Britishmuzzleloaders

12/08/2024

The Second video to have been taken down by YT is also now available on Playeur.303 Ammunition - Reloading with the Cast Bullet-
https://playeur.com/v/h1a0zRcoQ-a

12/08/2024

Hello all! So a long awaited update of sorts...
The Channel's presence on Playeur has been updated...
Deleted by YT, Part One of the Martini Ammunition series (the grease groove bullet) is now available... Many apologies for the delay.
https://playeur.com/v/4GF8oYIvSau

08/08/2024

While filming some footage for an 'undetermined, future project that may involve the Canadian Militia of the 1860s', I had to wait for a truck to rumble by.... This seemed to create a nicely atmospheric moment that I thought I'd share.

05/08/2024

El-ee-ott....... ET phone home........

And so the Carbine Series begins....

28/07/2024

Just because it's Sunday and I suppose that you've nothing else to do, grab your No 4 and put in a bit of effort in working on your shoulders, wrists, arms and dexterity..... If you absolutely must do this inside,... please look out for any low hanging light fixtures or chandeliers... otherwise, back yards, front yards, Hyde Park Corner, or a local go-go cage will do...

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26/07/2024

So, it's summer and it's hot and what better activity to take those 'wishing-it-was-winter blues' away but a good stiff round of POKEY DRILL!... Certainly existing on the fringe of Musketry Training, battle fitness training with the rifle or "Rifle PT", commonly referred to as "Pokey Drill", formed an important vehicle in taking recruits with little knowledge of weapons handling, and give them the strength, confidence and dexterity to carry, deploy and handle their weapon in all conditions. Totalling 36 different exercises, this video will outline and demonstrate the first set of 12, known as "Standard One"...
So you'll be able to amaze and inspire awe in all your friends and relations as you sit around the living room, or all the passers-by as you stand in your front yard, and wield your No 4 like a champ!
Remember if MacKenzie can do it, so can you! Video (for your convenient reference) will be out soon!

21/07/2024

The P51 Minié Rifle in South Africa, c1852...... The 8th Cape Frontier War or 1850-53 represents a moment in military history where three aspects of military dress and weaponry came together to mark the very beginnings of a change in paradigm. The first issue of the P51 Minié Rifle, the first use of 'khaki' by formed bodies of troops, and the use of a peculiar secondary pouch for the carriage of easily available ammunition.

The P51 was issued to the percussion musket armed infantry (less the Rifles) deployed to South Africa during 1852, at a rate of 6 per company. These men were to act as 'designated marksmen' as the modern term would have it... Though not yet a mature technology at this point, the range and power of the rifle-musket would be aptly demonstrated and it would go on to become the standard arm of all infantry, nominally upon the deployment of the Army of the East to the Crimea in 1854.

The 74th Highlanders, were called 'tortoises' by their Xhosa opponents,... presumably due to their very distinctive uniforms.... Worn in the bush, they can lay claim to the first generally successful use of what would later be termed 'khaki' in the British Army, though the Corps of Guides (on the Indian establishment) were the first in the Empire to do so. Ship smocks, traditionally issued as fatigue garments on voyages, were dyed with mimosa bark and taken into use, contrary to the existing standing orders stating that traditionally coloured (ie red) shell jackets or coatees were to be worn whilst on campaign. The CO of the Battalion, LCol Fordyce, faced with no suitable undress option for clothing as Highland undress jackets were white, seems to have pressed the issue with his superiors. No record of the interaction exists, but the result was that the ships smocks were dyed and issued. While not the ACME of field kit by today's standards, this one moment in military history would prove to be the watershed event in the eventual universal adoption of khaki for field use. It would take a long time for this earthy shade to be realized. Over the next 30 years, various colours and dying processes would be tried resulting in grey, brown, and even a lavender shade. Finally, by the 1890s, a colourfast, shade of light brown became the standard and the shade that we know 'khaki' to be today.

In use from the 1830s in the Cape, locally made pouches, in untanned leather normally worn at the belly on a belt of the same material, were taken into wide use during the various campaigns in the Cape. These seem to be a reduced volume and presumably held just a fraction of the men's issued 60 rounds of ball. Sometimes used in conjunction with the usual 60 round pouch, worn on the right hip, on it's usual belt over the left shoulder, and sometimes, as with the 74th, it appears to have been the only dedicated ammunition pouch worn at all... the remainder of the 60 rounds presumably kept it the haversack. The use of a belt (with bayonet in a frog) and pouch perhaps, foreshadowed the eventual adoption of a waist belt for general service with the 1850 pattern belt, vs the shoulder belt for the bayonet, and the issue of the first pattern ball bag, or expense pouch, in 1855. So, while not an invention of the 8th Cape Frontier War, their use coincided during that conflict, with the other two inventions in a way that would foretell important aspects of the very future of Infantry weapons and kit.

