New guy!

[wallred]

Warning, newbie here! :grin:

Hi All,

My dad just retired, has been to a few Mountain Man meets here in San Diego the past few years, and started getting some interest in flintlocks... So we're getting him one for Christmas.

Don at The Possible Shop set me up with a lefty model (yes he shoots left handed), all they really had in our range was the CVA St Louis Hawken .50, so we got that and his starter set.

I've got a good line on a local club here that I am going to get him in touch with after Christmas as well.

The only thing left I want to pick up for him is some black powder so he's ready t go. I've scoured the board and it looks like many are using 3f for primer and charge. I thought this would be great to simplify things if most feel it is a good way to go?

Thoughts?

Thanks! I'll be be back: I like the flintlocks too! In 7th grade my history teacher fired one off in class when we were studying Lewis & Clark and the Manifest Destiny realm... I was taken from then. :grin:

Warren

 

[rich pierce]

Hey and welcome! 3F is fine for priming. You'll have no problems and it's simpler.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I think you will find that using FFg powder works better in that .50 cal. Hawken, as a flintlock. Start at 60 grains and go up, or down from there to find an accurate load. .490 balls, and .015" patches, prelubed. YOu can prime with FFg powder, too.

 

[RickD]

I`ve primed with both 3f and 4f and really havent had a problem with the 3f..

 

[MSW]

just on a whim, i tried 4F, then 3F then even 2F in my priming pan. i must confess that i couldn't tell any appreciable difference.

good luck!

msw

 

[renovato]

Hi Warren, welcome aboard!

Using FFFG to prime with is fine. I hope he learns to love muzzleloading as much as we do! It's addictive!

 

[Larry Pletcher]

just on a whim, i tried 4F, then 3F then even 2F in my priming pan. i must confess that i couldn't tell any appreciable difference.
msw

Hi MSW,
I timed 6 different powders for a MuzzleBlasts article (April 2005). You are correct in saying that you could not tell the difference. There are measurable differences, but human senses cannot tell the difference. The following are the averages of 20 trials:

Swiss Null B .0391
Swiss ffffg .04127
New Goex ffffg .04739
Old Goex ffffg .0486
Goex fffg .05951
Goex ffg .06978

As a side bar the fastest ffg time was slower than the slowest Swiss Null b time. So is there a difference? Absolutely. Can a shooter see or hear the difference? No. Food for thought.
Regards,
Pletch

 

[wallred]

I think you will find that using FFg powder works better in that .50 cal. Hawken, as a flintlock

Can you define "better". Does it mean more consistent and accurate?

If so I'm not too sure my dad will care much...

If it goes boom and he can get a group somewhere I think he'll be elated. :applause:

Warren

 

[paulvallandigham]

Warren I suspect your father would be even more elated if he could shoot one hole groups off a rest at 50 yds. Much depends on consistency in loading procedures, and that depends on the shooter. However, with FFg powder, in a flintlock, you are going to get more consistency in velocity , what we refer to as a lower Standard Deviation in Velocity. I have worked on loads in a 20 ga. fowler where the SDV is below 20 fps. You won't do that well with modern shotgun shells.

 

[wallred]

Gotcha!

Warren

 

[flashpanner]

yepper, I'd keep things simple and just use one grade of powder (FFFg) for main and pan charges. If you want to try a finer pan powder, sift your FFFg can to get some of the fines, then use these for your pan. Doing this means you need not commit to a whole can of FFFFg for priming only. Just a thiught. :grin:
BTW good to have another flinter guy to the crowd!

 

[wallred]

BTW good to have another flinter guy to the crowd!

Thanks flashpanner... I'm already shopping for my flintlock rifle... To support dad you know... :winking:

Warren