flintlock shooting tips?

[Big John]

Everything and everyone wobbles, now with that said, you need to be able to control it, and the better you can the better shooter you will become.There are many roads to the end as in all muzzleloading questions, but here are some. Try pointing your left foot at the target, right foot parrallel to the target,left hand holding at mid rifle or closer to trigger guard and right arm at 45-95 degree angle from body.Try raising rifle just a tad higher than target and lower rifle while sighting in on target,(seems easier than raising rifle, due to shaking. Hold rifle at the same spot on your check always. Practice aiming with your eyes closed, open them to see if the sights are lined up.A heavy rod (pipe) will help in strengthening your hold and reduce wobble. Try to squeeze the trigger at the top of your reduced[url] wobble.Again[/url], many ways, this was one. GOOD LUCK P.S. fOR RIGHT HANDED SHOOTER.

 

[roundball]

I have a question... does everyone wobble naturally? Shooting offhand, my front sight tracks all over the target. Is that normal?? Will this get better with practice?? Someone mentioned on this forum ( or maybe it was another forum) that they parctice by holding 1 minute on a spot on the wall and dry firing sometime during that minute then continue holding for the remainder of the minute. Will strength training help? What about stance? Weight on forward foot? rear foot? equally divided? I so enjoy making smoke that I've never really cared about hitting the target, but now I think it's about time I took this to the next level.

In addition to the other comments, here's another tip you might experiemnt with...

I rarely still hunt, preferring to hunt from stands instead, so the "carry weight" of a rifle is not an issue for me, but accuracy / shot placement, particularly with muzzleloaders, always has priority for me.

To help with this, I replaced my ramrods with solid brass rods to add another couple pounds weight out under the barrel to cut down on the wobble...works perfectly, and the front sight just seems to "hang" on the target.

You'll need to rezero the rifle as the POI will change significantly due to the recoil arc/speed changing from the added weight, but a few shots at the range and you're all set again

 

[JeffS]

Wow, thanks to all here! Lots of good sounding advice. Im going to scroll through again and take notes. I especially like the dry firing, flash only firing, then actual shooting, idea. Also I will bench it and see whats going on, I believe that would help mentally, as someone said.

Thanks again, Jeff

 

[mike alexandre]

I've just taught myself to stop flinching with a Bess. Put a rubber( eraser) in the jaws. Ballance a penny (quater) on the barrel aim at something 6 feet away and dry fire. When you can do this repeatedly without the coin falling off and without moving from the aimimg point replace the flint and dry fire with powder in the pan whilst aiming at a point 6 feet away. When you can do this without dropping the barrel you are ready to try live fire. The first few shots will go well and then you might flich again so its back to the above. Then back to the live firing. Eventualy you will get it and not flinch ever again. It does work.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Anyone with a pulse wobbles. Here's a few tips to help minimize the problem.


Stumpy's Offhand Seminar

 

[booshway]

I've noticed a lot of good shooters hold the forearm way back when off-hand shooting at rendezvous. The weight is way out front and it feels awkward, but holding the forearm further out puts the hand that does the wobbling in a position to move the barrel further. Think how hard it would be to turn the steering wheel on an old car if you held the wheel only in the center. That's why those old pickups had a big steering wheel. By decreasing the holding radius (shoulder to left hand) maybe you take some wobble out. That's what they tell me. Also, you can put your elbow against your chest.

 

[roundball]

I've noticed a lot of good shooters hold the forearm way back when off-hand shooting at rendezvous. The weight is way out front and it feels awkward, but holding the forearm further out puts the hand that does the wobbling in a position to move the barrel further. Think how hard it would be to turn the steering wheel on an old car if you held the wheel only in the center. That's why those old pickups had a big steering wheel. By decreasing the holding radius (shoulder to left hand) maybe you take some wobble out. That's what they tell me. Also, you can put your elbow against your chest.

Exactly the way I shoot offhand...left elbow braced down against my left side/chest, left hand slid back in front of the trigger guard...do the same thing when sitting in a treestand...

 

[Stumpkiller]

Booshway,

Good observation, but the reason it works is that the back of the arm is in contact with the chest (or belly for some shooters) and has support. Works for some shooters, but not all.

