Red’s Even MORE Incredible Shooting of Tradition’s Kentucky: .50 Cal of Accurate Goodness

[COTNTOP]

Red, just so you will know. Midway will discount products for your birthday. I generally make a list and the things I can wait on are worth the wait.
Ron, enjoying your adventure tremendously.

 

[Panama Red]

Red, just so you will know. Midway will discount products for your birthday. I generally make a list and the things I can wait on are worth the wait.
Ron, enjoying your adventure tremendously.

As much as I’ve ordered from Midway, and I didn’t know this??? I am definitely going to take advantage of this! Next month… BUWAHAHAHAHA (evil laughter)!!!
-Red, glad someone is enjoying it…

 

[Crockford]

I would buy a several of those short flask if I could get them for $4. They are very handy on small caliber rifles. They were proud of those caps, but I guess everyone is right now. I would have passed on those, especially seeing you are shooting a flintlock.

 

[Panama Red]

If they would have had more of those short flasks, I would have bought them all. I bought the caps for my revolver. I only have a few hundred left, and this is the first time I’ve seen them in stock anywhere in quite a while. I may have overplayed, but I got some. Someone else on here mentioned picking up a hundred every time they saw them, and I thought that was a great idea. I’d have bought more powder if they would have had it in stock. They only had substitutes though. Probably should have bought a pound or two for my in-line.
-Red, tired of getting caught without…

 

[Crockford]

I can get caps at my local Walmart, usually about a month or so before hunting season comes in. (Seasonal item)They were $5.32 this past year. I'm waiting to see how much they jump up this year. No where to buy real BP around here.... Smart to get them if they have not been available in your area. I hope $14 doesn't become the norm. The low price on the flask helped offset the cap price.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

Looking forward to seeing patterns!

Patterns are what we don't want to see. That's what shotguns are for. We are looking for groups, little bitty ones with all the balls going through the same hole!

 

[Panama Red]

She fits in the case, and I got a bunch of .490’s poured up for today. Not the best looking projectiles I’ve ever poured, but it’s always tough to get a new mold to fill in well.
Heading out to my rifle range in a minute. I’ll let you know how it goes, good, bad, or ugly.
-Red, hoping it ain’t too ugly…

 

[Panama Red]

Patterns are what we don't want to see. That's what shotguns are for. We are looking for groups, little bitty ones with all the balls going through the same hole!

And now you got me walking around singing, “Crisco Kid was a friend of mine…” Thanks a pant load.
-Red, infected by an ear-worm…

 

[Crockford]

Panama, you are set to go. Good luck at the range today. I hope the range report will be a good one.

 

[Sidney Smith]

I'd turn that flint bevel down. It's striking too far down on the frizzen face. You're not going to get the proper amount of sparks the way you have it now. Plus, the way you have the flint now, it's not dropping in line with the touch hole. If as you say it's not working the other way, then you need to try a different size flint, one that will work.

This is why I don't like Traditions flintlocks. The locks are too dinky and dont allow for experimentation with flint positions or sizes.

 

[Panama Red]

Alrighty! Finally done with the chicken coop, Mother’s Day dinner (we are celebrating a day early), and have a minute to post up on the first shots.
Set up a target (cardboard IDPA silhouette) large enough that I knew I would hit it at 30 yards. 50 grains of FFF, .490 ball with .015 ticking patch. Little bit of 4F in the pan. Went off the first three shots without a hitch. Switched to son in law shooting, first shot was a flash in the pan. Frizzen didn’t open fully. He was solid and held on target, waiting on the hang fire. He stayed on target, I found the frizzen down against the flint. Opened it, reprinted. And he got three shots in a row with no more problems. All the same load as the first one. With all the trash talked on the Traditions, it actually surprised me when it went off the first time. I’ll upload the video if I can.
My three shot group was around 4 inches, maybe a hair larger. I didn’t have a spot on the cardboard to aim at, as I was mainly checking function. Aimed large, missed large, LOL!
Clean up: I ran a hot, soapy, water large bore swab down the barrel numerous times, until it looked good, then I used some black powder cleaner, and got around fifteen dirty patches in a row. I mean filthy. So, I ran the swab back down the barrel another dozen time, then a jagged patch with the cleaner on it… another round of dirty patches, did this two more times with the same results. I finally just ran a patch with oil down the barrel and started getting clean patches.
I’m probably going to clean it all again tomorrow after church and see if I can ever get a clean patch when I’m running cleaner down the barrel. Guess we will see.
Over all, AWESOME first time shooting it. I have two son in laws and my nieces husband that I think may get on board with all this. All three love shooting, and this is all new for us. I’ll try to load the video of my SIL shooting, you can hear my grandson at the end of the video. He’s three, wanted a turn, lol! I told him we will start him out with a rifle that fits him. This one’s a bit heavy now, but hopefully he can learn flintlock shooting on it.
-Red, VERY pleased…

It’s hard to see, I guess, the three lower clean holes were my shots, the one to the upper right of my group, and up, were my son in laws. The rest are all pistol holes from a match we shot at some point… if you look close, you can tell which ones are the fifty. We were shooting the back side of an old target.

