Which >.54 caliber and twist rate for me?

[St. Hogustine]

I want to build a >40" barreled flintlock in .58 or larger caliber (looking heavily at .62), round ball only, for hunting whitetails and feral hogs inside 80 yards. As always, thanks for what I have already learned from the forum. Shooting round ball, and shooting over .50 caliber, are both new to me. I'm currently looking at Jim Chambers' Virginia Rifle kit, and I am open to others.
Questions:

I would like to find an accurate load in the 950-1150fps muzzle velocity range. Should large PRB shoot well in that range out of a 1-66" twist? Any better twist recommendations?

In your opinion, and assuming the rifle is designed well, how large can I go in caliber before recoil becomes excessive? I would like my normal load to compare to a 3" mag. 12ga shell, and a peppy load (1200+ fps) to be just under .300 Win mag. territory.

[arcticap]

Here's 2 threads someone posted about the custom drop in .58 barrel that was made by Bobby Hoyt from scratch for his TC Renegade flintlock.
It has a 1 in 70" twist and he shows test targets with different loads.
He also shows detailed photos of a deer that was bagged with one of his .58's with 85 grains of powder @ 67 yards which created a pretty massive pass through wound channel.
You can always register and ask him questions since he often visits the site.
These threads are posted in the traditional section of the website's black powder forum.

1.--->>> https://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tra...ts-barrel.html

2.--->>> https://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tra...9-new-toy.html

[jjarrell]

I have had 2 custom barrels made for 2 of my .54's. One is 1:72 and the other 1:79 rate of twist. Both are extremely accurate. The short of it is this. An easy way to come up with the right twist for a round ball is multiply the caliber by 150. .62 caliber comes out to 1:93. A .45 Caliber barrel comes out to 1:67.5, hence the accepted and preferred round ball twist as 1:66 for .45 cal round ball. This will give great accuracy with heavier hunting loads.

[Good Cheer]

.60 round ball and 120 grains FFg. It just shoves you around.

https://i.imgur.com/Ps8eIm0.mp4

[Nobade]

I've got a 12 bore rifle, 1:100 twist. Shoots a .715" ball over 200gr. FFg at almost 1500 fps. Recoil isn't a issue, less than a 308 bolt gun. Shoots cloverleaf groups at 100 yds. Great fun!

[rfd]

i have a kibler colonial rifle kit arriving this thursday, a .54 with 1:66 twist and round bottom rifling, strictly for patched balls.

[waksupi]

I've settled on 1-66 as my favorite.

[rfd]

there ARE times when a faster twist *might* be good for patched balls, such as a shorter barrel and/or lighter loads. i had such a barrel in a .54 flinter hawken, 32" and 1:56 twist. i used light loads for woods walks and it was a "ringer" rifle.

other than that, with a 40-44 inch bbl, 1:66 pretty much rules for a .45-.62 bore - for me.

[bob208]

when I worked with Bob Hoyt. ne said .40 1-48 45 1-52 50-54 1-66 .58 up 1-72. pistol 1-18.

[jjarrell]

when I worked with Bob Hoyt. ne said .40 1-48 45 1-52 50-54 1-66 .58 up 1-72. pistol 1-18.

Bob would know. That's a certainty.

[Nobade]

Bob would know. That's a certainty.

I had Bob rebore a TC to 58 Cal. I don't know what twist he used but it sure does shoot well.

[rfd]

I had Bob rebore a TC to 58 Cal. I don't know what twist he used but it sure does shoot well.

i betcha with that new bore and barrel length that bobby used 1:56, he favors that a lot. easy enuf to check with a patched jag.

[Nobade]

i betcha with that new bore and barrel length that bobby used 1:56, he favors that a lot. easy enuf to check with a patched jag.

Most likely. I never bothered to check it, it works so well.