One flint(lock) to rule them all!

Well, my preference is, of course, for the .75. The larger the bore, the better they shoot and the harder they hit, both with shot and with ball.

 

[Rebel]

Well, i'll stick with my double barrel idea, 1 rifled barrel 1 smoothbore barrel. That or my side by side .12 ga. I can still shoot shot or ball or 1 barrel of each/

 

[capnwilliam]

ARE double-barrelled flintlocks available, either in both-smoothbore or in one smoothbore, one rifled barrel combinations? From where? And where they available in period?

Capt. William

 

I don't think so. I've not seen one listed. There's a bit more to breeching, etc. than a cap gun as the lock plates must be on quite an angle or the width gets out of hand & breeches cut-in like on the high quality flint doubleguns.
; I do believe there would be a good market for a nice one with good locks.
; The Double Flnter Taylor made is a pleasure to shoot at 6.5 lbs. & fits and points like a fine English gun.
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[roundball]

Good gracious, what a beautiful flint double !! Wish I had it...

 

[capnwilliam]

A truly beautiful gun, Daryl! Are both barrels smooth? Is this weapon still being made? Any idea of the current price?

Capt. William

 

It is a custom double barreled shotgun - one of a kind. It too many years to find a set of muzzleloading barrels that were suitable for building this gun.
: To see if the maker would make another - you'd have to talk to him.
:E-mail or private message me for the address if truley interested. You're pockets would have to be fairly deep.
: The blank cost for the stock was around $400.00 CDN.

 

I didn't get in early on this one, but agree that a smoothie would fit the bill--my choice would be a .54 smooth rifle. Loaded with shot it would take small game cleanly and a .54 ball is plenty for N.American big game. I don't have one, but if starting from scratch, that's what i would most likely build. If forced to pare my current collection down to one gun, I would probably have to keep my .45 PA longrifle, a rifle I built myself 25 years ago, and could not bear to let go--too much sweat and blood in it. My collection also includes a .32 TN squirrel rifle, a .40 PA longrifle, two .50 longrifles (one PA and one early southern), a .54 Lancaster in progress and a .62 smoothie. I usually carry the .50 early southern rifle for reenacting/rondys, etc.

 

[robinghewitt]

Smoky walnut, I love it, that is a beautiful piece of wood.

I have one like that but it has one beautiful side, one okay side, and doesn't image very well because I French polished it

Yours has two good sides, is it plywood? (ONLY KIDDING) :: :: :: ::

 

It is a rather elaborate piece of wood, isn't it. the stock on my English Sproting rifle is very similar and at a cost back in the 80's of $436.00, it should be.
: One of these day's I'll get over to it's new owners place to take a few pictures. I've misplaced all of the 5X7's I had.

 

[robinghewitt]

It's almost a burr figure but not quite. Do you think it could be what's left of a burr after the expensive veneer wood has been sawn off?

 

[Gary]

Why, a .62 caliber Ferguson style rifle of course. .62 is big enough of a ball yet light enough of a rifle so that you can carry it all day. BBL length would be about 32" and yes, it would be browned. Cover your eyes but I would also want a synthetic stock too. The Fergusons were inherently weak around the lock and synthetic is the only way to go. Do like Ron Ehlert - paint the grains on. ::

 

Ferguson you say. I shot this one just last February. Quite accurate indeed, and the normal cal. for the mil rifle was .65. We rolled the balls in lube 1000 and that worked very well. Their only fault I could see was the small chamber for powder. About the max it would hold is 65gr. 2F. I suppose you could shoot 3F, but that wasn't recommended and with a bore that size, we felt 2F was the proper propellant. It also worked just fine for a priming powder.
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[Herb]

One solution is to have one custom made. This is Neill Fields of Vernal, Utah with a 12 gauge double he made, using Manton flintocks. He is hot to build another now, and could probably make most anything.

Another source is Dr. Gary White of Roosevelt, Utah. He told me he has built "a couple thousand" ML firearms, and had some doubles in his shop that day. He sells some of them on Track of the Wolf. See <www.whitemuzzleloading.com>.

 

[Dave K]

I have an extremely horrible itch for some of the dbl. barrel flinters I have see here! I would love to find a builder.

 

[capnwilliam]

I reckon that a.62 doublebarrel with one barrel rifled and the other one smooth would probably be "the ultimate" single piece, as far as versatility. But what about its carrying and handling characteristics, as compared with a singlebarrel?

Capt. William

 

[musketman]

The double barrel will weigh more, but a finely crafted double will be ballanced and should swing on target with ease...

One thing to remember with doubles is that if you only fire one side, you must deprime the charged tube before you reload the empty side...

Otherwise, you run the greater risk of loosing a hand or even killing yourself, should the primed side go off during the loading process...

 

[capnwilliam]

Musketman, that is great safety advice: and your warning is sufficient to "wet powder" what little thought I had about acquiring a double-barrel. I'll "stay single"!

Capt. William

 

[musketman]

Musketman, that is great safety advice: and your warning is sufficient to "wet powder" what little thought I had about acquiring a double-barrel. I'll "stay single"!

Now don't get me wrong, doubles are great as long as you follow a few different guide lines...

For the most part, the double will have the same percautions as a single barrel muzzleloader, one must keep in mind of the extra loaded barrel if only one has been discharged...

Then there's cleaning, you have two barrels to swab, not one... :haha: :winking:

 

[robinghewitt]

A double is an absolute must have for any ML clayshoot, after loading and queuing for the trap you get two pops rather than one.