About like the muzzle loader I built around 1972. One of the things often spoken of was American barrels were not proofed for Muzzys. So I read up on it some more and found out that proof for it was 3 times max load. Max load for a 36 cal muzzy is over 120 granes of fffg powder. I decided that I would never shoot a load with 300 grains fffg and 2 ball. I loaded 300 grains of fffg with a long fuse out of the cap nipple whole and shoved 2 patched balls down on top. I then took the barrel and strapped it to a tractor tire for stability and pointed it at a 6 inch pine tree. I lit that 3 ft fuse and got plenty of space and trees between myself and the barrel. It went boom and I looked. The tire had spun around and turned over. The tree that it was originally pointed at had a hole clear through it. Upon examining the barrel there was nothing wrong with it, I even took it down to a machine shop and had it magnefluxed to check for cracks. The barrel alone weighs as much as my Remington 30.06. The muzzy will shoot a 3 inch group at 100 yards.AndyC wrote:First rifle I built in this country, my FN-FAL, I might not be unique in this, but.... I held it wayyyyy off to one side before touching off the one and only round in the gun - squeezed my eyes tight shut (I might have offered up a small prayer, too), turtled my neck in and pulled the trigger.
I was kind of astonished that it worked - much like one's first handload or self-packed parachute. A confidence-booster for sure
