.66 Caliber Flintlock Tower Pistol

[Negan]

Hello,
I am looking at an operational replica and was curious where I could find ammo for this caliber? Does it actually take .66 or is it typically slightly smaller. I am new as you can tell but really would like to get into blackpowder pistol shooting.

Thank You!

 

[Wes/Tex]

TOTW, and others, sell pre-cast round balls. .662" would you be a bore size fit and probably hard to use. Next descending sizes are .648" and .626" and would depend on actual bore size and thickness of patch material. Or, you can load them as military style paper cartridges.

 

[hawkeye2]

Is this one of the guns made in India? If so you will need to wait till you have it in hand and can measure the bore before you buy a mold or balls. There is considerable variation in bore sizes in these guns.

 

[Many Klatch]

A lot of Tower pistols are junk. I have had two. Paid $20 for the last one. The internals of the lock were not hardened. The frizzens often are not hardened. I was able to get both of mine to work eventually. I basically threw all the original lock parts away, drilled new holes in the lock plate and installed better parts. When they work, the Tower pistols are accurate to 15 feet if you use buckshot. There are better ways to get into muzzleloading pistol.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Back in the 60's & 70's Dixie Gun Works sold them and would tune the locks and harden parts for the princely sum of $4.00...them were the days! :wink: They could all stand to have about half their wood schnitzled off to make them have the clean lines of the original Land Pattern Pistols that they copy. :thumbsup:

 

[Negan]

Hi and thank you for the reply. Here are some pics. The gentleman selling said he thinks it was made by a company in Japan called Miroku. I think they ended up making the "Japanese Brownings" as they were called. He said frizzed is properly hardened

Pics of FL Pistol

 

[Negan]

Hello! This was actually manufactured in Japan

 

[Negan]

After doing some research, I feel it may be a .69 caliber.

 

[curator]

Negan: There were variations in quality when these guns were being made for import into the US. While you may be looking at one of the better made examples, most were relatively low quality and improper metallurgy. Lock parts were too soft, frizzens not hardened, poor lock geometry, etc. They were sold as "reenactor grade" replicas, not shooters. Many of these were purchased and "upgraded" by knowledgeable people. I had one bought in the mid-60s that needed a lot of work to get it to shoot reliably. Even then, the bore was not the same diameter from breech to muzzle! The "Indian-made" reproductions being imported today are much better made and can be made to shoot very nicely, although some may need more work than others. Check out Loyalalist Arms for inexpensive but good quality flint lock pistols. http://loyalistarms.freeservers.com/handguns-01.html

 

[AFMSgt]

Tell you what Negan, if you don't want to buy that, just let me know where it is and I will.

 

[Wes/Tex]

IF someone has adjusted and hardened the lock parts it's probably a shooter. Dixie used to do that on orders for an additional $4.00 back in the day. They can all stand the removal of a lot of extra wood so they'll have the lines of the originals.

 

[Flintlock_bob]

I have one of those I bought new in kit form. My lock doesn't say Tower on it. It is sold as .69 but is undersized, I cast .65 balls for mine.

The lock internals are pretty rough with no briddle. However as long as I keep the flint and frizzen wiped clean it goes Bang! I enjoy shooting itfrom time to time.

I will say the lock out of the box was far more reliable than my Pedersoli Harper Ferry lock which I had to ship out to Cabin Creek Muzzle Loading for work.

 

[Many Klatch]

Negan, if you can get that pistol for less than $100 go for it. If they are asking over $400 pass. In between those prices its up to you how bad you want it.