Flintlock Fun!

[duckey]

Even since since I could remember my Father always spoke of wanting to build a flintlock. He went to college at Ohio State where Golden Age Arms used to be located and would spend time in the store admiring the flintlocks they had. About 13+- years ago myself and my family had an idea to start giving him $ and or gift certificates to Golden Age Arms so he could fulfill his dream! After many years he was able to buy a nice kit and this is the result...add on about 6 more years for a finished product. He retired about 3.5 years ago (in the Winter) and spent his first few months of retirement build the gun. I went up to Maine last week to visit and we were able to shoot it! We Figured we should "proof the barrel" so we put in 100 grains of Goex FFFG and packing it in tight with a few patches on top (no bullet) Put the butt stock in a tire and lashed it down, tied some bailing twine to the trigger and let her rip (the gun barley kicked). Second shot was at 70 gn with round ball (can't recall weight) The pre cut un-lubed pillow tacking patches were to thick and we could not even start the ball even after applying some lube. (I hand lubed them up with a Lard, beeswax, Olive oil Lube I made) So I got Magiver like and used a reciept out of my wallet and used one thickness of that which was better but could have been tighter. We shot several times at 50 yards but has a hard time 1. Seeing front sight on the white target, hitting target, or getting close to the X. We backed down the charge to 40 and 50 gn and saw improvement. Moved to 25 yards and started getting better groups. The darn front sight was hard to see! The gun was a joy to shoot, very little kick. I have never shot black powder before but man the barrel got some gunked up. Cleaned it several times over the course of 15 shots or so. Here are a few pics. We also shot a Brown Bess my father traded for. That thing kicked like a mule!

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[duckey]

Also....Take a look at the front sight...does it look like it was put in backwards? Look at some pics on line for a reference but need some input.

[MrWolf]

She looks great! Hope your Dad enjoys her.

[duckey]

I might have enjoyed it more than him. But we had fun shooting it. Quite a distinctive sound compared to a percussion.

[Lead Fred]

Been shooting muzzle stuffers since the 70s, never have done any of this rigamaroll, just tookem out and shot them with normal loads.

[fouronesix]

I've seen the front sight put on both ways. The way shown in the pic is probably the most common. All depends on what works best for sighting. Also that type sight is one of the most common for that period of muzzleloader.

For sight picture and clarity I prefer an iron medium width flat topped blade front and an iron flat topped rear with a fairly shallow U. Both blued with something like Super Blue or browned with Plum Brown. I like the tip of the front blade to just be visible in the shallow U when sighting. Zero at 50 to 75 yards by drifting front or rear for windage and filing front for elevation.

Pick a roundball diameter and patch material thickness that is neither too loose nor too tight a fit. Common pillow ticking is a universal standard for good patch material. A good place to start is powder charge that equals caliber of real BP under a roundball. Clean rifle correctly after shooting. Check bore with tight clean patch a few days after shooting to see if the cleaning was done correctly. :)

[bigted]

that appears to be a fine rifle indeed.

didn't see what cal it is tho and also never heard of having to "proof" the barrel in a modern steel barrel.

thanks for sharing this and as I did not pick up on a particular question ... I will go on thinking that you are getting a handle on the procedures n such regarding real rifles and real gunpowder.

[bosterr]

The front sight on my custom flintlock was installed the same way. Most that I've seen was installed that way.

[DIRT Farmer]

Your front sight is considered correct. Good looking rifle.

[duckey]

The cal is .54 and is a Douglas barrel. As far as "proofing" I guess we were playing it safe. I was given some load advice from a few members on here this past summer....30-50 gn for target shooting, 60-90 for hunting, FFG, FFFG, let the gun tell you what it likes. Start at lower end of powder charge and work up by 5 gn's. we were shooting a Lee .530 soft cast (flashing lead) 220 gn RB. I was very surprised the pillow ticking was to tight, even after lubing. This particular ticking was for 50-59 cal it just was tight as heck. we actually got a ball started and stuck 2" down the barrel, couldn't pull it out so we fired it out...tight! We picked up some .010 lubed TC patched at Cabelas the next day and have yet to try em. I'm thinking at least one or maybe 2 (.020") will be on the money. I'd like to figure out a way to make that front site stand out more, soot, black magic marker, orange paint...something. When held on target we had some some great shots.

[fouronesix]

A bunch of BP with no projectile is really not a "proof" load of any kind. Pretty good noise maker for July 4th though! :) A modern gun of quality parts really shouldn't require a BP proof shot, provided of course the breech plug was installed properly.

Agreed, odd that the .530 ball with regular ticking is that tight. I've found most by-the-yard striped ticking seen at fabric stores and even Wallyworld averages between .014 and .016". Surprised yours is .020". The thinner .010" patch material may solve that problem. Also, you might watch for a .520 RB mold. I found one a few years ago for my 53 cal S Fe Hawken. It was new in the box in the junk discount odd stuff bin at a gunshop for $20. :)

Track of the Wolf has a large selection of sights. Here's the type of front sight I like. The blade thickness is .075". This is on a flinter I built a few years ago.

[waksupi]

.526 is what I have ended up with in several .54 's.

[DW475]

Very nice smoke pole!

[Boogieman]

NEVER shoot a ML with the ball that is not tight down on the powder. This is rule # 1 in muzzle loading. It can ring or even split the barrel . You need to get some instruction on loading ML guns before you get hurt or damage that fine Douglas barrel. That is one fine looking rifle.

[Col4570]

Did you say 2" down the Barrel and you fired it out.This is an absolute no no since there is a dangerous air space between powder and bullet.Massive pressures are created under these conditions.Better to try and hammer the Bullet down on the powder then fire it out or use a bullet puller.Apologies for the lesson but I have seen the results of this at first hand with a genuine Percussion Long Gun.The owner lost the tips of four fingers.

[square butte]

You are very lucky that you did not split your barrel at the frond sight dovetail - Which looks to be about 2" from the muzzle, and creates a natural weak point at that location. Have seen photos of exactly such a split.

[StrawHat]

Jim Johnston was a good fellow. I was sad when I heard he finally closed the doors of Golden Age Arms. I used to get down there a few times a year. As I recall he offered Douglas barrels and some under his own banner. I believe they were also made by Douglas but had seven grooves. I have one in 32 and possibly another one in a larger caliber.

We used to have a lot of good shops in Ohio that catered to the black powder enthusiast, most are now gone and The Log Cabin stands alone, to the best of my knowledge.

Enjoy learning about using a muzzleloader and spend some good time with your Dad.

Kevin

[fouronesix]

.526 is what I have ended up with in several .54 's.

That's exactly right.
duckey,
If in fact the bore in your Dad's rifle is really tight, it'd be a good idea to watch for one of those RB molds, Lyman or RCBS, for the .526 or .520. Unfortunately, they are not common and can get pricey on Ebay if a bidding war starts. Just have to keep an eye open. Also I think there's a few sources for the roundballs themselves. Hornady swaged some .520s and I believe that Track of the Wolf may sell .526s. Usually better to get the correct sized ball first then fine tune with patching thickness... than use a one-size-fits-all ball then compensate with patch material that may be too thin or too thick.

Howwever, over time with lots of shooting the lands will tend to smooth out and wear a little so you may be OK with using the more common .530 ball with thinner patch.

Here's a link to the TOTW page that lists the smaller 54 cal roundballs they have- .520 and .526. May be worth it to try a few. Scroll to pg bottom. http://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/127/2