What charge for a flintlock pistol?

[Walt For 2A]

Just acquired a Japanese flintlock pistol in .66 caliber. I believe its a British Light Dragoon

Should I still use 3F? How many grains?

 

[rafterob]

25-45 grains. Sure its not .69?

 

[Walt For 2A]

My calipers say .66. I measured several times. Thank you for the info

 

[rickystl]

Many of those Jap pistols were originally advertised as .69 But it seems most would actually mic out at .66-.68 In the past, I've found that these large bore flint pistols shoot pretty well with 35-40 grains of FFG. Not much good past about 15 yards. But then, thats all they were made for.

Rick

 

[Flintlock]

I would drop a bore light down the barrel first and make sure the pitting on the inside is not worse than the outside. Someone was pretty careless it seems, might still be loaded or never cleaned last time it was used. If in-bore pitting is bad it would be best to hang on a wall.

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

25-45 grains. Sure its not .69?

I have one, they call it 69, but the barrel is 66 or 67. My first muzzleloader in "1965"
Larry

 

[tenngun]

40 3f and a .595 ball in denim patch make big holes in armadillos

 

[Walt For 2A]

I would drop a bore light down the barrel first and make sure the pitting on the inside is not worse than the outside. Someone was pretty careless it seems, might still be loaded or never cleaned last time it was used. If in-bore pitting is bad it would be best to hang on a wall.

The bore is shiny and beautiful!

 

[Candymancan]

Id do 40 grains to start. And work my way up to 60 maximum. For a 69 caliber or 66 caliber. Id go with 2f honestly. I use 2f in my howdawh pistol aka short barrel shotgun.. its 20ga or 61 caliber smooth bore. I use 60 grains of powder 2f or 3f if im out if 2f

 

[rickystl]

I have one, they call it 69, but the barrel is 66 or 67. My first muzzleloader in "1965"
Larry

Thats when I bought mine. LOL 1964/5.

 

[BEP]

I'd keep it at around 35 grains of 3f or so. When these were imported the laws were different; none of them were proofed. No sense pushing the envelope. Oh, and before investing a lot in projectiles, I'd try it with a flint. Some of those pistols just didn't spark very well, but I hope yours does. Have fun.

 

[PathfinderNC]

Rule of thumb for BP pistols is to load with powder the equipment of Half the caliber of the pistol. From there you can adjust up and down according to performance. So for a .66 you could begin with 33 grains (3f for pistols) and see how she does.
Have fun and be safe!

 

[zimmerstutzen]

You might be lucky if the frizzen springs worked properly and the frizzen is hard enough to spark. Often made out of mild steel, they couldn't spark in a blast furnace without some work..

 

[Kansas Kid]

I have a new barrel for one of those that was never used because of a sloppy fitting breech plug. You might take the barrel out and fill with solvent or mineral spirits and see if it gets by the threads.plug vent hole with tooth pick.

 

[nchawkeye]

Before even considering firing, make sure you get good sparks from that lock...Many have problems with flintlocks and want to blame the technology when it is actually just an inferior lock.......

 

[Walt For 2A]

Thanks all for your input. Shoots just fine. 45 grains FF with a patched .648

 

[William Lincoln]

Interesting pistol. Unless you know the history of the piece, do check it over
carefully. Even if it fires OK now. Several great safety checks given above.
Remember that stress cracks can form slowly over time. Pitting can accelerate
failures. "Expect what you Inspect."

 

[hanshi]

If you happen to try shooting with 3F DO drop the charge 10%.