Today I decided to play with one of the flintlocks and see if I will ever be able to master the art of flint knapping. I picked the Lyman Trade Rifle in .54 caliber. The load I use in that rifle is 90 grains of Goex 2f (this rifle hates 3f powder) and a moosemilk Pillow Tick patch, with a Buffalo Bullet .530 roundball. I used Goex 4f as the prime powder. All shooting was done at 50 yards, as that's about as far a shot as I would get with where I hunt with this rifle.
I never had to swab the barrel the entire day. The moosemilk patches were really doing well. No burns, or shredding, so I just kept shooting. I did wipe out the pan and frizzen from time to time, and I had to finally clean the frizzen spring and hinge because it got so fowled, that the flint could no longer trip it open towards the end to make a good spark.
I took Roundball's knapping instructions with me. And after following his directions, I actually think I got the hang of it...
I did make a chipping tool out of a nail and used that to flake off the smallest of amounts while the rifle was on half cock. It must of have worked because the rifle ignition was very sure, and
F..A..S..T..! Even though I
thought the flint looked dull, it still fired perfect. I had two hangfires or lag fires for better words to call them. I would then knapp when that happened.
I first fired at the center target. It really took a pounding, but it gave me the sight picture I would need to hold which was a true 6 o'clock picture. I finally decided I was ready to adjust the sights. Not too bad, only took me a little over a year to commit to my load. I then shot three shots from a bench rest off a Caldwell bag, (picture C) to check my adjustment. I was more then pleased with this. So I got the shooting sticks out to see how I would do on them (picture D). Again, I was not all that unhappy with those results. The fast ignition really makes the difference with these rifles. Then I needed to knock my self down a little, so I took some free hand shots. As you can see, I kept them on paper, but I do need a lot of work in that department. (although I seldom if ever shoot free hand when hunting.. I almost always have a rest of some sorts.)
So it was a great day. The temperature was in the 70's and it was sunny with minor wind gusts. Maybe tomorrow I will take the Hawkins flintlock out and play with that one...