A Flintlock Virgin No More!
 

Well guys, I had my first range session with the new .54 Great Plains flintlock. WHAT A HOOT! First time with a new gun, shooting range to myself, andperfect weather - temperature in the high 60's, cloudless sky, a very light breeze you could barelyfeel on your cheek.

GETTING READY:

I've been doing a lot of forum surfing on flintlocks, Great Plains rifles, round ball shooting, etc., to get ready for the first session. The GP comes with a saw cut agate flint, but there seems to be a consensus that black English flints were the best, so I got some of them from Track of the Wolf. Bought two boxes of Hornady .530 balls. Already had a good supply of .018 patch material for the Zouave, and it seemed to be just right for the GP. Bought a 4 oz. container of Eastern Main Shooting Supplies' "Premium Lube" (I think someone on HuntingNet recommended it - whoever you are, thank you). Ran across a deal on Remington pre-lubed .54 caliber Wonder Wads a Gander Mountain, packs of 50marked down from $3.97 to 97 cents - bought ten packs. And finally, a fresh can of GOEX FFFg donated by a friend (can't buy the stuff anywhere in Louisiana).

The GP comes with an extra tall front sight, so I pretty well figured it would shoot low right out of thebox. So I stacked two targets so I could aim at the upper one with the hope of hitting the bottom one. It worked. Here's what the target board looked like.

RE: A Flintlock Virgin No More!
 

All of the shooting was from a bench at my hunting club's "sight in" range. Here's the set up.

RE: A Flintlock Virgin No More!
 

This is the view looking down range. We can shoot out to 300 yards.

RE: A Flintlock Virgin No More!
 

I'd popped about a dozen pans full of powder at home just to see if the saw cut agate furnished with the rifle worked, and if the lock worked OK. But this was the first time putting a load down the barrel. The first five shots were at 50 yards with 85 grains powder, a Wonder Wad over the powder, followed by a patched ball. First shot wentBOOM, second shot went BOOM, third shot flash in the pan, BOOM on secondstrike of the cock. (The next 15 shots went BOOM :))

Here's the target - not bad for the first shots from a new gun by a guy who has never shot a flintlock before.

RE: A Flintlock Virgin No More!
 

Man, did I feel good about those first five shots. With my bi-focal eyes I had a hell of a time getting a good sight picture.

So, I gave 90 grains of powder a try for the next five shots. Here's that target (still 50 yards).

RE: A Flintlock Virgin No More!
 

By now, I'm flying on "Cloud 9". I didn't do any sight adjustments throughout the entire range session. Not concerned with where the shots were hitting on the target - just what kind of groups I could get. (All of the targets I'm posting were the bottom target of the two-target stack, while I was aiming at the top target.)

Anyway, I'm on the range all by myself grinning like an idiot. Kept the targets at 50 yards, upped the charge to 95 grains, and fired five more shots. Here's the target.

RE: A Flintlock Virgin No More!
 

Well, if you think I was still grinning - you're right. Now it's getting late on Saturday afternoon and I'm running out of light. Figured I could get in one more five-shot string. I had a bag of about fifty Lee .54 caliber, 300 grain R.E.A.L bullets that someone gave me many years ago. So, I thought I would give them a try. Lubed them up with CVA Grease Patch and loaded them over 80 grains of powder with a Wonder Wad. Here's the target.

RE: A Flintlock Virgin No More!
 

YEAH MAN! Got some potential there. Time to walk back to my little hooch on the club camp ground (50 yards away)and fix some grub and maybe even drink a Scotch or two. What an enjoyable afternoon. Quiet time in the campground with no-one else around, but that' alright with me. Fried some catfish, had a toddy or two, read a book, and hit the sack.

Sunday morning - beautiful day. Carry everything back out the shooting bench. Set the targets back out a 50 yards and loaded up a ball over 100 grains powder. Five shots later I had this target.

RE: A Flintlock Virgin No More!
 

Not too shabby. The vertical stringing may just be me "climbing the sight". I sure can't get a sharp sight picture with my eyes. What the heck, may as well try 105 grains. Here's the 105 grain target.

RE: A Flintlock Virgin No More!
 

Ya sure know how to make a man suffer My new Lyman deerslayer has done real well about going off to cold to test accurcy.. Keep it up I know it will only get better. I think my encore will stay in the gun save this season,