11/07/2024

Well,..... I've been sitting on this for a while now but managed to get the first 20 loaded up! May I present to you, properly this time,.....

The Historical Snider bullet!

Cast from a mould made by Steve Brooks in Montana, by way of a sly mention to him by our favourite American purveyor of Paper Cartridges......

Anyway, Steve mentioned that he "never wants to make another mould like this, ever,........" Just to put that out there and stop the stampede of keen, Snider shooters that will appear at his inbox asking for such an ingenious piece for their collection.... Apparently it was a real chore to manufacture... but thankfully I and you, by way of a documentary journey in its use on the Channel, will be able to see how this complex projectile does on the range. (Maybe if you talk to him nicely and say pretty-please he'll do another....)

The real crux is the mould and how it works... believe it or not, it's a double cavity mould... The captive pin creates the hollow point while a sprue plate fitted with a peculiar, hollow, 'base cavity' shaped projection is inserted from the top of the mould.. The lead is poured 'through' the projection, where it fills the space, the skirt of the bullet being 'above' the point where the lead is introduced.

Casting these bullets is a slow process. Once cool, the sprue plate must be twisted in order to break off the sprue, which is 'in' the plate's projection and attached to the bullet inside the base cavity. Then the sprue plate and projection, with the sprue inside, is removed and the mould is inverted and opened in the usual way, the bullet falling off the captive pin. The sprue plate is emptied by inverting it and tapping it, letting the sprue fall out. Thus, the two cavity bullet is born!

The bullet follows closely the pattern of the Mk III and Mk IV bullet which used a small plug of wood to fill its nose cavity and the customary truncated cone clay plug to fill the base cavity to ensure expansion.

Now,...... "Why the Mk III/IV bullet?" you ask?..... Well, this is the same bullet that was used (reverted to) in the last pattern of Snider ammunition, the Mk IX, with the only exception being that the Mk IX did not have a wood plug in the nose, but rather was put in a jig and the lead at the nose was 'spun' over the hollow point, creating a smooth lead nose, while preserving the cavity beneath. So, the 'three ring', hollow nosed, Snider Bullet lives on.

As you can see in the pictures, the mould produces a bullet that is very close to the swaged, mass produced originals.. Almost the exact weight, and diameter, while the length is just a shade under, this probably comes from the fact that the wood plug or the spun lead created a more pointed nose, with the resultant slight increase in length. Good enough for me, that's for sure.

The bullets are finished with an epoxy base plug (for now), acting as a stand in for the historical clay, which is made using the "Brett Gibbons' Pea Ball" application and for now, no plug in the nose. The historical lubrication was pure beeswax, but I've gone with the usual mixture of shortening and beeswax, just because that is what I had on hand....

As you might be wondering, the hollow point was not designed for the reason we might consider hollow points to be for toady, but rather as an expedient to adjust the centre of gravity and improve stability in this curious invention of the post muzzleloading, transitional paradigm of military arms... Only after its adoption, did the terrible effects of a near 500 gr hollow point projectile on human flesh become apparent. A truly horrifying thought....

08/07/2024

And it's July!.... And that means that the Alberta Shoot has come and gone! New additions this year were some longer range shooting,.... and The French!

If you would like to support the Channel you can do so through our Patreon Page. https://www.patreon.com/britishmuzzleloadersBritishmuzzleloaders is also on...

08/07/2024

I love it when little red books show up! Here is one of the last "holes" in the collection.... The Musketry Regulations c 1905. This was the first post Boer War MRs and very much the companion of the 1903 Infantry Training and the 1905 "Appendix to Training Manuals" of 1905... Interesting points are the inclusion of references to nearly all the service rifle family... The MLE, the MLM/MLE Carbine, and the Short MLE... This really illustrates that the 'stampede' to post war reform was much more of a graduated process than some sort of turbulent upheaval... Most practices are 5 rounds, with only a couple of ten rounders.. but there are grouping, applications, snaps and rapids in there, as well as lots of 'shooting from behind cover' positioned at the firing point.... so, well on the way to proper battle shooting! This came with the 1907 amendment in which among other minor things, clarifies the third and second class figure targets with would, apart from the early version of the figure used, be identical to those used going into the Great War.

