"... shards of the sharp stone flying...."
Learning a new skill is a lot of trial and error. For me, mostly error.
I’ve figured out why I was having so many problems getting my flintlock to fire. There are a variety of modern, "fake" explosive compounds used in black powder firearms. But these new fashions of gunpowder have some properties, such as a higher ignition temperature, that make them poor substitutes for the real sulfur, saltpeter and charcoal stuff when it comes to some rifles, such as my flintlock.
This leads to a lot of misfires and long delays between the "click" and the "bang," also producing a variety of other words less fit for print.
Some folks didn’t even think I could fire a flintlock with the powder I've been using.
But the real stuff is hard to find.
But there's a store in Cherryville....
"Anvil1231" on Muzzleloadingforum.com (I’m screenname "jderrick") clued me in to the store where I was able to get some of the real, flintlock-friendly, stuff.
Check out the blog for a video: jderrickstar.blogspot.com. With the right powder and good flints, the rifle fires more reliably than some modern weapons I’ve shot. Everything you’ve ever heard from me or anyone else about flintlocks being difficult is a result of something not being done right. Correctly operating, the machine is willing if the shooter is prepared.
In terms of accuracy, I’m still working through the various variables of patch and lube combinations and such, but getting 7-inch groups at 50-yards I was pretty happy.
But I went out yesterday and my shots were all over the place. It was a mess.
I was trying a new vent liner with a larger passage between the pan and the main charge. Based on some advice on the forum, this was supposed to help the weapon fire even faster.
I’m not sure that yesterday it wasn’t throwing my shots off somehow – it was tearing up plenty of other things. The blast out the vent as the main charge went off was tearing the corners off my flints and sending shards of the sharp stone flying.
That’s why I wear safety glasses over my regular ones.
Funny, I guess. Actually, the entire hobby has a great deal of humor to it – especially sugestive names of the tools and parts of the gun that I have to carefully edit out. I try not to take it too seriously. Life’s a comedy when happening to someone else; a tragedy happening to ourselves.
Or, as quoth Mel Brooks: Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die….
Taking a moment or two out of a day and writing a column about it helps give a little perspective on the humor of it all.
Ear muff hearing protection always gives that Princess Leia look.
I’ve figured out why I was having so many problems getting my flintlock to fire. There are a variety of modern, "fake" explosive compounds used in black powder firearms. But these new fashions of gunpowder have some properties, such as a higher ignition temperature, that make them poor substitutes for the real sulfur, saltpeter and charcoal stuff when it comes to some rifles, such as my flintlock.
This leads to a lot of misfires and long delays between the "click" and the "bang," also producing a variety of other words less fit for print.
Some folks didn’t even think I could fire a flintlock with the powder I've been using.
But the real stuff is hard to find.
But there's a store in Cherryville....
"Anvil1231" on Muzzleloadingforum.com (I’m screenname "jderrick") clued me in to the store where I was able to get some of the real, flintlock-friendly, stuff.
Check out the blog for a video: jderrickstar.blogspot.com. With the right powder and good flints, the rifle fires more reliably than some modern weapons I’ve shot. Everything you’ve ever heard from me or anyone else about flintlocks being difficult is a result of something not being done right. Correctly operating, the machine is willing if the shooter is prepared.
In terms of accuracy, I’m still working through the various variables of patch and lube combinations and such, but getting 7-inch groups at 50-yards I was pretty happy.
But I went out yesterday and my shots were all over the place. It was a mess.
I was trying a new vent liner with a larger passage between the pan and the main charge. Based on some advice on the forum, this was supposed to help the weapon fire even faster.
I’m not sure that yesterday it wasn’t throwing my shots off somehow – it was tearing up plenty of other things. The blast out the vent as the main charge went off was tearing the corners off my flints and sending shards of the sharp stone flying.
That’s why I wear safety glasses over my regular ones.
Funny, I guess. Actually, the entire hobby has a great deal of humor to it – especially sugestive names of the tools and parts of the gun that I have to carefully edit out. I try not to take it too seriously. Life’s a comedy when happening to someone else; a tragedy happening to ourselves.
