Flintlocks at the range and accuracy

[CommodoreHull]

Howdy gents,

I've got two rank beginner questions here...

1. How well should my Pedersoli Brown Bess shoot? Say, at 50yds what MOA should I expect? That's probably a somewhat anachronistic term in this context, but it's what I know. I use .69 balls, two lubed patches so it doesn't fall down the bore, and 75grains of GOEX FFg.

2. What is your recommendation for taking a flintlock like this to a public, supervised range? I want to test accuracy. The rules don't prohibit it, but I'm worried about perception (don't want to give us BP guys a black eye with all the smoke and noise) and safety (what if I have a hang fire or "flash in the pan"). The ROs might go nuts if I start tinkering around with it.

Thanks for your time...

 

[Rifleman1776]

You will get attention, no doubt. But not in a bad way. Go ahead and shoot. You will probably get pie plate groups which might improve with time and changes in loading techniques. The problem most (like me :redface: ) have with a smoothie and no rear sights is consistent placing of the group. Your hold, head position, phase of moon and other factors will affect that. One expert shooter told me I have to learn my "anchor point". Still working on that. Good luck. Enjoy. The Brown Bess is one of the mostest funnest guns there is to shoot.

 

[pargent]

There are lots of posts on here to wet your whistle , start searching by looking on mine

 

[trent/OH]

Listen to the voice of experience:
Bring more powder and ball than you think you need, because there may well be a line of guys wanting to take a shot or two.
There is NO GUN I have taken to a range which garners more attention than a Brown Bess. Maybe a bazooka would compete with it, or a 45-70 Gatling Gun.

If you are worried about affecting the range, talk to the range officers for a few moments, and try to set yourself on the downwind side of the firing line, and warn the shooter to your right of the jet from the vent heading his way. He'll want to take a shot with it.

 

[Kansas Jake]

Good advice guys.

I took a percussion and a flint lock pistol to our local outdoor range this weekend. Most of the RO's there are not real familiar with muzzleloaders. The range did require loading away from the firing line and priming or capping at the line. There happened to be another gentleman there with a TC Hawken. We both spent a bunch of time loading so others could shoot BP for the first time with our firearms. Everyone was cordial and curious.

 

[nwtradegun]

mick ur bore, mine is 729 I use 715 rd ball and 12 to 15 patch. 50 yards inside a pie plate is plenty for a hunting fusil.

 

[tenngun]

You have got to learn your gun.By getting a larger ball you will get better groups. A bess will outshoot or at least compare with a shotgun shooting slugs.
Dont be ashamed to admit on line that you are just learning the gun and you may not have all the wrinkles out, in any case the other guy will always outshoot you.
A bess was made to stand up on a battleline. Its very forgiving. If you ever get a smaller flintlock you will find it a little more finiky then a bess. How ever by then you will have learned a lot from your bess. I can just here boss hog right now...'Your in for a heap of fun boy" or something like that.

 

[thecapgunkid]

You make a lot of friends when you show up with Black Powder. At events, when and if you go out into a restaurant, make sure you suit up. People want to know about their culture and history because the media, for the most part, deprives them of that. Not everybody has all the channels of cable, and the so called reality shows dominate anyhoo. We are unique in the day to day world, and even anti-gun people empathize with smoke poles and living history.

Bench the gun first. It'll help you printing and, For some reason, the guys with the guns that look like plumbing respect your attention to technical detail. Some of them even want to know if you are using real bullets.

IN a world where every twisted left wing view of guns is being presented out there, you become an instant ambassador for our culture, so hold your head up and have some fun.

 

[tiswell]

CommodoreHull,
I will throw this out there. We had a range burn down here because a guy was loading from a can and didn't seal it between shots. He was using a powder measure, but at the shot, a spark made its way into the can. Be mindful of plugging your horn or sealing your can and do a double check to see if they are sealed before touching off a shot. Have fun with the Bess!
Blessings, Tiswell

 

[Artificer]

The bore in my old Brown Bess "Carbine" was .753", so I used the largest ball available in the 1970's (a .735" ball) and thick lubed patching. I had to use a short starter, which was not HC/PC, but it gave the best accuracy.

