Shovelbuck
Active Member
This style of gun was popular for competitive shooting in the mid to late 19th century, and are still considered the best of the best when it comes to top notch muzzleloading accuracy. Most shot either a paper or linen patched two piece bullet of .38 to .50 cal.
Mine is a .38 and uses a linen cross patch with a one piece bullet loaded through a false muzzle. 1 in 18 twist hand cut rifling, and the gun weighs in at 25 pounds even. Strictly a bench gun! The under hammer design is extremely fast and reliable.
I built this gun from scratch over 10 years ago with help from a couple good friends, one of which unfortunately passed away before seeing it shoot.
These are the type of gun that once you have them figured out rarely get shot. They are simply put away, ready to come out when accurate long range shooting is required.
I've attached a couple other photos from Ned Roberts book, "The Muzzle-Loading Cap Lock Rifle" showing some actual size drawing of targets shot in the 19th century. Although not actual size here, if you figure the holes are around .40 cal, you get an idea of the accuracy these guns can achieve.
As a side note, 40 rods equals 220 yards! Considering the quality of optics then or lack of, these were and still are fantastic groups.
I really like how Warner would spell out the letter "W" in this pic!
Mine is a .38 and uses a linen cross patch with a one piece bullet loaded through a false muzzle. 1 in 18 twist hand cut rifling, and the gun weighs in at 25 pounds even. Strictly a bench gun! The under hammer design is extremely fast and reliable.
I built this gun from scratch over 10 years ago with help from a couple good friends, one of which unfortunately passed away before seeing it shoot.
These are the type of gun that once you have them figured out rarely get shot. They are simply put away, ready to come out when accurate long range shooting is required.
I've attached a couple other photos from Ned Roberts book, "The Muzzle-Loading Cap Lock Rifle" showing some actual size drawing of targets shot in the 19th century. Although not actual size here, if you figure the holes are around .40 cal, you get an idea of the accuracy these guns can achieve.
As a side note, 40 rods equals 220 yards! Considering the quality of optics then or lack of, these were and still are fantastic groups.
I really like how Warner would spell out the letter "W" in this pic!
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