Speed loading the Brown Bess Ranger Carbine

[Ugly Sauce]

After my adventure of following a wounded bear into the brush with my Jeager, I'm a firm believer in the paper cartridge. Being able to reload very quickly came in handy! At the very least, it gave me confidence and courage. Hopefully in a week or so the mountain roads will be clear enough to hit the mountains. Bessie is a good trekking gun in Grizz country, those big giant musket balls over 140 grains of black sure pack a punch. They will leave a mark.

These I made from grocery bag paper, which gives me a perfect fit in the bore. Even when fouled they still go down easy, but not so easy that they drop down in a clean barrel. (but there would never be a reason to load one in a clean barrel. EMERGENCY use only!)

Haven't made any in a while, and forgot to leave a long tail on them, like the one on far left. A long tail is faster to pop up and tear off. I only made six, as those suckers are heavy with them giant balls. And if six don't do the trick...!! I have not dipped the ball-end of these in hot bee's wax yet. The bee's wax really keeps them sliding down a fouled bore. In the past when experimenting with these I've fired six or so in a row without any difficulty in ramming them down fast. With my patched ball loads, she's good for three shots before wiping.

I always load a little less powder in the cartridges than I would load when using a patched ball in the traditional manner. Saves a little powder, and at close range I'm not losing much if any muzzle velocity. And trajectory is not a concern. So these have 120 grains instead of my normal load of 140 grains 2fg. In the Jeager I load my cartridges with 100 grains instead of 110 under a patched ball. I actually prefer 1fg in the musket, but I've run out of it, and 2fg is probably a bit better for priming. In an emergency I prime directly from the cartridge. No fiddle-fudging with my priming horn.

Yep, I'm a believer. Bessie says: "thanks for listening"!

 

[Risky buisness]

Nice post. I always have enjoyed paper cartridges for my fuzils. The Bess is a remarkable musket, i just never fell into liking them much, i think simply because of the enormous ball.
I even ordered a .58 bbl for my fuzil de chasse simply to keep the round count up in the box when buying factory projectiles.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

The Brown Bess does have a healthy appetite for powder and lead! When in the field, I have a patched ball in the gun, two in a loading block, and then the six paper cartridge loads. That's not too much of a burden, and I figure nine shots from Bess should take care of any situation I can imagine. I also imagine that enormous ball over lots of powder will stop anything...as long as I don't miss. !!!

 

[Risky buisness]

It always amazes me seeing these old or new Bess muskets, knowing the average size of the fellows that used them was around 5' 6, 7" .
Im 5' 10 and appreciate the 36" tube on my fusil after many years with a transitional Kentucky with a 42" .