Chapter 2

For those of you who hate the second amendment of the Constitution, remember ... this the type of gun the founding fathers were talking about. A single shot muzzleloading rifle that cannot load modern cased powder with pointy nosed bullets. One shot and load it again.

A rifle similar to the one I found, made by the same men in the same St. Louis shop, brought in excess of 65 thousand dollars at auction.

And it’s not like closing the bolt on a cased round, gaining a sight picture, applying the round to a target and doing it again.

No ... this is a gun that requires thought ... and certain equipment.

A hunting pouch ... or a ‘possibles bag.’ A possibles bag contains every thing needed to keep the rifle in good condition and the owner safe. As we venture to make a second shot ... the contents of the bag will become clear.

So ... one has just applied a previously loaded round to the target. The rifle is now empty.

To shoot the rifle again requires the shooter to make sure there are no residual glowing embers still in the barrel ... I do that by blowing into the muzzle of barrel and watching the nipple end of the barrel looking for smoke.

More than a puff is a bad thing. There might be enough residue to ignite and that could blow your head off.

No smoke?

Retrieve the powder measure and the container of powder, a powder horn I made from a cattle field pick up ... in my situation, before I pour powder I must open the supply. I unstopper the powder supply, making safe the stopper, because the stopper must be returned to the hole in the supply so the powder doesn’t pour all over the ground making the supply useless. I use my teeth to pull the stopper.

Next, pour powder from the horn into the powder measure, taking care to not waste the powder by pouring too much. The measure I use takes 90 grains ... that’s by volume ... I think. I didn’t count the powder grains ... or use a balance scale to weigh the powder charge. I used a brass measure and trusted the brass measure manufacturer to do it right. My measure is a cow horn tip that has been drilled and trimmed to hold 90 grains. The measure is attached to the strap on the horn by a leather thong.

Fill the horn measure.

Replace the stopper in the supply.

Pour the measured powder in the rifle barrel. Slap the side of the barrel to settle the powder in the powder chamber at the closed end of the barrel. Secure a greased patch of cloth ... In my case ... mattress ticking. Retrieve a .530 diameter lead ball from wherever you store them. Place the patch on the open end of the barrel. Place the ball on the patch and drive the patched ball into the barrel. I use a starter ... a short stick on a ball of wood. The starter has a hole through which a leather thong has been placed to form a loop. The loop is attached to a carrying strap on my possibles pouch. This starter starts the ball on its journey. Pull the ramrod from the storage place under the barrel. Push the patched ball all the way down ... seating it on the powder already in the barrel ... be sure ... an unseated ball could ... and has ... blown up a barrel. A burst barrel will ... not could... will ... ruin your day.