Passing on an heirloom

[wjschieber]

I learned to hunt from my grandfather over 35 years ago. He only had one rifle his whole life. He told us it was his grandfather’s and it was all he ever needed. It was a Kentucky style flintlock about 48 cal (as it took a .470 round ball) with a 41” barrel. As I was the only grandchild that hunted with Black powder he left it to me. I have hunted with it a lot over the years, as it is my favorite. There is just something about having family history with you that makes it like nothing else in the world. For over 100 years members of my family have been taking deer with it. Some year’s back I had to rebarrel it with a Green Mountain 42” 50 cal and had a new lock made to fit. All without making any changes to the stock and saving all the old parts so it can be put back the way it was. I always used a load that is 90 grains of Goex 2F with a .490 round ball, a T/C prelubed patch and 4F for the primer. Now my little boy (26 years old) would like to hunt with it, as I have had to switch to left hand because of an injury to my arm and no longer can use it. But he keeps asking me questions that I do not know the answers to. I just keep telling him it works so what does it matter. But kids nowadays just need to know all the technical stuff. His questions are: What is the velocity and what is the energy of the above load? If anyone has one of those new fangled corny graphs or knows the answer I would really appreciate the help. Thanks Bill

 

[Roy]

Fast enough to kill a critter. :haha: :thumbsup:

 

[roundball]

90 grains of Goex 2F with a .490 round ball, a T/C prelubed patch and 4F for the primer.

TC's BP manual lists that load in a 28" barrel as:

1950 FPS/MV
1478 FtLbs/ME

If you call TC's Customer service, they'll mail you a free copy of their manual entitled:

"Shooting Thompson/Center Black Powder Muzzleloading Firearms"

Has load data charts for various powder charges, calibers, projectiles, etc

 

[wszumera]

He should treasure that rifle for the rest of his days. If you could how about posting a picture of it.

Clutch

 

[Zonie]

"I always used a load that is 90 grains of Goex 2F with a .490 round ball, a T/C prelubed patch and 4F for the primer."
_________________________________________

The Lyman BlackPowder Handbook says your load in a 32 inch barrel would be about 1768 FPS with a muzzle energy of 1229 Ft/lb.
Because your barrel is longer, IMO you could add something like maybe 50 FPS to that making the velocity about 1818 FPS. At that muzzle velocity the energy would be about 1299 Ft/lb.

At 100 yards, the velocity would be around 1092 FPS with a energy of around 494 Ft/lb.

Since your boy is into the modern stuff, remind him that (IMO) one cannot compare the roundball with modern guns when it comes to hunting efficiency. First off, the ball is as big or bigger than many modern bullets expand to, and roundballs have been known to expand to even larger diameters when they hit a critter.
Put another way, the .50 caliber roundball pokes a .50 dia hole into the critter as it enters it. Even if it didn't expand it creates a very large wound channel.
Many roundballs do not exit the animal thus all of the energy is transmitted to it rather than being wasted by burrowing into the dirt or a tree on the far side.
This can work against the hunter because there may not be as much blood loss to follow if the animal runs far.

As you must know, the best thing to do if the animal runs is to sit down, reload the gun, watch for other wildlife and enjoy the solitude. Then get up and find your game.

Zonie

 

[Gary]

I hope you've kept the original lock and barrel. Someday, when the gun is retired, they should be reunited with the stock.

Thank you for continuing your grandfather's tradition. You should write a letter describing what your grandfather told you and that paper should remain with the gun. Hopefully you have a fireproof safe (or just lined the outside with wonderboard) to protect such an heirloom. Did you know you and your son are guardians of our cultural heritage? Yep, you're CHPs (Cultural Heritage Protectors). Serious. :thumbsup: