My First Serious Great Plains Experiment

[Semisane]

I've been shooting the .54 Great Plains flintlock since February, and have somewhere close to 300 rounds through it, buthad not done any serious load comparisons with it yet. So, with the weather starting to moderateI figured it's time I got to work.

In my Sunday morning range session at the hunting lease I decided to do a ball & patch comparison using the same powder charge for all loads. The plan was to shoot six five-shot groups as follows:

.530 ball with .015 patch (Good Will store table cloth)
.530 ball with .018 patch (WalMart pillow ticking)
.530 ball with .020 patch (JoAnn's Fabrics denim)
.535 ball with .015 patch
.535 ball with .018 patch
.535 ball with .020 patch

I chose to use 95 grains GOEX FFFg, even though an 80 grain load usually gives me a little better accuracy with this gun.
Patches were lubed with my home made mixture of 25% bees wax, 25% Crisco, and 50% olive oil.
A wonder wad was used with all loads. The bore was wiped with both sides of one damp patch and one dry patch between shots.
All shots were at 50 yards from a bench with good solid rests.
All loads were shot over the chronograph.

Here are the results - you can see from the targets that I didn't do my finest shooting in this session, but I did establish a base line for future comparisons.


First target - .530/.015


DANG! I forgot to transfer velocity data from the chronograph to thetarget. As I recall, it was somewhere around a 1550 fps average because I remember being surprised at the velocity increase on the second target. I wasn't real happy with this group, but the .530 ball/.015 patch combination was a dream to load with just a push on the short starter. I suspect the low shot (#2) waspilot error.

Here's the second target - .530/.018




Well,that's a little better, but nothing to brag about considering that in the past I've shot a number of sub two-inch 50 yard groups with this gun.Anothershot low andout of the main group. This ball/patch combination was comfortable to load but the short starter required a stiff bump toseat the ball. Note the 51 fps spread from lowest to highest velocity.

Here's the thirdtarget - .530/.020



This combination required a pretty sharp wack on the starter to seat the ball. I was surprised when the velocity averagedless than the previous load. Very consistent velocity - only a 10 fps spread. Why didn't it group better? (The SHOOTER )


OK, on to the .535 ball. Here's the fourth target with .535/.015



AH HA! Now I'm convinced the crappy groups are mostly due to my shooting. I must bedoing something screwy. This is the load I have the gun sighted in for in preparation for the Nov. 8th. opening day of deer season and my first (I hope) flintlock deer. The last two times I shot this load combination the gun put all of the shots on the bull. Loading requires a solid bump on the starter. I have no idea what caused that velocity spike on shot #5. Maybe l leaned too heavy on the ramrod seating the ball. Maybe I didn't wipe the barrel the same as other times.

Oh well. On to target five - .535/.018




Velocity creeped up a little with the tighter load. This one requires a sharp wack on the starter.

And finally, target 6 - .535/.020




No joy here! Takes a double hard wack on the starter to seat. I suspect the chrono made an error on the velocity reading of #4. No way could it be that low.

So, what's next on the agenda? It looks like the .535 ball & .015 patch is a winner so far. The next experiment will be with that load combination and four different lubes (bore butter - Crisco - Eastern Main Shooters Supply Premium Lube, and my home made BW-C-OO mix) and three different loads of FFFg(85, 95 ,105 grains).

Hey! There are worse ways to spend your time.

[cayugad]

That is always fun to run patch and ball tests like that. Actually the velocity you got on some of them was a surprise. I would have guessed more velocity, but I do not doubt your findings. My T/C manual list a much higher muzzle velocity for 90 grains of 2f with a roundball then you report. But still it is a very interesting test.

[Semisane]

Hey Cayugad, thiswas the first time I shot the gun over the chrono, and to tell you the truth I was surprised too. I wasexpecting something around1800 fps with that load. I know a flintlock looses more pressurethrough the vent than a caplock does through that tiny hole in the nipple - but it still seems low. I have an RMC vent liner in the gun, which has a larger touch hole than the original Lyman liner. I expect that comes into play also.

Does the T/C manual indicate velocities for both flintlock and caplock?

On a positive note - did you notice the number 51 in the upper right hand corner of the last target? That's the fifty-first five-shot target I have in my records (255 shots in all) plus at least anotherfifty sight adjustment and "play around"shots at targets of opportunity and not one flash in the pan. I've had times where the pan didn't ignite - no more than two dozen or so - and usually found that I needed to either tighten the flint in the jaws or wipe some crud off of it. But, if the pan flashes the gun goesBOOM. The reliability of this flintlock amazes me.

[cayugad]

No, the T/C manual only has projectile/powder charge speed. They do not worry about model of rifle. Still a .54 is a good machine. They are deer killers.

[Buck Hunter 1]

Oh man I am saving money as fast as I cannot spend it on other hunting needs! I keep seeing these reports on the Flinters and just amazed at the fun you all are having. If the choice of a 50 or 54 came around, would you still pick the 54? Is there any advantage to sticking w/ 50 calibers for all my shooting/hunting needs?

[Semisane]

Given the choice, I would go with the .54 - no doubt about it. If Lyman ever started to make a .58 barrelfor the Great Plains I would order oneimmediately.

If you're looking at the GP, you can always go with a .54 with a slow twist barrel for shooting balls, then pick up one of their.50 fast twist "hunter" barrels for shooting conicals/sabots.

[cayugad]

I was going to say, that depends on what you want to shoot. If you want to hunt with roundball, then the .54 is without question the better caliber. If you want to shoot conicals and sabots, then you want a fast twist .50 caliber.

[Semisane]

One more thingBuck Hunter, just so you don't think those targets I posted are representative of what a GP flintlock can do, here are some targets with a little better shooting.

Here's my light 50 grain "play around" load at 50 yards - no swabbing between shots.



And here's a more typical group with my hunting load of 95 grains.



Actually, I suspect the 50 grain load would do in a deer quite nicely at 50 yards.