This is for all those who have expressed interest. Especially Dale and Nav. I know there are others involved, and that Dale knows who they are. But I don't.
I just wanted to say thank you ALL very much. And here is the result of your outreach.
I finally got a chance to get you Friday and do some shooting. I was actually impressed. I tried a 18 blue ticking patch, washed - a bunch of months old with mink oil - 490 and 60 gr 3F Goex. Bad move here. This combination was waaayy too tight. I got it to seat eventually and fired off. Not exactly sure where the ball hit. My target was posted up on another guy's backer when he was done. And I didn't mark the previous hits.
So being semi smart here, I switched to the red ticking and spit. O,,, she seated just fine and smooth over 50 gr of 3F. And here's the nine I fired. 50 yards benched.
The flint : as supplied. I believe it's a Kibler. I did try a black English with flat top from Track but it was much too thick to fit into the jaws.
7/8 x 1.
I expected low hits. I know this target paper well from my days competing with M14 and M1A. It's the TQ-4 100 yd small bore. 14 in paper and 7.5 in aiming black. I used a 6 o'clock hold as I could actually see the front sight fairly well -- even using these "computer" glasses. Yes, the aiming black was a touch fuzzy as it should be. Well, maybe a bit more than a "touch". Anyway, Rick got the sights aligned just fine as you can see. I am going to shoot this recipe again before dealing with the front sight. The group is near 12 in low from center. Guess the goal is to reach POA but that could be a trick.
Included is a pic of the pan. Didn't clean it off between shots. Has some thin cake which cleaned up with some good rubbing at home. Barrel was cleaned with water only. followed by several patches to get some of the water out. Let sit for a bit muzzle down, then an alcohol patch, sit again, then a barricade patch. Yeah, she's sitting face down now but will do another barricade patch later. I think she's happy.
SO the cold is coming and I hope to get another outing but I stiffen up pretty quick. Still, I want to give it another go.
I offer great appreciation to Dale, NAV, and all of you for making this happen for me. I am grateful. And I took Andy 52's advice.