Prep work for Black Powder Shooting

[MikePal]

Spent the morning yesterday getting ready for my ML range work. I'll be shooting a Traditions .50 cal in line and .58 PH Musketoon this year and want to spend a few days in the backyard getting ready.

I like to pre-lube and pre-measure everything for each day, so I not messing around while I'm shooting and helps keep me organized.

I pan lube using an Insta-Pot (on saute) with a double boiler to melt the Lube (Beeswax, Lanoline, Crisco) and then do up x16 bullets at a time. I preheat the boolits for better bonding with the wax on a tray over the boiler as the wax melts.







I keep my pre lubed boolits in ice cube trays, it holds x16 ea which is perfect; .x1 for fouling and 3 groups of x5 shots each with 3 different powder loads. In this case , 40 gr, 50, gr, 60gr of FFFg Goex.



I then store the ice cube trays in the freezer. That works great to keep the lube from getting too soft in the heat during storage.



Anyway, just a few tips on how to keep things organized when working with Black Powder. No one likes the idea of a mistake on the range when working with 'explosives'.

[impact]

Nice innovative setup and thinking outside the box.
Thanks for sharing.

[ET1]

MikePal
Nothing beats being organized. Nicely Done.

[Deer Hunter]

Nicely done, seems like a great hobby.

[js4fn]

So your saying wife was out of house Monday morning and instant pot found it’s way to shop
Lol

I need to get charges weighed out

[Big Tuna]

Impressive. I like the colour coding on the charge tubes.
The tubes themselves look interesting.

[MikePal]

So your saying wife was out of house Monday morning and instant pot found it’s way to shop
Lol

She's the beekeeper, my source for the beeswax. She got used to me using the pot years ago, doesn't seem to really mind if she gets it back a little sticky

I'm getting a little more forgetful in my old age, so I have resorted to getting more organized to stay safe. The $Dollorama is a great place to buy plastic containers and stuff that help to keep things well marked and identified.

I recently started to also keep a journal with notes from each shoot on the range. Working with three different loose powder MLs it was getting too little too confusing to remember what I was doing with each gun. Saves a lot of money in powder if I don't have to repeat the work from last year. HaHa.

[MikePal]

Impressive. I like the colour coding on the charge tubes.
The tubes themselves look interesting.

I posted this a few years back. I shows how I use these plastic powder bottles to make a pre-load 'fast' loader for my in-line.

I developed a system for loading for myself this year I thought I would pass on. I felt I needed to be more organized and safely control each load so I don't forget or mix up what I'm doing.

I found some plastic 'treat' tubes at a garage sale this summer and was able to pick up some glass bottles that fit perfectly in the tube with a bullet and primer. So I am able to put together each load in the house and take them out to the range. Then I only have one in front of me at a time with the contents for each load. Keeps things in order and prevents duplication or missing a component.

Safety first !!

[line052]

Now that is cool...straight up cool