The post about lock time and having issues with it got me to thinking and so I called my mentor to get his thoughts. Here is the general idea of what he talked to me about. We are concerned with "time" when shooting a muzzle loader in the following areas and I'll start at the top and go down (so to speak).
- When your brain decides you have seen the target you want to shoot and tells you "hey pull the trigger". X
- The time the signal takes to travel down your arm to the trigger finger and the finger moves. X
- The set trigger time or how long the time is when you touch the trigger and it trips. A
- The time for the rear trigger to contact the sear. A
- The time for the sear to trip the hammer so it starts moving and this is what many people call "lock time". A
- Time for the hammer to fall and ignite the percussion cap or cause a spark if using a flint lock. A
- Time for the spark to travel through the powder barrel or hole in the snail or up the bottom if an under hammer. B
- Time for the powder to ignite and start the ball moving down the barrel. B
- Time for ball/slug to travel the barrel length and be on it's way. B
Items marked with an "X" are up to us as shooters and if you are an old guy like me, well not much we can do here!
Items marked with an "A" can be adjusted, worked on (previous post), lubed, modified, ETC so the time is reduced.
Items marked with an "B" can be adjusted by using different powders, primers, ETC
Any thoughts?