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Some things are just well made and a pleasure to own and use. I am particularly pleased with, and recommend, the following items. Please allow me to explain why I find some of them noteworthy.
The heart of a good flask is the valve. Treso offer three models / methods of attachment:
1). Tapped M10 x 1, for both European and U.S spouts, from 15 to 120 grains or a pouring nozzle with a concave cone nose designed to fit into apertures from 15/64” to 2/5”, say 6 to 10mm.
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2). External, to fit over a tube with an External Diameter of ½” or less.
3). Internal, to fit inside a fixed or adjustable measure of Internal Diameter of .430” or larger. The flask end is threaded 3/8” x 24; standard or knurled (as shown) nuts are available, the latter for use/bonding with a non-tapable flask. The throat is 17/64th in diameter, some 13% wider than the European alternatives, giving (provided you use the larger ID spouts) a faster, less inclined to clog, pour which inevitably offers fewer short measures!
These valves have been fitted to a pair of plain, screw top, cylindrical brass flasks, either:
1 pint (US) 5” long, 1-3/8” diameter, approx. 3.2 oz. or 1500 grains capacity
or
Half pint, 2-¾” long, 1-3/8” diameter, 750 grains.
Any spout with a M10 x 1 thread will fit and the
American ones come in come in 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 50, 60, 75, 90, 100, 110, & 200 grain sizes. Pedersoli offer 15, 18, 21, 24, 30, 36, 45 & 48. The entire range of Pedersoli Flasks may be seen, along with their other products, on their website www.davide-pedersoli.com
The Internal valve fits neatly inside the Deluxe adjustable 0 to 120 grain measure. This is calibrated in 5 grain increments based on Goex FFFg, other powders will have slightly different densities. They work very well
together (I fit a small internal collar to the internal valve for use with SW2 inquantities of between the minimum 9 and, say, 25 grains). Quantities over that settle with a single tap to allow the swing-over pouring spout to be
positioned for decanting into vials without disturbing the measured charge.
Any time a bright and shiny Brass funnel gets a sniff of a Black Powder Barrel it immediately goes a nasty tarnished BLACK. To overcome this incipient shudder I mate a Flask Funnel to a (cut to required length) aluminium tube with a tapped studding connector. I swap
tube lengths to suit the length of barrel, so have 36" for my 33, 36 & 39" Monkey tail Rifles, 24" for the Sporters and Carbines, and 12" for the Pistols, plus all my other pistols.
Don't expect the long ones to be posted, come and find me at the Bisley Fairs, where I'll cut to order.
The free flow pan primer holds 135 grains of 4Fg. The body unscrews from the valve/nozzle for filling. The Magnum version, 230 grains. Both dispense about 3 grains of FFFFg.
The small pan primer, holds 80 grains.
The DIY priming valves come in two sizes,
dispensing 3 grains and fitting a 3/8” hole.
or a better quantity for pistols -1 grain fitting a 7/32” hole.
Should you want to make your own flask, large or small stoppers are useful.
The muzzle velocity of (an e.g.)18 grain charge can be varied by up to 40% by changing the degree of compression the powder is subjected to. Trials show that over-compression increases velocities in a
random manner. If you are trying to determine the most accurate charge for your revolver it is
desirable to use a consistent weight of powder and compress it to a similar degree.
I have secured a batch of very accurate digital scales,
originally for the jewellery trade. These measure to 1/50th of a grain up to 50 grams and settle very quickly, not suffering from the distortion of the magnetic damper often contained in balances.
They have all the alternative scales/methods of weighing you would expect, including Carats. Being mean I use rechargeable AAA batteries.
Filler, I find semolina from my local Asian Store better / freer flowing / less sticky than the European Supermarkets offerings, needs to be measured by bulk. I use the 0 – 30 grain, in 1 grain increments, pistol measure.
Whilst being impermissible in competition the loading
stand can be easily modified by adding a stop
so that equal compression - cylinder by cylinder -
can be guaranteed.
This TC four way tool is indespensible, either as a de-capper, a wedge-remover, especially on Colts, a sight
tapper or a 24 mil (thousandth of an inch) nipple or vent pick.
The flash cap saves a heck of a lot of cleaning around the nipple area and comes in both Brass and German Silver.
The Durango Rod is Case Hardened Stainless with a comfortable wooden handle and a bore guide with an internal diameter to fit the rod - ¼”, 5/16” and 3/8”- to eliminate muzzle wear. Rods with rotating handles have 8-32 threads. Those of 3/16” (0.186”) diameter come in 10”, 16”, 36” or 44”, heavier ¼” rods in 36” or 44” lengths. Fixed handle ¼” diameter, 8-32 thread, rods come in 10”, 34” and 44; fixed handle 5/16” diameter, 10-32 thread, rods come in 34” and 44”. The best is never cheap.
