Finally shot my flintlock.

[ShadeTree]

Back in July I got a flintlock a buddy built for me. This afternoon we finally got together to shoot it and see what if anything needed done sight wise, and how it shot, etc.

Shooting off hand at 25 yards my buddy put 4 just under the bullseye and slightly to the left. When I shot it off hand at the same distance I was hitting lower and farther left, but still grouped well considering just starting out with it and off hand. We discussed his definition of holding at the 6:00 position verses mine, as well as what his front/rear sight picture looked like.......he told me to try putting the front sight just below the top of the rear sight and try it. I did that and it put one right in with his.

Not bad at all for just starting out, it will shoot. Didn't try anything else, he was loading it with 80 gr of 2F. It's a 54 caliber. Needs to be moved up slightly which he says he will do by bending the barrel, and the rear sight drifted slightly to the right, but it's close enough to go hunting with if I remember to keep the front sight under the top plane of the rear sight. Late season flintlock is in now.......my side of the family's Christmas get together is this weekend, maybe next week I'll get out weather permitting.

 

[1100 Remington Man]

Enjoy your new smoke pole and good luck. I hope you get one and I am looking forward to your report.

 

[cloverleaf]

Pretty good groups sir! Enjoy- Merry Christmas and good luck! CL

 

[DrMike]

Quite a handsome piece of work. And it does appear to deliver the goods for you. It will be neat to witness vicariously taking game with the rifle.

 

[wvbuckbuster]

That's a good start. If I may make a suggestion, don't bend the barrel. File the front sight down to raise the group. Put masking tape on your barrel around the sight so you don't mess up the finish on the barrel if you make a miss lick. Ask me how I know. Get your load finalized before filing to sight in. This process was shown to me by guys I shot muzzleloaders with for years and it's a proven process. Also, you can use 3F powder. Works fine in my 54 and takes less amount than 2F. Fine looking flintlock and hope you get lots of enjoyment from it. Locking forward to pictures. Dan.

 

[grry10]

What a wonderfully looking rifle and a shooter! I've never owned a flintlock but enjoy my percussion immensely. the thing about muzzleloaders is to allow enough time after shooting to properly clean and it doesn't matter if you shot once or 10 times.

 

[sako2]

Shadetree work with some different powder charges a patch thickness. Get some different thickness cloth and lube it.

 

[ShadeTree]

That's a good start. If I may make a suggestion, don't bend the barrel. File the front sight down to raise the group. Put masking tape on your barrel around the sight so you don't mess up the finish on the barrel if you make a miss lick. Ask me how I know. Get your load finalized before filing to sight in. This process was shown to me by guys I shot muzzleloaders with for years and it's a proven process. Also, you can use 3F powder. Works fine in my 54 and takes less amount than 2F. Fine looking flintlock and hope you get lots of enjoyment from it. Locking forward to pictures. Dan.

If I was working at it myself that's how I'd do it because I wouldn't begin to know how to do it proper otherwise. However this guy has been building flintlocks, shooting, competition shooting, you name it, for 25-30 yrs now. He has rifles but his passion is flintlocks. Got them sitting around everywhere and knows every trick in the book so the easiest thing for me at this point is just to let him do what he knows to do.

I'll try to learn all the intricacies as time goes on and do some experimenting. It's fun to shoot, I know that.

 

[ShadeTree]

Shadetree work with some different powder charges a patch thickness. Get some different thickness cloth and lube it.

Later on next spring we will try some different powder charges for sure and see if something tightens up even more. For right now just to go hunting I'll just stick with the 80 gr charge of 2F

He's using a .521 ball in it with pillow ticking. He washes the pillow ticking in a clothes washer before cutting it in strips. Says it starts out at .018 thickness and ends up at .022 after washing. I forget what for lube he uses on the patches. It's in a small spray bottle.

He gathered up some of the patches strewn on the ground after shooting and inspected them..........said they were frayed some on the edges but not tore up which told him the bore didn't have anything nasty in it, with just some light burrs that will shoot out.

He gave it a good to go on how it was working. We shot 10 shots total and the last ball pushed down the bore just as smooth and easy as the first. He said that tells him everything is getting a good seal all the way down on firing and there's no powder being galled to the side of the bore.

 

[ShadeTree]

What a wonderfully looking rifle and a shooter! I've never owned a flintlock but enjoy my percussion immensely. the thing about muzzleloaders is to allow enough time after shooting to properly clean and it doesn't matter if you shot once or 10 times.

Thanks. It came from a local piece of wood and is a pretty piece of curled maple in my opinion. Turned out nice. Wasn't one of my cheapest guns I have, but I'm glad I got him to make me one.

 

[sako2]

That is a beautiful flintlock. They are a lot of fun.