FuriousFarmboy

The Equipment: 1861 Springfield Manufactured in 1862, Barrel By Whitacre's Machine Shop, Winchester, Va. David Whitacre is not only a machinist, he is an artisan. He provided a 40 1/2" barrel with 1:72 twist and progressive depth rifling. The rear sight is a perfect copy of the original, the front sight is dovetailed and quite tall. I am no marksman, My eyes aren't as good as when I first had them lasered. It is hard to see where the top of the black front sight is. It needs a bright spot at the top. I knew that it would likely shoot low with that tall sight. I picked my POA at the top of a rectangle 4x4 1/2" rotated 45° and got lucky a couple of times. I think I probably have the windage set pretty close but will need to work with a benchrest and be able to locate the top of the sight to adjust the elevation. The Load was 60gr 2f Schuetzen Black Powder and 512gr home cast Minié ball lubed with beeswax and lamb tallow. I try to remember to tip the musket to the nipple side when loading. That doesn't always happen and the result may have been a hangfire on the first round. The passage had been cleaned with a pipe cleaner before loading. The 7th round was difficult to ram but for some reason, the 8th wasn't so bad. I was wrong about round #4, it hit about 4" low and on center.

1861 Springfield Project: I can shoot it, make it go bang, feel it kick, smell the black powder but the rifling is so bad that I can only place shots in the general neighborhood. I suppose that isn't abnormal for a musket that's more than 1 1/2 centuries old. A new barrel is currently in the machine shop.

This rifled musket bore was so corroded, I could only get a .577 diameter Minié ball about 5" into the bore. After many attempts to remove and neutralize the rust, I finally ran a 6-bar reamer set at .577" diameter through the bore to the breech plug threads. It's ugly and there is no rifling the last 8" at the muzzle. I have yet to get the nipple removed, I ran a 1/32" drill through it. The nipple is so eroded that it's hard to get a musket cap to stay in place. My 1st attempt to shoot it was a FTF. I pulled the bolster screw, worked a 1\16" drill bit around in there and dropped in a pinch of powder. Then I got a hangfire. I cleaned the bolster with a pipe cleaner, reloaded with the musket tipped to trickle powder into the bolster and it fired as it should. The following shot was also good but I can't say it hit where I aimed. It has about a 12 Lb. pull. So, anyway, I took it out today and put 7 shots through it. I'm no marksman but I should have been able to put them on a 1 1/2 by 2 Ft. box at 50 Yards. I followed up with 3 rounds out of my Model 92 .357 Magnum and they all hit decently close to center. One Minié ball Keyholed 4" from center. I have a new barrel in production at Whitacre's Machine Shop. I wish I could find someone who could reline this barrel to the original specs. I could have it re-bored to .600 or .620 but nobody makes a casting mold that size for Minié balls

Just some clips from the Car show. I especially liked the '71 Camaro and the '40 Ford. My car got covered with bugs while driving to the show.

This will pin an aggressor's T-Shirt to his hide. That's gonna sting!

May 13, 2023 at 10 Mile Christian Church created by Track Shark

This video has also been sped up but I don't remember how many times, perhaps 12X. I think the tablet I'm using on the controller won't process data fast enough in cold weather. The aircraft lost it's link with the controller and was out there roaming and hovering on it's own. It had a "return to home" command and zero'd in on the home position but then lost the connection. The forced landing when the battery dropped below safe level was a gentle crash but broke one of the prop guards.

I found the editing program I had been using and it now has some added features. I saved it in High-definition after speeding it up 4X so the drone appears to be flying at up to 90 mph while the traffic on Highway 95 is seen as running up to 220 mph. sometimes bumper to bumper.

Kenda 6 -ply Trakmaster tires front and rear with TUbliss system installed, running 10 PSI rear and 8 PSI front. Right off, I noticed the bike felt more stable, I felt more secure, more confident. Only time will tell what kind of wear I get from these tires but the 6-ply construction is an important element for running in these rocks and the soft compound gets a good grip in the rocks and the hardpack 2-tracks. I didn't get a good reading from my computer but my time was equal or better than my best over this route.