 

[Tumblernotch]

Vaquero, all I can say is you have gotten some of the best answers that you ever will get, right here. Try them all if you need to. I don't even notice the priming going off, but I can remember when it scared me half to death. I still wobble and there's all kinds of things that can happen to make you pull off and these guys have given you about every solution to try. I know I can't add anything. In fact, I think I will copy some of these down myself, and I've been shooting for years! Thanks fellers!
:master: :results: :master:

 

[Darkhorse]

About the arm against the chest thing; Some shoots don't allow contact so keep this in mind if attending matches. However with practice it can be much more accurate than holding the stock farther out.
However, for someone just learning to shoot a flintlock I do not recommend this position. Reason being, it is easier to follow through and keep the sights on target when holding the forearm a little farther out and actually having your fingers around the stock instead of the stock laying on your open palm.
But, once someone learns to shoot the flintlock then they can start bringing that hand back closer in that classic offhand style and often their offhand accuracy will then improve.
And since this post was about learning to shoot a flintlock I feel this is a very important part of the whole process.

 

[graybeard]

Everyone wobbles while aiming. Pistols are especially bad and too many shooters try to pop off a round while the sights are on the bull. That's a serious non-no, rifle or pistol. :shake: Try to hold the wobble, rifle or pistol or musket, in as small an area as possible and squeeze off the shot while the sights are wobbling around on the target. As time goes by, you can wobble in a smaller and smaller area for higher and higher scores. The advice about dry-firing with an eraser, then a flint, then a flint wiht only the pan charged, and finally the full load is excellent. :thumbsup: graybeard

 

[Rat]

I would guess that a person that flinches with a flinter also has a flinch with percussion and modern firearms, but it's just not obvious...just can't see it during recoil. It could be educational to have someone load, or not load a percussion rifle, un-beknownst to you, hand it to you several times to shoot, sometimes loaded, sometimes not, and see how bad you are flinching with that. You know the old "is it or is it not loaded" trick.

IF you are flinching bad with a cap-lock, you might want to cure it there, and then pick the flinter back up. The flashing pan may have nothing to do with it...the delayed ignition just makes it more obvious.

I think that FOLLOW THROUGH is the most important single thing to concentrate on...you can't flinch and follow through at the same time.

Once you do get to shooting the flintlock right...your accuracy will most likely improve quite a bit with other firearms.

Rat

 

[TANSTAAFL]

It is next to impossible to hold a longarm steady with just muscle strength, think letting the entire skeleton of the body be the support. With elbows tucked in and locked to the same body stance is the only way I can be reasonably accurate off hand.

With a smooth bore this is really important for me, the entire body then becomes my aiming platform for gaining repeatability.

 

[aragorn]

Fearnot, I sure wobble, and t'aint the DTs. Maybe too much coffee. It's probably like ballet, where you have to spend hours (like my daughter) practicing holding a position, till it starts to work - stand in your living room and aim at a painting or something in a zen (or deer) frame of mind, till you collapse. I was taught to shoot in Air Cadets in Canada with the Lee-Enfield bolt-action rifle (in the good British military tradition of making every shot count)- I remember our instructor saying as well as posture and breathing it was mostly a balance between muscle strength and state of mind. Plenty of more experienced guys on this forum including ex-snipers who could say much more about this than me!

On a more practical note - another very important factor for me is wearing safety glasses, over my normal spectacles. If you don't have to worry about bits of flint and other matter blowing into your eyes that reduces the flinch factor too.

 

[aragorn]

I knew there would be other disadvantages to being tall than having a permanent dent in my forehead, which is probably why I'd never thought this through properly until reading the postings here - i.e., that with long arms your 'default' posture with the left arm may put your wobble-hand further out than the average, decreasing the stablising effect of the barrel weight at the muzzle. Something to watch out for if you are an orang-utang.

 

[aragorn]

Roundball, my Pedersoli 45 Kentucky (you know the one!) really is too small for me, with about a 13" trigger pull. The Chambers York I'm planning to make is just under 14" - there's the option of having extra length but I've decided against it as this is my first build. But if that's still too small then I could always go for that option if I make another rifle.

A problem to do with overall height is that it's less easy to lean a modest sized rifle - my DP has only a 35" barrel, 50" overall - against your arm while loading/rummaging in bag. You have to be a little contorted to keep the rifle well-angled and the muzzle aiming well away from you. My rifle is over 2 feet shorter than me, and for this reason I'd advise anyone much over 6' wanting a DP long rifle to go for their 'Pennsylvania.' Another reason why I'm looking forward to the York with its 42" barrel.

