Shot the California Rifle Again and a Discussion of Cappers

Yesterday a few friends and I had an ATF day* and I put another 20 rounds downrange with the California rifle.

As with my first outing I used Mr. Flintlock lube on my patches, but this time I prepped them in advance instead of cutting them on the muzzle. The 20th ball seated just as easily as the first and there was no sign of any increase in fouling that would eventually require me to swab.

We shot from about 30 - 35 yards offhand at steel and a paper target. At first I tried a 50 grain charge of 3Fg but it shot a little low so I bumped it to 55 grains which got the point of impact to coincide with point of aim. I am planning to take the rifle on a woods walk this Sunday at Boyertown. I figure I'll use 55 to 60 grains but there's one station with long shots that I'll probably use 75 to 80.

As expected, the rifle performed flawlessly with very fast ignition. I made sure to swab the barrel with rubbing alcohol before shooting and to pop a cap to ensure the flash channel in the patent breech was clear of any oil.

Most of my muzzleloading rifle shooting in the past 20 years has been with flintlocks. However, I first learned to shoot muzzleloaders with percussion guns. I've been rereading Ned Roberts' The Muzzleloading Cap Lock Rifle and it rekindled my interest in them. That book is one of the first that my father bought when he got into muzzleloading around 1970 and I read it at a young age. It's to black powder shooters what Elmer Keith's Sixguns is to revolver shooters.

I'd wanted to try it with some Scheutzen brand musket caps that I got last week from Grafs, but the USPS didn't get my new nipple wrench for musket nipples here in time. So, I just used CCI No.11 caps. My primary reason for getting the musket caps and suitable nipples for this rifle and my Cabela's Hawken is to give me options. Number 11 caps have been scarce since the 2020 COVID-induced buying panic. Musket caps have remained more available and also have the advantage of being easier to handle, and in the case of RWS and Scheutzen, more powerful than smaller caps. (By most accounts current production CCI musket caps are no stronger than No.11s.)

Yes, I have the kit to make No.11 caps, but damn it's tedious. Note that the Prime All compound results in corrosive caps or reloaded .22 rimfire, so clean accordingly with a water-based cleaner that will dissolve the salts left behind.

Although I had to wait on trying musket caps, I was able to try out one of the leather cappers I got from October Country. They were only a few bucks each so I got two. They are made from two leather disks held together with a rivet. Each disk has 10 holes punched in it, allowing it to hold 20 caps total. You just press the cap down on the nipple and if it's a snug fit it will remain in place when you pull the capper off. If the caps are a little loose you can cut a slit in the leather from each cap hole to the edge, and pull the capper off sideways.

Aside from the leather capper I also had some of these 3D printed star cappers with me, although I didn't use any.

The printed cappers are available in several colors but I chose orange for when I inevitably drop one in the woods.

These are really nifty and should work well for both rifle and some revolvers. I tried it on my Uberti 1851 Navy Colt and Pietta Dance Brothers, and there's plenty of space to pull the capper off sideways. However, my Pietta 1858 Remington Navy would need to be modified for this to work as there isn't enough room for the larger area on the end of each arm to fit when pulled off sideways. It should work fine on my Rogers and Spencer, which has large dished-out areas around each nipple.

The reason I got the leather and star cappers is because the last time I shot the California rifle I used a Ted Cash capper that gave me fits with caps flipping over. These don't hold as much but are much simpler.

That said, this morning I ordered a PCP PRO from Polish Cappers. The reviews I've seen of the Polish cappers have been very good and the price for their 3D printed version is low (about $16 plus postage). I'll post a follow up after receiving it.

* The alchohol and cigars were consumed after all the guns were put away.

Converting Rifle Brass to Use No.209 Shotshell Primers

AKA, “Yet another reason to have a small lathe.”

Obligatory disclaimer: We don’t guarantee that these will be safe in your rifle or with your components. Do this at your own risk.

The cartridge cases converted using this method are NOT safe to use with full loads. Read that again. They are only safe to use with low pressure reduced loads. Use at your own risk.

My friend N. has recently delved into shooting his M-1891/59 Mosin-Nagant and No.4 Mk.I Lee-Enfield with "mousefart" loads. These are even less powerful than Ed Harris’s “The Load” of 13 grains of Red Dot under a 150 - 180 grain bullet. N. is loading a 115 or 125 grain cast bullet on top of 5.0 grains of Bullseye. (His first try in 7.62R used 6 grains of Bullseye but accuracy was horrible. Backing off to 5 grains shrank the groups.)

He has a good stock of No.209 shotshell primers but not a lot of large rifle primers. He also has a lathe in his basement workshop, as you can see in the picture. It’s an older Jet unit with a 7” swing (not sure how long it is). He took some Berdan primed .303 cases that he’d stashed away and drilled out the primer pockets so they will accept No.209 primers.

Per N., he used three drill bits to modify each case:

"Center drill to keep main drill from following the firing pin dent, letter C for the main body, 21/64 to countersink the flange on the battery cup.  Be careful!  My Fiocchi primers are .002" larger than my Cheddite, and I understand the Cheddites are larger than most Yankee brands."

So measure the No.209 primers you have and pick drill sizes to match.

We haven't tried this with Boxer-primed brass but I don't see why it wouldn't work. This project was primarily to make something useful from what otherwise would be trash.

