Building or Restoring Your Muzzleloader: Making Muzzleloaders from Kits and Damaged Guns

By Wm. Hovey Smith

As the conclusion of a series of inexpensive, introductory e-books on muzzleloading guns, this book explores the possibilities of building muzzleloading rifles, smoothbores, pistols, and revolvers from commercial kits as well as how to carefully restore or completely rebuild muzzleloading relics to usable conditions. These processes are illustrated by commercial blunderbuss, rifle, revolver, and pistol kits from various makers, and by restoring one Brunswick rifle and smoothbore gun, and restocking another to convert it to a powerful muzzleloader capable of taking any North American game. Hunts with these guns are covered in the author's previous softcover and others of the e-book series while this volume concentrates on the structural elements that make muzzleloaders work, and how to assemble and return them to service. Additional insights on the process are provided by active links to related YouTube videos.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Dec 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9780916565183

Wm. Hovey Smith

Now returned to Central Georgia, Wm. Hovey Smith is a Geologist/outdoorsman who has written 13 books and is the Producer/Host of Hoveys Outdoor Adventures on WebTalkRadio.net. He is a Corresponding Editor for Gun Digest where he writes about muzzleloading guns and hunting in the U.S., Europe and Africa.

Book preview

A picture containing text, weapon Description automatically generated

Whitehall Press – Budget Publications

Sandersville, Georgia

© Wm. Hovey Smith, 2021. Any reproduction of all or parts of this work are prohibited and punishable under U.S. and international copyright laws, except that brief sections may be quoted in reviews. This copyright includes all original images and derivative works.

ISBN: 978-0-91-656518-3

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1. The barrel: The heart of a muzzleloading rifle

Length

Rifling

Composition

Accessories

Barrel Contour

Damascus and Lap-Welded Barrels

Chapter 2. The Stock: The Skeleton of a Muzzleloading Rifle

Muzzleloading Stock Styles and Their Uses

Traditional Designs

Composition

Aesthetics

Glass bedding

Fittings

Finish

Chapter 3. The lock: The Nervous System of a Muzzleloading Gun

Lock safety

Reliability

Lock speed

Improving What You Have

Chapter 4. The Sights: The Eyes of a Muzzleloading Gun

Single

Fixed and Adjustable Sights

Tube and Scope Sights

Red Dot and Holographic Sights

Laser Sights

Night Vision Optics

Chapter 5. Build a Kit Gun

Chapter 6. Restoring a Relic

Brunswick Rifles and Smoothbores

Disassembling the Gun

Cleaning

Shooting

Chapter 7. Conclusion to Series

        Table of Contents

                                                page

Introduction

Chapter                                         

1. The Barrel: The Heart of a Muzzleloading Gun

Length

Rifling

Composition

Accessories

Barrel Contours

Damascus and Lap-Welded Barrels

2. The Stock: The Skeleton of the Muzzleloading Gun

Muzzleloading Stock Styles and Their Uses

Traditional Designs

Modern Designs

Composition

Asthetics

Glass Bedding

Fittings

Finish

3. The Lock: The Nervous System of the Muzzleloading Gun

Lock Safety

Reliability

Lock Speed

Improving What You Have

4. The Sights: The Eyes of the Muzzleloading Gun

None

Single

Fixed

Adjustable

Tube and Scope

Red Dot and Holographic

Night Vision

Modern Sights and The Law

5. Build a Kit Gun

          Traditions Blunderbuss

          Davide Pedersoli Model 1777

          Uberti Colt Super Walker

          Traditions Crockett Rifle

6. Restoring a Relic

    Brunswick Rifle

Brunswick Smoothbore

7. Conclusions

Books by the Author

Suppliers’ Addresses

Introduction

Books in the Muzzleloading Short Shots series were developed to give black-powder gun enthusiasts information in tightly-focused packages. Each book contains candid comments about guns, powders, bullets, ignition systems, components, procedures, and hunting techniques.

These brief treatments are based on 50 years of shooting and hunting with these guns. I started writing for the outdoor press in the 1970s in The American Rifleman and sold articles to many other publications. I was the Corresponding Editor for the Gun Digest Annual for 10 years covering muzzleloading guns, products, and hunting. Each editor has his own slant about the topic that he covers, and my principal interest was on hunting with muzzleloading guns. From time to time I would either restore or build a gun to provide some unique guns for my articles, such as the duck-foot pistol, a Colt Walker with enhanced game-killing abilities, Brunswick rifles and smoothbores, and even a blunderbuss.

In addition to the articles, I have some 20 other books and e-books that include Practical Bowfishing, Crossbow Hunting, Backyard Deer Hunting: Converting Deer to Dinner for Pennies per Pound, and X-Treme Muzzleloading: Fur, Fowl, and Dangerous Game with Muzzleloading Rifles, Smoothbores, and Pistols. All of the above are now available in both softcover and as e-books. This e-book series consists of eight titles of which all are been published. Books in the series are: Muzzleloaders for Hunters, Shooting and Maintaining Your Muzzleloader, Hunting with Muzzleloading Shotguns and Smoothbore Muskets, Hunting with Muzzleloading Pistols, Hunting with Muzzleloading Revolvers, Muzzleloading Guns for Self Defense and the present title. These books are all available from on-line booksellers.

Some of my other books that are not directly related to firearms discuss or promote outdoor lifestyles and activities including my business books, Create Your Own Job Security : Plan to Start Your Own Business at Midlife, and Make Your Own Job: Anytime, Anywhere, At Any Age which were published as a softcover, e-book, and audio book in 2020-21.

Yet more outdoor-related materials are found on my now-discontinued, but still available Podcast Radio Show, Hovey’s Outdoor Adventures, which is on WebTalkRadio.net, and some 900 YouTube videos on the Hovey Smith Channel. My novel Father of the Grooms is now available as a First Draft edition e-book, and as a final softcover edition, audio book, and as an e-book under the title Until Death Do You Part: An American Family Meets Their Sicilian Cousins as a softcover book, e-book and audio book. A screenplay adapted from the novel is available as Blood Ties which is currently being marketed to the Movie and TV industries.

Loads, refinishing techniques, and methods that are listed in this series of book were safe and effective in the particular