Percussion caps, types of nipples and shooting the Gibbs. Sight elevations.
Percussion caps, types of nipples and shooting the Gibbs. Sight elevations.
Cleaning and loading the rifle for best accuracy. Powders and charges.
The .45 cal. Gibbs has rifling with an 18:1 twist rate. Long heavy bullets which have performed well in .45 cal. cartridge rifles will usually work equally well in the Gibbs so if you already have such bullet moulds or commercial bullets (swaged or cast) which can make bullets .448″ to .451″ diameter give them a try and see if your Gibbs likes them.
Thanks to the late Dick Trenk (Pedersoli, USA) for permission to publish these special instructions packed with new Pedersoli Gibbs rifles after late 2006.
Powder granulation and load development. Plus a not on Swiss black powder and travelling.
First, some changes in your lead bullet casting technique may be required when casting the long, heavy .40 or .45 caliber bullets as compared to casting round balls. You may need a larger capacity lead pot, and the temperature of the lead may need to be higher. To obtain good castings, the mould and lead must be maintained at a uniform temperature. A large capacity lead pot helps keep the melted lead or lead alloy up to temperature.
Percussion caps and nipples for the long range muzzle loader. Original British target rifles were furnished with platinum-lined nipples. The author made platinum-lined nipples with a .032 inch diameter hole into the platinum. For most rifles this hole size is adequate.
Bullets used are either groove-lubricated or paper patched lead or lead alloy projectiles. They may be cast and directly used, or if paper patched, may be cast as slugs and then put into a hammer or press swage for final shaping. If the bore is cleaned after each shot, bullets…