07/07/2024

Principal photography is now complete for a video that's been on the cusp of production for three years.... The first live fire analysis of Plunket's Shot ever, to my knowledge.... If anyone knows of or has a 'primary' reference for his use of the supine position, please point me in that direction... To date I have not come across one..... As a shooting position in this context it is laughable and discussion of it will feature in the video, for sure!

23/06/2024

The ultimate in golf,..... er,....... bush attire....... (sound on)

15/06/2024

The Eccles Hill Series concludes....
I am indebted to the team of Ross, Ken, Lorne and Branko (with a special guest appearance from Jean) who contributed so much over so long to make this series a one-of-kind on the Channel.
In this, Part Four, the Historical Supplement, I outline my visit to the Eastern Townships, further explore the issues with the Needham, examine the Fenian cannon captured after the battle, and present the Historical Shooting evolutions that Branko and I conducted that were actually the catalyst for the whole project.
Thanks for your patience and understanding as it's taken a hot minute to get it all done.

If you would like to support the Channel you can do so through our Patreon Page. https://www.patreon.com/britishmuzzleloadersParts 1, 2, and 3....1. https:/...

13/06/2024

Soon to be released, Part Four of the Battle of Eccles Hill Series. It's been a long road, and this final part includes what I've termed the "Historical Supplement" to the series. It will include some of the more technical or historical topics that although interesting and critical to the story and the project, either bogged down the storytelling, or weren't otherwise appropriate in the main narrative. Topics include a further examination of the Needham and its performance during the battle, the Fenian cannon captured after the battle, and the Historical Shooting experiments conducted which were actually the catalyst for the entire project.

12/06/2024

The first person to say something about “Australians” gets banned from the Channel!

All kidding aside, felt hats were worn all over the Empire and Canada was no exception. While not particularly Channel related, this photo is reflective of a particular moment in Canadian military history…
In 1898 the first crazed stampeders began arriving in Dawson City in the new territory of the Yukon, intent on striking it rich in the goldfields that had been discovered there. The North West Mounted Police (who were a well armed paramilitary force themselves, in the vein of other Imperial Constabularies across the Empire and the forerunners of todays RCMP) had been in Dawson since 1896 but the next couple of years saw the town grow from 1000 souls to well over 30000, mostly Americans, as the Klondike Gold Rush turned what was a local meeting place and fishing camp for the native population into the biggest city north of Seattle and west of Winnipeg. Serious concerns were expressed regarding maintaining sovereignty over the Queen’s realm in Canada and dutifully, a grouping of some 200 Volunteers from the tiny Permanent Active Militia (the Regular Canadian Army of the era) was dispatched on an epic journey to the North. This was the Yukon Feld Force.
The Force was armed with the new Mk I Magazine Lee Enfield, only recently acquired by Canada to replace its ancient Snider-Enfields, and two Maxim guns, the very pinnacle of military weaponry at the time. Wearing the Canadian 1896 Pattern frock with its distinctive pockets and crows foot lace on the cuffs, a brown felt slouch hat, and the newly introduced Oliver Pattern Equipmemt (an epic tale unto itself) they struck a distinctive pose in scarlet, blue and brown.
By train, steamship, overland and river, they established an HQ at Ft Selkirk on the Yukon River where it is met by the Pelly River. A detachment of 50 men and one Maxim was sent on to Dawson to bolster the NWMP detachment and further remind the thousands of highly motivated though somewhat unruly prospectors, miners and hangers-on that were running amok, that they were in fact, in British North America…Indeed a great many had no concept of the border, and thought that the goldfields were in Alaska.

I am happy to report that Britishmuzzleloaders and the memsahib have finished a 450km journey by canoe visiting Ft Selkirk, and ending in Dawson City, Yukon replicating a tiny section of the route the Yukon Feld Force and thousands of gold-fevered stampeders took in 1898-1900. The somewhat battered but as yet, still very serviceable felt hat has made its pilgrimage to the location of the old parade square in the Governnmet quarter of Dawson City in memory of those 50 men (and 5 women, 4 nurses and one reporter) who maintained our borders and kept the peace, as it were,… after all, they had a Maxim Gun…

Oh, and the hat is actually an Akubra from Australia…. Cheeky, I know…

25/05/2024

What better way to commemorate Eccles Hill Day than with Part 3 of the Eccles Hill series!

