Flintlock Pistol @ 50 Yards

[Bill Bryan]

My black powder club shoots a 5 shot 25 yard and a 5 shot 50 yard each month on a standard NMLRA big bull target. I've been shooting a .50 cal Kentucky flintlock for the last few months. I'm not the best shot with a pistol but I'm able to average a 25-35 score at 25 yards. However, I'm miserable at the 50 yard target. I only score about 1 shot in 5.
I don't think it's my flintlock skills. I've been shooting a flintlock rifle for years with good results.
I'm looking for suggestions to improve my long range pistol accuracy.

 

[Raider2000]

I personally do not have a Flinter yet "but workin on it" but with rudimentary sights that are on many of these pistols makes for a hard job to begin with & then try for a 50 yard shot makes it that much more interesting.

Outside of maybe reducing your load till your groups tighten up at the 25 & then at the 50 I'm at a loss because I wouldn't think with you shooting Flintlock rifles that you would be flinching but then I'm not there to see.

 

[FishDFly]

CitadelBill,

I was able to improve my pistol shooting significantly with help from here and a lot of reading. As far as I am concerned there are 3 functions to decent pistol shooting; reading, shooting and mental.

First read everything you can get on pistol shooting.

www.targetshooting.ca. (Note: ca not com)

Check sections Document Library and Training & Shooting.

Make your self several practice flints from wood and dry fire a lot. You can make them on a band saw. You can dry fire inside the house, I dry fire every morning for 10 minutes. Handle the pistol as much as you can so you are familiar with it.

If you have not done so, find a competent gunsmith and get a trigger job done on the pistol. A properly tuned trigger will do wonders with your scores, especially at 50 yards.

Keep detailed records of your practice scores and loads. I have learned that with pistols, I shoot better scores with a 6 o'clock than a dead on hold. Concentrate on the front sight only, the rear will do what it needs to do to get things right.

If you don't have an adjustable pistol powder measure get one. A couple of grains change can make a difference.

Start at 25 yards and move back in 5 yard increments until 50 yards.

Matches are won at 50 yards, not 25.

Lastly, practice, practice, practice. When you practice, shoot ten (10) shot targets, a 10 shot group will tell you more than a 5 shot group.

The mental is a large part of the game. Concentrate on what you are doing and remember what you have learned by reading and practice the reading.

RDE

 

[BillinOregon]

RDE: Thanks for a very informative post.

 

[rafterob]

Have you shot it off a bench to see what your different sight picture might be at 50 yds? My pistol basically has the same sight picture at 25 and 50 yards. I think practice is the best answer. We shoot 10 shots at each target and the arms can get mighty tired after 10 shots with a pistol and groups really start loosening up. I shoot back and forth between the two targets so I can score well on both with the first few shots and its kinda a crap shoot after that.

 

[Bill Bryan]

My arm does get tired at the end of the day. Maybe going back and forth between 25 and 50 yards might help.

I installed a new single set trigger myself but I'll take it to a gunsmith and see if he can improve the pull.

Thanks for the good comments.

 

[SAJones]

I've shot a .50 cal Flintlock at 50 yards often. One of the factors to consider is followthrough, probably more critical w/ a flinter. I also have a set trigger, which helps much at the longer distances. I get pretty much the same scores w/ my flintlock as I do w/ my caplock target pistol. In fact, w/ a two hand hold, better scores, but two hands are sorta not allowed in most matches.

 

[renovato]

I'd suggest spending a little time shooting off a rest, just to see how the pistol itself is grouping. If the gun is grouping good, then you know to work harder on your pistol shooting skills. If the gun isn't grouping so well, spend some time on load development to get it well tuned, before moving on to improving your pistol skills. All the marksmanship skills in the world can't make up for a gun that isn't grouping well. Good luck and hang in there!

 

[dsuursoo]

also a great trick, while dry firing, put a dime on the top flat of your pistol. it'll tell you if you're jerking, flinching, or pushing.

it's a HUGE aid in getting proper trigger pull.