I may have a new "favorite" small game gun soon. It's one I have been working on for 8 years now, and I finally have it built but have not started the finish work on wood or metal work yet.
It's a 28 caliber flintlock. I really hope it shoots well. I will use about 10 grains of 3F Black powder and a .272" ball. Zeroed at 25 yards I expect it will not have a lot of range past maybe 50 at the most, but it should be a LOT of fun to shoot cottontails with in December and January.

Your "Old School Loony Badge" has been updated to 'Forever' status.

Sounds like a sweet little shooter!

Todd

👍👍👍👍👍

Would that be about a #2 buck shot?

Yeah and I have no idea what to get any. Australian SSG is also about right.
Anyone know where it's available?

If not I'll buy a mold from Jeff Tanner or just make one myself.

I have seen one, 28 cal. flintlock made as a Southern Mountain rifle. That was beyond a doubt the most svelte rifle of ANY kind I have ever seen. Thee seller said it was scary accurate. Good luck with it Steve!!

OHHHHH Mannn. Not another 270! Be Well, Rustyzipper.

Yeah I guess it is a 270

Don't think I'll try to kill any elk with it however.

I wouldn't even be able to handle a ball that small. .36 is hard enough to handle for my big fingers.

I agree with you on handling the projectile with arthritic fingers. I can say that some days are OK. Be Well, Rustyzipper.

Built but totally unfinished. Not yet carved inlaid or engraved. But you get the idea what's coming someday. I don't have time to work on my own guns and won't for a while, but I hope to get it finished by next year.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by .com/photos/156296479@N08/]Steve Zihn, on [bleep]
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by .com/photos/156296479@N08/]Steve Zihn, on [bleep]
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by .com/photos/156296479@N08/]Steve Zihn, on [bleep]

Nice!

Well I have a mold made now. I guess I could zero the sights. When that's done I can start on sanding and get ready for carving, inlay work and final finish Engraving is dead last. I don't really have tome to work on my own guns, but maybe after the hunting seasons are over and the snow is deep I can get a few days now and then to finish it up

That is shaping up nicely. That ramrod, would scare me.

I expect it may need a somewhat loose ball/patch fit. I'll just have to wait and see how it shoots.
If need be, I can use a length of 1/4 steel rod for loading and use a sliding brass bore guide. I have done that before with customers guns. You make the "trumpet tip" to look like it's just part of the rod, but it's actually a sliding centering guide. It sits out near the muzzle when you carry the rifle, but in loading it slides down to act as a centering guide so the rod never touches the bore. I 'd use a tip at the bottom end of about .260", made from brass so the 1/4" guide can't slide off and simply rivet over the front end so it can't slide off that end either. When doing that you have to open up the rod hole and the rod-pipe bores from .250 to about .270, but that's easy to do .

But if I can use the 1/4 hickory to load it and get good accuracy I will. Some guns don't load hard. I hope this will be one of them.

Rifling is only .0055" deep. I drop the balls at .272" and the bore is 280 with groove diameter being 291" So cast of pure lead with a .005 or .006 patch I may be able to load it without a lot of pressure on the rod. I hope so anyway. I'll let you know.

If I can keep the shots on a dime at 20 yards I call it a suitable rifle for bunnies and (if I ever get a chance) squirrels. A 30 grain ball going about 1000 FPS is about like the old 22 long. In no wind, I may be able to make kills out to around 70 yards, but if there is any wind at all I expect it to be a 30-40 yard gun. I have only ever made one other 28 cal muzzleloader in my life for a man in Arkansas, and I didn't hear back from it's owner much. so I don't know what to expect past about 20- 25 yards. He was very happy with the gun when I delivered it to him in Friendship Indiana in 1996. He shot it a lot at that shoot, but after it was over I never heard from him again.

I figure if I can get good accuracy, it's going to be at least as good as a 25 caliber air rifle.

