flintlock shooting tips?

[Flint54]

I agree, PRACTICE.

Notes on priming.

The most important thing is to insure that your priming charge is away from the flash hole. Use the smallest ammount possible, 2F, 3F or 4F should not make any diffrence "If you have a well tuned/reliable lock and a Properly hardened frizzen!"

Insure you have a properly sized flash hole, I use nothing smaller than a .063 and will sometimes open that up to .070-.075.

If you have a flash hole liner, is it coned inside if not your flash has to go through a very small hole for a relitevely long distance. Original flintlock rifles were actually coned inside the barrel, if through use the hole enlarged too much liners were installed, even in the mid to late 1700s. This has been well documented.

Above all there should be no pffffft-boom when you fire! Your rifle should not sound any diffrent than a percussion rifle when you pull the trigger, if it does there is something wrong that needs to be addressed.

Take someone with you to the range and have them prime your rifle for you, pay attention to the sights and concentrate. You will outgrow the flinch. Best Wishes, Flint54 :m2c: :results: :hatsoff:

 

One last idea that worked for me. Have someone else prime or not prime your pan. then hand it to you. you never know if it will go or not.this will keep your eyes on the sights. I blew a prec cap through my cap bill years ago and developed a beauty of a flinch, a box of doctored caps re trained me. concentation is the key . good luck. :m2c:

 

Yes I agree the hard wood flint is a great ider, as well as the small target. I had a terrible reaction, flinching etc. to my flint guns. I was used to the cappers. I used the hard wood ider and then went to straight unloaded and just a charged pan. After a few dozen times the flint spark nor the pan flash doesn't bother me at all. The other thing I did was to install on the 50 and the Bess was a flash guard. I am installing one on the 62 and the 45. It keeps the flash away from the sides, and lowers the distraction level. It was and is used when reenacting to protect the fella next to you. I have found it also helps me. They are cheap 5 to 10 bucks. I have a 45, 50, a Brown Bess, and a 62 (in progress. I now shoot the 3 finished ones quite well. :m2c: :hatsoff: Loyalist Dawg

 

[Bluffer]

Jeff, My advice is to sit blindfolded holding a glass of water filled to the brim and get a friend to smash a couple of garbage can lids together right above your head. When you stop spilling the water you

 

[VAshooter]

I started shooting a flint rifle when I was 12 years old. I never did flinch with that rifle. My dad said I was too lazy to flinch.

 

[danlwhite]

Brand new to this board, but I've been shooting these things for about 20 years, both rifles and smoothbores. I had a problem pulling to the right (shooting right handed, which I must do because I am cross-oriented). A friend gave me a tip I can pass along. When you grip the gun with your left hand (around the wrist of the stock-trying to think backward), don't wrap the thumb around it. Rather, point it toward the lock, straight up the wrist. That won't let you pull so much, and it worked for me. :m2c:

 

[gam3835]

Hello Vaquero. Congradulations on your new gun. Flinching isn't hard to get over. It just takes a little practice. I have a right handed flintlock and I shoot it left handed. If you're having trouble with a flinch, practice shooting from a bench rest or supported position. That reduces some of the things you have to concentrate on. Once you have the flinch beat on the bench, then move to off-hand shooting techniques. Good luck and good shooting.

 

[tzvia]

"...sit blindfolded holding a glass of water filled to the brim and get a friend to smash a couple of garbage can lids together right above your head."

LOL. I suggest taking up target archery with a Longbow. Great for flinch control. Been shooting a SKY longbow for about 15 years and it can rattle my teeth without something dampening the string. With archery, one must hold on target till that arrow reaches the target, no dropping that arm, no flinching, just remain calm and "will that arrow to the target." The first time I shot my flintlock rifle, I don't even think I noticed the flash, now that I think about it. It's not like the vibrations of a longbow release. The calm concentration is also the same, as is the goal of using your skeleton, not your muscles, to remain steady and on target. Breath control as well, is the same for me. I dont hold my breath, but control it. In short, don't think about flinching from the flash, dont think about the flash at all, think about the target, and 'willing the ball to the target'. Just my .02.

