintlock or the historically-interesting guns that everyone already wants.
>>63961538
>I use military muskets so snapping ramrods is no concern to me cause their made of iron or brass.
Fair, although you can still wind up kinking the ramrod or cracking the toe off the stock if the fouling's real bad and you lean on it. My brother did that with a Belgian musket a few years ago and I still give him shit for it.
>>63961620
I just assume Anon isn't going to know how to check proofmarks and provenance to figure out what the gun is made of if he's asking such basic questions.
>>63961886
I haven't heard of any problems from them. The Indian guys from upthread have also made a batch of .58-cal flintlock double-barrels recently - https://militaryheritage.com/pistol16.htm . Diablo's about the same price (depending on barrel length) and has a working percussion lock, though.
>Are any of the Indian ones that need to be drilled into worth the price?
The metal is dependably mediocre at worst. This may sound like a bad thing, but trust me - the absolute bottom-of-the-barrel Wonderbread of modern metal is better than 95% of the steel produced before 1850. They have good springs and frizzens, and if they don't you can return 'em. You don't have to spend days or weeks on finishing the gun. They're also the cheapest and easiest way to get ahold of a lot of things, especially weird shit like a brass blunderbuss with a flintlock or the historically-interesting guns that everyone already wants.
>>63961538
>I use military muskets so snapping ramrods is no concern to me cause their made of iron or brass.
Fair, although you can still wind up kinking the ramrod or cracking the toe off the stock if the fouling's real bad and you lean on it. My brother did that with a Belgian musket a few years ago and I still give him shit for it.
>>63961620
I just assume Anon isn't going to know how to check proofmarks and provenance to figure out what the gun is made of if he's asking such basic questions.
>>63961886
I haven't heard of any problems from them. The Indian guys from upthread have also made a batch of .58-cal flintlock double-barrels recently - https://militaryheritage.com/pistol16.htm . Diablo's about the same price (depending on barrel length) and has a working percussion lock, though.
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Anonymous
7/10/2025, 5:46:08 AM No.63963221
>>63962529
>I just assume Anon isn't going to know how to check proofmarks and provenance to figure out what the gun is made of if he's asking such basic questions.
Nobody is asking that, I'm adding to unsolicited advice. Besides, the other two brought up breechloading shotguns whereas OP wants to know about muzzleloaders.
>I just assume Anon isn't going to know how to check proofmarks and provenance to figure out what the gun is made of if he's asking such basic questions.
Nobody is asking that, I'm adding to unsolicited advice. Besides, the other two brought up breechloading shotguns whereas OP wants to know about muzzleloaders.
Anonymous
7/10/2025, 5:56:17 AM No.63963250
Anonymous
7/10/2025, 5:07:27 PM No.63964560
>>63962529
>especially weird shit like a brass blunderbuss with a flintlock
If you're shopping for antique blunderbusses those are the most commonly found. They weren't all that common in the percussion era but there were loads of brass or bronze-barreled flintlock ones as they were used in service on Royal Navy ships, and since they were made of brass they survived well. Iron and twist-barreled blunderbusses did exist but were a lot less common and fewer of them survive today.
>especially weird shit like a brass blunderbuss with a flintlock
If you're shopping for antique blunderbusses those are the most commonly found. They weren't all that common in the percussion era but there were loads of brass or bronze-barreled flintlock ones as they were used in service on Royal Navy ships, and since they were made of brass they survived well. Iron and twist-barreled blunderbusses did exist but were a lot less common and fewer of them survive today.