Any thoughts or suggestions on english heavy dragoon pistol

[Luis hernandez]

Hello,I am waiting for a english heavy dragoon flintlock pistol in 54 caliber and need any feedback from anybody shooting this type of pistol,as in how many grains of ff in the main charge, any experiences they might have had both positive and negative.This will be my first kit gun that I am attemtpting to build. Thank you for any information.PS I really love this forum as I have learned alot ! Best regards-luis- :hatsoff:

 

[Zonie]

Luis: Welcome to the forum! :hatsoff:

Although I don't have one of the pistols your getting, I thought some load information might help you.
The Lyman Black Powder Handbook shows several loads for a .54 cal rifled pistol with an 8 inch barrel. Even if your pistol is a smooth bore as many of the English Dragoon Flintlocks were, the load data should be usable in your gun.

I might mention that because your pistol is a flinglock, it will need to use real black powder, both for the priming in the pan and for the main charge.
The synthetic powders like Pyrodex and 777 require real black powder in the area of the vent as a starter for them.

The powder loads for shooting a .530 diameter patched roundball ranges from 35 thru 50 grains which produced velocities ranging from 792 to 939 FPS when 2Fg powder was used and from 909 to 1044 FPS when 3Fg powder was used.

zonie

 

[Luis hernandez]

Thank you Zonie for the warm welcome and information, Do you mean I cannot use pyrodex? only real blackpowder? Thanks again-Luis-

 

[torn moc]

You will have alot of problems with ignition if you try to anything but Real Black Powder in a Flintlock.
I have been wanting one of those pistols too!
let us know how it shoots..
Oh yea...WELCOME TO THE BEST MUZZLELOADING FORUM!
Lots of great people here!!and Our Moderators are very knowledgeable!

 

[Zonie]

Pyrodex in the pan will ignite from the sparks off of the frizzen maybe once in 15 trys. When it does, it won't "flash" or "explode", it will just burn a little faster than smokeless powder.

A flintlock needs a flash of the pan powder to send the flame thru the barrels vent (touch hole) to ignite the main powder charge in the barrel.

Pyrodex and the other synthetic powders all have a ignition temperature of 800 degrees F or higher.
This means the feeble flash from the pan won't heat it high enough to ignite.

If you use real black powder in the pan to get the flash the gun needs, it still will have a very hard time getting the main charge of Pyrodex to ignite. Using real black powder in the pan and Pyrodex in the barrel will get the gun to fire maybe once every 5 times.

Real black powder has a ignition temperature of about 450 degrees F which makes it fairly easy to ignite. That is why it works so well in both the pan and in the barrel.

Some folks who have some Pyrodex or other synthetic powders on hand and want to shoot them in a flintlock will save their black powder for priming the pan and to put maybe 5-10 grains (by volume) down the barrel and then load the Pyrodex on top of it.
This does work because the pan flash is good and the powder at the vent is real black powder. When the black powder in the barrel ignites it will fire the Pyrodex reliably.

zonie