wildcat junkie

Did I miss a season? Last season I watched had Billy Bob Thornton as the bad guy.

Black powder substitutes are my hygroscopic, and with a few exceptions more corrosive than real black powder. With a side or under hammer percussion lock, the nipple can be screwed in with thread sealer and clear fingernail polish will seal the cap on the nipple A tightly patched round ball will seal the bore better than any conical can. I would say that a traditional percussion rifle loaded and prepped thus loaded with real black powder would be even mnore moisture proof than a "modern" inline loaded with conical bullets and black powder substitutes..

Three legs are easier to level than four. Four legs would be a nightmare on anything other than an even & level surface. Thre legs will always stabilize regardless of the surface. Not so with four. As far as swiveling? People laughed at me when I posted about making rear view mirror. I generaly just concenytrate on facing upwind. You can still cover about 240* without much movement.

As I said, if it's raining hard enough to make a racket on the roof, how are you going to hear a deer anyway? Besides, we're talking about less than 10 square feet and not an enclosed building like a pol barn. After 17 years experience I can say that it isn't really distracting unless it is a downright frog strangling rain. I would be hesitant to shoot a deer under those condition anyway.

Believe me, the fabric "roofs" that come with the kits are a joke and aren't anything more than a sun shade. I left mine on under the tin to hide the white underside. The frames however are made to order for standing seam roof metal to be screw applied. I just applied 2 pieces on either slope and made a ridge cap out of a section with the standing high portion at the peak.

The noise doesn't bother the deer if it is there 24/7/365 and when it's raining hard enough for the tin to make a racket, you can't gear much anyway. At 1st I had burlap over the tin but since noise proved to not be an issue anyway, I never bothered replacing it as it deteriorated. The problem with something that isn't permanent is that it will draw attention when you do try to use it.

Here is a PDF of the instructions for the 'roof kit" that was available for the stand. It might givwe you some idea of how to fashion something yourself. http://treestandcustomerservice.com/2011 Instructions/2011 WMTS-100.pdf

Mine had flanges welded to the bottoms of the legs and ladder. I lag screwed treated 4' long 2X8s to the legs and ladder. If it is a soggy area like where my stand is located, it will soon become part of the ground and the suction will hold it down in some pretty good winds. Mine is somewhat sheltered for wind and needed no other anchoring. If yours is in an exposed area, the planks laid flat will add additional stability to any tie downs you might fashion, especially once they settle into the ground. I once considered digging a hole with a post hole digger centered under the platform, then filling it with concrete and a re-bar loop for a tie down. You can them go from each corner with cables and turnbuckles. With something like that and the planks laid flat, it would take hurricane force winds to blow it over once the planks settle in.

Make a frame out of light gauge 3/4" steel tubing and attach it to the uprights for the rail. You may need to add some additional cross braces at the bottom of 3/4" angle. . Go to a local lumber yard and ask if they have any "cover sheets". They are used to protect sheet metal roofing and may have a few scratches on them. They will usually have some laying around and will give them away for the asking. I killed my biggest buck (body wise) during a steady rain at 10:00 AM. (the big 4-point from 2004)

Here's a 219# (dressed) 4 point I shot on my place in 2004. I believe he was the dominant buck too. I saw encountered 4 and shot at him 3 times from 2001 to 2004 and never saw a rack buck on my place until I killed him.

This is the view walking in to my tripod from my hay field. It is about 45yds in and looks over 15 acres that was selectively logged in the winter of 98-99. There is 250 yd shooting lane directly on the far side and 3 more from 75 to 100yds radiating like the spokes of a wheel. . Since 2001, between myself and 2 other hunters, there have been over 30 deer taken from that stand, most of them bucks. Here are just a few of them. 2015 2014 2010 (This young man's 1st deer) 2009 2005 2004 (The largest buck taken from my property, 219# dressed) Get a roof on yours and put a skirt around the perimeter. I use the camouflage burlap that is sold at Wally World and replace it about every 2 years.I seldom remove the old ragged skirt. I just add the new over top of the old. Learn to move by gripping the rails and turning yourself with your arms while your feet are raised off the grate. It is much quieter that way

Without modern optics there would be no advantage for inlines over the traditional weapons at ethical iron sight ranges. Even with round balls, my .54 flint and percussion rifles are perfectly adequate out to 150 yds and I have taken 3 whitetails cleanly at those range shooting from an improvised rest or with my back against.a tree and t my elbows wedged against my knees. All 3 were complete pass-throughs. For larger game a ,58 or .62 with round balls would do or full bore sized lead conicals could be used in a .54.

Roof sheeting is shipped with a "cover sheet". It may have some scratches or other minor imperfections. Lumber yards will usually give them away free for the asking. I have covered the roofs of my tripod and "penthouse" ladder stand with them and they are going on 18 years now.

I would like to see a "primitive weapons" season. Flintlock or percussion sidelock or underhammer designs. Patched round ball. granulated powder. Also allow long bows & recurves with wood arrows and fixed blade broadheads. Open it for the last week of December, first week of January.

