Thread: Flintlocks anyone

Now mate, the bike stays. I'd sell my kids before I sold my bike. You sure we ain't married?! Actually the wife was surprised when I bought a car years ago (Since been sold). She was sure I would have bought a bike. She was right. Would have saved myself some money if I did. Back on track though, I've always had an interest in flintlocks, so it would take no convincing what-so-ever to get me to own one. The fun funds aren't there to do it though, so it will have to wait until they are back to capacity.


Mick

Originally Posted by MickR

Now mate, the bike stays. I'd sell my kids before I sold my bike. You sure we ain't married?! Actually the wife was surprised when I bought a car years ago (Since been sold). She was sure I would have bought a bike. She was right. Would have saved myself some money if I did. Back on track though, I've always had an interest in flintlocks, so it would take no convincing what-so-ever to get me to own one. The fun funds aren't there to do it though, so it will have to wait until they are back to capacity.


Mick

Mick, Green River Rifles in Adelaide has some good custom secondhand rifles. I did part with a caplock once when I was about 15yrs did not care for the feeling. If you can shoot well with a flintlock, and it is follow through when squeezing off, you will really shoot well with the modern britch loaders. I have been hooked on BP since a small child, and shooting muzzle loaders since about 10 yrs old !!



Cheers

Gordon

So from you old hands at the game, I would like to know what questions I should be asking myself in regards to my needs in a BP.
I already ask myself:-

Whether I would like smooth bore or rifled.

What calibre I should be looking at.

Cap lock or rock lock.

BP or modern hybrids such as Pyrodex or Buckhorn 209 etc.

What can I put down the barrel? ball or shot or both.

How multi-taskable will my choice be with regards to shot and smooth or rifled barrel choice be

What advice would you give a new bloke looking into this game? How would you start him off? What are the pros and cons of what you would recommend?

My personal thoughts on what I think I want is a flintlock Kentucky rifle in .50cal. Would this be a good choice for range and open/scrubby country hunting?

What accessories would be the minimum requirement for shooting BP? What would be a standard set of accessories for a self sufficient BP shooter where making your own BP is not going to be included, but just about everything else would be if it can be?

Pardon my ignorance in the subject matter. I do intend to get some books on the subject to learn as much as I can too. This is a terrible thing you've done Gents. I usually get involved in the study of a subject before I get into it full on. This appears to me to be the beginnings of my study stage.


Mick

No Flintlocks, but a couple 'o .44 cal cap 'n ball pistolas. Muzzle lodin' iz fuhn! An smokey too. (I ment tew. Dern spelcheker iz bustid)

havent got around to go to get my gun all set up yet but went to the guy that sold me the one i posted and he let me shoot his other 50cal and man are they fun, i definitally want to get mine ready and get some more practice before the after xmas flintlock season here in pa.

Caps work but ain't nowhere as satisfying as the rock.

caliber for what you expect to be shooting.

projectile for what you expect to be shooting.

powder is black, balls are round.

i played with percussion and i U-turned right when "inlines" and scoped front-stuffers became the norm. AND i'm sure that they are still the norm for the deer hunter who uses that stuff to extend his season and/or bag.

BUT when it comes to year-round shooting of BP, I've never met an "in-liner" at those events.

Whatever it is, keep the bore clean and work up a great load. (that's the other great thing about BP is that it makes everybody a handloader).

AS to caliber selection: if you hunt with it, your state may have a minium caliber for large game. Here methinks it's 40. Most folks shoot 50's. Small game, I'd go with a 36 or 40. I hear that the 32's can be a bit fussy-smaller bores are much more affected by fouling (17HMR fine example of that). I love the idea of a smoothbore--which will shoot a ball at a much reduced accuracy, but good enough for close work. I suppose if i did any bird hunting, I'd be much more interested in a smooth. loading shot in the field might get tedious.

my nextest one will be 36 or 40. Smaller burns less powder and makes a pound of lead go further, larger give more power for top loads (always develop a top (hunting/max power/flatter) load and a target load-at least.)

There's no magic in the substitute powders, except for the fact they they are easier to find (flammable solid vs. explosive classification is why). BP can be purchased cheaper than substitutes.

Some ideas from my side of the ball. HTH.

check around there may be a local BP-oriented club who will allow guests to come and shoot a time or two as a prospective member.

oh and you can run shot out a rifled bbl, but i wouldn't do a big bunch of it w/o expecting a bit of leading. MOF it might be difficult to load with a tight patch/ball until it's scrubbed out. It's much less hassle to use a ball in a smooth. BUT that's no good for ranges..say much over 50 yards.

Sorry i went on a ramble and missed some of your Q's, but i'm done for now, more later.

one more: for FLINT: you'll need: spare flints, priming powder, vent pick, main powder, patch material, patch knife, balls, ramrod. possibly a short-starter.

for Percussion: substitute: caps for flints, nipple wrench for vent pick.

Originally Posted by MickR

So from you old hands at the game, I would like to know what questions I should be asking myself in regards to my needs in a BP.
I already ask myself:-

Whether I would like smooth bore or rifled.

What calibre I should be looking at.

Cap lock or rock lock.

