Meanwhile back at the 'stead

[RE]

Sounds like an outboard would be easier.

RE

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[Eddie]

Sounds like an outboard would be easier.

RE

They really are easier...and now that they’re fuel-injected 4 strokes, they are just as reliable.....the bass fishermen....in fact even all the salt water fishermen here ....prefer them.

They aren’t cheap though.....just a 300 hp outboard, no boat attached...goes for nearly 25K now. It’s ridiculous. Boats and motors  in general have gone through the roof. Cheap credit has fueled it, in my view.

I paid $9K for my Donzi when it was about 15 years old...still in excellent shape......that was about 10 years ago.....the same boat now goes for about 100K new.

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[RE]

Sounds like an outboard would be easier.

RE

They really are easier...and now that they’re fuel-injected 4 strokes, they are just as reliable.....the bass fishermen....in fact even all the salt water fishermen here ....prefer them.

They aren’t cheap though.....just a 300 hp outboard, no boat attached...goes for nearly 25K now. It’s ridiculous. Boats and motors  in general have gone through the roof. Cheap credit has fueled it, in my view.

I paid $9K for my Donzi when it was about 15 years old...still in excellent shape......that was about 10 years ago.....the same boat now goes for about 100K new.

Boats don't have to be sail powered to be money sinks... ICE boats eat up just as many FRNs.

RE

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[John of Wallan]

First attempt at black powder was a bit of a fizzer.
Used 75/15/10 Saltpeter (Potasium Nitrate), charcoal sulpur mix. 
Crushed in mortar and pestle. Simple dry method to start. If this does notwork I will try the disolved saltpeter method....
Will try and granulate it and see if this improves combustibility.
Even if I use the homemade stuff to buffer out bought black powder to decrease cost it will be worth it.

2 second hand minnie ball bullit molds coming in the post for me to ty and cast my own. (Thanks to youngest lad and ebay for early Xmas present)....
One mold .575 and one .578, so one shoule suit it!

Will buy some powder and percussion caps to start with even if I get powder working.
Looked into making percussion caps myself. Materials needed put you on federal police wtch list!
I dont have anything to hide, but probably best to just buy them for now.... Dont want to blow myself up.

Bullit Lubrican: I might just start with petroleum jelly. Might try 50/50 wax and vgetable shortening, or even just 100% wax.

Secoond hand Parker Hale 1861 carbine is in excellent condition, and when I went to clean it was spotless.

My first muzzle loader. Have used a mates previously, about 25 years ago..... Cheap CVA Hawkins 50 cal firing patch and ball. Was a lot of fun. Still have pack of balls. Rifle burned in Black saturday fires. Can remember double dosing black powder to see what happened. Seemed to make no difference other than blowing extra smoke. Assume pressures were pretty low, and I have no idea of what charge we were putting in with powder horn.. Now I realise this may not have been the safest practice.

Any tip folks?

JOW

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[Eddie]

Sounds like you’e doing fine John.....do be careful, of course.....thank you for keeping us updated. Video footage encouraged.

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[John of Wallan]

Black powder attempt #1:
Tried mixing in some ISO alcohol to be able to grainthe BP mill cake. Turns out mine wont clump together......

Used readily available sulphur, saltpeter and charcoal from local hardwares. Saltpeter is sold as stump remover on line. Iso alcohol was on specia at Aldi recently, to make hand sanitiser i suspect... I was told not to use hardwood charcoal, and that faster growing woods make the best charcoal for BP. I used coconut fibre charcoal briquetes. No idea if this is good or not. Everthing else available was either hardwood or had multiple ingredients in briquetes.

After mixing with iso alcohol (And nearly gassing myself with the fumes), I ran through strainer to make bigger granules. Seemed to burn a little more energetically than first test even when quite damp. Still letting mix dry out a bit more in the sun this afternoon before I test again.

See pics of ingredients and tools used.

will keep you posted if I blow myself up...

JOW

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[Nearingsfault]

I know nothing about black powder but a fair bit about charcoal. Those briquettes most likely have a starch binder in them of some sort or and not fully pyrolized. I'd put them in a metal retort with a few small holes and cook them on a bbq to try and drive off any remaining woody fiber...
Good luck.

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[John of Wallan]

I know nothing about black powder but a fair bit about charcoal. Those briquettes most likely have a starch binder in them of some sort or and not fully pyrolized. I'd put them in a metal retort with a few small holes and cook them on a bbq to try and drive off any remaining woody fiber...
Good luck.

Ok, thanks.
I will try this and see if it makes a difference.
I was thinking about making my own charcoal eventually out of bamboo I have growing, but that is further down the track,,, Still need to get more growing. Probably needs more water than I can keep up to grow quickly. Does not seem to be attracting any pandas either. 

