A Man Has to Know His Limitations!

[Robby]

PastorB, If I were you I would spend some range time tightening up the group by manipulating powder amount, patch thickness, and ball diameter. Bench shooting only and working with one variable at a time. nobody is that bad a shot, nobody. After you get the gun right, then you cn work on your off and skills. Good Luck!!!!
Robby

 

[azmntman]

Robby has NOT been shooting with me on an off day.

signed.....
Nobody

 

[deerstalkert]

Robby has NOT been shooting with me on an off day.

signed.....
Nobody

on my off days, i request anyone watching, or near me to please move to the front of my barrel. they are much safer in front of me than they are behind!

 

[M. De Land]

on my off days, i request anyone watching, or near me to please move to the front of my barrel. they are much safer in front of me than they are behind!

Most of our club consists of geezers like myself and I kid them by saying, "We'll welcome old guys to shoot until they start lining up on the cars in the parking lot thinking they are the target butts !

 

[oreclan]

Concentrate on your front sight also.

Sight alinement, trigger squeeze as we said in the Marine Corps.

 

[45man]

My neighbor has the same problem, Missed a huge cardboard backstop at 50 yards from a millisecond delay. Even from the bench he has trouble.

 

[M. De Land]

My neighbor has the same problem, Missed a huge cardboard backstop at 50 yards from a millisecond delay. Even from the bench he has trouble.

You'd be surprised how many folks are shutting their eyes when the gun fires. It's a reflex form of flinch that needs to be and can be overcome with informed practice.

 

[Robby]

Any personal quirks can be over come by a mindful shooter, first you need a gun you can rely on to shoot consistently. Heck, take a .22 out and shoot it off the bench just to get a feel for it and how you address the situation. I am and old man and have eye problems that require a procedure every two months. I have been struggling to shoot iron sights for the last twelve years. I don't like it, but that is the way things are and to quote myself: 'suck it up and do the best you can with what you got'. I like the shooting sports, it can be frustrating at times but those frustrations are allayed somewhat by knowing I am giving it a no BS honest effort, I make no excuses.
Robby

 

[hanshi]

I guess I was just lucky to start with. Got my first flintlock in the late 1960s after a few years of percussion shooting. From the beginning the pan flash never caught my attention, the front sight was my focus. But then there was no one to tell me that danger lies in the pan flash; so I never developed a fear of it. I have always shot both caplock and flintlock with equal accuracy. But, alas, no more. My vision is now in the toilet and I can't even see the front sight without 1.25 diopter reading glasses. I think I shoot well, not at the target, but what I claim to be alternative targets instead. Sounds better than saying I missed.

 

[nhmoose]

A smaller target may help him. That silhouette is not a target for accuracy IMHO

 

[Blitz]

The much-maligned UK has no tag system that can cost you a fortune, but on the downside has no muzzleloading season of any kind, as they are not deemed 'powerful' enough to deal with UK's deer genres.

Somebody needs to show them the math compared to whatever is now allowed i.e bore size, load, ,projectile weight, f per, second - muzzle energy and foot #s of energy at various ranges compared to allowable cartridge rifles .

Buzz

 

[Grenadier1758]

Sometimes, @bprvan, especially with some government regulations, the facts are interesting, but have no compelling merit in the creation of the regulation.

 

[FishDFly]

Went to the rifle range today with my Pedersoli Frontier in .45 in flint. I am an OK shot with a caplock, but just plain suck with a flinter. All these shots were at 100 yards, circles are off-hand, "X"'s are from a rest. I limit myself to about 40 yards when actually hunting deer, and only about 25 when firing off-hand. Like I said in the title, a fella has got to be aware of his limitations.

Speaking of deer hunting, I live in Missouri and I choose to limit myself with a traditional muzzleloader. We now have an abomination called "Alternative Method Season", whereas we used to have a Muzzleloader Season. You had to chose to buy a modern rifle tag, or a muzzleloader tag. Now anything goes, except regular centerfire rifles for Alternative Season. One tag is good for all seasons, and you can buy as many antlerless tags as you like. The woods used to be empty for ML season, now they are full of guys with modern handguns, including scoped bolt action single shots, and dudes with short barrels AR's with detachable stocks that are qualified as handguns here in MO. If you live in a state that still has real Muzzleloader Season, count yourself very fortunate. Missouri game laws are driven by tags sold by the MO Dept. of Conservation, and car insurance companies wanting to eradicate deer populations to avoid paying claims on deer/car collisions. Yeah, we got big bucks on private ground, if you can afford a $1000 per day deer lease. Commoners like myself are left without options, and since Alternative Season became a reality, the public areas are even packed during that season. I'm done ranting, just as I am about done hunting. Had a good 50 years of so.

if you can afford a $1000 per day deer lease.

Africa is cheaper than what you are quoting.

 

[TFoley]

Somebody needs to show them the math compared to whatever is now allowed i.e bore size, load, ,projectile weight, f per, second - muzzle energy and foot #s of energy at various ranges compared to allowable cartridge rifles .

Buzz

My dear friend Grenadier understands perfectly, and notes the lack of rationale in his post.

YOU know, and I know, that even a 'lowly' .50cal ball - in the right place - can fell a half-ton buffalo or bull-moose right there in its hoof-prints.

