First Shots with new-to-me York Rifle

[vzett]

Thought I would post a photo of the new-to-me York rifle with my 1st target.

The rifle is a .54 Caliber with swamped colerian barrel and large siler lock.

1st shot was the low shot with the next four in the group at ~25 yards off a simple rest. The high 6th shot was my wife's 1st flintlock shot - offhand of all things. Light load of 50gr FFFg with FFFFg in the pan.

I really like how the rifle points, but I'm still trying to get ignition to be reliable. The lock sparks well and the pan always goes, but I'm getting 30-40% misfires even with aggressive vent picking after each load. I suspect the touch hole is a bit low - set just under the top of the pan. The hole seems small compared to my Garner Southern Rifle so I wonder if this is potentially an issue. While I've owned a flintlock going on 16 years, I've probably still shot less than 100 shots between them all so it's still a big learning experience.

I made the possibles bag from duck canvas using the Fowler Pouch pattern and the pewter turtle is from my 1st rendezvous at Western National in 1994. Haven't decided whether to die the bag or let nature take its toll.

- Virgil

 

[bingo1952]

Is the bottom of the hole just under the top of the pan or is the top of the hole just under the top of the pan? Drill your touch hole out with a #50 drill and if ignition is still iffy go with a #49. That should help regardless of the hole location.

 

[agill]

Nice rifle and kit! :thumbsup:

 

[dodgecity]

That's a beautiful rifle.

 

[vzett]

Top of the touch hole is just under the top of the pan.

 

[bingo1952]

That is pretty close to the correct position. Open up the hole and I think you'll see it light off every time.

 

[vzett]

Thanks for all the friendly comments.

I really want to get the rifle tuned for shooting - it's just too pretty not to use.

It was built by Gerald Taylor. I purchased a Taylor built .62 Fusil de Chasse on a beautiful cherry stock last fall. When I saw the York rifle on Track of the Wolf around January, it really spoke to me so I ordered it. Only after did I look back in my notes and realize that my Fusil had the same builder.

I'll try and post a picture of the two together - they're a nice pair.

TOW got me again with the powder horn in the picture which just seemed to match the style and era of both the Fusil and York.

- Virgil

 

[Swampman]

The touch hole is probably too small. This is a common problem. I have some walnut dye here at the house if you want to dye the bag. Let me know.

 

[mykeal]

Very nice rifle. Thanks for sharing the pictures, looking forward to more.

 

[boar]

I would dye the bag. Don't want you to get shot for a deer tail. That gun in my other post was a Zouave,I misspelled. Dilly

 

[Trench]

Beautiful rifle and I think you did a great job on that bag.

 

[tg]

The larger hiole will likely set off every charge
this is a trend I see around the web sites, "bigger hole" i started out with a 5/64 hole on my last gun, most feel that somewhere between 1/16 and 5/64 is the best ant bigger and yoy get the self priming effect and start looskng more pressure out the vent, though some do use a bigger hole, it is better to work your way up till you find what works.

 

[rabjr]

Nice rig! and nice shootin for it's first go. :thumbsup: The first thing I do or have done before shooting my guns is to make sure the vent is drilled out to 1/16". Mine go off every time after that. :thumbsup:

 

[DEWB]

I used a 1/16 on my flint although my liner is a white lightning. But if you drill it out and are still having some problems with it you can try to deepen the pan a bit. Hope this helps,Dew

 

[Snakebite]

Very nice rifle. I think the York County is one of the prettiest style rifles, nice lines and fairly simple. Something to be proud to own. :thumbsup:

 

[mazo kid]

Nice kit and when you get that vent thing figured out you should see an even better group. It's hard to concentrate when you are worrying if the shot is going to go off (or not) or hang-fire. The rifle definitely has the potential. If you decide to put a vent liner in the barrel, you should be able to raise the vent hole up to "sunset" position.

 

[vzett]

I hope to try enlarging the vent before my next range session and I'll let you know how it turns out. I agree the misfire rate is lousy for follow-through and anticipation.

The white pouch isn't really my hunting rig at the moment - I hadn't thought about the white-tail issue! I like how it turned out and I wanted to try the pattern before I made a leather version. It was an easy make on the sewing machine though so I may make a few more canvas ones for the kids to get started with.

I usually hunt with a black leather belt pouch I made for my first 1851 Navy rig and carry whichever horn has the correct powder for the rifle I take. I have a 2 horn rig with original horns (one of which is a family horn which dates to at least the Civil War) but I'm finding a single horn + brass priming flask to be more practical for loading.

I think the ability to play around with fabricating and optimizing 'kit' is one of things I enjoy about black powder vs cartridge shooting.

 

[Bryanbrown]

Dye the bag, white in the woods hunting can invite morons to take a "bush shot" at a "white tail". You live in the south, a quick soad in a cypress swamp or red clay mud puddle. Problem solved :hatsoff:

Most folks like the touch hole to be like this __o__ basically like the sun 'just' touching the horizon (the top of your pan is the horizon) lower gives you more fouling or is actually below the heat of the flash in the pan.

I would suggest getting it in the right spot before making it bigger. If you go to a touch hole liner , you will most likely drill out the old too low hole drilling for the liner. Many original guns without a liner are coned on the inside of the barrel, this is especially common on military 18th century arms of the Germanic states and Great Britain.

Or just tap the old low hole, solder in a threaded plug, and re-drill in the correct location.

Bryan K. Brown www.gunsmithy.com www.jaegerkorps.org
[email protected]
[email protected]

Alle künst ist umsunst wenn ein Engle auf dem Zundlocke brünst

 

[vzett]

Here are a couple of close-up shots of the lock and pan. It looks like a liner was installed at some point, but drilled a bit lower than ideal.

Based on checking with drill bits, the current hole is right at 1/16".

For the record, the blueing wear above the touch-hole and flint strikes on the barrel predate my ownership.

Straight-on with the lock and pan:

Looking down into the pan:

- Virgil

 

[bioprof]

If it doesn't already have one, I'd put in a White Lightening touchole liner. I've never had a problem with ignition with one.