New and need a little help

[pegro1]

Hello, I'm new to flintlocks and have a few questions. I have a new French Fusil de Chasse made by Loyalist Arms in .62 caliber and am needing information on what size roundball to use or what do ya'll say is the best size for hunting deer (out to about 75 yards). What size patches do I use.
Thanks for any and all help

 

[Larry Pletcher]

Hello, I'm new to flintlocks and have a few questions. I have a new French Fusil de Chasse made by Loyalist Arms in .62 caliber and am needing information on what size roundball to use or what do ya'll say is the best size for hunting deer (out to about 75 yards). What size patches do I use.
Thanks for any and all help

I have a Lyman .595 mould that I use in my 20 ga. trade gun. The patch you would need if you used this size would have to be determined by trial and error. A .020" patch is perhaps a starting point.

Lyman makes a .600 as well, I believe.

Regards,
Pletch

 

[pegro1]

Also if I may ask what about powder type?

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

My 62cal bore mikes out @ 0.617" and I use 0.600" cast balls from Eddie May of GA (~$8 per hundred). I use mink oil lube from Track of The Wolf (TOW - $5 per 6-ounce, 4" round tin) and 'thin' 0.010" thick 'homespun' 100% cotton material from Wla*Mart @ $2/yard.

Even with 70 grains of FFFg, I don't burn through the patches. In fact, I shot the SAME 5 or more patches no less than 4 times each the other day at the range. It was easy :wink: , a crusty snow was on the ground, so I took a break every 5_ shots, walked out, examined them - and then thought "Heck, I'll shoot 'em again!".

I find this combo gives me a great blend of acrruacy and loading ease, with zero to minimal build-up in the bore. Yet, I've always been able to load the next round and I don't swab between shots or after a group of shots. A bonus (for timed events) is I can load it fast!

 

[Ridge]

I have a 20 gauge that I shoot .600 caliber balls and a .010 patch. I use 70 grains of 2f powder though.

 

[pegro1]

You guys are great and thanks for the great info. :thumbsup: I am so glad I found this forum.

 

[JacquesT]

My first recommendation would for measuring the bore size of your '.62'...with this measurement you can get the round ball/or mold that will fit. I found this was even more important with import musket. The .69 Tulle I purchased from Loyalist is realy a .677 cal and my 'Made in Japan' Charleville musket suppose to be .69 is realy a .687....so having the bore size measured helps choosing the right ball size/mold and also the patch thickness...better to measure before than after purchasing componenets!
Cheers

 

[Many Klatch]

The advice about measuring the barrel size is good, if you can that should save you some time.

My 60 caliber smoothbores both shoot a .60 ball with .010 patching. One likes 75 grains of 3F the other likes 65 grains of 3F with a wad over the powder.

Prime with the same powder as the main charge.

You may notice that the gun shoots low. Many smoothbores need to have the barrel "adjusted" to shoot round ball to point of aim. Adjusted means taking the barrel out of the gun, sticking it between two trees and tweaking the barrel in the correct direction.

Many Klatch

 

[Rancocas]

I have a .62 Wilson Chief's grade fusil, made by Caywood. I never miked it, but I use .600 round ball patched with pillow ticking, over 70grs. of 3F. I also prime with 3F.
Basically, you have a 20 guage shotgun. If yours is like mine, it has a front bead sight, but no rear sight. You "point" it like a shotgun, and like a shotgun the effective/accurate range is relatively short.
You mentioned 75 yards - I would not take a 75 yard shot at live game with mine. (I might if it had a rear sight) My gun certainly has the power, but doesn't have the accuracy at that range to make reliable, quick kills. Personally, I limit my shots at game to 50 yards when using my fusil.

 

[Rockrivr1]

You may notice that the gun shoots low. Many smoothbores need to have the barrel "adjusted" to shoot round ball to point of aim. Adjusted means taking the barrel out of the gun, sticking it between two trees and tweaking the barrel in the correct direction.
Many Klatch

I'm currently waiting on the delivery of my first BP musket. It's a smoothbore Brown Bess and I'm spending a LOT of time on this forum learning everything I can. I can say though that this is the first time I'm ready about "tweaking" a bbl. To be honest, I'd be nervous as heck about doing this kind of tweaking. I would think that just a little over tweaking could ruin the bbl.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

It isn't always necessary.

 

[mike alexandre]

You've got some good info here on getting started. Well do just that and dont concern yourself with problems that may not come your way. Start at a short distance - say 15 to 25 yds and get used to shooting off hand and getting a group on paper. There are excellant tips at the top of the "Flintlock" thread list on helping you achieve this. You may have to alter you patch/ball/lube/powder load a few times to get the best out of your musket. Keep notes and only change one thing at a time. Fire at least 5 shots and maybe even 10 to get a good reading about whats going on. 1 or 2 or even 3 is not enough, unless you have some experience and are able to read signs you probably wont notice at present. You will soon learn to " read your patches" and "look at your group" to tell you whats going right or needs changing.
Go shoot your gun a lot and enjoy. The Bess is not the easiest gun to start with but its a lot of fun when you get the hang of it.

 

[jbrowngunmaker]

Try using .600 round balls with a .015 washed pillow ticking patch with 80 grains of ffg and it will shoot like a house a fire :grin:
Jackie Brown

 

[Sherlock]

I would advise you to forget that tweaking. Even gun factories that bend barrels assign very skilled employees using specialized machinery to correcting deficiencies where a tweak by bending is reasonable. You may just need a different front sight, or as a newby, more trigger time and load development. Occasionally builders fail to breech the gun so that any bore concentricity problems at the muzzle are not accounted for properly. But you have to spin the barrel in a lathe even to diagnose that if it is subtle. Wonky