Product Reviews

Montana Vintage Arms

"Stinger" Cleaning Rod

Too many shooters spend a bunch of money on a best-quality rifle and then clean it with a cheap cleaning rod that will likely damage the chamber/throat area of the barrel from flexing, all the while thinking that they have saved some money. “Penny-wise and pound foolish” really applies here, so it behooves one to get a top-quality cleaning rod, especially since the BPCR competitor spends much more time cleaning than a smokeless shooter does. Years ago, military .50 caliber machine gun cleaning rods were preferred by many riflemen, myself included, but we have moved far beyond that now.

Montana Vintage Arms, being owned and staffed by many enthusiastic black powder shooters, has come up with a new cleaning rod that will catch the attention of every black powder rifleman. Called “The Stinger” it is a heavy-duty 5⁄16-inch rod with a free-floated machined aluminum handle that also doubles as a compartment for three cleaning jags (.38, .40 and .45), a right-hand twist adapter and room for some patches as well. The right-hand twist adapter is there because the Stinger comes with left-hand threaded jags that don’t loosen and come off when you are cleaning your rifle. The rod and jags also have wrench flats so that you can tighten them and remove them easily. This is an especially important feature if you use a rod to accurately measure a barrel’s rifling twist or when lapping the bore.

The rod itself is made of highly finished stainless steel (which won’t embed with dirt and grit) and is 48 inches long, so that you are not hitting the rear staff sight when cleaning. The 48-inch length means the Stinger will also work great as a cleaning/loading rod on your muzzle loading rifles.

This new cleaning rod from MVA is a solid investment in keeping your expensive rifles in good shape and free from damage. The price is $90, which is a bargain in my book considering the quality and construction of the rod. Contact and ordering information: Montana Vintage Arms, 61 Andrea Drive, Belgrade, MT 59714. Phone: (406) 388-4027 or MontanaVintageArms.com. Your rifles will thank you for it! – Steve Garbe

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BACO

Swaged Bullets for Paper Patching

T

he excellent selection of diameters for swaged bullets to be paper patched from Buffalo Arms begin at .365 for the 38-55 and similar calibers with two weights, 250 and 300 grains. Next, come the .395 diameter bullets with three weights from 330 grains up to 425 grains. There are more bullets for the .40s and .399 diameter can be selected with weights from 330 grains up to 450 grains. Bullets of .402 diameter can also be had, with weights from 330 grains up to 430 grains. What interested me the most were the bullets for the 44 Sharps. With a diameter of .432 and a starting weight of 330 grains, the .44 bullets go up to 540 grains. Still for the .44s, the line-up continues with .438 diameter bullets, beginning with 330 grains and going up to 540 grains. Bullets of .441 diameter can be picked as well, with a diameter of .442 and weights from 350 grains on up.

The shooter will have to decide if those .442 diameter bullets are on the large size for the .44s or perhaps on the small size for the .45s. Each barrel can have a preference, and it’s nice to have such a variety to pick from in order to find what are your rifle’s barrel really likes.

The diameters then jump up to .444 and these are generally considered good hunting bullets for the .45s, with weights from 380 grains up to 550 grains. For larger bullets to be fed through the .45s, the next step is for .451 diameters, starting with a 350-grain weight and ending with a 550-grain weight. There is an option in the .451-inch diameter bullets for a 540-grain, swaged with 20-1 alloy instead of the pure lead.

One bullet is offered with a diameter of .459, weighing 480 grains. If you have a .45 caliber rifle with a larger than average bore that might be the best choice.

From that point the bullet diameters go to .492 and those are for the various .50 caliber cartridges. The weights for those begin at 450 grains (just right for the 50-70) and climb to 650 grains, suitable for fast twist .50 caliber barrels. Those are followed by slugs with a .504 diameter, which have weights beginning at 350 grains and climbing up to 650 grains.

The list of diameters gets completed with some bullets swaged for the .577 rifles, having diameters of .570 at 450 and 480 grains, plus diameters of .578 with bullets weighing 450, 500, 550, and 600 grains. This is quite a line-up and when I made my notes about this selection, most all of them were in stock and ready to be shipped.
What brought these swaged bullets for paper patching to my attention, again, was that I wanted some 400-grain bullets of .438 diameter to try in my 44-77. This was following my “dissecting” of the old original UMC 44-77 cartridge, which contained a .438 diameter, paper patched bullet of 405 grains. Trying the BACO swaged bullets might be a good step to take before buying a bullet mould to make similar “slicks.”