JOW

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[John of Wallan]

Percussion caps and molds arrived today.
Will cast a couiple of minie balls and see how they go in the next week or so.

Also think I have found problem with powder. Downloader a gunnery book from gutenberg press and says if you dont combine powder well enough you will see yellow specs like mine has. Will try and mix better. If this does not help I will try and re-burn my charcoal.

JOW

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[K-Dog]

Percussion caps and molds arrived today.
Will cast a couiple of minie balls and see how they go in the next week or so.

Also think I have found problem with powder. Downloader a gunnery book from gutenberg press and says if you dont combine powder well enough you will see yellow specs like mine has. Will try and mix better. If this does not help I will try and re-burn my charcoal.

JOW

A very nice project. 

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[Eddie]

So..this is definitely a Southern thang.....this eating of the peas on New Years.  NY’s Eve tradition for some......NY’s Day for others, including my family and my wife’s family....both very old East Texas families with deep southern roots....hers in Mississippi and mine in South Carolina and (I think) Alabama. Both of us had ancestors in Texas before the Civil War.

My wife mentioned I should get some peas yesterday when I made a store run to stock up a few New Years Eve snacks and wine.....and I remembered for once. She is moved to do these things because her mother once did them ....and her mother was an absolutely amazing Southern cook, who could throw down some food. I mostly remember her Boston Cream Pies and Peach Icebox Cakes.....and one time she made these Creme de Menthe parfaits that I will never forget. I keep looking for the recipe. But I digress.

I have read that black-eyed peas cooked with salt pork were sort of the Ramen noodles of the defeated South after the war......cattle feed turned into survival food in a time when a lot of crops were destroyed by the likes of Sherman.....everybody has heard of his famous scorched earth “March to the Sea” from Atlanta to Savannah. It isn’t as well known that he then turned due north and made a pass at South Carolina, North Carolina, and southern Virginia,as  he rode to meet Grant to polish off the siege of Richmond. He burned dozens of towns and crops along the way, and left a lot of people very destitute, to say the least. What he did would be considered a war crime by today’s standards.

For whatever reason, among Southerners it's a tradition...although my family never made the Hoppin’ Johnny version with rice. In my family, peas were a garden staple....we had longs rows of pinto beans, back-eyed peas...and another one  my folks called “cream peas” (also originally meant for cattle feed, I think)......and when I was a kid I hated nothing any more than having to pick and shell peas. When some guy invented an automated pea sheller when I was a kid, it changed my life for the better. We never had one, but all the produce stands did...Ah technology. I have been a beneficiary of technology.

Anyway, I cooked up a big pot today, with leftover honey baked ham from Xmas dinner.....and left-over pico de gallo from last night’s snack buffet.

Oh-my-fucking-God...is it ever good. I am eating some now. Our Cajun friend is here and she is giving it a thumbs up. The year 2021 is off to a good start, no matter where we go from here.

Oh, I  meant to mention.... I also read that Jews have been eating back-eyed peas for good luck on Rosh Hashana for 1500 years.....the Talmud mentions it, apparently.

I’m guessing they season with mutton?

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[Nearingsfault]

For my heritage the pea dish would be pea soup made with some form of fatty pork. Our family used to use a ham bone after we cooked a ham to flavour it.
Happy New Year Eddie.

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[John of Wallan]

Still have not fired this rifle... Going to range next Saturday to test it out before we go back into lockdown and test out a few other projects I have been working on.

Cast about 40 projectiles and lubed up with 70/30 candle wax / coconut oil mix. Makes a nice and soft but not liquid lube. Used whatever was on hand. Lets see if it works.

Projectiles came up good. Smaller 475 gr projectiles came out of mouild easier. Lager ones stuck in and had to pry out. Distorted skirts a bit... Need to squash some of them back into shape to get down bore.

Have not gone any further with black powder yet. Will get myself a tumbler to grind/ mix more thoroughly.

JOW

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[Cam]

Still have not fired this rifle... Going to range next Saturday to test it out before we go back into lockdown and test out a few other projects I have been working on.

Cast about 40 projectiles and lubed up with 70/30 candle wax / coconut oil mix. Makes a nice and soft but not liquid lube. Used whatever was on hand. Lets see if it works.

Projectiles came up good. Smaller 475 gr projectiles came out of mouild easier. Lager ones stuck in and had to pry out. Distorted skirts a bit... Need to squash some of them back into shape to get down bore.

Have not gone any further with black powder yet. Will get myself a tumbler to grind/ mix more thoroughly.

JOW

I have exactly zero idea how that all works but it looks pretty darn cool. Have fun testing it!

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[Eddie]

My, yes. Very nice bullets. Enjoy, and wear ear protection so you don’t end up deaf like I’m getting these days.

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