So after reading Øyvind Flatnes's new From Musket to Metallic Cartridge cover to cover, I'm going to load some Jäger balls with pillow-ticking wrapped around .490 lead balls for my .50 cal. caplock rifle ahead of the next club match. The book talks about tying of the material with a double clove hitch with "woollen or linen thread." Would cotton thread be OK? Or should the thread be a different natural fiber than the cotton pillow-ticking? :kikkeblunke:
Here in Texas muzzle-loading shoots one sometimes sees loading blocks worn around the neck on a leather thong. These have six to eight .50 caliber holes in a small wood slat. The hole is covered with a greased patch, and the stubb or short end of the short-starter is used to "start" the ball into the patch so the patch holds it into the opening. To load, the longer "spike" end of the short starter pushes the semi-patched ball into the muzzle and down the bore preparatory to using the ram rod to seat the projectile fully atop the powder charge.
Do any of the UK/European/Scandinavian shooters use such loading blocks? Just curious. :nerd:
Cotton thread will work just fine.
Regarding the use of loading blocks, most are aware of them but few use them. They are convenient while hunting for quick follow-up shots. Whether these loading blocks are historically accurate is another question. Not that it matters much, but I've seen the question discussed on other boards and have never seen a definite conclusion.
> Do any of the UK/European/Scandinavian shooters use such loading blocks? Just curious. :nerd:
I used a loading block for field competition. I had a .45 Hawken replica and as I recall I got the idea from Sam Fadala's "The Gun Digest Black Powder Loading Manual" issued i the early eighties. Borrowed it from a fellow shooter, from there on it only god better. Or should I say worse :-D
The block worked just fine but after a few years but after a while I started to get the hang of loading at a descent pace, good enough for competition use. Then I got into wet patches and only used the block occasionally. Still got it as a good memory.
Never tried jäger balls. Effective for follow-up shots, espescially with a paper cartridge tied to them in the Swdish way. I suspect that accuracy may vary due to the string. Certainly cood enough for moderat ranges. Hmmm, there's just one way to find out how this concept will work ;-)