shoots high

[Evan Ebersole]

I have a 36cal flintlock that shoots 3ins. high at 25yds. the front sight is 3/4 ins. high the back sight is 1/4 high.
should I bend the barrel like you would on a smoothbore?

 

[paulvallandigham]

What powder charge, patch thickness,lube, and ball diameter are you using in that rifle? What is the barrel length? Is the barrel binding in the stock? All those questions need to be answered before we can venture to guess what may be the problem.

No, you don't treat rifle barrels like you can do some shotgun barrels. Those octagon barrels are a lot harder to " bend" than you can imagine, and not destroy them in the process. It would be cheaper to put a taller front sight on the gun than to try to bend it down.

I am suspecting right now that using a slightly greater powder charge will reduce that impact point at such a short range, but that is only my suspicion. Are you putting the top of that front sight in the bottom of the rear sight notch, or setting the top of the front sight even with the " ear " on the sides of that rear sight notch?

Sometimes, you have to hold a " Fine bead ", ie. put the front sight way down in the notch of the rear sight to get dead on impacts at short ranges. Most guns are zeroed at either 50 or 100 yds, and the ball is rising at 25 yds. Please give us more info.

 

[Wes/Tex]

The quickest fix is a higher front sight or lower rear sight to bring POI down. They're much easier to change than doing anything to the barrel. In fact, 3 inches might be O.K. if you want to hit on-the-mark at longer range. Try it at 50 to 75 yards and see where the ball hits compared to the sight picture.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

If your intent is to use the .36 for small game hunting, IMHO I would work to make my zero dead on at 25 yds.

Bob Spencer has given considerable thought on the matter of sighting in for what you desire.
[url] http://home.insightbb.com/~bspen/trajectories.html[/url]
[url] http://home.insightbb.com/~bspen/onetrajectory.html[/url]
[url] http://home.insightbb.com/~bspen/OddShots.html[/url]

[url] http://home.insightbb.com/~bspen/math.html[/url]

 

[Uncle Jed]

should I bend the barrel like you would on a smoothbore?

Wee-Doggies, that could lead to a heapin' helpin' of trouble, berrel bendin' should always be a last resort. If'n Jethro was to do that, to my smokepole Granny would cut herself a long switch and commence to explain it to him. :haha: A higher front sight or a lower rear sight would bring the highly placed shot down, so would a 6:00 hold on the target. I 'spect the ball is still rising in it's trajectory path at 25 yards, have you seen exactly what yardage it is sighted in for?

 

[Halftail]

If you want your shot to "come down" you need to lower your rear sight.I'm guessing you have solid fixed sights.

 

Don't bend the barrel. You need a taller front sight or a lower rear sight, or, as paul said, try changing your load around. I'd try that first.

Vic

 

[LRB]

I would try all the simple and more practical solutions first, and if they did not produce satisfactory results I would bend it. It may be bent now. It happens sometimes in the process of barrel making, especially when the barrels are not stress relieved, and few are, but thats me. what you decide, is up to you. I don't think I could live with a front sight that high over the barrel. You might contact the barrel maker, and see what they have to say about it.

 

[Birddog6]

3 or 4 rifles back, I built a .36 cal. that shot 9" left & 8" high at 25 yards. Turned out the barrel was not bored on center but in an arc. The barrel manufacturer replaced the barrel for me, but I had the rifle completed & still have to fit the barrel to the rifle. With the new barrel it would easily cut 3 shots in one hole at 25 yards & this was before working loads, just barrel & ignition testing. POI was at this time 1" left & 1" low on a 1" bullseye at 25 yards. That is where I left it for the customer to make his adjustments.

First thing would do on Your rifles is see if the barrel is laying at ease in the barrel channel. Then I would check on barrel pin stress, then I would see if the barrel is bent, then if it is I would decide whether to send it back or what. If it is a "A" weight barrel, they have to lay in the barrel channel with no stress. If you live in Maine & someone farts in California it will bend a "A" barrel :rotf: :rotf: Seriously, you take a .36 cal "A" weight barrel 42" long & lay it on a flat table, you can take one finger & push in the middle & bow it like nothing....... And a .40 cal bends even easier. So when building such a rifle with a light weight barrel, it is imperative that the barrel channel be true & no warpage in the forestock at all.

The easiest fix is a taller front sight or lower rear sight, however both need to be within reason & not stick up like a sore thumb. Possibly a tad taller on the front & a tad shorter on the rear ?

But first I would check the pressure on the stock to barrel & see how it is laying in there. :thumbsup:

Also keep in mind you can lower the center of some sights (like a buckhorn) and it not be noticable at all. 1/16" should get you in the bull if it is shooting 3" high at 25 yards, holding at 6 o/c on a 1" bull.

And another thing, you should be doing ALL of this sighting & load work off sandbags on a good solid bench as to remove most of the human error. :winking:

 

In the old days, the runofthemill Douglas barrels had run-out at the breech and care had to be made in mounting them (ie, bore was not parallel to flats). I guess that has been removed as a possibility in modern made barrels?

 

[Evan Ebersole]

It`s a 36cal flintlock 42in barrel 1-in-66 round bottom rifling I have shot everything from .350 to .360 balls, 20grs of FFFg to 70grs fffg.
I removed the rear site I can hit POA but not good enough for squirrel hunting.

 

[musketman]

May I suggest removing the barrel and reinstalling it, there could be a sliver of wood or other unwanted material in the barrel channel that is preventing it from seating properly... (you never know)

 

[Vaino]

Instead of a front sight height of 3/4", did you really mean 3/8"? If'n it is 3/4" high, there's something seriously wrong w/ the bbl....most likely it's bent! Can you send it back to the manufacturer for replacement or bending?...Fred

 

[fw707]

Yep, I thought that 1/2" was an awful big difference in height when I first read the post. It's gonna be awful impractical to adjust either sight to make up that much difference in your point of impact.
My guess is that the barrel's either bent, or drilled off center.
My .32 has a .040 difference between the front and rear sights (rear is higher). It shoots just a tad high too, but all I gotta do is shave a smidgen off the rear sight and it'll be dead on.

 

I have a 36cal flintlock that shoots 3ins. high at 25yds. the front sight is 3/4 ins. high the back sight is 1/4 high.
should I bend the barrel like you would on a smoothbore?

another thought--and I am not trying to be humorous here--is where do you aim? center hold or 6 o'clock? I shoot 6 o'clock hold and ALL of my rifles would shoot high to someone using a center hold....reduce the rear sight and a 6 o'clock hold might solve it?

 

[CrackStock]

Try making a sight extension with a piece of tape to see how much you need. From there you determine whether you want to buy or make a taller front sight or file your rear sight deeper.

CS

 

[LRB]

I would say, go ahead and bend it, unless you want a sail for a front sight.

 

[CrackStock]

or file your rear sight deeper.

 

[Evan Ebersole]

bent it today just a little it shoot 2ins low at 25 yrs. now to shoot it a few more times before I take the front sight down.

THANKS for the help