New to flintlocks... another caliber question

[jennyfell55]

I'm looking at getting my first rifle... leaning towards an Issac Haines kit from Dunlap Woodcrafts... everything I've heard about them so far has been good and I have no problem doing the final inletting and whatnot. Problem is... I can't decide between .50 and .54 in a C weight barrel. I'm worried about possible recoil in the .54... I'm only 5'3" so recoil is a big consideration for me. :hmm: The only flintlock I've shot was a .50... but the recoil on that one wasn't bad at all. I'm sort of leaning towards the .54 simply because it gives me the option of hunting game larger than deer (all the threads I've found here lean towards .54 for hunting)... and at the same time it's not too huge to just use for target shooting most of the time. Any opinions? Thanks!

 

[Rebel]

You can always load a .54 down for plinking and such for less recoil.

 

[Stumpkiller]

You're talking about an 8-1/2 to 9 lb rifle when you're done. Combine that with the relatively straight style of the Lancaster buttstock and you should have a lot of absorption built right in. I load my .54 with 80 gr 3F/90 gr 2F or thereabouts and it has felt recoil similar to a mid-weight 20 gauge shotgun with low brass. You notice it but your retinas stay in place. :winking:

 

I just finished a .54 Lancaster rifle with a 42" Getz swamped "C" barrel. It is a tad on the heavy side--which helps in the recoil department. Firing a .530 ball with 75 gr ffg Goex from the bench the recoil was not noticeable. I might add that my rifle has a wide flat butt, being an early style. This load was accurate at 50 and 100 yds with little change in the sight picture--which indictaes that it is shooting 'pretty flat' and tables tell me that the velocity and energy are adequate for

 

[54JNoll]

I am only 5'5" and have no trouble shooting a .58. The beauty of ML'ing is that you get to decide how much powder to put in. So load her light or load her stout. Its really up to you.

 

[Java Man]

Stumpy,

We had an Isac Haines from a Tip Curtis kit finished up for my Son. Its got a .50cal C weight GM swamped 38" bbl, and lighter weight maple stock. The finished gun weighs 7 1/4#. In a C weight .54, and good hard maple stock, you would be hard pressed to get over 8# in an Isaac Haines. The bbl's just don't weigh that much. There is one for sale on TOTW, and weight is listed at 7.75#.

Gregg

 

[biliff]

I've got basically the set up you're describing in .54. With light 50 to 60 grain charges and PRB you can punch paper all day from 25-75 yards and not notice the recoil. Step it up to 80+ grains and you've got a good deer load and even that isn't all that bad in the recoil department. Hopefully the image thing will work.

 

[Rebel]

Looks like one of Zonie's ringnecked ducks under that rifle. :grin: Nice rifle by the way.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Ah. Didn't realize it was a snubbed 38" barrel. :haha: Six more inches would get it to my weight.

"C" weight in an "A" length. :rotf:

 

I think my rifle (with 42" C wgt barrel) weighs more like 9 lbs. Here is a pic:

 

[rich pierce]

Love that early Dickert.

 

Love that early Dickert.

Thanks. It came out pretty good. Going to be a good shooter, too. I always wanted an early Dickert, but just now got around to it...

 

[Hoyt]

My .54cal. Buck's Co. with .38" "C" profile is even 8lbs. I shoot 90grs. 3F Goex with .530" & .535" RB's. It is a pleasure to shoot..recoil not even noticable till I get to 90grs. then just a little sharper impact than the normal shove with 2F and under 90grs. of 3F.

 

[roundball]

Pretty rifle Mike...is the dimension of the patch box about as large as all the brass would indicate, or is there a lot of decorative metal extending out around the box

 

[mikelange]

Sounds to me like you want the .54. In the C weight barrel the recoil wouldn't be bad at all, particularly if, as has been said, you load down. As has also been said, the earlier Lancaster County stocks are well-designed for minimizing felt recoil.

At the risk of being burned at the stake for heresy, I'm a fan of the .50 -- but you want a .54. You definitely will have the edge on game larger than whitetails. If I still lived in Arizona, where mule deer and elk (well, maybe in my wildest dreams) are going to be shot at very likely longer ranges than here in the woods of Indiana, I'd have at least a .54.

Go for it. :thumbsup:

 

[DRC]

I built a Issac Haines in a 54 cal. Shot a 50 cal. for years [ 30 years ] couldn't believe the difference in the 54. The entery and exit holes where entirely whereth it .The 50 just sits in the corner.

 

Pretty rifle Mike...is the dimension of the patch box about as large as all the brass would indicate, or is there a lot of decorative metal extending out around the box

The box has sideplates flanking a central slightly domed lid. This patchbox is very much like one illustrated by Shumway and associated with the early Christian Springs phase assumed for Jacob Dickert. It is one of the earliest 4 piece box covers. Could date from 1760s-1770. This particular cover type was found without a rifle attached to it, but similar ones are known from signed Dickert rifles considered to be his earliest ones....it does cover alot of wood...