Gunsmithing and Pipe Smoking

[Oakey247]

This is now moved to General. Also, see Rule 9 please.

On this rainy day I’m restoring a Remington 1858 Army (ball and cap replica Pietta) and smoking a bowl of Gatlin-Bulier Mellow Moonshine. Any thoughts or comments on this blend?

 

[bullet08]

I would just make sure all the caps and powders. are safely away from the pipe while lit. I dropped my pipes few times, and blew into it few times like when reading humor thread.

 

[Briar Lee]

All my great grandfathers and uncles were Union cavalrymen and my father’s father’s father was in Company M (13th hind guard troop) 12th Missouri Volunteer Cavalry at the Battle of Nashville and also out west at Broadus in September 1865.

He was a lot tougher than me.

The 12th Missouri Volunteer Cavalry was an elite unit equipped with the latest and best.

The main arm was a Spencer.

But he’d have had several revolvers, or cylinders.

The same unit put Nathan Bedford Forrest and Roman Nose on the run.

I’d run too, if a thousand Missouri boys on dark horses were after my hide.

The Reminigton is the best of the percussion revolvers.

But grease the cylinders before firing any of them.

 

[woodsroad]

Funny you should post this now. I’m restoring my great-great-great-great-grandchild’s KYD-21 Blaster Pistol, while enjoying a bowl of Bengal Slices.

 

[SoupCan]

All my great grandfathers and uncles were Union cavalrymen and my father’s father’s father was in Company M (13th hind guard troop) 12th Missouri Volunteer Cavalry at the Battle of Nashville and also out west at Broadus in September 1865.

Truly incredible. I'm a fairly young guy, I'm 27. My own great grandmother born was in 1917 and lived to 101. She shared memories of her own grandfather who passed when she was around 9 or 10. The man was at Chattanooga as well as the Atlanta Campaign and Sherman's March. How far back into history one degree of separation can reach? It's remarkable. The Missourian branch of my family at the time were around St. Joseph (Jesse James country). Spent the war at home keeping their nose down. Not eager to declare a side in an environment of guerilla warfare and reprisals that pre-dated the war is my guess. Some off them grew tobacco in fact. Distant cousins of mine were still growing tobacco until 2015 in that area.

Anyways, to the point of the original post. I'm not skilled at machining or fabricating but I enjoy some casual gunsmithing projects from time to time such as refinishing a wood stock, polishing, cerakoting, and building modular type guns (AR15s mostly). My big gunsmithing project I want to take on is to build a custom scout rifle. I own the rifle (Winchester Model 70) and have all the parts spec'ed but will need to hire out some of the work because I lack the tools and skills.

 

[Sobrbiker]

While ‘smithing, fine.
No ignition sources (spark, flame or static) when playing with black powder, especially indoors or where there is any quantity amassed.
No idea on the blend.

What restoration does the Pietta require?

 

[kcghost]

I can only tell you that the blend referenced is heavily aromatic.

 

[Joe H]

My dad had a book on gunstock checkering written in the 1930s. In it, the author mentioned he took some walnut shavings and mixed them in a friend's tobacco pouch. The friend couldn't figure out what was wrong with his tobacco and the shavings were so closely matched to the tobacco color he couldn't see anything different in the pouch. I always thought it was funny that anecdote made it past the editors.

Whatever various gun projects I've done were too fiddly to keep a pipe going, and handloading was always a non-smoking event.

 

[Oakey247]

A poll

I would just make sure all the caps and powders. are safely away from the pipe while lit. I dropped my pipes few times, and blew into it few times like when reading humor thread.

Always!

I would just make sure all the caps and powders. are safely away from the pipe while lit. I dropped my pipes few times, and blew into it few times like when reading humor thread

 

[Oakey247]

While ‘smithing, fine.
No ignition sources (spark, flame or static) when playing with black powder, especially indoors or where there is any quantity amassed.
No idea on the blend.

What restoration does the Pietta require?

The cylinder won’t advance. I originally thought it was out of time. There was a mangled cap piece in the mechanism. It also has lost of surface rust on the barrel, cylinder and ram rod.

 

[Sobrbiker]

The cylinder won’t advance. I originally thought it was out of time. There was a mangled cap piece in the mechanism. It also has lost of surface rust on the barrel, cylinder and ram rod.

Very cool. 0000 steel wool is your friend! If nipples are old, SlixShot replacements are awesome.

 

[UB 40]

Maybe this is something for you. A feature about a gun smith.

 

[tobakenist]

 

[Honkytonk Man]

Maybe this is something for you. A feature about a gun smith.

Truly impressive!

Thanks for sharing.

 

[huntertrw]

The Reminigton is the best of the percussion revolvers.

A matched pair of engraved Remington double-action .44-40 revolvers was what John Bernard Books carried in Glendon Swarthout's novel The Shootist.

 

[Choatecav]

Good for you and I won't make comments about being careful as if you work on old cap and ball revolvers, you know not to have fire and black powder around each other, ha.

I love the Remington '58's but my absolute favorites are the '51 Colt Navy's. I have lots of reproductions around the house as I did Cavarly reenacting (mounted) for 25 years, but have since retired from it. Still ride my horses, but too old to fall off of them, ha. I also have some originals that I collect.

My great grandfather was a Confederate cavalryman. I have a receipt where he bought a sorrel horse from a man on March 17, 1863, for $160, "to be paid back for by funds gained in the service of the Confederate States of America." Also have part of a sword, percussion caps he carried, some shoeing tools, etc.

Pipes and the American Civil war...... stuff dreams are made of.

 

[huntertrw]

I load Magtech brass shotshells with Hodgdon's powder to shoot in my 16-gauge Belgian guild side-by-side with outside hammers. As much as I would like to, I NEVER smoke a pipe while working at the reloading bench. Call me cautious, but I want to live to see myself through this year's bird season and many, many more to come!

 

[Sobrbiker]

I load Magtech brass shotshells with Hodgdon's powder to shoot in my 16-gauge Belgian guild side-by-side with outside hammers. As much as I would like to, I NEVER smoke a pipe while working at the reloading bench. Call me cautious, but I want to live to see myself through this year's bird season and many, many more to come!

I used to smoke cigarettes reloading smokeless powders (never lit them nearby).
Modern smokeless powder (since the turn of the last century) is just very flammable.
Black powder, however is explosive-I make sure I discharge static from walking across the room when I handle any volume of it.



Back to the guns-I always wanted a 44 1858, but I got a Ruger Old Army and never looked back.

 

[Briar Lee]

A few years ago I bought a black powder rifle anybody who shoots black should have. A 36 caliber squirrel rifle.

Mine has a beech stock and isn’t as fancy as I prefer, but if you get one you’ll not miss your .22 long rifle squirrel hunting.

Likewise, a 36 caliber black powder revolver is fun to shoot, but they aren’t a toy.

A 36 percussion revolver is actually a 38 but a 38 caliber modern revolver is actually a 36 (.357 to be precise).

Wear glasses shooting black.

Percussion caps will blow pieces of metal everyplace.

As your parents warned, you could put your eye out.

 

[Hillcrest]

Remington double-action .44-40 revolvers