Lois

 

[kentucky bucky]

Here's a few off of the top of my big ole bucket head.... Use only enough primer to set off the main charge. It takes less than most people think.....Follow through until the smoke clears, or pretend like you are.....And shoot alot and you will get better...maybe not as good as you want, but better. It won't surprise you to see a flash next to your head after several hundred shots, unless you are just naturally a spaz!

:: :m2c:

 

[pml]

seen alot of people tell ya not to fill yer pan thats the best advice anyone ever gave me first. less than a third full and then close your frission and tilt your rifle so the powder is sittin across the pan from the hole. you want the spark to jump into the hole.
also have your flint as tight in the jaws as you can and check it every few shots.

 

[rebuse]

Practice...yes, but always remember, practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. What I mean by this is, always be honest with yourself, and don't blame the equipment, look at the things that you do wrong every single shot.

Preacher
Virginia

 

[charcloth]

I agree priming with a small amount of 4f would help. I used to prime my pan and dry fire at stationary objects or at images/people on tv. Broke the flinch/pull in no time.

 

[ib_crawlin]

I just recently bought my first flintlock rifle, an old T/C .45 caliber Hawkin. It has a peep sight mounted on it. ( I know, not very PC).
I have never fired a flintlock anything in my life but I still managed to hit a coffee can full of dirt a couple of times within 5 shots at 25 yards. ( That's all I could get out of the old style lock before I gave up on it).
Anyway, I never noticed the flash in the pan like I thought I would.

Something to think about,

Ron

 

[smoothshooter]

vaquero; It took me about 400 shots or so to get over the flinch 30+ years ago,(and I still pull one off occaisionally) but if I had it to do over again, I would practice in a safe place with an unloaded rifle by only priming the pan, getting a sight picture, and checking my follow-through each time priming ignited. Always wear some kind of eye protection and don't practice too long at any given time. 20-30 shots per session max; some days you may only want to do 5-10 shots. A little practice at a time over a longer period of time usually does more good than a whole lot of practice all at once in most shooting disciplines, I've noticed, and I suspect this holds true in other fields of interest as well. Don't forget to clean the breech area of the bore if you practice this way as some of the flash will of course find it's way inside.-smoothshooter

 

[vermontfreedom]

Sorry for cross-postings or repeating info others have posted, folks, I'm just repeating here what I posted to another forum on this topic:

(1) For a new flintlock shooter, definitely wear eye protection at the range. One should always do so with any firearm, but especially with muzzleloaders and very especially rock locks (flintlocks). Not only is this good safety, but you will more likely concentrate on shooting--keeping your eyes open through the trigger pull--secure in the knowledge your eyes are protected from sparks, and less likely to flinch. It took me half a dozen trips to the range, concentrating on keeping my eyes open through the flash before I was comfortable when I first starting shooting flintlocks.

(2) Be aware, especially with muzzleloaders, that you are going to need, in my opinion, about 60 rounds for the barrel to start breaking in and getting seasoned. During this break-in period, your groups will be large, inaccurate, imprecise, and frustrating. Do not worry about how your targets look for the first 50-100 rounds, concentrate on learning proper shooting form and being safe. As a percussion rifle shooter, you should already know proper form, but it may be so automatic that you find you have to mentally step through your breathing, holding, trigger pull, etc.

(3) Not sure if you're using round balls or conicals or what, but I, for one, would vote for you to try patched round balls (PRBs). Not least because they are cool and have been killing deer for a lot longer than sabots, "regular" bullets, conicals, etc. More importantly for my purposes here, conicals, "ball-ets" and the like are going to foul your bore with lead. Especially in a new barrel with sharp lands, they're going to pick up lead. If you don't scrub your bore with lead remover, that fouling is going to cause more accuracy problems. Patched round balls simply do not cause lead fouling.

