ORIGINAL: eldeguello
ORIGINAL: AFISHN
My wife got me a .50 cal Lyman Deerstalker flintlock rifle for Christmas.
I am going to sight it in tommorow for hunting this week in PA.
I have 2 basic questions.
1)DoI have to use a .490 roundball and cloth patch or canI use a cylindrical .50 calmuzzleloading bullet.
2)she bought me a can of Goex FFg Black rifle powder.Should Iuse this (how many grains for a 365 Gr muzzleloading "bullet")or can I alsouse pyrodex tablets(# of grains?)?
Thanks Tom
Tom, as caygad says, use only loose real black powder in the flintlock-forget the various substitutes, and of course, pellets are totally out!
You can shoot round balls, and a .490 PRB with 90 to 120 grains of FFg black powder is plenty to kill a deer out to 100 yards, but you can also shoot Power Belts in it. I use the 295-grain .50 Power Belts with 90 grains of FFg in my .50 cal. percussion sidelock. this bullet would be just as good shot from a flintlock. Unfortunately, the only flinter I own right now is a .58.....
"Scrub that bore good when you get home too as Goex contains alot of sulphur and will rust your gun's bore real bad if not taken care of properly."
ALL black powder contains sulphur - 75% potassium nitrate, 15% charcoal, and 10% sulphur - the ancient formula for black powder! Potassium nitrate and sulphur deposits both cause rusting. Do the bore cleaning with hot water. It is the best solvent for rust-causing salt deposits.