Pistol caliber & twist

[hmeier4799]

What is a good pistol caliber and barrel twist for target shooting at 50 yards?

 

With the right load anything from 36 caliber up to 54 caliber will print a good group at 50 yards off sandbags but by the end of the day you will shoot better groups with the smaller caliber (36, 40 or 45) it's not that there any more accurate but there alot easier on the nerves.

When shooting targets at 25 or 50 yards with my 45 caliber (TC) Patriot I use 12 gr. of FFFg bp and with my 54 caliber Great Plains pistol I use 18 gr. of FFFG.

Both of these pistols will shoot groups under 1 in. at 25 yards and under 3 in. at 50 yards.

 

Ditto what roaddog said. You will want a faster twist in a short pistol barrel. Around 1:20 should be good 'nuff.
I have a Lyman G.P. in .54 and two .44 revolvers but rarely shoot beyond 25 yards.

 

[Zonie]

I agree with roaddog that the a caliber less than .50 would be best.
I tend to lean towards the .45 with a barrel twist around 1/18 or so.
I choose the .45 because it is less likely to be effected by crosswinds and it carries its velocity a little better than the smaller sizes.
At about 129 grains you can shoot it all day long without getting tired of the recoil. The 180 (roughly) grains of a .50 gets to be a little tiring after a lot of shooting.
At least that's my 1 1/2 cents worth.

 

[capnwilliam]

WERE flintlock pistols in period rifled, or were they all smoothbore?

Capt. William

 

[Deadeye]

I've tried several different cal. but I've settled on the .45 as the best. I have 1 flint and 2 percussion. all 3 very accurate. Both the percussion have Greem mt. barrels
that are either 16 or 18 twist, can't remember, but whatever it works. I have seen pistols made with pieces of slow twist rifle barrels that shot well but I don't believe
as well as the fast twist.

 

[2172]

Zonie, please tell me that those charges were a typo! Hank

 

[bob1961]

i think he was talking about ball weights.........................bob

 

[hawkeye2]

Wheellock pistols could have ben either smooth or rifled, smothbore would have been more common.

 

[Rebel]

Hank, I'm sure Zonie was refering to the ball weight in each cal. and not the powder charge. A .50 cal .495 rd. ball weighs right around 180 grs.

 

[Zonie]

Sorry about that. The brain knew what I was saying, but the words written didn't come out saying what the thought was.

The 129 and 180 grain I was talking about is the weight of the BALL.

The powder charge would be in the 18-35 grain range depending on the caliber and what you were trying to accomplish.

Does that make better sense?