cayugad

Being a beautiful day, I of course decided to shoot. I took the Tradition's Woodsman Hawkins Flintlock out today. This .50 caliber has a 1:48 twist and one of the fastest lock times I have seen.

I wanted to do a few things. Since it is still not tuned to a load I wanted to continue with that course of action, but I also wanted to try some of the duplex loads I have been reading about with Frontier Gander.

I set the target at 50 yards, and off a bench rest shooting 80 grains of Graf's 3f powder and a home casted, home made moosemilk lube, and hand cut patches at the muzzle took some shots. The first shot low only because I was unsure of the sight picture and was aiming low. After that it really started to lay the round ball in rather well. The group was real good actually until I shot some 245 grain ball-et at the + and they hit to the right.

I then swabbed the barrel clean. I moved up range with out the bench rest, just a lawn chair and my shooting sticks. I then loaded 10 grains of Goex 4f into the barrel and leveled the load. I then (not thinking) dumped 75 grains of Triple Se7en 2f on top of that. I loaded a patch and roundball and aimed for the white area of the target on the upper right corner. The one shot marked in the corner of that white area was a ball-et and not a roundball that was duplex. I loaded 3 grains of Goex 4f in the pan. Ignition with the duplexed load was instant and there seemed to be plenty of power in that load. It also shot a rather good load off the shooting sticks, but again, this was only 25 yards. After five shots of the 75 grains I decided to reduce the charge to 50 grains.

I swabbed the barrel again, and loaded 10 grains of Goex 4f and then duplexed the 50 grains of Triple Se7en 2f. Loaded the patched ball and shot six times at the upper left white corner. Again, the load shot well, and the ignition was instant.

Using the same load and proceedure I then shot some 245 grain ball-ets at the lower left white corner. Again, at that range off the sticks the accuracy was acceptable.

Then for fun I shot some roundball just free hand. I only fired three times and that was enough to let me know that I perhaps need more practice in that area.

Overall when I duplexed the Triple Se7en and used Goex 4f as the pan primer I had excellent ignition and real good power. I did try one shot the way Frontier Gander said, by loading the pan horn off the vent liner, but got a fuse effect. So at least I know that substitute powders can be made to behave with a little Goex 4f and a good pan powder...

XxHolleyxX

I assumed you were talking about different sized shot in one shotgun load. Nice range report.

What is moosemilk lube?

What is a ball-et?

Holley

cayugad

When I talk about a load, I refer to the powder, cap, ball, patch, etc. It beats listing all the stuff again.


Moosemilk is a mix for patches.

Liquid Lube - Moose Milk[/b]
[/b]
[/b]
8 ounces of isopropyl alcohol
3 ounces of Castor Oil
4 ounces of Witch Hazel
16 ounces of tap water
1 ounce of Murphy’s Oil Soap

(make sure you mix the ingredients in the exact order they are listed)

I buy a yard of material of 100% cotton blue strip pillow tick at the local wal mart. I wash that in the washing machine. I then line dry the material. After that you can tear the strip real easy off that bolt of material. I like to tear off an inch and a half. Then you soak that strip in moose milk. Ring the excess moose milk out. Then I lay that on an old window screen in the sun and let it dry. This is a dry patch . If you like a more wet patch, you can spritz them with a spritzer bottle.

This was from a person named Stumpkiller on a different forum. It really is a good lube for patched roundball.

A ball-et is made by Buffalo Bullet Company. It is half roundball and half conicals. They are a good little hunting projetile.

greatplains

Looks like fun Cayudad. A flintlock Trade rifle is still on my wantlist, but will have to wait till later this fall. Do you use two or three sticks on your shooting stick setup? I've always just used two, but am going to make a 3 stick tripod version to try, shouldbe that much more stable.

XxHolleyxX

Defintely looks like fun. There a guy in a club where I film sometime in Ga. that builds his own flintlocks. Two season ago he shot a 140" 10 point at 20-25 yards with one of his home builtguns and a round ball. His wife filmed it. Then in turkey season he presented one of his friends with a flintlock shotgun. Then he filmed that guy shooting a gobbler with it. I might have to talk him into making me one.

Holley

cayugad

My shooting stick is the simple two stick design. Actually it works really good. I practice a lot with shooting sticks the closer season comes as I use one as a walking stick as well. In blinds I use them all the time. I found that when I free hand shoot at paper targets, it is not uncommon for me to miss. When I free hand shoot at game animalsI seem to connect. ButI trust myself a lot more off a shooting stick or leaning into a tree...

Holly... flintlocks are a lot of fun. They are not as hard to learn as some people think. I got my first on a couple years ago and have started collecting them ever since. This new one, a Tradition's Woodsman Hawkins if really a sweet rifle, but if I were out after meat, then I take the Lyman Trade Rifle. That thing really speaks good deer..