If you would like to support the Channel you can do so through our Patreon Page. https://www.patreon.com/britishmuzzleloadersParts 1 and 2 ....1. https://yo...

21/05/2024

It's not often that a video gets released on the Anniversary of the event at its focus... Part Three of the Battle of Eccles Hill will publish on the 25th of May... The day of the Battle!
Here the action will commence and Fenians, Red Sashes and Militiamen will square off on the Missisquoi frontier... Lots more commentary and such from our friends, Ken, Ross Lorne and Branko! Stay tuned!

20/05/2024

So i've been wondering how to expand on the P51 offerings on the Channel... While the Crimea is an obvious go to,.... and there might be more in that context, there is another avenue to explore...

I'm not going to divulge what the context is, but that shouldn't be too much trouble (see the bottom of the post)... Part of the usual atmospherics is some appropriate kit... While the clothing is one thing, as usual, it's the equipment that drives the experience... In this case the use of a so called "Belly Pouch" was a feature of campaigning in this theatre... Sometimes in addition to the main pouch and cross belt, sometimes stand alone in use, it, the belt and the frog were made locally from untanned leather and were not Ordnance patterns. The belly pouch was an interesting precursor, albeit strictly a local arrangement, to the later 'ball bag' or 'expense pouch' that would equip Infantry from the late 1850s and on through the 1860s and 70s. Interestingly, the smock represents an instance of direct contravention of a General Order dictating that red would be worn in the bush. The Colonel at the time ignored the directive and had his men clothed in their ships smocks, dyed a dark shade with mimosa bark... fading into a "proto-khaki" by most accounts. It was the first use of such clothing and predates the Indian Mutiny of 1857, where it is generally taken that the shade was first used. Some references point to leather reinforcing on the shoulders and some don't... Maybe I'll make that a later addition, we'll see....

The belt, pouch and frog were made by me this fine Victoria Day weekend. Details of the pouch are slim, but it would appear that it was designed to carry a selection of the issue 60 rounds rather than all of it. I designed mine to hold 20 rounds,... very much like the 1855 pouch that would first see service in the Crimea's later stages. It holds both P51 and Percussion Musket rounds so just might be doing double duty...

Anyway, 10 points to whomever correctly guesses the context (Campaign)... AND bonus points of an unknown quantity shall be awarded to those that correctly identify the "missing" piece of clothing from the photo...... It'll show up eventually.... 😀

15/05/2024

THE FENIANS ARE COMING!!!
"Muster your strength, red scarf men, and you, militiamen of the border! Your time has come!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZzXu103Cj8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZzXu103Cj8

If you would like to support the Channel you can do so through our Patreon Page. https://www.patreon.com/britishmuzzleloadersBritishmuzzleloaders is also on...

11/05/2024

In late May 1870, the last of the Fenian attacks into Canada on the Quebec frontier was launched at Eccles Hill. Pleased to announce that Part Two of the Battle of Eccles Hill will be released shortly!

"STAND TO, men of the Red Sashes and the 60th Bn!"

05/05/2024

My arms hurt….

28/04/2024

So I was doing some research on the Brunswick the other day and the references I was looking at offered much more than just info on the Brunswick.... Attached is the information gleaned from the "Chronicles" (Regimental Journals) of both of the main Rifle Regiments of the British Army, the Rifle Brigade and the King's Royal Rifle Corps (60th Rifles). The first chapter in either volume is a Regimental Calendar with all the key dates and occurrences in the Regimental timeline. They are quite detailed though not totally complete. While most of the entries are events, battles and the like, there are numerous mentions of various weapon issues throughout their history. The blanks are representative of simple lack of reference, not necessarily that a given rifle was not issued...
The Baker isn't mentioned here as it's taken for granted that it's the "starting point".....
Some battalions seem to be mentioned in a more complete way than others... Take 1KRRC for instance.. All the key weapon developments can be traced through it's history.. While others such as 3 and 4 RB have very little information... What struck me was the imbalance in timeliness of the various issues. While some of that would be expected.. it was an Army spread all over the globe after all, there are some surprising cases. Some battalions seem to be issued the newest and brightest right away whilst others, languish on with older (and in some cases quite outdated weaponry)... While the designation of the first pattern Brunswick (with the hook breech and back action lock) is "1837", its earliest issue to a battalion is Sept 1839 to 1RB.... 1 KRRC carries the Brunswick until 1857 at which point it takes delivery of P53 Enfields. Perhaps the most eye-opening issue is that of (finally) the Short Snider to 3KRRC in 1871!!! Which means they were carrying the P56 Enfield Army Short Rifle until then..! The other "revelation" of sorts is the apparent issue of the Whitworth en masse to select battalions in 1864... Presumably a trial of sorts... The issue of the Magazine Rifle to 2RB in 1890 must be amongst the very first issues while 1 KRRC Keeps their Martinis until late 1892...
Anyway, it's nerdy stuff but hopefully of interest!