BP or modern hybrids such as Pyrodex or Buckhorn 209 etc.

What can I put down the barrel? ball or shot or both.

How multi-taskable will my choice be with regards to shot and smooth or rifled barrel choice be

What advice would you give a new bloke looking into this game? How would you start him off? What are the pros and cons of what you would recommend?

My personal thoughts on what I think I want is a flintlock Kentucky rifle in .50cal. Would this be a good choice for range and open/scrubby country hunting?

What accessories would be the minimum requirement for shooting BP? What would be a standard set of accessories for a self sufficient BP shooter where making your own BP is not going to be included, but just about everything else would be if it can be?

Pardon my ignorance in the subject matter. I do intend to get some books on the subject to learn as much as I can too. This is a terrible thing you've done Gents. I usually get involved in the study of a subject before I get into it full on. This appears to me to be the beginnings of my study stage.


Mick

What he said Mick......think of it this way. Rifled is just that which equals distance with accuracy. Smoothbore means shotgun which is of course closer range and can shoot both shot and slug and nails,glass and all sorts of nasty things. Back in the 1600's smoothbore was the predominent rifle.Folks russled up all kinds of grub from ducks to deer. French Charleville's were 69 caliber and real rock crushers..meaning good egniters....(the french standard armement) Brtish Brown bess was 75 cal. and equally dependable . Both
were sort of the Ak's of the day....always ready ,always dependable and could take the punishment as it were,, Done.....

And also as he said 30-40 for smaller game.Usually a settler had a squirrel rifle and a deer/home protection rifle.

[QUOTE=MickR;1029979]So from you old hands at the game, I would like to know what questions I should be asking myself in regards to my needs in a BP.
I already ask myself:-

Whether I would like smooth bore or rifled.
Shotgun or rifle, historic or concept, all personal prefference

What calibre I should be looking at.
As stated 50 is the most common but depends on what you are shooting at.

Cap lock or rock lock.
Both have their place, really comes to preference. However I tend to steer new commers to cap just for safety.

BP or modern hybrids such as Pyrodex or Buckhorn 209 etc.
Again prefference, some areas are harder than others to get real black powder, so check local availability. Some guns don't like some powders... that gets fun...

What can I put down the barrel? ball or shot or both.
Rifled means an aimed shot, smooth not so much Rifled tubes can handle ball or slug depending on rate of twist. Industry standards tend tward 1:66 or 1:48 66 works better with round ball while faster works better with "bullet" shapes, 48 tries to do both and you get mixed results...

How multi-taskable will my choice be with regards to shot and smooth or rifled barrel choice be
See above... oops

What advice would you give a new bloke looking into this game? How would you start him off? What are the pros and cons of what you would recommend?
Buy a quality gun period, cheap BP arms are problematic at best. T/C is a good off the shelf gun and will serve you MANY years. Mine is still going strong after 30 years. I'm a traditionalst so I can't say anything about inlines other than I don't like them

My personal thoughts on what I think I want is a flintlock Kentucky rifle in .50cal. Would this be a good choice for range and open/scrubby country hunting?
Depending on maker and size of game you intend to hunt, assuming your asking about a hunting arm... a quality make Kentucky style flinter in 50 cal would do well for avg size dear out to 100yds with practice. With my Hawken I often passed 100yd shots unless it was purfect. Know your load and EVERYTHING about your shot. I've become addicted to the single shot lifestyle, muzzleloaders, single shot handguns, and long guns. I study everything about my prey and terrain along with what my shot will and WILL NOT do.

What accessories would be the minimum requirement for shooting BP? What would be a standard set of accessories for a self sufficient BP shooter where making your own BP is not going to be included, but just about everything else would be if it can be?
Now this is where is gets insane fast... ask my wife Bare bones minimum besides Lock stock and barrel Cleaning rod can double as a loading rod, patch and ball worm... trust me you will need this your entire hobby a bucket and patches for cleaning hot soapy water works wonders, caps or rocks... Ugh this could go on for hours, you need to get a posables bag big enough to put all you kit together in. Many shops have pre made set ups and it really can go on from there... Once you get really hooked you'll be scrounging the junk yards for old lead pipes and any pure lead you can get your hands on, just remember to get the 8 25lb ingots you just got a great deal on HIDDEN away from nosey feet that may kick them on accident... trust me on that

Pardon my ignorance in the subject matter. I do intend to get some books on the subject to learn as much as I can too. This is a terrible thing you've done Gents. I usually get involved in the study of a subject before I get into it full on. This appears to me to be the beginnings of my study stage.
There are many find "starter" books out there these day, but even the older books work because not alot has changed in the basics of BP. Sam Fadalla wrote some great books back when I started and most of that info is still spot on today... unless you go inline... I'm currently reading two books from the 1930's and most of that info transfers straight across the ages

Mick...go back a few post to where I gave Nessmuck the links for muzzleloader magazine.The reason.Most of the people that write articles for that mag are and were living history buffs. some to the point that when they went on hunting trips,they had their kit in full real working order just like time never changed.A fella by the name of Mark Baker in particular from Texas is a good source writer for that mag.He is/was a longhunter reenactor and is bonifide in his wood skills. Historical or no that mag is still tops for BP information.