Something else to consider is how your rifle will handle escaping gas if something goes wrong. I have been present when someone experienced complete case head separations in a No.4 Lee-Enfield and another time in a Mosin-Nagant. The Lee-Enfield shooter didn't notice anything awry until he opened the bolt. The Mosin shooter got gas back in his face but was uninjured because he wore eye protection.

Also note that a lot of milsurp .303 and all 7.62x54R were corrosively primed. Make sure to clean your rifle accordingly when shooting that ammo. You also need to rinse out the brass with water if you plan to reuse it. (The No.209 primers are not corrosive. I'm only referring to the initial firing with the original primers.)

Funnel for filling powder horns

Today I received a package of 6 small aluminum funnels from Amazon. They are sold for filling small perfume bottles but are a good size for filling a powder horn.

They should also work for filling powder flasks but for those, I prefer the Ted Cash powder flask funnel. The Ted Cash funnel screws into the flask and holds the valve open. It also happens to fit the mouth of a .44-40 case perfectly when I'm handloading.

A California Halfstock Percussion Rifle

Last week I was browsing Track of the Wolf's website and ran across this rifle. I've been wanting a percussion sidelock for use in local trail walks and for deer hunting during PA's early antlerless season. After mulling it over for a day I ordered it on Saturday. I paid extra for 2 day shipping to reduce the time in transit (and therefore the opportunity for foul play). It shipped on Monday and arrived on Wednesday.

It's based on a rifle built by a gunsmith in California in the late 19th Century. Key differences are that the original had a back-action lock and a Dimmick-style trigger guard. In contrast, this one has a front-action L&R Hawken lock, and an Ohio-style trigger guard.

The barrel was made by Jim Goodoien of Blaine, MN. It's my understanding that his barrels are some of the best made in recent years. According to an email I got from Track, Goodoein barrels are hand lapped and choked, which makes loading easier. The bore has the best polish I've ever seen on a rifle. If I shine a light down it I can see all the way to breech, something rare on a muzzleloader with a closed breech and a long barrel. It's 34" long with a round ball twist.

Whoever built the rifle (which is unknown), left the muzzle with a flat crown. I didn't like that so I used my Joe Wood coning tool to put a slight cone in it. I didn't go as far as I did on my longrifle but I may do some more work on it.

The stock is Claro walnut with German silver mountings. The barrel and sights were left with a patina finish although I put some cold blue on the sights to reduce glare.

The barrel keys are captured to prevent loss. The nosecap is poured pewter.

Detail of the sideplate, which looks to me like the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

The double set triggers may be from R.E. Davis but I'm not sure. They look like Davis triggers with the rear trigger bent forward a little bit. Regardless, when set the gun fires with mere ounces of pressure on the front trigger.

Overall, it balance nicely for offhand shooting. It's no lightweight, though, at about 9.5 lbs.

Today I took a vacation day and took the new rifle to my club even though it was raining. We have a covered firing line that kept me dry until a squall blew in for a few minutes and got me and everything wet. But before that I got the rifle zeroed at 50 yards. Windage was dead on but it was shooting 8" - 10" low. Some trial and error with a file work on the front sight got it shooting ~2" high at 50 yards, about where I like it.

The loading tables on the 50 yard range at my club have notches for the rifle and a range rod. There's no danger it'll fall over.

Those of you who've seen my prior posts may have noticed that this is a right handed rifle, while I'm left handed. As a southpaw I don't even notice the hammer when shooting a right handed caplock rifle. (Righty flintlocks are another story and require a lot more concentration.)

If I do my part (not always guaranteed) it looks like it'll put them within 2" - 3" at 50 yards. Load development may help that. I mostly shot .490 balls patched in .020" patches cut at the muzzle, lubed with Mr. Flintlock Patch Lube and Bore Cleaner, on top of 60 grains of 3Fg Goex black powder. I used CCI No.11 caps and in about 2 dozen shots had no ignition problems.

For the last 4 or 5 shots I used 0.018" pillow ticking lubed with neatsfoot oil. I fired these at steel gongs offhand so I can't compare how the rifle shoots with the thinner patches.

I did not have to swab until after I finished shooting. The last round loaded as easily as the first. I attribute this to the Mr. Flintlock lube but also to the hand-lapped bore. Although Track's email stated that Goodoien barrels are choked I could not feel that while loading. It's possible that this barrel was originally longer and cut down at some point, removing the choke.

I have some .495 balls that I plan to try in the rifle to see how they load and shoot.

But right now I'm happy as a clam with this purchase.

Mr. Flintlock Patch Lube and Bore Cleaner

I shot the Boulder Valley woods walk today and hit 15 out of 20. This was my first time using Mr. Flintlock lube on my patches and did not need to swab between shots at all. 20 shots with no swabbing and I could have shot another round of 20. Cleanup afterwards wasn’t bad. (I shot my normal load with a .490 ball, 0.018" ticking patch, and 60 grains of Goex 3Fg, except for the last target which was out at 80 yards so I loaded 80 grains of powder.)

For all I know it’s a mix of alcohol and Murphy’s Oil Soap or Pine Sol, but it freakin works for target shooting. I’ll stick with Track’s Mink Oil or October Country’s Bumblin Bear Grease for hunting but for long strings of fire this stuff is amazing. I partially attribute my score today to not needing to swab and thus reducing my fatigue.

It's available directly from the maker at https://mrflintlock.com/. I've also seen it on the shelf at Dixon's so it might also be available at a shop local to you.

I have no connection with Mr. Flintlock aside from being a very satisfied customer.