First Time Shooting A Flintlock

[The Goose]

I received my new flintlock about 2 weeks ago, but was too busy to make it to the range. Yesterday I made it and all I can say is WOW! Really fun. The rifle is a copy of a JJ Henry Scrollguard made by Steve Losey. Has a 44" Rice barrel in .54. I posted some photos in the photo section, but if you missed it see below.

I used a .530 ball with a lubed .010 patch and 70 grains of FFG as a starting load and FFFFG as a priming powder. I set up a target at 50 yards just to see what my new rifle could do. I ended up firing 12 shots off the bench with a damp wipe of the bore in between each shot. Below is a picture of my target.



The top hole was my first shot followed by the next 3 moving downward till I got the hang of it. The one ragged hole is 8 consecutive shots. I could not be happier with my rifles performance. I am so hooked. Next time I will move it out to 100 yards and start figuring out what she can do.

 

[ord sgt]

Mama don't care that you shoot from the island???? Just keep the door open wide. :grin:
Good looking group. It only gets better as the flint disease grows.

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

Haha ... now BEWARE ... that surely won't be your LAST one either :grin: . Me thinks a nice 62 Fowler smoothie would complement that nicely.

Nice looking arm :thumbsup: to boot!

 

[Alden]

Congrats Goose -- good going all around!

 

[Ken Cormier]

Congrats have fun.

 

[nchawkeye]

That should be a deer killing machine!!!

Enjoy !! :thumbsup:

 

[dcriner]

Nice, Goose!

How noticeable was the delay between the primer and the main charge? (Fhoote - boom.) I have a flintlock pistol that is pretty bad, and is a flinch machine, at least for me. I have a .50 cal rifle, with a Chambers lock that is better.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Great looking rifle! :hatsoff: Critters in your neck of the woods better start keeping a low profile!

 

[BigBoreBLR]

Gun and groups look great.

I hunt with a 54, just enough ball to say overkill, which is much better than underkill.

With those groups, you can play around more with powder. However, I think you're doing good.

Personally, I prefer FFFg. Seems to keep the guns cleaner. Also, that 70gr FFg charge would probably produce the same velocity with only 55-60gr of FFFg.

Curious, whose powder your using?

Keep that lock and tumbler cleaned and lubed and it'll live a long life.

 

[The Goose]

Goex

 

[matt denison]

Very cool gun ( I saw it in the photo forum) and awsome target.

:bow:

 

[Critter Getter]

A big congrats on a nice looking rifle! Don't shoot to shabby either. Have fun!! Greg.

 

[MSW]

hey, look, everybody, another one turned to the dark side!

nice looking rifle, and by the way, very good shooting (especially for a first group) ...

Bambi and his buddies are in trouble fer sure this season ...

keep making good smoke!

 

[stuartg]

Great looking rifle...and some mighty fine shooting for the first time!

 

[Ohio Joe]

Good shooting, and a nice rifle. Let us know how she does at 100. :hatsoff:

 

[Shooey]

Wow that's a great target. I can't wait to see your 100 yard target!

 

[fcderosa]

Nice looking rifle, sure to put meat on the table. :thumbsup:

 

[larryp]

I love the simple looks of that rifle! Wish I had one just like it! :hatsoff:

 

[Spikebuck]

Nice target considering you haven't even worked up the "perfect" load yet! Maybe you hit on it perfectly the first try, but you can probably eek out a little more! :hatsoff:

 

[Jaeger]

Looks like yer on the money, Goose. Don't touch nuthin'....just keep shooting.