[TXnorton]

I finally got the flintlock dialed in at 50 yards. Shooting a flintlock is a bit different than a modern centrfire rifle or even a percussion muzzle loader. It has taken me a bit of time to get used to it.

Pedersoli/Cabela's Blue Ridge in .54 cal

90 grains FFg, 530 RB with a 0.015" pre-lubed patch.

Now back to the 100 yard range.

[Gatekeeper]

Nice shooting TX!!
Im doing some work on mine now. PA flintlock season comes in on friday.

[c3shooter]

Always seemed to me to be something like:
1. Pull trigger
2. Light a smoke
3. Call Dominos, order the large pepperoni
4. Check sight alignment (target may have blown away)
5. Tip the kid form Dominos
6. Recheck aim
7. Inventory contents of range bag
8. Count fired casings on ground on next door station.
9. Recheck aim
10. BOOOOM! (hack, choke, cough)
11. wait for smoke to clear, check target (faded from sun exposure)

[Gatekeeper]

When well tuned with half-a-pan of DRY powder, a flintlock should be almost as fast as a modern firearm. A little moisture, worn flint and then you get a delay or a dreaded hangfire. Fsssssssssss...ssss.sss.ssss..s.BOOM!
Does teach you to "follow-through" on your shots.
My so called "semi-custom" flintlock would hardly ever go off in damp/wet conditions, while my buds cheaper TC will fire in a thunderstorm. A little research and investigation showed the frizzen cover had a gap 3/4 of the way around the pan. Been filing and fitting and even bending the frizzen cause its so out of spec. Dont think I'll ever get it perfect.
No wonder Austin&Halleck went out of business! Sorry for the rant

TX thats some great accuracy using patched round balls. I've never fired round balls myself. Did you have to do much experimenting with ball diameter and patch thickness??
Im lucky if I get close to that using conicals
---Gate

[TXnorton]

Gate:

Thanks. Both of my .54 cal muzzleloaders have a slow 1-66" twist, so all I'll be able to shoot is PRB's.

I have shot my .54 percussion Hawken (Pedersoli Rocky Mountain) a lot more than the flintlock. It shoots great at 100 yards (at least as good as my old eyes can hold a target).

The flintlock was a challenge for me. I started off at 100 yards with the same load as I used in my Hawken (100 grains of FFg). But I was lucky if I was able to put half the rounds on paper. So I cut back the powder to 80 and then 90 grains and moved to the 50 yard range to see what was happening.

C3 has it right (albeit a bit exaggerated). I finally figured out that I was relaxing after I pulled the trigger, and that with the (ever so slight) delay in main ignition, I was letting the rifle drift off to the right. So I started concentrating on holding steady through the main firing. That simple realization made all of the difference. Now I have to see if I can follow through and shoot as well back at the 100 yard range.

The flintlock and the Hawken have different rifling (the flintlock is shallower). I am still "breaking in" both rifles (less than 200 RB's through each so far. I started out with the .530" RB's with a 0.010" prelubed patch and then moved up as the barrel broke in (smoothing the edges on the rifling lands). The Hawken seems to like the 0.535" RB with a 0.010" patch right now. After some more shooting I'll try the .0535" RB and a 0.015" patch. The flintlock seems best a with a .530 " RB and a 0.015" patch.

[whirley]

I've found that slightly more than a light coating of 4F in the pan of my flintlock, plus making sure the touch hole is filled with powder gives me the fastest ignition. That way, the powder flash ignites the powder charge in the barrel. I wipe with a slightly damp alcohol patch after every shot. That includes the bore, flint, pan and frizzen. Granted, reloading is slow but it eliminates misfires. I have a musket style lock, with a one inch flint, so there's lots of sparks in a large pan..

[Tgeorge]

fired by an experienced person have very fast lock times.

I HAVE shot "Treasure Island" style flinters with the click, fissst, boom shot.

But mine have well timed and polished lock parts, sharp flints and vent inserts that have coned vent holes which speed up the ignition time.

[Joe M]

Nice shooting TXnorton.

Here's a picture of some targets I shot a few weeks ago at the local range with my .45 Dickert Flintlock. It has a 42" barrel that is 13/16" across the flats with a 1 in 60 twist - .010 depth rifling. All shooting was done offhand.



The P-dog and bear were shot from 25 yards, the low right target from 50 yards, and the upper target from 100 yards. All four targets have five shot in them.

My load was 55 grains of 3fg Goex - .018 spit patch with .445 hornady ball, and 4fg for prime.

Come hunting season I'll change my load (as I usually do) to 65 grains of 3fg and I'll use a .018 prelubed patch. The 55 grains & spit patch used on the above targets is my target load.

[quigleysharps4570]

Originally Posted by Tgeorge

But mine have well timed and polished lock parts, sharp flints and vent inserts that have coned vent holes which speed up the ignition time.

Yep...and priming powder makes a difference too. Swiss Null B is the fastest I've used. Course that's just comparing to Swiss 4f and Goex 4f.