Love of Muzzle Loaders

Monday, December 8, 2014

Ugly Muley (prototypes are ugly)

Here is my first mule hammered pistol. Kind of ugly but then it's only a prototype. It does pop a cap readily. The hammer spring is nice and strong. It has a temporary barrel and short nipple. Trigger has a return spring to hold the pistol cocked. No sights, no trigger guard.

Nice curly Maple grip, partly shaped, not finished. No springs yet.

Hammer cocked.

Hammer before any shaping, just a block of steel.

Small notch in hammer was to be for a coil spring mechanism.

Hammer with pull thong and ugly spring. Grip will have a lanyard ring for the half-cock block.

So it's just an ugly spring that works on a partly shaped hammer. If you have better ideas for a hammer spring, leave me a comment. Half-cock block shown here.

Close up of the lock mechanism.

New hammer spring 0.32 inch thick, 0.5 inch wide, brass (7.62x54R) flash cup added to hammer, hammer simplified a bit, barrel bored to smooth ~~0.34~~ 0.35 caliber for Hornady .33 inch diameter 00-buck pellets.

Top view.

Hammer down.

Rough workmanship, ugh.

Range Report, 12-12-2014, .33 RB (Hornady 00-buck), 15gr 777 FFFg, Camo-Patch, 11 yards, no sights.

Now with adjustable rear peep sight.

Lined up in order, by receiver fronts, almost.

IdeZilla

Comments Welcomed.

Friday, November 28, 2014

Boot Pistol .36 cal

Probably the last of these type of pistols.
.365 cal smooth bore, Walnut burl grip. Popped a cap.

Shown at half-cock. Drilled out 1917 Carcano barrel stub to .365 inches (9.27 mm). The date is the serial number (P11212014). The front barrel step is left over from the Carcano front sight. Trigger spring is around a 1/16 inch brass post. Trigger and hammer pins are 1/8 inch steel. Total barrel length is 3.875 inches ( 98.425 mm).

Top View.

Right side.

Blued trigger, hammer and barrel tip. Brass flash added to hammer (brass=7.62x54R no rim)

Brass adjustable front sight, split ring type.
After testing this pistol at the shooting range, It can hit a 12 inch square at 11 yards but not much better.

Range Report, 12-12-2014, 0.35 RB, 15gr 777 FFFg, Camo-Patch, 11 yards.
Slight vertical stringing in center of target due to the front sight, with no rear sight. Other hits were trying to find how and where it shot. Really needs rear sight.

IdeZilla

Comments Welcomed

Monday, October 20, 2014

Found: New Orleans Ace Pistol Kit

I found this pistol kit today, still enclosed in plastic film and rusty.
$35US OTD.

The hammer was very rusty and the pivot hole was too small.
The trigger pivot hole was also too small.
After fixing those two major hurdles, it popped a cap at first try.

.44 caliber smooth bore (.424 ball with .15 patch), 18gr of FFF. Should be fun to shoot even with #6 shot.
Sights? Hah!

Here the hammer sits at half-cock, not enough to install a percussion cap. The rammer is in two rings that are offset from directly underneath. Screw on barrel. Obviously the stock is not finished but seems to be Padauk.

Took it to the shooting range today, Oct 27, 2014.
It shoots fine with .380 round balls + a patch, also with #6 shot.

IdeZilla

Comments welcomed.

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Correvon #2

Here is another try at making a "Correvon" action functional.

As of today, Oct/12/2014.
Popped cap near hammer head.
Stock needs a lot more shaping, etc.

Internals. 8-32 US thread screw holds action to barrel plate. Barrel plate is cut from steel angle. Barrel is Stainless .50 cal, rear piece of a DISC rifle barrel sold as surplus online. About 6 inches long. Screen door spring having 0.042 inch wire diameter. A 3/32 inch roll pin holds the back of that spring.

Action a bit closer.
Near the rear of the action is a 3/32 inch brass pin, all they way through action and stock. Trigger and hammer pins are 1/8 inch diameter steel.

Shooters view, a bit crooked. :-)
Two holes at front of barrel for front sight.
Temporary tang screw.

Screen print of "CADSTD" file.
Shows how it's made before cutting steel.
Free CAD program available at: http://cadstd.com/
This file also free, if you ask, "correvan_A4.cad",
It is an A sized drawing for printing, Ver #4.

11/4/2014
Reshaped the grip to give more room for my knuckles.
Blued the hammer and trigger.

2/11/2015
Making a whole new Cherry grip. No pix as yet.

IdeZilla

Comments Welcomed.

Friday, September 12, 2014

Rear Sight Peep No. 5

Here is Rear Sight Peep No. 5
Adjustable for vertical and horizontal movements.

Here it shows 6-32 US threads for adjustments. Square brass tubing used for the sliding adjustments.

Here is full up vertical movement.

Left Side View.

Here is full down vertical movement.

Left Side View.

Full down and full in movements.

Front View.

Full down and almost full outward movements.

Front View.

Square tubing inners and outers (outers under springs).

Rear sight tube (peep) is .22 MAG brass with hole drilled in rear.

Rear View.

Each sliding brass square tube piece is 0.5 inches long (approximately).

Front, Left Angle View.

IdeZilla

Comments Welcomed.

Monday, August 4, 2014

Correvon type Action

A rough mockup of a Correvon type action.
The (Google'd) original:

Cut from 1/4 inch thick plate steel.
Mounted on Walnut with 1/8 inch pins for a mockup. This would be the half-cock position or safe position.
Hammer head shape is not yet defined.

This position (full-cock) would be just before firing as the hammer slips past the trigger/sear. The trigger ring will be reduced in outer size, just for looks. Trigger ID is 1 inch diameter.

This would be the fired position not much different than half-cock.

Here is the coil spring (screen door type). 8-32 screw in rear, notched 3/32 inch roll pin in hammer.

Question: Will it pop caps?

Serial Number is "P" + "date".

Cherry wood, 1:28 .50 cal barrel piece.