Load Development for 54" Fusil

[Flint62Smoothie]

I had a few hours free today and it wasn't that humid out, so I played around with my 65-caliber (16-gauge) Fusil de Boucanier made by the late John Bosh out of parts from the Rifle Shoppe.

It wears a 54" barrel and each piece has the appropriate French marking, plus that of the proofing on the barrel. I'll have to take some nice outdoor shots on a clear day so you can see it close up.

My goal today was to shoot 3-shots of each charge, in 5-grain increments, from 50-grains to 75-grains ... only as that was all the room I had on this target. I started @ 50-grains (cold/clean bore) and worked up. I guess maybe the 1st two 50-gr shots could be 'discarded' as the last one went where most groups hit ... to the left a tad.

FYI, I do note I tend to hit left when I shoot my flint smoothies in the Summertime with only a T-shirt on, as they're usually dead nuts on for windage (at least less the nut behind the trigger) when I wear my Winter clothing.

I've been advised since I got home that the 'sharpies' tape a 1/4" to 5/16", or bigger, dowel section across the breech and fire a notch to serve as a temporary rear sight.

So far, less the flyers or mirage, I think the 55 & 75-grain loading of FFg look promising. All shots were 25-yards offhand.

 

[nit wit]

Good shooting!Stay off the snowshoes!! :rotf:
Nit Wit

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

Good shooting! Stay off the snowshoes!! :rotf:

May have to ... as I may have a torn meniscus and was told 'no more high impact sports' .

Oh, and this is that Fusil that our friend Paul D. covets ...

 

[Rifleman1776]

54" barrel :shocked2:
Nice looking piece. I hope you enjoy.
And, congrats for getting out and shooting it to learn capabilities. Far cry from asking here as so many do.

 

[tenngun]

Was it really 25 yards , looks like your closer to the target then me :haha: Good looking piece. Do you loose velocity when the barrel is that long? Looks like a lot of fun to shoot. :thumbsup:

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

Was it really 25 yards , looks like your closer to the target then me :haha: Good looking piece. Do you loose velocity when the barrel is that long? Looks like a lot of fun to shoot. :thumbsup:

You're right ... < 24-yards ... I stand corrected

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

Do you loose velocity when the barrel is that long?

That's a great question! I have no idea and will have to borrow a chronograph to test it.

It sure turns heads at the range, due to its length of course. But I did ring the 16"'gong at 200-yards offhand with it, offhand ... but I cheated, as I benched the 1st attempt @ 200y just to see where it hit (40' sandhill backstop), about 3' low. Then 3 highpower shooters showed up and after I hit it offhand (knowing the trajectory) ... they asked me to join their HP team, haha! Little did they know ... and I hope they don't read these forums - doh!

 

[steved]

Looks like you found two loads that shoot well through that smoothie. That 54" barrel gives you an unfair advantage against the other guys shooting "normal" length guns on the 25yd line. :wink:

Great job showing the center fire guys how to ring the 200yd gong offhand.

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

Great job showing the center fire guys how to ring the 200yd gong offhand.

Got lucky ... note I didn't attempt a repeat, haha!

 

[Dane]

You actually GAIN velocity with a longer barrel. The longer the ball is in front of the charge, the longer it's influenced by the charge.

 

[tenngun]

Up to a point...you can run in to the law of dimishing retuns.At some point your extra resistance of a longer barrel overcomes the push of the expanding powder.Lymans black powder balistic shows this.Of corse flintlocks aand blackpowder dont always care about the rules,I dont think black powder knows how to read

 

[Wes/Tex]

Really cool gun. Old records show the French merchant fleet carried these as well as the standard hunting fusils on trips to North America to sell the colonists. These long guns wee popular in the French west Indies islands as well as among the sailors in the French Royal Navy. It's always amazed me that anything like cold be dragged around the fighting tops and not catch in every piece of rope and rigging up there...that is unless the French kept their long guns at deck level, I suppose.