Thank you I’m glad to have inspired you.can’t wait to see it! Yesterday I actually got two shots out of the new rifle,one at the range ,low in the white on a TMA target I had printed,it was pouring out but we have a covered shooting line but the target was too wet to save and upon trying to reload ,the 5/16” rod proved too small and flexible for me to do more than get a ball 3” down the bore! ( a good argument for a short starter here -which I did not bring) I had no choice but to pack up and go home. At home I retrieved my short starter and a heavier 3/8” oak rod blank and finished loading the rifle and advising my wife of my intent went down and shot another target in the yard (,I lease an old farm with lots of land so this is not problem,) except for my wife ,who yelled “No More!” You did not say it would be that loud!” She is not a shooter. But all was well and ,I cleaned the gun.
A problem here,I had bought the entry pipe and it is a 3/8 pipe,however a very very tight 3/8” ,so tight that it shaves off wood from a 3/8” rod , I thought i could get away with a 5/16” rod,however,under worse conditions,chilly wet conditions,no short starter,wet hands ,and really flexible hickory 5/16” rod..I was seriously defeated at trying to reload,if I had been hunting -end of hunt and what if I had really, really needed a second shot, ? What I did to solve this problem was to basically taper the rods ( I made two rods last night after cleaning the gun) and if I want two brass ends I’ll have to ft a smaller 5/16” tip to the small end ,right now the one end s just bare wood, the other option I s of course ,refit to a bigger entry pipe. There is not a lot of metal in the present one to drill out. It’s a pretty thin casting.
