Black Powder Shooting Using No patches - Running and Reloading - Hand / palm loading of Ball 

Pouring the powder around the ball was really cool. I would have never thought it would be that accurate. As always thanks for sharing the videos with us and blessings to you and your family Mark.

Thanks, Mark for the new video. I always look forward to and enjoy them.

Thanks Mark for braving the cold as always your videos are great

Glad to see the Kentucky .50 flinter back in action. Always fun to play with ball/patch combos. Thanks for the video.

Mark, thanks for braving the cold winter temps to keep your videos coming! Yesterday, here in Maine, it was -12 deg! It’s a lot more fun inside by the fire watching your videos rather than going to the range!

Nice job Mark. I hate the cold weather to. Always look forward to BP Maniac shooter videos on Sundays.

Thank for posting. Yes Sir it was a cold end to December. Good shooting with the windy conditions.

Now that's what I call dedication, shooting even though you can't feel your fingers and toes !! From one Eastern Kentuckian to another, enjoyed the video my friend !!

Thanks Mark for making a cool video!!! Keep shooting

That’s good to know! Thanks!

GREAT fun…!! Thanks for the edutainment mark. Keep it up…..

Great Video again Mark....

Good video! Thanks for posting it!

Keep it up you do an awesome job. I've been shooting a new flint and trying different stuff to find out what it likes

Nice job Mark!

Another good video Mark

🤣😂😅 Hey Mark ! I half expected to see the ball rolling out the end of the barrel before you got a shot off ! After a couple of shots of fouling that wouldn’t be a problem. Pretty cool about the powder over the ball test though. 120 grn. Wouldn’t be a problem on any well made barrel, I proof test my guns with at least that much. You’re a hoot Mark ! We love ya ! Blessings to y’all !

Fun fun fun. Thanks Mark. Yeah, it's cold. It's 17 degrees this morning here in Eastern Idaho. Last week, we were negative 22 with wind chills making in -36. Too cold to shoot. Your temps are perfect. I know that the wind cuts right through you even at those warmer temperatures.

From another Kentuckian, Western Kentucky that is. Good video. I'm just getting into black powder myself. I have a inline Knight wolverine 50 caliber. I cast my own round ball and make my own powder. I'm also loading some 12 gauge shotgun shells to use in a old single shot that I have. I'm sure I will wind up with a flintlock or a percussion long rifle someday.

Good one. Thanks Mark

Thanks for making my morning a black powder and coffee sunshine day! Ahhhhhh! Black Powder! Kind Thanks and Many Blessings! DaveyJO in Pennsylvania

Ahh the naked ball, works great with a wad over it with a smoothbore, not so much for the rifles. I found that with my .50 rifles, a .010" patch with a .490" ball works really well especially with 55-60 grains of FFFG powder, very accurate in every gun I've tried it in.

Great video..

You are having entirely too much fun my friend!

Brr, chilly. We have low teens here, wind is calmer this morn. Tried this when I was a younger fella, about same results, lol. I don’t run like I used too either. Still fun though. Godspeed

Been wonderin' where the Kentucky been. Got mine out a couple times for PA flintlock '23.

Pretty interesting results It would be really interesting to see a chronograph test of this compared to the normal patch and ball method if possible.

summer is just around the corner. I look forward to meeting you in person at the Hawken classic. I wonder if your prbs shrink in the cold I figure unless you use balistol/ water mix for dry lube , wet lube would stiffen in the cold. I as usual really enjoyed your video. As always God bless and have a blessed day,now get warm. Bruce

Enjoyed it!

You got it bad, thanks for the video.

38 degrees, that sounds quite nice.

We can give the running & reload with my drone when you come up to do some plinking! Man that 120 grain load wacked your shoulder good!!

I’ve never tried this. I’ve heard of it in desperate situations like running and reloading like Simon Kent. It makes sense not to patch the ball. But does the ball seat in the powder? I assume if you tip it down it would all fall out. Cool video as always

Looks like left handed shooting is working good for you....i've shot bare ball in a smooth bore but never have in a rifled barrel....but I think I'll try it know....I didn't see you put anything over the ball to hold it in place....think I'll put a small dab of tow in front of a .495 ball and see what happens....good video....

The trick I've heard is enough powder to cover the ball not all the way around it. Anyway, neat little test. Thanks!

Interesting and fun video, I've never tried shooting without using a lubed patch, so I have to ask since the ball just drops down the barrel, would it roll back out if you tilted the muzzle down? Enjoyed the video 👍

Christ Bless you, Black Powder Maniac Shooter, and Thank You!

With my 50s i usually use .495s with .010 pillow ticking and 100 grains of ffg swiss for hunting elk and moose and deer. Recently swapped to lee improved minies with 75 grains ffg lubed with beeswax and olive oil. Better results.