In "Sport Mode" the drone will run faster than in "Normal Mode," about 42 MPH as opposed to 21.5 MPH. In Normal Mode, you have the option of using "Obstacle Avoidance" but that isn't available in Sport Mode. Power poles, power lines, barns and an occasional tractor can pose a chance for a serious accident. In Sport Mode, I've been able to get the drone to follow up to about 16 MPH and run parallel up to about 30 MPH. Nowhere near the maximum specs and certainly not adequate for my purposes. In the desert, I commonly top out at more than 70 MPH on my motorcycle.. I need to try it again, perhaps getting greater altitude will help it track me better and in Sport mode, obstacles wouldn't be as much of a problem.

I think this Bushnell Prime Model 119932 is going to work just fine in my application. Lens fogging is one of my worst problems and the sensors, LEDs and lens may be packed with snow this morning. I am concerned that in a breeze, the foliage will constantly trigger my camera.

Dogs at play. I edited and spliced together a bunch of 10 second clips. One clip shows what happens when the sun gets low, we discuss the camera being triggered by branches moving in the wind and I visit it in pitch darkness in the last 20 seconds. This camera model doesn't have the versatility of the #119932

The Bushnell Prime Low Glow Game Cam will capture 4-legged critters. I set it up for 45 sec. clips and it ran all night with a 16 GB card. As the card gets close to filling up, the clips are reduced to 1 second and less. I have installed a 32 GB card and I believe I'llrece the clips to 30 seconds. It captures 2-legged animals as well. It has a 0.3 sec. trigger and I think it is often triggered by a leaf or some airborne trash.

I saw the cubs go into this patch of cattails and they never came out. After I walked around the swamp, I discovered adult size tracks and it was a heavy cat. A Female can get up to 140 Lbs. A male can get up to 220 Lbs. The cubs were about 16" at the shoulders so probably not more than 50 Lbs. I'll be packing until I'm assured that they have moved on. This is only about 50 yards from my house.

No sweat, throw in the right leg, plop it while making sure the hat clears, pull in the size 12 left boot, reposition, shut the door, get strapped in, ignite, launch. Sometimes I knock off the hat and that left boot can be a problem

Running with the cruise control set on the posted speed limit with non-ethanol premium fuel, I got 30.9 mpg from 30 miles inside Idaho to Portland, OR. On the return trip, I got 31.9 mpg from Aberdeen, WA to Pendleton, OR but then Cabbage Hill happened. Have you ever had a millenial with his hair in a bun and a big ego driving a Yugo try to get enough speed up to pass you on the interstate?

Everyone should appreciate a "Thumbs-Up." During this road trip, I got two thumbs-up and a big smile from a passing blonde. Some guy in an early 50's Chevy pickup with a healthy motor and an even bigger ego had to show me what he had. Betcha I coulda smoked him. Some woman in a BMW wanted to race me up Cabbage Hill but I wouldn't play her game.

Just a collection of photos from the party.

A couple guys got together and threw a birthday party for a friend. Should I say how old? A great get-to-gether with a bunch of motorcycle and hot rod enthusiasts. It was well worth a 20 hour round trip.

It has been more than 2 months since I've been out on 2 wheels. The ride would have been longer if it weren't for minor mechanical issues.It will take some physical work to change two 6-ply tires. One little mechanical task and it is time for an oi/filter change.

The camera adjusts the lighting for in the cab and the scenery is washed out by the bright sun. This video just capture's Flint Buddy's activity during the ride.

You might think that going for a couple hour ride in a UTV over a desert 2-track isn't exercise but you aren't a dog trying to stay glued in a UTV bouncing over a rough trail. We were back home by 10:45 AM but Flint Buddy immediately kicked back and conked out.

You might think that going for a couple hour ride ine a UTV over a desert 2-track isn't exercise but you aren't a dog trying to stay glued in a UTV bouncing over a rough trail. We were back home by 10:45 AM but Flint Buddy immediately kicked back and conked out.

I love the tone of a healthy engine!