Something you may consider purchasing to overcome the jet of flame that comes out of the Flash Hole is a Flash Guard. These have been around since at least the 1970's and are pretty much required to use in re-enactments for safety of the guy standing to your right. I purchased the plain brass one for my Brown Bess Carbine as I did a Continental Marine Sergeant impression with it besides shooting it in competition. When I got my full length Pedersoli Bess, I got the one with the British Crown as I was doing an impression of a Private Soldier in the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment, The Black Watch.

TOTW is not the only one who sells these, but here is a link to their site for different types of the Flash Guards mentioned above.
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/705/1

Gus

 

[Rifleman1776]

Agree. My Bess came with a fairly large touch hole and a guard was a necessity at the range. Besides, I think it looks nice and appropriate on a Bess.

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[Artificer]

The bore in my old Brown Bess "Carbine" was .753", so I used the largest ball available in the 1970's (a .735" ball) and thick lubed patching. I had to use a short starter, which was not HC/PC, but it gave the best accuracy.

Gus

CommodoreHull

Oh, sorry I did not go more into accuracy potential in the last post.

One thing that you have to learn to deal with on a repro Military Musket is the heavy trigger pull that makes accurate shooting more difficult. Typical trigger pull weights for these guns run at least 8 or 9 pounds trigger pull tension and may go as high as 12 pounds or more.

Back in the 70's, I was not as comfortable with doing a "trigger job" on my Brown Bess as I was working on WBTS Rifle Musket Locks, though I SHOULD have realized there was no real difference between the locks as far as working trigger pulls down. When I finally did work my Brown Bess lock and got a very nice trigger pull around 4 lbs. tension, that made it much easier to shoot more accurately.

Prior to that time and from the offhand position, I could split the ball on an axe head most every time at the normal range we did that at 20 yards, though fighting the heavier trigger pull meant I missed it more than I should. After I got the trigger pull down to about 4 pounds, that Bess with that load would split the ball on the axe every shot I did my part while shooting it. It also aided greatly in cutting the stretched strings we fired at in those days. So I recommend having the trigger pull lightened by someone who knows how to do it.

When you get a good load and can shoot well offhand, most of the time you hit a 1 gallon milk jug at 100 yards with a Bess or Charleville at 100 yards. So it has plenty of potential to hunt with at shorter ranges.

The actual accuracy of your gun should be tested off the bench as Greg mentioned and then you will know what the accuracy potential of your load and gun truly is.

Gus

 

[JD Peppergrinder]

Every time I got to the range I don't unnoticed sometimes good sometimes bad but I go to a unsupervised range. I would go to a supervised range. The last time I went to the range I wanted to shoot some clays with my smootie and had to wait on guys useing their handguns. :cursing: And a guy teaching others how to shoot and had to wait because four peaple hogged half the range and two guys shooting muzzleloaders only took up one bench. :idunno: All and all the range visits weren't that bad. So try it most the time I have people who are just wanting to learn more about our guns.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I shot a Ravenshear Bess for 15 years pretty much exclusively. At 60 yards I could do 6" for five round on my best day. 10" almost any time. At 70 to 75 yards the balls started to pitch erratically. I called them "knuckle balls" after 60 yards.

At 100 yards I couldn't put three out of five in a FBI Silhouette target.

These were relatively tight paper patched balls (cartridges).

 

[CommodoreHull]

Thanks for the input. I checked again and my range is technically "unsupervised" though there are full-time range safety guys there in the shack behind the firing line.

Just got more powder...I'll probably take it out next time I go.

 

[eaglesnester]

I have a 75 caliber Brown Bess that I purchased from Loyalist Arms. I load it with 100 grains of 2f an overpowder duro felt wad greased with lard and beeswax and a 735 patched round ball. Patch thickness .012 thou. greased same as duro felt overpowder wad At 75 meters off hand I can put 10 balls into a 10 inch gong. That is minute of moose and good enough. I do not look for group size. If I can hit a 10 inch gong 10 times out of 10 that is all I can expect from an 18th century smooth bore Will try to back it up to 100 meters but I do believe thats pushen it. When I got the gun I crowned the muzzle, timed the lock, worked on the trigger and added a whitelightning touch hole liner