Old Jukar .45 caliber rifle: Total muzzle loader newb

Hello All,

I have an 30-40 yr old .45 caliber Jukar (Made in Spain) black powder rifle that was abandoned in my house over and my relative does not want it, has given it to me (yes, I still have the email from 20 years ago).

It appears to be unloaded (ramrod goes all the way in, can see nothing down the barrel, not that I stuck my eyeball down it).

It is very dirty (as in dust and dirt) but otherwise looks to be in good condition.

I have no manual, could not find one on the internet.

I have never owned, loaded, fired a black powder rifle, although I hunt regularly and bow hunt. I do not know any of the terminology of a muzzle loader other than muzzle. No idea what type and quantity of powder to use, what type primer/cap to use.

How can I get started getting this thing cleaned up to use.

A free rifle is a free rifle.

Thanks

Does the barrel come off that rifle? If not you will have to work with it in the stock. Normally there are wedges that hold the barrel to the stock. But on my old Jukar there were actually bands that held the barrel into the stock. And I don't think those bands are made to be removed.

Do you have access to an air compressor? If so, hold the jet air head to the top of the nipple and let fly. See what blows through or what don't. It might blow out a lot of dust, or be totally clogged. If its clogged, dump some penetrating oil down the bore. Tilt the rifle to the edge, nipple facing down, in a place (like outside) where if the oil suddenly breaks through it will not damage anything.

First thing I would do is get a nipple wrench and see if you can get the nipple out of the rifle. If the rifle is as old as your saying, it may be hard to do. You might have to put some penetrating oil down the bore, and around the nipple. Sometimes heating the nipple and then trying to get it to move works. If you don't want to attempt the nipple as it is frozen, then there are a couple ways you can proceed.

Tilt the rifle so the nipple is facing down ward. Open the hammer. And with the rifle in that position, pour some boiling water down the bore of the rifle. The water should come out through the nipple. If not then the drum is clogged. And that can be very possible. If nothing comes out the nipple, then start swabbing the bore of the rifle with hot soap and water. Get some cleaning jags, and lots of patches. Then keep working wet patches down the bore.

If water does come out, and you can get the barrel off, give the rifle a bath. You submerge the nipple and breech end of the rifle under water. A coffee can works good for that. And begin pumping the water through the bore of the rifle and the nipple.

As you clean the bore more and more of years of crud will come out of the barrel. You can drop a bore light down them. If you have no bore light, a rolled up ball of tin foil, smaller then the bore of the rifle, down and then a strong flashlight to the edge of the bore will reflect light in the bore and you can get a little view of what might be in there.

But lets say the nipple comes out, the barrel comes off, and its not loaded. Give the rifle a soap and water bath. After the bath, I would use some gun solvent and work the bore with patches of that. You might never get a clean patch. But if you get them to light gray, you might have to be happy. When you get the bore as clean as possible, oil the bore. Now with some JB Bore Paste, I would scrub that bore at least 100 strokes. Then clean the rifle again. And oil the bore again.

Once you have the rifle as clean as possible, inspect the rifle close. Look for cracks in the stock and rusting around the breech plug and nipple area. If it looks good you might be able to shoot it. If you have doubts of your skills, take it to a gun smith.

When you are ready to shoot, a .440 ball and patch over 35 grains of 3f powder would be a good starting load. See how the rifle fires. You can always move up in powder. But with that old of a rifle and it being a Jukar I would not go over 80 grains of 3f powder.

Thanks for the advice!!! rayer:

There is a band that holds the barrel to the stock.

There was nothing I could see in the nipple (the channel from the barrel that screws in?) that was blocked. No apparent powder build up, etc.

I boiled a cup of water, added some detergent, and poured it down the barrel. The water flowed very freely.

Put some patches down the barrel to dry it. They were fairly clean coming out. Looked like dust stuck to the patches, no powder residue. I cleaned the barrel with my .45 brush and Hoppes solvent, then dry patches again until "clean". Again, no powder residue!

Turned out the room lights and just shined a small LED flashlight down the barrel and could see light coming from the nipple.

Will try oiling and removing the nipple tomorrow.

The trigger seems very stiff. Any advice on how to clean/lubricate it would be helpful.

It may be this rifle was hardly ever fired. I have no way of finding out.

