Flintlock Pistol Accuracy

[Bill Bryan]

At our club shoots we've had a 10 shot 25 yard relay for any black powder pistol for years. This year we changed to 5 shots at 25 yards and 5 shots at 50 yards.
I like flintlock rifles and pistols and I always assumed that I'd never win any ribbons with everyone else shooting cap and ball revlovers and in-line percussion pistols. A few months ago a new member showed up with a flintlock pistol and beat everyone...! I was impressed.
After that I decided that I'd like to get into this hunt some more. I thought I'd spend a little more time working on my pistol shooting. The last couple of weekends I've tried benching my Pedersoli .50 cal flintlock pistol with little luck.
I've shot .490 prb over 20 grains of fffg for years with this gun since it was new. However, changing patches and playing with the powder load doesn't seem to make a difference in accruacy. I can't seem to get it to tighten up the pattern.
Any suggestions?

 

[biliff]

As a starting point, what size groups are you getting at 25 and 50 yards and with what load?

 

[torn moc]

Your problems with grouping probably stem from
differences in your grip or lack of follow-thru.
try holding the pistol with your thumb pointing toward the target and the grip directly inline with your forearm.
Also..hold the gun steady after the Boom....this is your follow-thru.....
see if these applications help....Pistols are not easy to shoot....takes mucho practice.

 

[FishDFly]

CitadelBill,

Scalper provides excellent advice.

There are many aspects to shooting pistols. I will condense what I have learned, my scores are slowly going up.

Most good pistol shooters shoot a lot, and handle the pistol daily, become familiar with it.
Dry fire in the morning, when you are not tired, you can dry fire inside the house.

The trigger pull may need some work.

My flintlock scores jumped dramatically when I went from 4F to 7F, Swiss NullB is the same as 7F. Some say that 4F is good enough, I listen to those who are at the top of the game, peak in their box and you will find 7F, not 4F. When using 7F, shake the can considerable before using, 7F will clump together.

I weigh all my balls and shoot Teflon patches.

Try using 2F instead of 3F, I know one pistol shooter who uses 2F only in his pistols, and he does win on regularly.

Check out the following site:
www.TargetShootting.ca (note “ca”, not .com, the site is in Canada and it’s the best for learning that I have found).

Consistency is the key, doing everything the same way each and every shoot.

RDE.

 

[rafterob]

Slightly off topic but relevant..I recently inquired about 7f to Goex and their reply was that 7f was a pyrotechnics powder and that 4f was basically the same granulation and designed for priming use in black powder weapons. I asked Powder inc. and they would not sell the 7f to an individual, only the 4f. I have seen others with Goex7f, so I assume it is available somewhere?

 

[HMSLion]

Get Swiss Null B priming powder. It's cleaner than anything Goex makes. And it IS black magic in a flintlock's pan. Use just a little, and spread it all over the pan.

 

[Cutfingers]

I had an unusual day recently when I shot five shots at 50 yards and was able to hit a 2 inch bull 4 of the 5 shots. The 5th shot was about 1/2 inch out of the bull. This was with a 54 cal flintlock using 30 grs of FFF, a .530 RB and an .018 patch lubed with bees wax and olive oil. I admit this was out of the ordinary for me but shows what a flintlock pistol can do. By the way did I say it was shot "offhand"? I'll never repeat it so I'll brag now while I can.

 

[Dphar]

At our club shoots we've had a 10 shot 25 yard relay for any black powder pistol for years. This year we changed to 5 shots at 25 yards and 5 shots at 50 yards.
I like flintlock rifles and pistols and I always assumed that I'd never win any ribbons with everyone else shooting cap and ball revlovers and in-line percussion pistols. A few months ago a new member showed up with a flintlock pistol and beat everyone...! I was impressed.
After that I decided that I'd like to get into this hunt some more. I thought I'd spend a little more time working on my pistol shooting. The last couple of weekends I've tried benching my Pedersoli .50 cal flintlock pistol with little luck.
I've shot .490 prb over 20 grains of fffg for years with this gun since it was new. However, changing patches and playing with the powder load doesn't seem to make a difference in accruacy. I can't seem to get it to tighten up the pattern.
Any suggestions?

I think you need to double your powder charge to start.

Dan

 

[Bill Bryan]

Interesting that you think the powder charge is too low. I've always shot low powder charges in rifles and pistols for target practise. Up until now it's worked with every gun I've owned. My only frame of reference is the other pistol shooters around me in the club. Theys seem to all shoot 15 to 25 grains of 3F in their pistols. At this point I'd try anything. What would you recommend for at starting load?

 

[Zonie]

When you say they are shooting with 15-20 grains of 3Fg you didn't mention what caliber of gun they were using.

If it was a .45 caliber gun your .50 would need more powder to get similar velocities.

for instance, the Lyman Black Powder Handbook says a .45 caliber single shot pistol with a 8 inch 1:30 twist barrel will be getting a muzzle velocity of about 924 FPS from a 20 grain 3Fg load.

A .50 caliber single shot pistol with a 8 inch 1:30 twist barrel would get a muzzle velocity of 874 FPS with a 25 grain 3Fg load.

Another thing that might be different is the type of ignition system that is being used.
A percussion gun will have a higher velocity than a flintlock gun if the bore size is the same and the powder charge is the same.
This is because the vent on a flintlock is typically around .050 to .065 diameter while a percussion nipple has a hole thru it that is about .028 diameter. A .060 diameter hole has almost 5 times as much open area than a .028 hole has.

Now I'm not saying that higher velocities would improve the accuracy. Only that it is difficult to compare one caliber pistol to another.

As for more powder yes, that might help. It is worth trying.
As with all muzzleloading guns there will be one load combination that works better than any other. The trick is to find it. :hmm:

 

[Jim/OH]

Yes I think 15 - 25 grains is about the right spread. You just have to find the "sweet spot" then practice, practice, practice. 50 yd. shooting is a whole different animal than 25. But it can be done quite well with practice. Very minor things at 50 yds. can make big differences in POI of your shot. I seriously doubt shooting 40 gr. you could consistantly hit the broad side of a cow shed off hand at 50 yds. More is not always better. Hope this helps, Jim/OH

 

[FishDFly]

Jim/OH,

It's nice to see you back, I have learned a lot from your experience.

Thank you,

RDE

 

[Jim/OH]

Hi Richard, well I haven't been anywhere. Usually check in here every day or two. Been busy in the one shot contest Jethro was running. Made it all the way to the end, and Gray Whiskers beat us all, but it was a ball to do. Just made some new wood grips for my home made .32 pistol made from a Crosman pellet gun. Think I will be able to hold it better with these grips. Talking about powder charges, I only use 15 gr. of FFFG in this pistol, and it will shoot tens at 50 yds, if I do my part.

Take care Richard, see ya, Jim/OH