13/04/2024

I couldn't bring myself to it, but The Chap could! See his take on that utterly unmentionable moment in the recent Napoleon movie where we see a somewhat modified Baker Rifle used in an attempt to shoot the Ogre himself.... OK,.... I mentioned it....

Join us on the App! https://weaponsandwar.tv/Ridley Scott's Napoleon seems, at best, to be an epic fanfic , which is fine but why oh why was a spyglass strap...

03/04/2024

Saw this and felt that it illustrated the reality of rifle use during the Boer War. While on the surface it appears to be a couple of files worth of Tommies in a (posed) firing line, it does bear another interesting detail.... There are at least three different patterns of rifles present... The man at the top carries a Mk I* MLM (with its 8 round magazine) as evidenced by the grooves in the forestock. The helmetless man's rifle in indeterminable. The third man down carries a MK II MLM as evidenced by the plain cocking piece of his rifle (without a safety) and the bottom man carries what technically could be one of three rifles... a MK II* MLM, a Mk I MLE or a Mk I* MLE..... These rifles all had the cocking piece mounted safety catch....As the Mk II* MLM was an exceedingly rare beast with only a few thousand made, we would best assume that it is a Mk I MLE....

Three different patterns of rifle in use in the same section, at the same time...

See the comments here for some close ups...

Photo #817: British troops at the ready

Excellent photo, surely not seen by many, most probably unpublished, thanks to Neville Constantine.

01/04/2024

OK here we go! Under the wire!.... Give it a thumbs up if you like furry hats and big bore muzzleloaders!

If you would like to support the Channel you can do so through our Patreon Page. https://www.patreon.com/britishmuzzleloadersBritishmuzzleloaders is also on...

01/04/2024

Stand by, I'm charging towards the deadline!

Cabin Fever Challenge 2024.....

29/03/2024

It's been a near run thing... Just like the Battle of Inkerman... I must admit, I didn't know if I could get it done in time.... But I'm happy to report that this year's Cabin Fever Challenge has been completed!... Now to edit....

Say, is there a headdress division?

23/03/2024

There,.... happy?..... 😀

17/03/2024

OK, one more Brunswick ammunition post,.... Taking cues from David's post over on Research Press, here are some preliminary examples of what Brunswick ammunition, in its entirety, looked like...

A few things became evident as I was going through the motions,...

1. The belted balls were tied tightly (some references point to "sewing") into their patches and trimmed, then inked with a black line to show where the belt was;
2. They were then tied together in strings of four and rolled in a cartridge-like tube of white paper;
3. Three such tubes were packaged together giving 12 balls per packet; and
4. The bullet tubes lie flat together in the packet and this gives dimensions of the packet which are just about spot on with those found in David's diagrams. Note that the bullet packet is quite thin, with only one layer of contents therein... The cartridge packet size is near exact too...

Things to do next time,.....
1. Get a date on the green wrapper as per the diagram;
2. It would seem that the patches were to either to be lubricated before going into action then transferred to the ball bag, or lubricated as needed with tallow carried in the round compartment of the patch box; and
3. Get some brown paper for the ball packet....

There is a scarcity of information on this subject but a great deal can be gleaned from the insane amount of detail that David Harding put into his 4 volume series on the Arms of the Honourable East India Company... Volume 3, dealing with the subject of ammunition, has a helpful number of references to Ordnance (vs Company) Brunswick ammunition in particular that used by the Kings Royal Rifle Corps during their presence in India during the 1840s and 50s.. It was there were I found the details on patching and packaging of the bullets... which, when followed, gave the near exact dimensions provided by David! Love it!

15/03/2024

Just a quick clip of a segment in the upcoming Part Two of the Eccles Hill project.