.54 cal Flintlock

I got a .54 cal flintlock rifle that has a rifled octagon to round barrel done by Mark Dehaas. The problem is that I am burning patches bad with 60gr. of 4f. I am using an ox-yoke .10 lubed patch and a 530 rb. When I tried to use a .15 patch it was so tight I had to remove it before it got stuck. I know that this will cause loss to accuracy and velocity. If anyone else has experienced this please advise.

The problem is that you are loading your gun with 4F black powder! I am glad you did't hurt yourself. 4F black powder should only be used to prime your flinter...not as a main charge. You want to use 2F black powder for the main charge.

You should not be using 4F powder in the barrel. This is priming powder ONLY! Its lucky the barrel has not blown up. Of course the patch is going to burn!

Measure the bore with calipers to determine the exact diameter from land to land( bore diameter.) Then measure the groove diameter. Or call Mark and ask. He makes excellent barrels. Use a ball that has a diameter at least .010" smaller than the bore diameter. The groove diameter and groove depth indicates how thick a patch you might need in that barrel. Lubricated patches do compress about 33%, and the grooves allow some of the cloth that would otherwise be between the ball and the lands to " squish " out into the grooves during that compression, helping to seal the bore from gas.

A better way to get consistent accuracy is to use a fiber wad as an OP wad between the powder and PRB. A filler of corn meal, cream of wheat, hornet's nest, etc. can also be used to seal the gases to protect the patch and ball from gas cutting and burning.

FF or FFF for that gun. Prime it with FFFF. Probably lucky your blowing the patches to pieces and releasing the pressure! :shocked2:

Either 3F or 2F is normally used for the main charge but not 4F. As Nord mentioned, its a priming powder...the point being it has a very fast burn rate / ingition speed which you want for priming...but large amounts of that fast buring powder in a confined space would cause a severe pressure spike that could blow a barrel...just glad you didn't load up a 100grn hunting charge with it.

Sorry about the confusion I am using 2F Goex and the 4F for priming.

Don't rely on the pre-lubed patches being very lubed. Re-lube them yourself. I suspect this may be at the root of the burnt patches.

As to being tight, tighter is better than looser. Your accuracy will be better....

It maybe a little hard to start but you should be using a .015 or .018 patch. I normally use a .018 patch in my .54s with a .530 ball.

Maybe a .526 ball and .015 patching. Are the patches burned all around or does it look like you are getting blow by in the rifling?

Some one above suggested relubing the patches. You might try spit patching.

Tighter burns cleaner.

If your patches are prelubed by the manufacturer, you won't know how long they've been sitting around. Oils/grease and degrade the fibers over time and could contribute to tearing or burn through. I buy dry patching material and lube before I go out to the range or woods.

Agree...now that its clear it's not a powder issue, I have to be honest and say the only good use I've ever found for a paper thin .010" patch is when I use 2 of them to make a good .020" patching thickness :grin: The fire burns through thin patches, plus, they're so thin they don't hold enough lube.

A simple test next trip to the range, is to seat one patch .010" patch all the way down on the powder by itself to act as a firewall, then seat a .010" patched ball like you've been doing.

Shoot out over a clear area so you don't get your patches confused with other patches that may already be there...look for 2 patches per shot...the firewall patch and the ball patch.

I'll bet lunch you'll find both of them in pretty good shape...the ball patch in particular...which will show you that a single .010" patch by itself is too thin.

I have heard several people say thet they had to go to a smaller ball(.520-.526 ball with a .015-.018 patch) and thicker patch to make things work,you've had good advise about the pre-lubed patches as well, trying some differnt lubes would not hurt either.

Had to bump up in my wife's gun too. 6-7" groups with .010. 70 grs was completely obliterating the patches. Not even recognizable as a patch. She shot about a 2" group today with pillow ticking.

If you can't get a fit with a .015-.018 patch, then you might consider going down one ball size. A thicker patch/smaller ball combo usually shoots better anyway.

What size would you recommend? .526 or .527...
Also does anyone make these that are swagged?

When I tried to use a .15 patch it was so tight I had to remove it before it got stuck.

Click to expand...

Not sure exactly how far you actually went with loading this but I would suggest you give the .530 balls and .015 patch a good go of it before going and buying other balls.