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What charge for a flintlock pistol?

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Walt For 2A

32 Cal
Joined
Sep 5, 2021
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Just acquired a Japanese flintlock pistol in .66 caliber. I believe its a British Light Dragoon

Should I still use 3F? How many grains?

E81B66ED-2541-49CD-9BD7-559181397328.jpeg
 
Many of those Jap pistols were originally advertised as .69 But it seems most would actually mic out at .66-.68 In the past, I've found that these large bore flint pistols shoot pretty well with 35-40 grains of FFG. Not much good past about 15 yards. But then, thats all they were made for.

Rick
 
I would drop a bore light down the barrel first and make sure the pitting on the inside is not worse than the outside. Someone was pretty careless it seems, might still be loaded or never cleaned last time it was used. If in-bore pitting is bad it would be best to hang on a wall.
 
Id do 40 grains to start. And work my way up to 60 maximum. For a 69 caliber or 66 caliber. Id go with 2f honestly. I use 2f in my howdawh pistol aka short barrel shotgun.. its 20ga or 61 caliber smooth bore. I use 60 grains of powder 2f or 3f if im out if 2f
 
I'd keep it at around 35 grains of 3f or so. When these were imported the laws were different; none of them were proofed. No sense pushing the envelope. Oh, and before investing a lot in projectiles, I'd try it with a flint. Some of those pistols just didn't spark very well, but I hope yours does. Have fun.
 
You might be lucky if the frizzen springs worked properly and the frizzen is hard enough to spark. Often made out of mild steel, they couldn't spark in a blast furnace without some work..
 
I have a new barrel for one of those that was never used because of a sloppy fitting breech plug. You might take the barrel out and fill with solvent or mineral spirits and see if it gets by the threads.plug vent hole with tooth pick.
 
Before even considering firing, make sure you get good sparks from that lock...Many have problems with flintlocks and want to blame the technology when it is actually just an inferior lock.......
 
Thanks all for your input. Shoots just fine. 45 grains FF with a patched .648


 
Last edited:
Interesting pistol. Unless you know the history of the piece, do check it over
carefully. Even if it fires OK now. Several great safety checks given above.
Remember that stress cracks can form slowly over time. Pitting can accelerate
failures. "Expect what you Inspect."
 
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