Pic of Jukar. The stock is in excellent condition. This is before I cleaned it. Very little apparent rust.

Here is a pick of the whole rifle. Still has the original rod and the stock is in good condition.

I thought the thing that screwed into the barrel (is that the breech plug?) was the nipple.

Turns out it is the silver thing that screws in to the channel (nipple) that goes into the barrel (breech plug?) came right out.

No rust around the thing that actually screws into the barrel (breech plug?).

Yes I know I sound like a moron. Youtube does help on occasion.

The nipple is directly under the nose of the hammer in the drum/bolster. In your case, drum. The nipple is threaded so it can be turned in and out of the drum. A nipple wrench is needed.

Since the water flowed freely through the rifle bore. And you have it dry... take a patch and wet it with rubbing alcohol/isopropyl alcohol that you get from a pharmacy. Swab the bore with that. It will remove water left in the bore. Then dry patch the barrel until when you touch the patch to your skin, you feel no moisture. Now put some quality gun oil on a patch and swab the bore. Wipe off all metal surfaces on the outside of the rifle and you're protected.

The trigger can be tricky. Sometimes over the years they get all gummed up. And in some rifles to remove them is a real PITA. So I am not sure I will tell you to do that. The problem might be in the lock though. You can remove the lock. Normally there is a screw on the opposite side of the lock. Take that out. Cock the hammer, and then wiggle the lock plate. It will come out. Again, with brake cleaner outside, spray the back side of the lock good. Watch your eyes. The Q tip around the fly and other parts of the lock. They too get gummed up with age. Then just wipe it down with oil and I like to put a drop of oil on moving parts of the lock. Put it back in the rifle and try that again. It might solve your problems.

It looks like to me that you have one of those "Hot Shot" nipples that is a two part nipple. The top unscrews off the nipple and the primer is placed under the top part for better ignition. It will just unscrew like a regular nipple though and as cayuga stated a nipple wrench comes in handy to remove it but I have removed the one I have on my TC New Englander with needle nose pliers.

Looks like you got a really nice gun though!

Thanks guys. You are a wealth of knowledge. I'm old enough that I predated the internet by decades. Would have taken a couple months to get this far 30 yrs ago. LOL.

I found the manual for pedersoli rifles online which helped as I didnt know the parts terminology.

Are nipples standardized for size?

Are percussion caps standardized for size?

Looks like I can get the accessories needed from cabelas here in PA. Got that covered. They have powder and balls available.

percussion caps come in #10 and #11 size. #10's are commonly used in black powder revolvers, and pistols. Although there were some European small caliber rifles that used them. #11 are more common here, they are used in most rifles. Then of course there are musket caps used on military rifles and some of the modern rifles. The nipple opening is much larger then the #11 nipple.

If you use #11 caps, make sure you use a good quality one. Pay the extra and get the magnum variety. One brand I had terrible times with were CCI standard caps. Yet the CCI Magnums work wonderful. Winchester Magnum caps are nothing more then relabeled CCI Magnum caps. The Remington Caps work well. And if you see Dynamite Nobel 1075 they are an excellent cap.

Cabela's in Hamburg usually has the CCI standard and Magnums, that is where I get mine (Mags). Like Cayuga said get the CCI Mag caps they work great. The nipples can come in different thread sizes too, some are metric and some standard sizes like 1/4 x28. The nipple looks like a standard #11 to me but the pic is not a close up of it. I think what looks like the part that would unscrew for a primer type hotshot is just the flat for the wrench, but I could be wrong. You could always take the nipple with you to Cabela's (since you said it unscrews ok) if you are not sure and they can try a cap on it. Like mentioned get yourself a nipple wrench while you are there.

Looks like a nice rifle too. If that bore is real clean and shiny, you have made out real good!

Hi guys.

I am almost there. The bore looks to be in excellent condition. The nipple is a one piece.

Stopped by Cabelas today and got .440 Hornaday balls and 3F Powder, the pedersoli starter/cleaning kit. Looks like I need nipples with the 1mm thread. #11 caps (CCI, they didn't have magnum) look to be good. The old timer at the black powder section seemed to know his stuff. Went in back to get me the balls as there were non on the shelves. The pickings were looking a little slim, probably as hunting season is closing in.

