After having my 1774/41/51 rifle for a few years I finally managed to test it at 50m. The main reason for the wait was "The Rifle Shoppe" taking approximately 3 years to send me a reproduction of the breech cleaner seen below:
(http://i423.photobucket.com/albums/pp312/Fabien23/null_zps381e40b7.jpg)
(http://i423.photobucket.com/albums/pp312/Fabien23/null_zps4410ac76.jpg)
The cartridge uses the Kammerlader bullet cast from the LEE mould and it is wrapped up in standard brown parcel paper, the fiddly bit was tying the paper tube to the bullet, I needed a third hand. The bullet area way dipped in hot pure beeswax. Load was 70grs of Swiss#4.
(http://i423.photobucket.com/albums/pp312/Fabien23/dc0ae3a5-1b61-4c59-bd27-be13cefa0aff_zps0e822d85.jpg)
I made 10 of them and shot at 50m. I tore open the cartridge, poured the powder down, tore of excess paper to the base of the cartridge (they probably didn't bother back then) and pushed the bullet in. The bullet could be inserted just with thumb pressure. For loading I used the original heavy ramrod to give the bullet a few good thumps against the pillar.
For the series I just made one quick wipe of the barrel down to the pillar after 5 shots out of habit. All 10 shots went off perfectly and printed on the target in an area about 30cm diameter. Shooting was done offhand and I had to aim at the bottom of the target approx 50cm below the black. I had two non-blackpowder shooters try it and they shoot exactly in the same area.
I used the tool for cleaning up and I was surprised at how quickly the barrel cleaned up. Two barrels full of boiling water left to soak for 15 minutes removed most the residue. It could also be due to the fact that the rifling profile is very rounded (like Metford rifling) so powder fouling does not stay stuck.
Thank you for sharing the field report, Fabian23 :-)
Hope you will continue shooting it. Try setting up another target below to get a concistent point of aim and maybe precision will improve. What was the charge?
The charge was 70grns of Swiss#4. Recoil was firm but perfectly manageable.
I will certainly shoot it again. I don't have time to practice so I shoot purely for the fun of making the cartridges and using the gun. If it groups then it is a bonus. In this case I was pleasantly surprised by the accuracy potential
Thank you for the report , I find this subject very interesting as I have just purchased a Kongsberg Model 1821/41/51 Jaeger rifle . I plan on shooting the old warrior after I gain the proper bullet mold and other items. Great news that the Rifle shop may have the cleaning Jag. I thought I would have to make one . I hope you find this message and reply , would be great to compare notes about loading and shooting these old rifles . Ron Wehmeyer Texas .