(4) To start with loads, if you start with PRBs, I suggested beginning with 50-55 grains black powder: the light powder load will cause less recoil and, again, you can concentrate on form. The less you worry about recoil, the more you can focus on shooting form, not flinching, etc. Once you're comfortable with light loads, you can always work up to 70 grains, 80, 90, 100 and up.

(5) I recommend a thin patch to start with: 0.010 inch, e.g., because your barrel is new and it'll be tight. Your ball will be easier to load. Also, if you start with 0.020, 0.018, or even 0.015, it might feel too tight and you could damage your bore by forcing the load down with a ball starter or whatnot if you're not careful.

(6) Seat the ball properly each and every time. The most important part of loading the muzzleloader is to seat the ball, PRB, conical, or whatever your projectile firmly on the powder. Do not apply so much force that you crush the powder (too tight packing can actually inhibit ignition), but the projectile must be seated on the powder. If not, this is called short starting and is much like firing a centerfire rifle with an obstruction in the bore. Don't think that people haven't blown barrels apart doing this. You don't want to lose your head--literally--over this. You can seat the ball firmly without bashing it repeatedly with the ramrod. One single firm push on the ramrod should seat the ball. Repeated bashing will deform the ball, usually causing inaccuracy.

 

[roundball]

I just wanted to comment that there's a lot of good information in this post, and to offer an additional view on a couple of experiences that may have been unique to your situation, as opposed to being an across-the-board fit.

"...During this break-in period, your groups will be large, inaccurate, imprecise, and frustrating..."

This is not an absolute...of the many TC and GM barrels I have, none have ever experienced this.

"...Do not apply so much force that you crush the powder (too tight packing can actually inhibit ignition)..."

Actually, to achieve shot-to-shot powder compression consistency, I intentionally seat a ball as hard as my 6'3" 215lbs can crush it, and I enjoy instantaneous ignition, outstanding accuracy, and minimal fouling with that approach.

Not taking away from all the good points of your post, just clarifying that occasionally some things are not necessarily across-the-board absolutes in all rifles under all conditions.
:thumbsup:

 

[mmahlock]

Point of information, with the establishment of Rifle units in the British Army at the beginning of the 19th Century the required method of hold the rifle required placing the non-trigger hand close to the fore end of the lock and the arm tight against the body. An option was to tightly grip the sling in this same position. In addition, the use of the Rammer as a support placed in the belt and held with the hand holding the fore stock was also allowed once a Rifleman had qualified.

As the the problem of fliching, I agree with Big John. Spending a good portion of the day with the gun on sandbags ona bench can help break one of flinching. One it removes all considerations except looking down the sights at the target so you can concentrate on not breaking that visual image. Two it instills confidence that you can hit the target. Once the habit of concentrating on the sights and target is established shooting off-hand is much easier.

 

[JeffS]

Update from Vaquero

Wow, this thread has taken on a life of it's own since I first posted 8 months ago! I appreciate all the responses and hope that many people besides myself have learned a thing or two about shooting a flinter. I no longer fear my flinter, but want more of them. (I have parts to build a Lancaster .54) I surely do still flinch now and then, but also pull off some pretty sweet shots once in a while.

Big thanks to all who have contributed, and keep them coming!

Jeff/Vaquero

 

[jstranah]

Don't have my own (yet), but the first time I ever shot off a flintlock was with a family heirloom at a family reunion in Michigan. I must have been about twelve, and I thought -- and still think -- that the pyrotechnics going off in front of your nose was part of the attraction. Moving parts and springy-dingies! Woah! Cool! Snap! Whap! KAPOW!!! BLOOEY!!!! Didn't find the recoil too objectionable either.

That initial sense of glee has lasted all the rest of my life, and in my limited experience with modern replicas it still strikes me as being part of the fun. So I am afraid that all this talk about flintlock flinch puzzles me. If the possibility of setting your nose hairs on fire actually bothers you, well, go get a crossbow. :rotf:

 

[rtguard]

howdy jeff make you sum wood flints and 'werk er out'

ugly snayk