When I make blank rounds for the bess, I merely crush the portion where the ball should be, down into the concave portion of the mandrel. This is sufficient to hold the cartridge tube together to store the powder, no string nor glue needed. I prefer to use pages from old books that are sold by libraries, when they are worn out or for whatever reason they are reducing what the library holds. They charge only a dollar or two, which helps support the local library, and one or two such books is sufficient for a year's worth of cartridges. THIS TUTORIAL showing the fold to isolate the ball from the powder is the best tutorial I've seen on cartridges ever, I'd never seen that before, and I've been shooting Bess variants for three decades. Thank you. 👍

@fortharmoury4434

9 ай бұрын

Thanks!

When my unit makes our blank cartridges for reenacting. We pretty much follow the same process except for we position the mandrel about ½" from the end of the paper, roll, fold, and then choke and tie. If we're in a rush, we'll just twist the bottom of the tube closed after charging, otherwise we fold in the way described.

Thanks for sharing

I make these in UK.. The original British method only tied off the end. The French design used a second choke behind the ball. I tend to follow the French design. I use two separate ties at both ends of the ball. Taking the thread past the ball interferes with the windage...

@fortharmoury4434

Жыл бұрын

Hey, that's very interesting! Do you have sources that show the difference between the British style and the French style?

Dip the ball end in a bee's wax/beef tallow mixture to lube the patch.

@fortharmoury4434

Жыл бұрын

It's been a while since I was doing the research for these, but as I recall, British ammunition for the Brown Bess was not dipped. However, I believe I recall someone posting a picture of an original non-government cartridge that seemed to have been dipped. If you have a period source for dipping of government-issue ammo I would like to see it.

What are you using for the choke cord? Is it linen string as well?

@stevensheldon9271

4 ай бұрын

Kite string works fine for the choke cord. I think when I made this video my cord had broken so I quadrupled-up some of the linen twine. Any strong cord will work.

How much powder is used? what are some recommended makers of powder?

@fortharmoury4434

8 ай бұрын

You should always consult your firearm's owner's manual to determine recommended powder charges. For an original, consult a qualified gunsmith. You need to be extremely careful consulting period literature about loads for the Brown Bess. The quality and strength of British powder doubled in the time prior to about 1828. So 18th century powder would have been much weaker than 19th century powder, and this explains the crazy loads in earlier times compared to the reduced charges of later eras. There are 3 main brands of powder available in the United States today. Goex, Schuetzen, and Swiss.

@mckutzy

26 күн бұрын

In this cartridge, how much did you use???

What is the paper you are using?

@fortharmoury4434

Жыл бұрын

It's a brown, lightweight masking paper that you can find at any big-box home improvement store like Lowes or Home Depot, in the painting section.