My loading of these .438 bullets copied what I found in that old cartridge but with one exception – I did add a .060 Walters Wad over the lube and under the bullet. At first, I didn’t do this and accuracy was certainly wanting. Therefore, the wads were added for the second try. Apparently, even with the pure lead, we cannot trust the hydraulics of the lube to expand the base of the bullet enough to completely seal the gases from the powder. The wads over the lube will certainly help with this.

The final loading, which gave me close to the wanted results, held 75 grains of the Swiss 1½Fg powder, an over-powder wad, 1⁄8-inch of BPC Lube, an over-lube wad, then the patched bullet. Ignition was provided with Federal No. 150 Large Pistol primers. This load, when fired out of Hefty Hannah, gave me meat-making accuracy at 100 yards, which is what I really wanted. More shooting will be done, of course, and my heavy 44-77 might be used in our Paper Patch match as well, using the swaged bullets from Buffalo Arms Company.

The 400-grain bullets I used were priced at $28.99 for a box of 50. The price per box goes down when the size of the order is increased. Heavier bullets are somewhat more expensive. Trying the bullet weight and diameter with these swaged bullets is a great way to determine whether a bullet mould for similar bullets should be purchased. Of course, instead of buying that mould, I could simply get more of the swaged bullets from Buffalo Arms!

Contact information to purchase these excellent BACO swaged paper patch bullets: BACO, 660 Vermeer Court, Ponderay, ID 83852. Phone: (208)-263-6953 or BuffaloArms.com. As I mentioned earlier, almost all diameters are in stock and ready for immediate delivery. – Mike Nesbitt

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Lyman

"Big Dipper" Electric Casting Furnace

 For too many years I had been casting, mostly round balls, over an open fire. Such doin’s fit right in with primitive muzzleloading. I have also cast a whole lot of elongated bullets for Sharps rifles while using just the campfire or, while at home, in the living room fireplace. However, that got old, in more ways than one, and I changed for the better by getting one of the Lyman Big Dipper electric casting furnaces. Actually, that was 10 years ago and I’m still casting the majority of my black powder cartridge rifle and revolver bullets with a dipper from the Lyman “Big Dipper” electric lead pot.

My decision to get the Lyman Big Dipper was born after recognizing the many difficulties in getting good bullets when casting over the fire. The real disadvantage in casting over the fire is temperature control. Surprisingly, a fire often does not get the lead hot enough, or the fire is so hot that it is uncomfortable when getting close, such as when reaching for the lead ladle.

With the Big Dipper, temperature control is rather easy; just turn the dial to the general temperature desired. The dial is marked with “Off” and “Max” but does not have individual temperature settings. A thermometer is needed to find out what temperature the lead is.

However, I’m still primitive enough that I usually don’t use a thermometer. At the same time, I am really delighted with the Big Dipper and how simple and quick it melts a pot of lead. Often, I’ll get the pot loaded and plugged in, while I go fetch my ladle and moulds, plus some flux, and by then the lead is melted and ready to go, usually before I’m actually ready to cast and get back to the pot.

The version of the Big Dipper that I have, uses 115-volt ($99.95) for simple household current. Lyman also makes a 220-volt ($107.50) model. At this time, I can’t see any advantage to the higher voltage, but if the lead furnace is to be used in a shop where the higher voltage is the rule, this would be the best choice.

The pot on the Big Dipper will hold more than 10 pounds of lead but I have very seldom used it with more than about five pounds; my bullet production simply hasn’t called for 10 pounds as yet. The Big Dipper has a nice compact size, very easy to store when it is not in use. The wide mouth of the pot makes dipping for lead with the ladle very easy. The pot is mounted on an aluminum frame, which is very stable. Also, the pot is mounted above the framework so the frame’s legs do not conduct any heat from the pot. In other words, the Big Dipper won’t burn your bench top.

Lyman’s retail price for the Big Dipper 115-volt lead furnace is $99.95. They are available at most sporting goods outlets and can be found on sale; I will recommend looking at Graf & Sons. Since I got my Big Dipper, I’ve made a few round balls over the fire, but no bullets for my Sharps rifles have been made other than what came from this Lyman lead furnace. Contact information for all Lyman Products: LymanProducts.com or (800) 225-9626. Check out the Graf & Sons website at Grafs.com or (800) 531-2666. – Mike Nesbitt