The one thing I forgot was patches. They have .40-0.49 cal pre-lubed patches, but in different thicknesses including 0.005, 0.01, and 0.02. I am guessing the 0.01 would be good. Is this correct?

I would go to a wal mart or fabric store and get a yard of 100% cotton pillow tick. Red or blue stripe, makes no difference. The wash the cloth in the washing machine but line dry it. Then take some olive oil, add a little water to it if you like. Put that in a old spritz type bottle. Dump 50 grains of 3f powder down the bore... LIGHTLY, AND I REPEAT.. LIGHTLY spritz some of the pillow tick. You can tear the pillow tick into strips, four to five stripes works well for a strip. Spritz one end of it. Lay that over the muzzle. Set your ball in the center of the strip. With your short starter short end, drive the ball under the muzzle of the barrel slightly. Now with a scissors or knife, cut the strip away from the barrel.



spritz the cloth



lay the ball in the center



drive the ball into the muzzle



pinch the cloth together and cut it off just under your fingers.

Now drive the ball and patch down the bore on top of the powder. You're ready to shoot. and one yard of material that might cost you four bucks will last your for hundreds of shots, and since it is not pre lubed... it will never go sour on you.

Cool.
I see some woodland camo in the pic. Marines?

I forget where I purchased that jacket many years ago. Probably from Sportsman's Guide. I always liked them for grouse and pheasant hunting.

Other than the "starter/cleaning kit" I am surprised how inexpensive the components (powder, balls, primers, patches) are for shooting a muzzle loader.

I cast all my own ball and get the lead free from a very nice person :mrgreen: . So for ball and some conical bullets the cost is a little propane and an afternoon in the shop. Powder I purchase in bulk or when I find it on sale. Graf's & Sons sell black powder very reasonable. And if your willing to purchase in bulk, the hazmat shipping fee is not so bad. So yes, having my own rifle range at the house, and shooting near every day, I do pinch a few pennies here and there.

I think you shoot that .45 you are going to like it. I had a Jukar .45 horse pistol. It was pretty accurate actually. But a friend of mine wanted to hang something on the wall of his office like an old rifle or such, so I gave him the Jukar. He later found the matching rifle, like yours, and hung them on the wall in his office.

Funny as it has been sitting unused since about 1980 (just a guess). I was thinking of putting it on the wall when I redo my home office, but got the bug to shoot it. It cleaned up so nicely.

I pulled the trigger apart today, cleaned and oiled it. It has a screw for the trigger tension so I lightened it just a tad, as much as I feel comfortable. No significant rust inside.

I'll probably take it out to the fish and game club next weekend.

When I went to Cabelas I noticed they had Kentucky rifle kits for a little over $300. Given how inexpensive it is to build a muzzle loader, as I am finding out, I am very surprised more people don't do it.

It is a little intimidating to think about measuring and loading powder and ball as opposed to drop a cartridge into a magazine.

Once you get the bug for shooting muzzleloaders, then it is hard to not use them all the time. I started hunting with them 30 plus years ago, and have used them ever since. After you shoot that Jukar, you tell me how much you liked/disliked them. I think I know how you will feel. I will be waiting for your range report.

There are a couple reasons that some people I know don't shoot the muzzleloaders. First they don't like the cleaning and swabbing, too much trouble for them and they don't want to "Have" to clean the rifle right after they are done. Then it is the one shot thing they feel too "limited" or handicapped with only one shot and they don't think they are accurate. Thing is that once a person actually shoots one, they find all that is wrong. I seriously doubt you will find one person on this forum that has been shooting them for a while "Feels" handicapped with only one shot. It is really one of the things we love about them, and seek out that challenge.

Being new to Muzzleloading I would suggest, if you have not done so already, is to read the first 2 stickies at the top of this forum that were written by Cayuga. They are really a great write up and you will find a lot of great, easy to follow techniques. It will help with that little bit of intimidation you might be feeling. Then just practice following them each time you shoot your muzzleloader till they become habit and you will gain more and more confidence, and have more fun.

Welcome to our little world, it is one of the most addicting of the shooting sports and you are where most of us started! Just wait till you blow a big cloud of smoke from that rifle and hit the target! You will be hooked like the rest of us! :lol: