Took mine to the range a couple of times. I have a long experience with smokeless powder guns, but just venturing into the black powder, smoothbore implements. In the meantime acquired a few original flintlock and one miquelet pistols from the late XVIII to early XIX c. ”“ have great fun learning the locks and how they work. And most of all seeing them spark.
Anyway, the flintlock is a damn reliable piece of firearm! With that Pedersoli, I use an English flint (1 inch wide) and I am very happy. Done at least 70 clicks by now (both cold and hot) with tons of sparks and very little wear and clean edge (in comparison my Traditions .50 destroys the flints like a barbarian with its heavy spring).
One thing that impressed me ”“ the ball velocities with patch or no patch...
With 80 gr. ffG and a .680 ball (forget the manufacturer):
If the ball is unpatched I get crazy velocities ranging from 410 to 650 fps. !!
If the ball is patched to offer a smooth resistance when pushed down then I get very consistent velocities around 1130 fps based on 5 shots!!
Have not done sufficient tests to conclude if the accuracy is affected. That’s a next project.
The POINT OF IMPACT IS is very low at 25 yards (have not tried other distances) if I aim the way I do regular rifles... I saw another thread touching on that. This is one area that I am not clear on ”“ what is the correct SIGHT PICTURE when a rear sight is missing?? That must be documented somewhere. When I extrapulated from the Springfield 1861 rifle (by moving sideways when the sights are aligned and getting a sense of the three bands and front sight) the point of impact moved to where I thought it should be. But that needs more practice -- I wonder if it documented somewhere?
To be continued”¦
Dimitar
Anyway, the flintlock is a damn reliable piece of firearm! With that Pedersoli, I use an English flint (1 inch wide) and I am very happy. Done at least 70 clicks by now (both cold and hot) with tons of sparks and very little wear and clean edge (in comparison my Traditions .50 destroys the flints like a barbarian with its heavy spring).
One thing that impressed me ”“ the ball velocities with patch or no patch...
With 80 gr. ffG and a .680 ball (forget the manufacturer):
If the ball is unpatched I get crazy velocities ranging from 410 to 650 fps. !!
If the ball is patched to offer a smooth resistance when pushed down then I get very consistent velocities around 1130 fps based on 5 shots!!
Have not done sufficient tests to conclude if the accuracy is affected. That’s a next project.
The POINT OF IMPACT IS is very low at 25 yards (have not tried other distances) if I aim the way I do regular rifles... I saw another thread touching on that. This is one area that I am not clear on ”“ what is the correct SIGHT PICTURE when a rear sight is missing?? That must be documented somewhere. When I extrapulated from the Springfield 1861 rifle (by moving sideways when the sights are aligned and getting a sense of the three bands and front sight) the point of impact moved to where I thought it should be. But that needs more practice -- I wonder if it documented somewhere?
To be continued”¦
Dimitar