Very, very nice work. :)

Ahhh, yes.

You draw the best mice.

I've never been exactly clear on you you clean a muzzle loader. Do you boil it out, somehow, or is it all solvents, brushes and patches?

I personally remove the barrel and swab it out with hot water, dry it, and oil it. While it can be cleaned still mounted, there is the problem of residue under the stock and bands.

Another reason why I prefer my cartridge rifles....Though the nasty former Soviet Block ammo can be rather filthy.

That wouldn't happen to be an 1861 Springfield musket, would it? I just got a .50 caliber Caplock Kentucky rifle that I put together. Have you ever built a smoke-pole from a kit?

More of generic two-band piece as a full length three-band musket would be too long and unwieldy. I have a replica 1861, but no, haven't done a kit gun yet.

Ah, I'm bad at reading scale. Thought there might've been a third band hiding under his fingers. As for kit guns, they're not bad if you're needing a time sink. Heh. Especially when you start adding extra bits and pieces like I did. I wanted a side plate and a patch box, dangit.

The only thing I ever had a notion of building was a so-called 'rampart gun'. Saw in in Paris. Think a conventional musket, but with a extra large bore barrel for buckshot loads. Usually only used at fortifications. I was thinking of a not entirely historical replica, caplock instead of flint, and a more generic pattern. But something like a 25 to 30mm bore if I can find a tube.

Oh good grief. That would be a madhouse project. 4 gauge, cap-fired wall gun. If you ever go through with that kinda build and need a hand, I'll gladly be party to the madness!