What's Everyone Doing?

[BEAVERMAN]

well now...you got BIG BALLS!

[BEAVERMAN]

Working on a new batch of ball bags today, been cut, sewn, stuffed, dyed, we are jacking them at the moment, then I need to go to the shop and cut & drill some plugs, dye them and assemble, 6- 75 cal. 8 of the large up to 54 cal and 6 up to 40 cal, had a run on them lately and trying to build up some stock for the March show.

[Second-rate Marksman]

I braved the cold and took the Tom Caster .68 cal fowler out for a spin today in preparation for Sunday’s club shoot. Consistently hitting steel at 50 yards and beyond!

Slow-motion video of the fowler in action here:

https://youtu.be/IW0uPtKVGqk?si=kh_9y918_M8A1NMn

Even the ol’ man had to give it a whirl:

[Nessmuk]

Spent Friday afternoon recovering lead from local gun club. Like Eric my new .62 cal Fowler will eat up the lead. Lucky for me, my club has SASS range close to our muzzleloader range. The SASS guys shoot soft lead bullets at metal targets 15 yards away. Imagine all those bullet turning into nickel-sized coins of lead just dropping on the ground. I scooped up 50 lbs of lead in about an hour. So I'll be casting all winter. and probably harvesting more lead, too.

[Second-rate Marksman]

I’m envious, Mark! I had picked up 80 pounds of lead (converted into ingots from roofing scrap) from a gentleman on the Muzzleloading Forum and thought I’d be set for a while. Boy am I eating through it quick!

[LongWalker]

In my last "intro to flintlocks" class of the year,one of the students decided he "had to have" the horn and measure I'd recently made for the students to use.  After several offers during the class, one finally sounded good: he got the horn and measure in exchange for a case of Swiss powder.  That's enough to keep teaching the class for 6 months to a year . . . but now I'm having second thoughts.  I almost think I should have held out for ~ 60# of lead too!   

I did manage to pick up 5 horns that I figure are worth the effort of making powder horns.  One will probably wind up as my version of a horn carried by one of my great-greats; the others will get used for some projects I've had cooking in the back of my mind since the mid-90s. 

[No Powder]

If you've had projects cooking since the mid 90's, they should be well done and we need to see pictures when they're  finished.

[BEAVERMAN]

Finished up a fowler bag for a customer and another for inventory for the ML show in March here in WA, cutting out 2 more bags tonight, a longhunter style and the Virginia Bag that I make; need to finish those and the 4 horns I have on the bench by the 8& 9th of March, good thing I'm retired!

[Salty]

Beaverman, photos please.

[Second-rate Marksman]

I just finished defarbing the barrel and lock as well as refinishing the stock on my Pedersoli trade gun. Overall, pretty pleased with how it turned out!

It came to me with a fiberglass ramrod, so of course that was promptly replaced. I also sourced a more historically correct side plate and ribbed ramrod thimbles from Track of the Wolf.

[Salty]

Excellent!!

[Bigsmoke]

Went out for "Lunch with the boys" today.  Nice drive down to Avila Beach, dined at Moon Over Avila, kind of a trendy sort of place.  Had their "Trio" lunch: clam chowder, Caesar Salad and a killer ham and cheese sandwich.  Finished up with a stroll up the beach.  Great thing to do on an almost 80 degree afternoon in January.
Came home to a package from Amazon.  Got a set of 5 nice garment bags, a temperature gun and a mandoline.  Should make prepping veggies easy, if I don't slice off a finger.
Now, I guess it is time to take the garbage out for collection in the morning.
Will make a salad for dinner, then probably settle in for some down time watching something on the tube.
John

[BEAVERMAN]

Went into urgent care this am for what I believe is a torn meniscus of my left knee, happened on Friday when I stepped into a hole in the chicken coop that the birds dug for a dust bath that wasn't there the day before, I have a plastic concrete mixing bin in the coop with plenty of dirt in it that they use except these 2 new barred rock hens that dug this damn hole, tweaked the knee and it hurt a bit , has got worse, a lot worse and finally bit the bullet for a trip in, now I have a referral for the ortho to see me and the earliest will be Feb 6! this getting old sux!

[Hank in WV]

Did you try the VA? Every once in awhile you can slide in pretty quick.

[Second-rate Marksman]

Excellent!!

Thank you!