I was up at Dixon's yesterday and saw that he had a Middlesex Village Trading Co. Tulle Fusil de Chasse. It handled really nicely and I've been looking for a flintlock ball and shot gun, so I brought it home.
Weight is about 7 or 8 pounds with a good balance. The trigger pull is lighter than my MVTC M1717 musket but still heavy.
I'm thinking I may age or brown the metal a bit to take the shine off.
The bore mics about .62 caliber/20 gauge at the muzzle. I bought some .600 round balls, along with wads and cards for shooting shot, and a 5# bag of mixed #8 and #7.5 shot. I probably won't get to pattern it for awhile.
I was able to get out and shoot it with PRB today. The lock sparks well and ignition is reliable, no flashes in the pan in 19 rounds (all I had time for).
The .600 balls and pillow ticking patches can be thumb started, which is nice. I also tried some shots with an over powder was, and also and over powder wad + cushion wad. Didn't see a difference in POI at 25 yards vs. just a patch. I was using 80 grains of 2Fg Goex.
For patch lube I used mutton tallow from Dixie Gunworks. I wiped with a spit patch after every 3rd or 4th shot so loading wouldn't be too difficult
It's shooting about a foot low. I need to play around with my sight picture (the piece has only a front sight, nothing in the rear) to see if I can raise it. Groups were about 6", mainly due to the heavy trigger pull. I'm sure my follow through could use some improvement, too.
