i bought a muzzle loader and dont know how too operate it any help
Depending on the gun twist whether to use round ball, minie ball, sabots, solid bullets- You should know the difference. But as a example of a patched round ball rifle- the old general practice to start was use 1 grain of FFG per point of caliber of rifle. This meant a 50 caliber base load was 50 grains of powder then the cloth patched undersize Ball- about .485 inch with oiled denim patch. The Small bores under .36 caliber rifles would use FFFG powder same standard- about 36 grains of powder for 36 caliber, 32 grains of powder for a .32 caliber. Pistols were roughly 1/2 the powder charge per caliber. Pyrodex volume loads use that equivalent. Is this a pistol, rifle, shotgun, replica military musket of civil war pattern, revolver?
Rifle, musket, or pistol? One of the best sources of ALL info on black powder shooting is Lyman's Black Powder Manual. My copy is so thoroughly used that its' spine is disintegrating, and I am having to install it in a binder to hold it all together. I shoot a .50cal. T/C Hawken, two Trad. .50 'Trapper's, and a pair of Ruger 'Old Army', and a Navy Arms Colt Army repro pistols, and the Lyman manual has all the loads other info I have ever required, including bullet casting and weapon cleaning procedures. This excellent book should be available from your local B.P. dealer, or from several websites, including Dixie Gunworks Midway U.S.A.
First... find someone to show you how to load it properly and as mentioned above find out the right charge range! An improperly muzzle loader can still be damaged or worse even with the right charge if the bullet isn't seated right etc!
By grains, are you asking about grains like wheat, corn, barley or oats ? Or you asking about grains of gun powder. If it is gun powder, it would be best, if you follow the guidelines put forth by the gun's manufacture. Anything above that, could possibly cause the gun to fail, injuring yourself maybe someone else. REMEMBER, if someone is injured it injury can be traced back to your careleness. YOU can be held responsible for their injuries
first, don't use it until you get a manual for it. CVA and others are available online. Second, don't go by what unknown people tell you to on something that can be potentially deadly if you make a mistake. Next, different calibers, and different types of black powder weapons use different amounts and different types of black powder. Do yourself, and those who may be around you when you shoot that thing off, make dam sure you have gotten the correct manual and are using the proper load for it. Shoot safe