 

[Bob J]

Hello, I picked up my Caywood northwest trade gun Thursday. Went out and shot it a few times Saturday. I flinched bad! lol, Pulled it down most of the time. A friend of mine with lots of flintlock experience shot it great. Then I reluctantly took it to our club's monthly match Sunday. The guy I bought it from made me run home and get it, I wasnt even going to try. Again I flinched pretty bad. By the end of the match, roughly 40 shots or so, I was atleast hitting 8" * 11" paper at 25 yards, and actually managed to hit my 50yd tie breaker, barely. I was pulling mostly to the left instead of down by then. Still no real accuracy to speak of, though.

Any tips on getting over this flinching would be greatly appreciated, thank you very much! I hate to admit my flinching, but I would love to get help. Im left handed and it is a left handed gun.

I LOVE the gun btw, it ran very well even with 2f primer, after I ran out of 3f, as long as I kept the vent clear. Cant wait to start shooting it decent. It's sure a different game than my GPR percussion. I think I have been incurrably infected by the flintlock bug!

Jeff

1) Trigger control...you're "pulling" the trigger as the bead floats across the tiny target...relentless trigger squeeze even with the bead wandering a little is a learned thing...
:m2c:

Roundball- could you explain the part about relentless trigger squeeze even with bead wandering a little?

 

[Bob J]

I actually keep a GPR flintlock with a toothpick in the flashhole thats dedicated solely to doing this on a regular basis. Even after shooting flinters for a number of years its a good thing to reinforce the training occasionally.

What is the purpose of the toothpick in the flashhole? Would it be worth purchasing a used flinter just for "flash-in-the-pan" practice? I guess the reason would be so that you're not having to take the lock on-and-off of a custom flinter regularly (wear-and-tear)?

 

[roundball]

Hello, I picked up my Caywood northwest trade gun Thursday. Went out and shot it a few times Saturday. I flinched bad! lol, Pulled it down most of the time. A friend of mine with lots of flintlock experience shot it great. Then I reluctantly took it to our club's monthly match Sunday. The guy I bought it from made me run home and get it, I wasnt even going to try. Again I flinched pretty bad. By the end of the match, roughly 40 shots or so, I was atleast hitting 8" * 11" paper at 25 yards, and actually managed to hit my 50yd tie breaker, barely. I was pulling mostly to the left instead of down by then. Still no real accuracy to speak of, though.

Any tips on getting over this flinching would be greatly appreciated, thank you very much! I hate to admit my flinching, but I would love to get help. Im left handed and it is a left handed gun.

I LOVE the gun btw, it ran very well even with 2f primer, after I ran out of 3f, as long as I kept the vent clear. Cant wait to start shooting it decent. It's sure a different game than my GPR percussion. I think I have been incurrably infected by the flintlock bug!

Jeff

1) Trigger control...you're "pulling" the trigger as the bead floats across the tiny target...relentless trigger squeeze even with the bead wandering a little is a learned thing...
:m2c:

Roundball- could you explain the part about relentless trigger squeeze even with bead wandering a little?

Well, I'll explain as best I can in my own words...there is always some muzzle wander when shooting anything offhand, not just muzzleloaders of course...and long ago I made the common mistake of trying to synchronize trigger pull (jerk) at the instant the bead touched the center of the target, and of course you can't achieve very consistent, acceptable accuracy doing that.

So I read about and learned the technique of beginning the gradual, constant (relentless) trigger squeeze even though the muzzle is wandering around on the bullseye...the point being that the muzzle will never stop moving...so while attempting to minimize it's movemnet, you're continuing to squeeze off the shot and invariably will hit somewhere at least in the "central" part of the bullseye.

Assuming all the mechanical items are of correct quality like the rifle, the load, etc...then the degree of success or group size you'll achieve is simply a matter of how good and 'practiced' you become in learning to shoot offhand by learning to perform this gradual constant (relentless) trigger squeeze even though the muzzle is floating around a little.

I am by no means an accomplished offhand shot but this seems to work best for me...
:redthumb:

 

[Stumpkiller]

75-1/2" fingertip to fingertip span. 6'3" tall. I don't see that as any disadvantage compared to folks who aren't normal size. :: I hold my left arm with the elbow at 90