guzma393
Active Member
Coincidentally, this forum post from modernmuzzleloader forums explains a similar situation that I am facing and is an excellent baseline on what to expect. In a nutshell, I found an old jukar .45 caliber rifle in an to be demo-ed abandoned house. At a glance it looked functional, minor surface rust, no cracks, action works, etc. but held off on attempting to restore it due to limited knowledge about black powder shooting, although I have experience with modern 209 shotgun primer in line muzzleloaders.
I feel like it's finally time to tackle this project. There isn't that much information on the rifle aside from the barrel stamping saying "jukar 45 cal, BP only" no model #, but there appears to be a serial #. I've been googling alot about this rifle, and they seem common enough.
Being a percussion cap, and ball muzzleloader newbie, I'm on a scavenger hunt for some number 11 caps, bullet molds, patches, black powder, and the best thing, knowledge and wisdom, particularly in potentially making any of these components at in-house. Brain picking questions for the MDS brain trust are listed below. Any insight is welcomed:
1) How would you approach with restoring and inspecting this rifle? My general take on it is disassemble, clean it thoroughly, inspect for clogs, obstructions, cracks, bulging, pitting, corrosion, etc.
2) What muzzleloader accessories do I need to get started? Safe to say that I only have the gun and ramrod only - no volumetric measure, powder horn, etc. and i don't think any of my 209 primed in line muzzleloader accessories apply.
3) If it's all safe to shoot, what would be a good starting load? As of now, I assessed Bass pro and they got Pyrodex P (similar to FFFg) powder, and number 11 caps available. - I know Pyrodex P is not the best (sources say some BP loaders avoid the stuff like the plague), but it's what's available local to me. What black powder should I be looking for, and what is considered as "the good stuff" to look for?
4) For those who cast their own lead balls, I was just looking to get a lee double cavity mold in .440" diameter. Is this the appropriate diameter ball to cast and shoot out of a 45 cal rifle?
5) Can you make your own patches or is this something best left bought?
Questions that are a stretch; Probably will get alot of naysayers on the practicality and safety of this, but i'll ask them anyways:
6) Anyone make their own caps? I have been seeing "tap-a-cap" percussion cap makers online, where you can punch out caps out of soda can thick sheet metal. I actually 3d printed one to mess around with the concept. As for priming compound, there's that prime-all stuff that I dabbled with during the primer/ammo shortage, which is h48 priming compound, but I've seen sources of people using German/American made roll caps with a bit of nitro (smokeless powder) fines with great success.
7) Saved this question last - Anyone ventured in making their own blackpowder? Precipitation method (or atleast that is what I think it's called) seems safe and easy to do vs. traditional ball milling - further online sources mention pucking/corning black powder, and grinding and sift sorting the grains. It appears that the selection of wood charcoal dictates the overall performance of the black powder; black willow and buckthorn alder (doubt ill find this locally) being sought after. Interestingly, tree of heaven, aka chinese sumac may be an easily obtained and available source.
I will upload some pics when i get to it, probably not until next week. Only got this one at hand.
I feel like it's finally time to tackle this project. There isn't that much information on the rifle aside from the barrel stamping saying "jukar 45 cal, BP only" no model #, but there appears to be a serial #. I've been googling alot about this rifle, and they seem common enough.
Being a percussion cap, and ball muzzleloader newbie, I'm on a scavenger hunt for some number 11 caps, bullet molds, patches, black powder, and the best thing, knowledge and wisdom, particularly in potentially making any of these components at in-house. Brain picking questions for the MDS brain trust are listed below. Any insight is welcomed:
1) How would you approach with restoring and inspecting this rifle? My general take on it is disassemble, clean it thoroughly, inspect for clogs, obstructions, cracks, bulging, pitting, corrosion, etc.
2) What muzzleloader accessories do I need to get started? Safe to say that I only have the gun and ramrod only - no volumetric measure, powder horn, etc. and i don't think any of my 209 primed in line muzzleloader accessories apply.
3) If it's all safe to shoot, what would be a good starting load? As of now, I assessed Bass pro and they got Pyrodex P (similar to FFFg) powder, and number 11 caps available. - I know Pyrodex P is not the best (sources say some BP loaders avoid the stuff like the plague), but it's what's available local to me. What black powder should I be looking for, and what is considered as "the good stuff" to look for?
4) For those who cast their own lead balls, I was just looking to get a lee double cavity mold in .440" diameter. Is this the appropriate diameter ball to cast and shoot out of a 45 cal rifle?
5) Can you make your own patches or is this something best left bought?
Questions that are a stretch; Probably will get alot of naysayers on the practicality and safety of this, but i'll ask them anyways:
6) Anyone make their own caps? I have been seeing "tap-a-cap" percussion cap makers online, where you can punch out caps out of soda can thick sheet metal. I actually 3d printed one to mess around with the concept. As for priming compound, there's that prime-all stuff that I dabbled with during the primer/ammo shortage, which is h48 priming compound, but I've seen sources of people using German/American made roll caps with a bit of nitro (smokeless powder) fines with great success.
7) Saved this question last - Anyone ventured in making their own blackpowder? Precipitation method (or atleast that is what I think it's called) seems safe and easy to do vs. traditional ball milling - further online sources mention pucking/corning black powder, and grinding and sift sorting the grains. It appears that the selection of wood charcoal dictates the overall performance of the black powder; black willow and buckthorn alder (doubt ill find this locally) being sought after. Interestingly, tree of heaven, aka chinese sumac may be an easily obtained and available source.
I will upload some pics when i get to it, probably not until next week. Only got this one at hand.
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