Bought my first Flintlock -

[Jacko50]

On Monday I bought this 45 Calibre Pedersoli Scout. The Photo's ordinary and does not show up how pretty this Rifle is. The stock has good figure, the fake Case Hardening looks good and it's nicely blued. Brass is polished up nice.



In Queensland Australia as part of the Licencing and Registration of Firearms ownership we need to purchase and have a Permit to Acquire a Firearm approved before you can take delivery. I bought the PTA at the same time I bought the Rifle so before I can pick it up from the Gunshop I need to wait for the PTA to be issued. Last PTA I waited 5 months, hoping this one arrives next week

I've made or ordered the various other Accouterments so am good to go - except for the PTA.

regards Jacko

 

[pargent]

Hopefully they have their collective acts together and you get your pta in under 2 weeks

 

[84bronze]

Nice looking rifle. That's a rough process! What do you do if you want to give that to your kids?

Is it the same process to build your own ML?

 

[Jacko50]

Thanks Folks, sure am looking forward to taking delivery. The Boys at the Gunshot where telling me that Weapons Licencing have there act together at the moment, should be a 5 -7 working Day wait

Technically in Queensland we cant do any Gunsmithing legally at Home, should all be done at a registered Armoury. As I understand it Kits are not available because of this Legislation. As for handing on Heirloom Firearm they must posses a Licence to own that Catorgory Firearm. A.22 and Shotgun are Cat A, Centrefires and Muzzleloaders are CatB. The Firearm must be rendered permanently and irreversibly
inoperable if they are not Licensed

Looking forward to the steep learning Curve, never Fired a Flintlock, only spent a weekend shooting a Percussion Rifle

regards Jacko

 

[CG6018]

Best wishes with your new flintlock. I purchased this identical rifle for my grandson when he turned 12, in preparation for his first year of hunting our Pennsylvania "flintlocks only" season.
It is an accurate rifle, and performs well in the whitetail woods.

If I remember correctly, I helped him settle on a 50 grain charge of FFFg, a .445 round ball, and a .015 prelubed patch. It would regularly shoot 3" groups at 50 yards off a bench rest. He struggles with accuracy off-hand, and tends to use too much priming powder causing a delayed ignition. He turned 20 this past February, and now totes a grandpa-built, full sized late Lancaster style flintlock with a 42" .50 cal. barrel. The Scout matches it on the range. :wink:

Good luck with yours, and the cliché "aim small to miss small" certainly applies to flintlock success. :thumbsup:

 

[Alden]

I do like the look and feel of those handy guns. And a quality investment -- have fun and be safe!

 

[Jacko50]

Good info on your Grandsons Scout 1776Patriot. I have purchased a .440 Roundball Mould and 15thou Patches to start load development with. I also bought a 200 gr Lee REAL Mould for when I hunt those slightly larger tougher Critters

I'm a heavy handed type and nothing surer than I'd put to much Powder in the Pan from a Flask or Horn so I bought a 3 gr Priming Flask. I considered the Frontier Model but decided it was too unwieldy for my purposes. It would also be to long for the Gunsafe

There's a few Black Powder Folks around the Ridges and I'll be seeking their Guidance. No use relearning their mistakes, then again sometimes I need to make mistakes in order to learn

regards Jacko

 

[hanshi]

Years ago I owned, shot and killed lots of deer with a .50 Pedersoli Cub. The Cub differs (as far as I can tell) from your rifle in that the Cub has a patchbox. Both are great rifles and are high quality. If the flint lock gives you any trouble be sure and tell us so help can be had.

 

[dikman]

Well done, Jacko, you'll have a ball with that. I have a Frontier that I'm still trying to get to shoot right (but I'll get there, nothing like a challenge!). Flinters are a lot of fun, but can be frustrating at times. Pedersoli use a patent breech system, and when I pour the powder down I give the rifle a couple of sharp raps near the lock, the theory being that it settles the powder down in the breech. I don't know if it makes any difference, but seems to work for me. As long as the flint is good I get reliable ignition.

I'm also using 3f for priming, mainly 'cos my supply of 4f is limited. I sieve it through a kitchen sieve first, which removes the worst of the larger grains, and use one of those 3 gn dispensers. I've found I don't actually need much priming powder in the pan to get good ignition.

When you fire, concentrate on the front sight/target so you don't get distracted by the ignition flash. It's never bothered me, but some people have real trouble with that.

Above all, have fun.

 

[Spikebuck]

In Queensland Australia as part of the Licencing and Registration of Firearms ownership we need to purchase and have a Permit to Acquire a Firearm approved before you can take delivery. I bought the PTA at the same time I bought the Rifle so before I can pick it up from the Gunshop I need to wait for the PTA to be issued. Last PTA I waited 5 months

Jacko...that one ought to serve you well. Flintlocks are a lot of fun!