The 5 section, 5/16” diameter, 10-32, ‘GI’ rod is worth mention. It too is ground finish, case hardened Stainless, (or Brass) it comes in 4 x 9” (plus male ¼-28 screw) rod sections and the handle section, 8-3/10” long. Loosing 1/5”+ to the bore guide the alternatives are 17”, 26”, 35” and 44”. The rotating handle may be fixed by inserting a 1/16” pin through both the handle and rod. A very high quality rod with an ugly handle.
Adapters are available to go from Imperial 8-32 & 10-32 to Metric or Parker Hale. Not only are these great rods but the range of imperial attachments in the normal calibres between .32 and .75 is also superior. 10-32 is a heavy duty thread specifically chosen to cope with the rigours of loading large calibre Black Powder guns.
There are a wide range of American tips made to fit their 8-32 & 10-32 threads
~ a ball puller with an integral hex section so you can extract your screw from the ball / bullet with a spanner,
and sized brass collars to fit .32, 36, 40, 45, 50,54, 58, 62, 69, & 75 Calibres..
Fouling scrapers are available in the same standard calibres for flat faced breeches can be easily shaped to fit a Nock’s breech.
There are a wide range of American tips made to fit their 8-32 & 10-32 threads
~ a ball puller with an integral hex section so you can extract your screw from the ball / bullet with a spanner,
and sized brass collars to fit .32, 36, 40, 45, 50,54, 58, 62, 69, & 75 Calibres..
Fouling scrapers are available in the same standard calibres for flat faced breeches can be easily shaped to fit a Nock’s breech.
Add button and cleaning Jags, patch pullers, worm puller s & bullet seaters, Nylon, Phosphor–bronze, Stainless and Tornado brushes and wool as well as cotton mops.Before leaving rods, for the duelling pistol or sporting gun:
These fit mt DIY rods in Hickory and black GRP can be tipped with a covered screw or a shotgun ram.
Ampco, a product of the the American Alloy manufacturer of that name, is used in rifle, pistol and musket/shotgun nipples and come in 40 sizes/thread variations.
Ampco is a tough copper based alloy, with a tensile strength of 118,000 psi for resisting repeated hammer blows, somewhat higher than most steels used in muzzleloading barrels. High thermal conductivity gives fast heat dissipation, reducing erosion, and the small base hole (28 mils / 0.028 inches, Pedersoli use 25 mils in their Beryllium nipples but they cost at least twice as much) reduces blowback and cap disintegration. These are very popular with Ruger owners, replacing hex with standard Nº. 11. I pop mine in the lathe and make the tops conical for quicker, easier capping. Good fit to replace .225” - 32 Original Colt and Remington nipples and Enfield 5/16 x 18. These fit Monkey Tails, in both No.11 and Top Hat.
Pyrodex users may need to increase the size of the base hole to achieve reliable ignition. Five vents are also available.
I have some of all three types of nipples for the Beaumont Adams (as originally manufactured by Adams, Callisher & Terry and Pryse & Redman) using one of the harder Ampco alloys.
With the increasingly high cost and rarity of good flint Agate flints are worth a mention because they can be resharpened on a diamond stone which is also available at a surprisingly low cost.
Ted Cash makes No 10/11 cappers in matt or shiny brass and German Silver for the Rifle (holding 75 caps) and the Curly (100) for revolvers, TC is no longer available. Cash Straight line come as Winged (12), 209 (12) but I prefer the Brass Pedersoli Remington (20), they also do them for Colt (20) and Zouave (approx 12) for musket caps without wings.
The Nipple Charger can be a very useful thing
to have in your pocket before you resort to
The Saf-T-unloader .
#5057 is the adapter for Flint, probably no longer necessary with the new, naturally more expensive, multi-purpose (without safety catch) version, although it is threaded to fit.
Cleaning Nock's breeches has given
me pause but this screw in nipple with syringe attached allows a good pump through. The standard sizes are
M6 x ,75mm; M6 x 1mm; 1/4 x 28 TPI; 5/16 x 18 TPI.
Finally, I can't leave this topic without suggesting that you cut your cleaning time in at least half by using Eezox, cold water and just a nylon brush.
Don't believe me look at the article on http://britishmilitariaforums.yuku.com/topic/2567, see B1acksmith - Corrosion Protection ~ and the new kid on the block is Knife Care.
Small LED bore lights for .22 barrels and larger are offered emitting either White or Yellow light. These throw-aways have long lasting heavy duty batteries with the White lasting for up to 120 hours in continuous use. The yellow variety consume power more quickly, and for this reason the White are higher priced by the manufacturer. When not in use the annual decay rate is below 1%. These miniature bore lights are only 4mm in diameter and are perfect for seeing the breech, by putting them in facing backwards: They are also small enough to be inserted in place of a nipple.
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