I finally got a flint lock rifle. (actually I have another one but there is a story involved with it and I do not shoot it)
But this is a nicely made flint lock from Dixie Guns and it is not as long as most flint locks. Being more the length of a Hawken. After gathering up all the accruterments that are needed for shooting a sparker, I had to wait for the temperature to get out of the "0" area. I had reason to believe that very low temperatures would hinder the open spark from being hot enough to set off the powder. And wind for sure would not be an asset. Two weeks passed before the weather conditions in Alaska warmed up and the storms passed on to Canada. So a temperture of 25 deg. is like spring here in Anchorage so off I set. First I cleaned the bore and the lock of all factory preservation oil. Then set off some 4F powder in the pan to condition it a little. Then starting low I put 50 gr. down the 50 caliber bore. The Minie ball that I was using was Hornady prelubbed 410 HB SP slug. The first thing that I ran up against was that the bullet didn't seem to fit the bore. Hummm I could just see me trying to get a stuck 410 gr. hunk of lead out of my barrel or worse yet just half way down the barrel where I didn't dare shoot it out. So I turned it around and tried the nose in the barrel. It went it almost it's full depth. That encouraged me so I put the base back down and bumped it against the shooting bench to force it into the bore. When it went all the way in I then said a prayer to the Great White Gods of muzzle loaders and put the ramrod on top and gave it a good shove. A little tight at first but soon the lands were engraved into the bullet and down it went. Wheeeeh that made me feel much better. Then with the target set up at 50 yards I gave it a try. CLICK Nothing no spark. Try again, and again, and again. Hummm something is wrong here. Don't laugh now, Empty pan. So with some more 4F powder I am back looking at the bullseye. Set the trigger and pull the front trigger and POOF..............................................Bang. You will note the time between POOF and Bang. During that time I managed to pull the sights off the target and then pull them back on the target desparately trying to salvage that flinch. And to my elation I actually had a hole at the bottom of the target. No not in any scoring rings but it was on the target! Well now I had some experience on what to expect from that evil rifle, I gritted my teeth and held until the dang thing went Bang and was rewarded with a hole at the bottom of the target BUT this one was in the score ring at 6 o'clock. It was obvious to me that the rifle shot low. So I raised the sights to the middle of the black bullseye and let another one go. Then I recocked it and tried again, again again. Finally checked my flint and found it loose, adjusted it and retightened it. The next shot went off right where I thought it would--in the black---but still low. Hummm I hate to aim over the top of the target so I adjusted the powder charge. Instead of 50 gr FF I went to 75 gr FF. I could almost hear the band playing the drum roll as I squeezed the trigger. BOOM and a huge 50 caliber hole right in the 10 ring. My mother didn't raise any foolish children (well maybe one of my sisters) so I stopped. ?????What do you mean why? I hit the 10 ring, what else do I need to do? The gun is now sighted in. And besides I wanted to shoot my pistols for a while. Do you want me to ruin a perfect one hole group?
LOL
Total elapst time for a 4 shot match against an expert opponant was 1 1/2 hours.
Man that was fun. I can hardly wait till spring when I can shoot in comfort.
You just got to try a Flint Lock. But only if you are very patient. LOL
Sarge
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