Why the PTB here in the UK have decided that no currently available muzzleloader here in UK is capable of doing the same thing with the rather smaller native species must remain conjectural, but my guess is that it is more related to current firearms legislation that it is to actual lethality.

As this is a principally US-based forum, and I've already had a 'shot over the bows' from the administration for discussing the rather odd infringements of Human Rights imposed on us by the UK's Firearms Act, I have to leave it there and withdraw from the discussion.

 

[PastorB]

PastorB, If I were you I would spend some range time tightening up the group by manipulating powder amount, patch thickness, and ball diameter. Bench shooting only and working with one variable at a time. nobody is that bad a shot, nobody. After you get the gun right, then you cn work on your off and skills. Good Luck!!!!
Robby

I've "spent some time at the range", having shot thousands of shots from various guns just in the last few months. Been muzzleloading since the mid 1970's, I am very competent when it comes to load development. As I stated in my original post, I SUCK with a flintlock. Always have, always will. Still love shooting flinters. I accept my limitations, which was the title of the thread I started. As means of comparison, check out my ability with an identical percussion rifle, another Pedersoli Frontier, only difference is ignition. This target was also shot at 100 yards, just a few weeks ago, at the same range and the same exact bench. Top circle is Lee REAL conicals, bottom circle is PRB's. There are around 20 shots in each of those groups. I am that bad of a shot with a flintlock, but tomorrow morning in the Siberian air mass that has invaded North Missouri, I will be in the pre-dawn woods with my flinter waiting for a buck to wander within 20 yards or so.

 

[deerstalkert]

when i started shooting Flintlocks I nearly jumped out of my skin at the pan flash. trying to overcome it i reduced the pan charge to 1/4 of what i thought necessary. ignition got better, the pan flash didn't give me a sun burn any longer, and my flinch disappeared.
now i concentrate on follow through. i try to hold on target after the bang, at least until the smoke clears enough to see the target.
and i still suck at accuracy. though i do achieve hunting accuracy.
one time while shooting with my late father in law, he watched me sight off hand. he, with a grin, asked who i was waving at. but i still strive for better, even knowing my limitations.

 

[Robby]

Staying within ones limitations, especially while hunting should be something we all adhere to. I hope you overcome whatever it is that is causing you so much trouble with your flintlock and only wish you the best.
I would probably let someone else have at it with the gun in question and compare results. Hard for me to believe that someone capable of such groups cannot achieve the same with a gun sporting a different ignition system and leads me to believe it must be the gun itself.
Good Luck!!!!!
Robby

 

[Grenadier1758]

I've "spent some time at the range", having shot thousands of shots from various guns just in the last few months. Been muzzleloading since the mid 1970's, I am very competent when it comes to load development. As I stated in my original post, I SUCK with a flintlock. Always have, always will. Still love shooting flinters. I accept my limitations, which was the title of the thread I started. As means of comparison, check out my ability with an identical percussion rifle, another Pedersoli Frontier, only difference is ignition. This target was also shot at 100 yards, just a few weeks ago, at the same range and the same exact bench. Top circle is Lee REAL conicals, bottom circle is PRB's. There are around 20 shots in each of those groups. I am that bad of a shot with a flintlock, but tomorrow morning in the Siberian air mass that has invaded North Missouri, I will be in the pre-dawn woods with my flinter waiting for a buck to wander within 20 yards or so.

Do you have a fellow shooter, preferably a shooter familiar with flintlocks, who can shoot your rifle? It would be an interesting test to see the groups from different people.

Have you checked the sights in their dovetails for looseness? I have seen groups open up when the sights get loose in the dovetails.

How fast is the lock? Have the internals been tuned to improve the speed of ignition?

Is the touch hole 1/16"?

Your lock must be reasonably reliable, or you wouldn't be considering taking it out to your hunting area.

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

This is my first year with a flintlock and I hope it gets better. I rarely hit anything offhanded, even easy shots. I guess my brain is still on centerfire time. When the smoke clears the squirrel is still there, laughing at me! Sometimes they stick around for the reload until I'm almost done priming the pan then POOF, gone. I hate squirrels.

Years ago I missed a squirrel. It sat on the branch "laughing" at me as well while I reloaded. He was delicious.

 

[PastorB]

Do you have a fellow shooter, preferably a shooter familiar with flintlocks, who can shoot your rifle? It would be an interesting test to see the groups from different people.

Have you checked the sights in their dovetails for looseness? I have seen groups open up when the sights get loose in the dovetails.

How fast is the lock? Have the internals been tuned to improve the speed of ignition?

Is the touch hole 1/16"?

Your lock must be reasonably reliable, or you wouldn't be considering taking it out to your hunting area.

The rifle is very reliable, and as fast as any of my custom flintlocks. I have a percussion lock for the same rifle, 2 minute swap from flint to percussion, or vice versa. Unscrew lock, take out vent liner, screw in drum and nipple, install percussion lock. Shoot it well in percussion mode, I am am just a terrible shot with a flintlock. Still, I prefer the flint, I just wait for a deer to mosey within can't miss range. I have patience, and don't shoot beyond my limit. My usual shot is from about 5 to 15 yards.