For those of us in the U.S.A: What happened in Australia with all the licensing, etc is a good lesson and why the N.R.A. sometimes acts "radical." Can't give the anti-gunners one single inch!

 

[Jacko50]

Dikman thanks for the tip with sieving the 3f. Powder in my neck of the woods is $82 a Kilo [ 2.2 # per Kilo] so I din't want to buy a Bottle each of 3f and 4f, rather buy 2 Bottles of 3f

As for the Pan Flash, we'll see ! I'm not too concerned and will focus on my sight picture and follow through. Decades of Primitive Archery have taught me top skills in Focus and Form throughout the shot process, I'll be keeping this in mind

I have a Hunt next weekend, likely to bump into Goats, maybe a Pig and there's the odd Fallow Deer but there's no way I'll have time to sort out the Scout before then - Mmmm - Hunt or go to the Range and sort this Rifle [assuming PTA comes through] - Frustrating !

Spikebuck, theres no way these Restrictions will ever be relaxed in this Country, a generally apathetic Public that does not realise their Freedoms are being taken away by their Elected Representatives and that this gives too much control and Power over their Lives to Big Brother. I know Canada adopted similar restrictive Legislation but saw some sense and repealed some of it.

regards Jacko

 

[Many Klatch]

Jacko, when you get the gun in your hands, a good way to practice that won't use any powder is to replace the flint with a piece of wood the same size and dry fire. You can concentrate on hold, trigger squeeze and sight picture that way without having to go to the range.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

See how fat your frizzen spring is. Id have it checked for poundage. They are sposed to be 13-15 lbs, mine was 330 lbs, and snapped the frizzen off on the 8th shot, took 10 months of trying to get one, to just make one fit.
Nice lookin piece

 

[Alden]

Jacko;
So you don't step on his toes, one of your Aussie brothers here is against our 2nd Amendment and has stated he was GLAD of the restrictions placed on you; he was bowing and scraping to your government for saving you lot and any privelage you kept to have something at all to shoot.

 

[Jacko50]

Great tip Many, I'll set to whittling a couple of Wood replica's through the week.

Johnny I have not examined the Rifle that closely, I'll keep your comment in mind but as a rank newby wouldn't have much of a Clue. The Gunshop I bought it at has an outstanding Gunsmith and the Wholesaler Graeme Forbes is good to deal with and very knowledgeable so I will get great service and advice from them if there are ever any issues. You get used to waiting for Firearms bits and pieces in Australia also !

Alden, Yeah I'd read that thread, free speech goes both ways so whether or not one agree's People are entitled to their views

regards Jacko

 

[Alden]

Might wanna replace ramrod with one of those already-sized plasticky rubberry fiberry brown ones.

 

[dikman]

Jacko, my apologies for digressing a little here, but in the case of guns it's not necessarily an apathetic public that's the problem. At the same time that the gun restrictions came in a cultural shift was happening. Most of us "oldies" grew up with a rifle of some sort in the house (even if your dad wasn't really a hunter) and many kids had air rifles of some sort. Because of the restrictions brought in you had to have a licence to keep a firearm, so for many "casual" owners it was too much trouble to keep one - which, of course, was doubtless part of the "plan". Thus, kids were less exposed to them and also discovered computer games!

Since joining a club, and the SSAA (Sporting Shooters Assoc. of Australia) I've become much more aware of the politics behind all this. You may not realise it, but per capita of population the SSAA has more members (firearm owners and shooters) than the NRA, which means we have a significant voting bloc - IF we can ever get organized!! (The SSAA is working on it). We also have one other problem is this country - getting shooting organizations to work together for the common good! . We have two primary bodies representing shooters - the SSAA and Pistol Australia. PA represent pistol shooters (obviously) and their main aim is to send members to the Olympics (legally, the only reason you can own a pistol here is to compete in competitive (club) sports). The problem is that PA won't talk to SSAA. I simply don't understand what is wrong with these people, if the two peak shooting bodies here could co-operate, THEN we would have the numbers to change things, politicians could not ignore us. It's all a numbers game, the more members that the SSAA can get the stronger they become politically - which we have to, if we want to keep the pollies in check!

Again, my apologies, and all this aside you've got a nice gun there :thumbsup: .

 

[Col. Batguano]

How and where do you measure the frizzen spring poundage?

 

[Alden]

A Brownells Feather Spring Weight Set?

 

[jbridgs]

Hey Jacko,
Congrats on the new smokepole! I'm in Brisbane and recently purchased a Lyman arms Great Plains in .50 .. I have a few mates who shoot the holy black and I have been doing reenactment with one of the napoleonic mobs for a few years.

I'm wanting to start with the rendezvous stuff at the ssaa ranges, there's a great body of knowledge there.

I have some 3f and a heap of 2f, but yet to get any 4f.. Really expensive stuff.

Bit of advice - local stores will gouge you for BP stuff, check out green river rifle works or Viceroybooks for accessories.

I did my last few PTAs online and had them in a week. Worth doing.