First time shooting

[Blitzkrieg]

Well I finally got my new trade rifle out and put some powder through her. As it's Christmas eve and none of the local fabric stores were open I was out of luck for finding any pillow ticking to use with my roundballs. No bother though, I had a bunch of those 460 grain conicals and decided they would do just fine for my first shots. I also didn't have a proper powder measure so I was using a fired 7mm Remington Magnum casing as my measure "I checked the figures to make sure it would be safe". So I measured out the powder, poured it down the barrel, tapped the barrel to seat the powder, loaded in a conical and seated it snugly atop the charge. Then I held the rifle level and primed the pan, closed the frizzen and took aim. BOOOM! no hesitation at all in the firing sequence, and put a nice round hole in the target about 25 yards away. At that very instant I knew I was hooked. I got off two more shots without swabbing before I finally got a flash in the pan. And lacking a vent pick I resorted to using a toothpick to clear the vent. After a few tries she was back up and running. All in all I got 6 shots off and only 3 misfires. It is now quite obvious to me that I need a few things to be a proficient muzzleloader shooter; vent pick, powder measure, priming flask, powder horn, patches, and a possibles bag to fit it all in :thumbsup:

And before you all jump on me, Yes I thoroughly cleaned the rifle directly after use. I used thick blue shop towels as my swabs and Butch's Bore shine to clean out the fouling. Must've run about 30 swabs through before they started coming out clean, then I swabbed the bore down with some wonderlube to keep it protected.

Thanks a lot for all the info guys, made my first shooting day a real treat.

 

[rabjr]

Muahaha welcome to the dark side. :thumbsup:

 

[FPDoc]

Don't run out and buy lotsa stuff... like all the rest of us did ... :grin: . About a week after I got one of the nice little pan primer dealies I found that I could prime with the same powder as my main charge and didn't need it. Vent pick either appropriate welding tip cleaner (from the nice little blue/aluminum fold out kit that Forney makes with about 15 different sizes inside) or hammer one from copper wire (the hammering work hardens it so it doesn't bend and copper won't wear the vent like the welding tip cleaner or iron/steel can. There are nice screw on caps to pour from the can at the range (mine was made from .308 blank cartridge case brazed to a screw cap with a nice little brass thumb lever that uncovers the tip to pour). Get an adjustable powder measure with the screw lock. You will find the charge you like best and then make lots of nice measures to carry in the field out of river cane or bamboo or antler or bone etc. that are light and quiet. I usually clean with warm water and linen "tow" on a patch worm and just clean until the tow looks like it did when I started...dry it out and use it next time... swab with patch and "Bore Butter" (RIG or something like that if it's going into storage for awhile). Pull the lock and clean it with warm/hot soap and water, rinse it with alcohol to get it completely dry and oil it, put it back in without over-tightening the lock screw. Oh, try using the vent pick to "prick the charge" before each shot, sure makes a difference with mine. Search for "Stumpkillers" recipes for patch lubes if you want to make some.
P.S. If anyone disagrees with any of this... tell him and me... it sure won't hurt my feelings. I'm always learning new stuff here.
P.S.S. I was 21 once...I'm almost sure...
P.S.S.S. Merry Christmas

 

[Rebel]

Welcome to the world of flinters. Too help prevent those flashes in the pan drill the vent liner out to 1/16" as they all come from the factory too small it seems. Use real black powder and black english flints and you will be on your way to becoming proficient in the use of a flintlock. :thumbsup:

 

[torn moc]

" Shooting a Flintlock on Christmas Eve!"
Now thats a Great way to start with BLACK POWDER!
.......and it is a Full Moon tonight too!!!!!
:hatsoff:

 

[Trot]

I am not familiar with your cleaning product, but make sure you clean with water or a solvent made for cleaning black powder. Some cleaners may not remove the corrosive aspects of the black powder and you will end up with rust.I just use cool water, dry the bore and then coat with ballistol, but everyone has their own method.

 

[uncrichie]

Congrats, like you I can remember that first pull on a flintlock trigger, really neato cool. Am I showing my age? Uncrichie.

 

[hoke]

congrats on your successful live fire.

check out the articles, links and chart section of the forum. plenty worth reading.
cheers,
sewerman

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Well, I got out again today and shot off about 12 or 15 rounds and only 3 misfires (1 due to dull flint). I found that if I swab the barrel twice after every 3 shots and leave the vent pick in while loading it fires every time. Since I still dont have any patches or an adjustable powder measure I was just plinking, but at 50 yards every shot hit a 12" square target. I was using 60 grains (weight) of Goex cartridge and those heavy conicals. I am going to change the rear sight to the elevation adjustable buckhorn that came with the rifle because the one on the rifle has a notch which is far too deep in my opinion. Can't wait to try out some roundballs and zero her in. When it's all done and on zero I'll post a picture of the grouping I get.

 

[Wes/Tex]

No knocks from over here. I started out in the 60's when there was next to nothing available. We just got something that could shoot and off we went! Using a toothpick was my first touch hole tool. With soft frizzens and untuned locks things got daft and quick!! :haha: Agree with the comment about not running out and buying every gadget on the shelf. Many of the shooting tools can be hand made and will have that special look. I recommend that you hae fun and ask all the questions that come to mind. Good luck.

 

[FPDoc]

Glad to hear you got to shoot some and that it's going boom with regularity. My first adjustable powder measure was a hole drilled through a stick with a piece of dowel that slip fit inside with notches penciled/whittled on the side of the dowel for repeatability (love that spare time).