 

[Panama Red]

My Son in law shooting Crow…

 

[Panama Red]

I'd turn that flint bevel down. It's striking too far down on the frizzen face. You're not going to get the proper amount of sparks the way you have it now. Plus, the way you have the flint now, it's not dropping in line with the touch hole. If as you say it's not working the other way, then you need to try a different size flint, one that will work.

This is why I don't like Traditions flintlocks. The locks are too dinky and dont allow for experimentation with flint positions or sizes.

You were right. Looking at it after shooting, the flint was striking the frizzen at such a bad angle that it started to notch it… after playing with it for a bit, I got it turned the other way, and like where it is striking the frizzen much better. It is still very close to the frizzen at half cock. I’m going to order some smaller flints and see if that helps.
-Red, lots to learn…

 

[Panama Red]

I have discovered my flint issue. I ordered the wrong size… I guess I should have put a notched stick up next to them when they came in and I was having problems. I ordered 5/8x3/4. Should have ordered 5/8x5/8, I believe.
So, back to TotW.
I may have 11 unmolested 5/8x3/4 hand knapped English flints, if anyone can use them. Let me get the new ones in and make sure first. FCFS…
The saga continues in a week.
-Red, measuring once, cutting twice…

 

[kyron4]

I have found flint sizing to be less than a precision measurement. Some are longer some are shorter. For my Traditions flintlock, I have been using the 5/8x3/4 from TOW. I notch my leather for the screw, and if it's still to long I "knap" a notch in the back of the flint to set it back even further. If they run short a tooth pick or match stick behind the flint shims it up. My leather pieces are fairly thin around .060" to .075" , to thick of leather can cause issues also.

 

[Panama Red]

I have found flint sizing to be less than a precision measurement. Some are longer some are shorter. For my Traditions flintlock, I have been using the 5/8x3/4 from TOW. I notch my leather for the screw, and if it's still to long I "knap" a notch in the back of the flint to set it back even further. If they run short a tooth pick or match stick behind the flint shims it up. My leather pieces are fairly thin around .060" to .075" , to thick of leather can cause issues also.

I’ve got the notch in the leather, but I didn’t try a notch in the flint itself. I’ll grab one and try it this morning. I’m using a pretty thin piece of leather. I cut it from an old glove I had lying around.
If nothing else, the smaller ones will be here from TotW by the time I get back home this weekend. Headed up to Alabama to go camping with some friends.
-Red, getting away for a bit…

 

[Jim K]

Glad it went well Red. Enjoy your time in Alabama.

 

[bldtrailer]

try 65 grns of 3f swiss with #40 drill cloth lubed with mutton lube 100 yrds off the bench sight in shots to the right then move front sight

 

[bldtrailer]

flints can be sized with a pr of pliers nibble the back (can notch)the flint w safety glasses on

 

[Panama Red]

flints can be sized with a pr of pliers nibble the back (can notch)the flint w safety glasses on

Nice shootin’! I need to get these flints sized right, and then spend a full day on the range. I’ve got some smokeless guns that I’ve shot so much that it’s almost automatic knowing where the bullets will hit. Want to shoot this thing that much. When I first started in pistol competition, one of the things that slowed me down was transitioning from front sight to target and back, to see where I was hitting. My gun guru got me focusing just on front sight, and trust the gun and site picture to send the bullet where it’s supposed to go. Sped me up quite a bit. Now I’m getting “old man reflexes and knees”, lol! Every year I slow down a bit more… it’s a young man’s game. Hoping to slow down even more and enjoy this flintlock!
Thanks for the flint tips! Also, love the inlay on your rifle. I think I’ve looked at almost everyone’s Traditions Kentucky that has posted a picture.I know I’ve seen yours a few times. Mine didn’t come out as nice as I wanted. It’s nice, but I wanted a bit more. I got to learn to take my time. Enjoy the journey as much as the destination…
-Red, waxing philosophic…