Fun! I am about to go meet a flintlock group who meet every first Sunday of the month.

The technique for estimating a powder charge is to hold the ball in the palm of the hand and then pour powder on the ball until it is covered.

I had always heard to cup your hand and cover the ball with powder. I had not heard to pour the powder all around the ball.

I'm w/ you on warm weather- I think oldtimer meant go around the ball not completely over plus pour power out of crook of hand - I bet if you practiced 30-40 times you'd get pretty accurate- One of them things you just need to go for it at moderate pace don't second think it like pouring paint out bucket then tap it sharply to cut paint pour but if you go to slow makes mess- What mold do you use for .480 balls?

Have you ever had an incident where you squeezed the trigger, the powder in the pan went off, but the gun didn't fire? Happened to me 10 times yesterday. Btw my gun is a Traditions Pennsylvania Kentucky rifle chambered in .50 caliber (490" lead ball)

What would you're take be on useing 3f powder in a 58 cal hawken

Could you test loading and shoot but using no ramrod. 🤔 Since sometimes I was wondering if reloading but don't use the rammer what will happen. And in fact, there was a kind of firearm from the Chinese Qing dynasty which was without ramrod. 😊

Well I shoot 490 round balls alot but never shot with on patch coz everyone said that would not work and blow guns up

Great vid, Mark. I heard that you cup the ball and cover it with powder. Gives me about 50 grains of powder. It seems like your method should include primer. I always shoot my Trade Gun without patches and a .590 round ball. It shoots well enough. Of course, I'm blind in one eye and can't see out the other.

i would like to see that with a ball big enough to engage the rifling. 50 caliber....saaaay .505 or so. like we do in pistols. if the lead is soft it should load easily.

70 to 75 gr is what works good in my 50 im going to try the palm trick

Atles that what a lot of old muzzleloader shooter told when I got in muzzleloadering

I still shoot with a patch every now and then, but I really like using R.E.A.L. bullets. A little fat for lube and no patch required. Darned accurate out to 50 yards. My range here at home doesn't allow for shooting past that so I can make no claims past that point. Loading is easy, cleaning is easy, and the projectiles are way more accurate than a PRB. They look just like a mini ball so they appear period correct. You should try a few one day to see the difference, it could cause you to convert!!

You must have four hands to have done that maneuver. I be dropping ball powder and paper iffin it was me. Mountain man

I wanted to express my thanks for giving poor ol' Big Foot a break on this one...... 🤪

How you like that shuchen powder

Mark, another killer video. Im sure youve covered this in videos before, but i could use some help. I have a 62 caliber hawken style flintlock, half stock, with a rice barrel 1 1/8 36 inches long, no swamping. I have shot the gun with 80 to 110 grains of 2f and seem to get similar groups with all. Around a 1.5 inch group at 25 yards. I settled on 90 grains. Do you think there is a benefit to shooting closer to 110 grains for deer?

You worried about the ball rolling down the barrel? Doesn't seem like it's tight enough to stay on top of the powder.

Shooting round balls with no patch is very accurate

Why won’t my hawks s fire .. I’ve used 15. Apps and no fire

The first shot for kill the british officer, the next shots for defensive shooting while you retreat into the woods.

If you wanna run and reload, you need paper cartridges. That’s the method they used in the 18th century

That's called "Bare Ball "!!

Used a tree a time or two myself. Lol

When you measure in the palm of your hand wouldn't the charge change due to the size of the round? It would also change if you cupped your hand instead of laid it flat plus it also seems that it would change due to the size of your hand. I have small hands. It seems to me there's all types of variations with your hand. Well I suppose I'm just going to have to get out there and try it huh? This video gave me a lot to think about but I suppose I'm going to have to find someone with a large hands in order to test my theory. Come to think of it my grandson has even smaller hands, he shoots my traditions 50 caliber Hawkins but we have to rest it on sandbags because he can't hold it up yet, he's only 11. I wonder how that would work. Well I guess I'll just go test and find out. You really don't have to shoot when you test with the palm of the hand although it's a lot funnier if you do. Thanks for the video and thanks for the conundrum I have going around in my head. I know Jesus loves you and I know Jesus loves me and I know he loves us all, may he protect us through this up-and-coming Fiasco. Hang on people we're going back to using black powder guns again, that is if we let him take our other guns. Think about it. Keep ye powder dry!

I shoot .512 ball and paper wad.

My Flintlock seems to shoot best with 70 grains 2ff

Hi, decent video. The old timers power and ball trick went like this. *You place the ball in your palm. Then you pour enough powder to only COVER the ball with powder.* You don't surround the ball, you are adding to much. Isn't .490 the standard .50 cal size?