More Reliability!

I was doing all I could to try and make my gun fail to shoot.
While the targets don’t really indicate anything, except to prove I am truly the worst shot in the world, I have included them.
The conditions were 92 degrees, 90% humidity, and slight wind. It took me a little over an hour to shoot 10 shots (approx 10 min between shots). I wanted the prime to be in the dirty pan awhile. I used a dull flint that already had 50 shots on it. The gun never failed to fire. I really don’t know what to draw from this except it raises my confidence in the reliability of flintlocks. I never wiped, picked, prodded, swabbed, banked, smacked or anything. I just loaded it and shot. Slowly!

1st shot


5th shot


10th and last shot



1st five shots with 125 op wad


2nd five without any wad

Great photographs, oops, pics! The lack of an OP wad (target #2) speaks to my experience with patched RB's as well. Great shooitng too. However, OP wads can work well with Maxi-Balls and REAL's in those fast twist "other" rifles.

A real confidence builder, isn't it. It usually takes me about 2-3 hours to fire 30-45 rounds. A good test for both shooter and gun. Well done!

Looks like you need to knock the front sight over a bit :thumbsup:

I'd say tap the rear sight to the left a bit. Still great shoot'n!

Nickelback

just curious, what kinda gun you shooting?

This is my Thompson Center 50 cal Hawken. It is a about a year and a half old now and I have shot it 1500 times approx.

I am convinced more than ever in keeping it simple and a flintlock will work everytime.
KISS method.

Not bad shooting, I agree with the others--tap the rear sight a little and that group will be right in the 10 ring. I did a test like that with my 45 cal and it went into the twenties before I had a Fail to fire. I wiped the frizzen and off it went for another twenty or so. I tried it with my little 32 cal--- ah not so much. It will put out 5-6 shots until it fowls the pan, frizzen, or flint to a point that it will not fire but hey it's a 32. If I swab after each shot, wipe the frizzen, pan, and pick it. I can't get it to fail. A little TLC and the old flinters will do the job. :wink:

Can anyone explain why the group is tighter (not counting the one flier) without the over-powder wad? Seems counter-intuitive at first blush...

This partly to blame, "While the targets don’t really indicate anything, except to prove I am truly the worst shot in the world."
EB

What I was trying to do is get that soupy substance in the pan and cause a fail-to-fire situation. The conditions were as bad as it gets. I was even dropping sweat everywhere. Couldn't help it.

OK. I guess I thought the wad may have had some kind of adverse effect on accuracy...

better then I can do with my flinter. I'm still new to the flintlock only ben shooting it for 3-4 months in comp. as the guys at the club call it a FLINCH lock :rotf: still have that problem of over coming that puff and flash in front of me. on my cap guns no problem.

Were those shots fired offhand? If they were, your way to modest in your ability.Other than tweaking that rear sight, those groups aren't too shabby, I would have been content with them , especially in those conditions.People will ask me about reliablity with a flintlock and I'll respond, "If I do my job (maintenance)the gun will do its job". :thumbsup:

No, no they are not offhand. I use my Black & Decker Workmate bench to rest on. It folds up and is easy to take whereever I need. I use a paper plate to shoot at off hand which I can usually keep my all shots on and it is probably good enough for deer hunting.
I am the owner of the title,"the world's worst shot!"

Robbvious said:

OK. I guess I thought the wad may have had some kind of adverse effect on accuracy...

Click to expand...

Some say it does. As far as I'm able to determine, the wad helps accuracy. But the way I shoot, it's hard to tell. :idunno:

I've shot my .54 GP flintlock extensively with and without wads Robb, under very controlled conditions (solid bench rest, weighed powder charges, weight sorted balls, wiping between shots, etc.) My experience is that wads do improve groups, although to a slight degree. I don't think you would ever notice the difference at 50 yards or less. But it starts to show up at 75 and 100.

You shouldn't need an over the powder wad......ever

They do lower the sd, and in some of my guns, the velocity goes up a few fps. Mostly, though, it keeps the powder from being contaminated. I just can't shoot well enough to say anything definitive about accuracy.