I am in the wrong state and area for a 28 cal flintlock, but I just like it, so that's all the reason I need to make it for myself. About the only game we have here for me to use it on is cottontails, but I do enjoy December and January hunts for them in the snow. My friend Clay and I usually have a winter tradition of making Bunny Stew and Bunny Curry for our wives from cottontails we get in the snow between Christmas and around the last of January. Most years we use iron sighted 22s, but this year I'll (hopefully) use the flintlock.

I hope it shoots as well as it will look. If you ever come to the state of Misery I might be able to line you up with some squirrels. I think season runs until Feb 15th. Any ways it looks great. Dead wabbits to come. Be Well, RZ.

You're right Rusty, Feb. 15. Steve doing that rifle makes me want to get out my 36 and kill some of the bird feeder raiders we have. It must be a good year for squirrels. Speaking of that, how's the hickory nut crop your way? They're kinda scarce on my place. White oak acorns don't seem as abundant as usual either.

I have a good friend in Missouri. Maybe someday I could came out. Do you need a non-resident license to shoot squirrels in Missouri?

Doing it in the style of the fathers of our nation, with a rifle that is styled circa 1790, just seems like as "pure" as it gets.

Lookin’ good!!!!!!

I drew and cut out a running rabbit from German Silver and inlaid it into the cheek piece so it's now ready for sanding and carving.

Yes sir Steve, one would need a "non-resident" hunting license. That would include everything but deer and turkey. I don't know about hunting license but for fishing there is a three day non-resident permit. I've not had to look into it but there might be the same thing for hunting. Missouri also has the rule that if you're over 65 a resident doesn't need a general hunting license. I don't know if that applies to non-residents or not. Missouri Dept. of Conservation has changed some licensing requirements the last year or so and their web site would be where to look.

Now, this is just me musing out loud. If I was coming to Missouri to squirrel hunt.....on private property like someone's farm or the farm of a friend or someone's recreational property......where the odds of seeing any kind of agent during squirrel season are about a billion to one....well, not that I'd condone it but I don't know that I'd worry about it for squirrels. You ain't gonna hurt the population any. I only have 26 acres and I've killed 75 or more a year for a couple years....doesn't seem to have made much of a dent.

The season opens the Saturday of the weekend of Memorial Day and runs through Feb. 15th following. Those first few weeks are almost always good with the young of the year mostly weaned and on their own. Especially if you can find some Mulberry trees. As with anything, those young are the best eating. Mid July through October and even into November is also good if there's much of a nut crop. Obviously while it's hot the ticks and chiggers and heat are going to be.....miserable. I used to hunt the hickory nuts but got to where I am not putting up with the heat, sweat, chiggers and ticks.....and spider webs. I don't go in the woods that time of year. Once the nuts and acorns are finished they like to chow down on dogwood berries and they're busy burying nuts.

It isn't hunting big game in the Rockies but there is something magical about watching the Ozark woods wake up on an early spring or early fall morning. And, spring or fall, there's always the possibility of finding a mess of several kinds of delicious mushrooms. Then you can have a feast that rich folks envy.

Thanks Sharps. It would be 2-3 years before I could go. I have sch a back logn going that I don't take any time for myself except hunting seasons and about 5 days around Christmas. Other then those, I work 6-1/2 day a week and my summer days are 16 hours long, 100% of which is in the shop. Winters I work 10 hours a day or there-abouts.
I am in my mid 60s now, and I feel very uncomfortable about having long backlogs. I stopped taking new work about 4 years ago, and i am down to a 3 year back long now. Until my backlog is down to no more then 6 months, I am not taking any time off, and I am not taking on new work. So it would be a few years, but going after tree squirrels is something I have always wanted to do.

This little rifle is one I have had planned for 25 years. I started chipping away at it about 5 years ago. I don't do much work for my own guns,m but I sneak in an hour or 2 every month. It's ready to fire now. I am hoping to have it done in the winter.