Is your Lyman 1-48" twist or one of the more modern faster twist versions?

Muzzleloader seasons were originally enacted to allow those that wanted to take the time to learn the craft opportunities to hunt unpressured game with out a lot of competition from modern fire arms. Sadly, that is no longer the case.I no longer bother. 16 years ago we couldn't shoot bucks in the early season here. Now we can't shoot does! I put away my muzzle loaders after the 2001 season.

Unless you have experience with loading RBs accuracy can be elusive. The 1-48 twists are not really optimum for either R or conicals. The only muzzle loaders I like a 1-48 twist in is 36 caliber and smaller. The fast twist allows sub sonic accuracy for squirrel hunting. My 36 cal flintlock sounds like a 22 Lr with SV ammo. For 54 caliber I prefer 1-70" or slower. That allows me to load up some pretty stout loads, 120gr of 3f in my flintlock. The hotter I load it, the tighter it groups. It will shoot sub 1" (C-C) groups at 50 yds from a rest. That is pretty damned good for open iron sights.

What kind of powder did you use? If you used any of the 1st few generations of "substitute powder", it is probably rusted. I use this stuff. It was designed to protect machinery and such in mines. Usually you can shine a small flashlight down the bore as you look past it.

Shallow 1-48 twist rifling will work OK with round balls as long as the charge is kept moderate and no more than a few shots are taken without cleaning between. 90gr of 3f is about the max for a 50, about 70gr for a 45.

The CVA "Mountain Rifle" was one of the best RB rifle ever made, The "Big Bore Mountain Rifle" in 54 or 58 caliber was even better.

Anyone using a conical should try the "bump test". Mark your ramrod with the conical seated on the charge, then bump the muzzle on a soft wooden block and check the mark again. Chances are the bullet will move. I started out using TC "Maxi Balls" in 1978. One day, while hinting in brush coated with wet snow, I checked the muzzle to find the maxi ball had slid down to the muzzle. If I had tried to fire it I would have had a pipe bomb in my hands. The lead is scraped from the bullet by the lands as it slides down the bore leaving a loose fit by the time it reaches the breech. That is when I stated using the "bump test'. The only way it would pass was to foul the bore before ramming the conical home. Of course that led to all sorts of potential problems including the charge absorbing moisture, bore corrosion and the need to fire the weapon and clean it after every day afield. I started building round ball rifles in 1983 and never looked back. A .535 RB will completely penetrate a deer broadside at any iron sight ranges.

My percussion rifles with tightly fitting patched round balls were just about impervious to the weather once I applied the cap to the nipple and coated the edge of the cap with clear fingernail polish.

You didn't read my 1st post. Unless in a downpour means that I hunted with my flintlock in rain and snow. In drizzle I just kept the lock upside down under my arm. Steady light rain, I wore a poncho and kept the weapon under it. Snow was seldom a problem. I never would unloaded my weapon at the end of the day unless the conditions were "inclement". I normally kept my rifle hidden behind the seat of my truck in a gun rack if I didn't encounter rain or wet snow during the day afield. On more than one rainy day hunting I would take the rifle out of the truck when I got home and "unload" it by shooting down the pasture. It always went off promptly except on one occasion when I got caught in a downpour. I remember when I finally gave up because my priming looked like grease. I had to reprime & fire the rifle about 3-4 times before it went off. Lock design, or more specifically, "pan" design had a lot to do with it. All of the rifles I built used so called "waterproof" pan design. While not really "waterproof", the design had did have channels around the pan to route water away. Unless you had the muzzle pointed upwards, allowing water to run down the exterior of the barrel into the lock area, Carryig the gun upside down under the arm with the muzzle pointed down helped a lot.

I've never had a hang fire or misfire with my flintlocks while hunting. But then I use the proper powder. I've taken 2 deer on a full run (at less than 40 yds) with my .54 flintlock. One was hgit through the base of the neck, the other through the top of the shoulders requiring a finishing shot.

Use genuine Black powder fffg (3f)for the main charge, ffffg (4f) for the priming. DO NOT cover the touch ghole with your priming, it will cause a lag as it burns through the powder that is clogging the touch hole. You want a flash that has a clear opening to the main charge. Try to find some good gray/black English flints. Learn how to knap your flint to create tiny conchoidal chips that will slice minute metal pieces from the frizzen making your sparks nearly white hot. Your rate of twist will determine what sort of projectile will work best. With a 1-48 twist, I would recommend a .490/.495 patched round ball with about 90-100gr of 3f GOEX powder. At 100yds or less it will have ample penetration and a RB will impart more shock due to rapid energy transfer than a conical that will over penetrate. From 1983 through the mid 1990s, I hunted deer exclusively during both the general firearms as well as muzzle loader seasons in Southern Indiana and seldom failed to take at least 1 deer and often took 2. My weapon of choice was a .54 flintlock (unless it was a downpour) shooting .535 patched round balls. I used 120gr fffg in the flint, 100gr fffg in the cap gun. Barrels were 1-70 twist with .015" deep rifling.