Red’s Even MORE Incredible Shooting of Tradition’s Kentucky: .50 Cal of Accurate Goodness

[mmb617]

I've been using the 5/8" french amber flints from Stonewall Creek Outfitters in my Traditions Kentucky rifle. They are nominally 5/8" by 3/4" and fit the jaws well. I notch the leather but have not needed to nibble anything off of the flints. With the back of the flint against the jaw screw they are just the right distance from the frizzen at half cock when they are new, My gun likes the flints flat side up.

I generally get about 50 shots out of a flint in that rifle, with a knap or two, before it's too short for the jaws to clamp. I don't shim behind the flint as I move it forward after knapping. The jaws always hold it tight enough. But then again I may overtighten my jaw screw sometimes as I have broken one before.

I have 4 other Traditions flintlocks and those same flints work well in all of them. Especially my Trapper pistol that often gets well over 100 shots out of one flint.

 

[Panama Red]

I've been using the 5/8" french amber flints from Stonewall Creek Outfitters in my Traditions Kentucky rifle. They are nominally 5/8" by 3/4" and fit the jaws well. I notch the leather but have not needed to nibble anything off of the flints. With the back of the flint against the jaw screw they are just the right distance from the frizzen at half cock when they are new, My gun likes the flints flat side up.

I generally get about 50 shots out of a flint in that rifle, with a knap or two, before it's too short for the jaws to clamp. I don't shim behind the flint as I move it forward after knapping. The jaws always hold it tight enough. But then again I may overtighten my jaw screw sometimes as I have broken one before.

I have 4 other Traditions flintlocks and those same flints work well in all of them. Especially my Trapper pistol that often gets well over 100 shots out of one flint.

I really wanted these 3/4 flints to work, but they are just too long. Won’t allow the frizzen to close all the way at half cock, when they are flat side up, which gives a lot better angle on the frizzen… I’m going to notch one as soon as I get a minute and see how that works, and try the shorter ones when they get here.
-Red, probably doing it wrong…

 

[Brazos John]

-Red, probably doing it wrong…

Red,
I've been enjoying your story, and I really love your closing comments!
-Brazos, appreciating originality (and copying, when I can get away with it!)

 

[Panama Red]

Red,
I've been enjoying your story, and I really love your closing comments!
-Brazos, appreciating originality (and copying, when I can get away with it!)

Thanks! Glad you’re enjoying it. I figured this forum didn’t need another cranky old fart,LOL! There has to be like a cap on how many you can have, and I’m betting we have exceeded it…
I’m part of an online workout cult called Street Parking. Awesome programming, great workouts… anyways,I always close out my posts in that group with triple hashtags, two of which are usually over the top smack talk, and one of me admitting how fat and lazy I am. It’s like three times the effort though to come up with the closers.
-Red, phoning it in…

 

[Brazos John]

I figured this forum didn’t need another cranky old fart,LOL! There has to be like a cap on how many you can have, and I’m betting we have exceeded it…

Yeah, sometimes folks get pretty worked up about their opinions.
It's a whole lot more fun reading stuff like your posts!
Thanks, and I'll keep reading!

 

[Panama Red]

Yeah, sometimes folks get pretty worked up about their opinions.
It's a whole lot more fun reading stuff like your posts!
Thanks, and I'll keep reading!

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the cranky old farts! They make it fun! Entertaining reading!
The wife and I are out of here tomorrow, headed up to a lake in Alabama to “camp” for the rest of the week. No more shooting stuff this week. I did get a copy of “The Gunsmith of Grenville County” in yesterday, so I got plenty of reading to do.
-Red, getting away from it all…

 

[Panama Red]

Had a fun day today. Finally got to try out the 5S Flints from TotW. Decided to shoot the May Postal Shoot. First pic is the Kentucky on my tailgate. Second is the pig. Five points for the pig, ten for the penny. Five shots, offhand, at only 25 yards. I could have shot it with my bow a hundred times better… I scored a 5. Third pic is my rifle range. I’ve got 275 more yards beyond the target. Guess I won’t be needing them any time soon, lol!
50 grams FFFG Schuetzen. .490 wheel weight ball. .015 ticking. Bore butter lube. FFFFG primer. First two went low off the paper. Next two on paper. Last shot on the pig! Yay!
So, I decided to try it again. Kept everything the same, except switched to .018 ticking.
First shot: ON THE PIG! Yes! Now I’m getting somewhere! Second shot, I was so focused on thinking maybe I could get all five on the pig, running through the next four shots in my head, that I forgot to put powder in… realized it when my ramrod went waaaay too deep when I seated the ball.
Couldn’t get the ball puller to start in the wheel weight ball. Ended up pulling the flash hole liner and dumping in FFFFG. Shot the stuck ball out.
Will head back out tomorrow to try it all over again.
Had one flash in the pan with the new flints. Picked the flash hole. Found I can go a lot lighter on the prime than I thought. First couple of shots had a noticeable delay. Thinking I had a bit of oil in the flash hole… I have a bad habit of over oiling.
Pretty happy overall with the function of the rifle. Not so happy with my shooting, and my mistakes.
-Red, slowing down, taking his time…

 

[Panama Red]

Went back to shoot the pig today. Had a lot of fun with it. Shot with my son in law. This was my second attempt. Ain’t counting the penny as it isn’t at least halfway in.
If y’all haven’t shot the monthly postal match, June target has already been posted. Give it a try. Harder than I thought it would be. I guess I’m not a rifleman… yet.
Had three flash in the pans out of 25 shots today. Picked the touch hole and reprimed each. It was later in the shooting, and everything was getting pretty fouled up. Need to check in to how much/often to clean the pan and touch hole while shooting…
Cleaned up Ol’ Crow just before dark this evening. This is only the third time shooting her. Need to get my cleaning procedure down better. I skooshed her out with cold water with a little Dawn in it, while soaking the lock in the solution. Ran a soaked mop in and out about a dozen times, rinsing between each cycle. Let that sit while I scrubbed on the lock, then ran wet (cold water) patches down the barrel until one came out clean. Three dry patches afterward, then oiled the beegeezies out of everything. She’s laying there all slathered in Amzoil 20w-50 v-twin formula at the moment. I’ll rewipe everything tomorrow. Couple dry. patches, couple oily patches…
-Red, just ramblin’….

 

[Mark E. Prickett]

Do you still have the 5/8x 3/4 flints? I can use them in my SMR.

 

[Panama Red]

Do you still have the 5/8x 3/4 flints? I can use them in my SMR.

I do, but someone else has already spoken for them…
I got to ship those things out!
-Red, just getting back from the Bahamas…

 

[BackDraft]

Welcome back!

-BackDraft, beginning to wonder if Red had dropped off the face of the Earth…

 

[Brazos John]

I'll copy that, Welcome Back!

-Brazos John, wondering why anyone would leave the Bahamas to return to RECORD heat!