Or, as quoth Mel Brooks: Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die….
Taking a moment or two out of a day and writing a column about it helps give a little perspective on the humor of it all.
Ear muff hearing protection always gives that Princess Leia look.
posted by John Derrick | 12:55 PM
5 Comments:
OK...a couple of things. Number one...you do not necessarily need a LARGER touch hole to improve ignition with a flintlock. In fact, a larger touch hole will have the effect that you have already noticed, i.e. a lot more powder flash coming out of the gun when fired. It should not be breaking chips off your flint!! The idea is to get the main charge closer to the priming charge, which is accomplished by using a touch hole liner that is "coned" on the inside. That feature accomplishes what you need to do. It makes for quicker ignition as well. When the priming charge goes off, it takes awhile for the flash to burn through the touch hole and ignite the main charge when coning is not present. Rethink the size of the touch hole. You do ot want what is happening with your gun to continue. A larger touch hole also reduces the velocity of your load, although not by much, as some of the gases that would be propelling your bullet are flying out of the barrel at the lock.
Second item, regarding accuracy. Your accuracy, as described in your piece, is abysmal. There are several things to look at when trying to improve accuracy. 1. Are you using too much or too little powder?; 2. What is the rate of twist of the rifling in your gun?; 3. Are you using an approriate ball and patch combination, if you are shooting round balls?; 4. How is your trigger pull?: 5. Are your sights loose?
You may have one or all of these problems and the only way to find out is to work on each one separately, until you have examined and fixed them all, or determined that they are not causing the problem.
Let me know if I can be of help.
Yeah, the advice I'd received about the vent liner was incorrect.
With regards to accuracy, I'm not actually this bad. I've actually been very good with other weapons, such as the M-16 - http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c23/jderrick/m16.jpg
I'm using the 50-60 grains recommended for the piece for accuracy. 1 in 66 twist which is supposed to be very good with a patched round ball. I'm using .490 RB with a .010 Ox-Yoke pre-lubed patch. As far as trigger pull and flinch, I've put video of me firing on Muzzleloadingforum.com and they tell me I'm steady as a rock. I just put on adjustable sights.
I'm going out again this Tuesday. We'll see how it goes.
Sounds like your load is correct. 1 in 66 twist is good for a patched round ball, which needs a slower twist. Elongated bullets need the faster version.
You might want to experiment with the powder charge a little. Recommended charges do not always shoot well in every rifle. You may also want to try a tighter patch; maybe .015". Again, the recommended combination does not always work the same in differen rifles.
At 50 yards, a 7 inch group is far short of the accuracy you should be getting from the gun. I have a .54 caliber mountain rifle that will group one and a half inches from a rest, or better, at that range and am able to keep it under 2.5 inches offhand. My little .38 caliber flinter will put them in one ragged hole at 25 yards, from a rest.
Just keep working on it and you will get better groups, especially as the barrel gets more use. New barrels are typically less accurate than ones with a few hundred rounds through them.
Yeah, HELP, as my accuracy suffers, my self esteem, world outlook... goes down.
I've got some .495 rounds I can try with the patches. I've got some cotton cleaning patches I'd cut down for PRB use and was lubing with canola oil, but a bunch of them were getting blow out, so I've switched over to the Ox-Yoke ones, which I can't find so I don't know what's happening to them.
I agree I'm not getting the accuracy I should. Ahhh! This can be almost as frustrating as golf....
Ox Yoke is a high quality patch. I have used them for years. It is sometimes difficult to find those fired patches so I don't look for them very often, although they can tell you if you are getting a lot of "blow by" meaning you have the wrong patch/ball combination.
One other thing that could be wrong with your gun is the rifling itself. For patched round ball it is good to have deep rifling, .010" or so. Some mass-produced muzzleloaders have much more shallow rifling, as many of them are intended for elongated bullets. Your twist seems to be correct for round ball, but I have to wonder if the rifling is deep enough. A pair of inexpensive calipers can tell the tail on that.
By the way, you can reach me at First National Bank if you would like to talk about the situation in person.
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