The ongoing saga of my new flintlock.

[Scout1]

I went to 5 different places today in search of some Hoppes 9 Plus with no luck. I have a partial bottle of it from a long time ago that I'll probably try out. Plus an unopened bottle of Lehigh Valley patch lube and Wonder Lube 2000 that I'll also try. I'll keep looking for some 9 Plus because I really liked it many years ago. Hope to hit the range tomorrow. Wind blew like hell today.

 

[Roughneck]

I agree with some about what has been said already. You need to get more rounds through the barrel. My 36 Lehigh that I built took about 250 rounds through it before it really became a tack driver, I can shoot it all day without swabbing. My wife’s 36 is also a extremely accurate but it gets dirty very fast unless we use Swiss powder, I guess it just gets more fouling with Goex & Schuetzen. We have used several different lubes with her rifle it makes no difference, the biggest difference is the powder. I would think your lock & trigger issue is there is not enough clearance between sear leg and trigger.

 

[Darkhorse]

My Rice barrel took about 100 rounds before "it" began to settle down and shoot well with few problems. When new 3 shots were all I could get before it wouldn't seat the ball to depth. I was shooting 2fg and a .018 ticking patch lubed with Wonder Lube. That day I switched to LeHigh Valley, changed to 3fg and was able to shoot the rest of the day without cleaning or swabbing. Now I shoot "Mr. Flintlock" with all my practice sessions. I never swab while shooting.

 

[dlpowell]

Look fellas. This is a real simple sport. I've been shooting BP since the early 70's. If a mistake could be done, I've made it. Lube is nothing fancy. In Oklahoma we have to deal with high high temps if your out shooting in the summer. Commercial oil based lubes melt.
By volume mix beeswax and any old cooking oil 50/50. My Lancaster rifle loves this combo. I can shoot 10 plus shots between wiping. Remember. This is a simple sport. I have never in my life measured the thickness of shooting patches. You know when their too thick. It's harder than %$#@ to ram the ball home. Plain old pillow ticking that's been washed a couple of times works the best, slathered with home made lube. Easy down the barrel she goes. 5 shot groups at 50 yards you can cover with a small can lid.

 

[Scout1]

Was able to get the new rifle out again today. Since I couldn't find any new Hoppes #9 Plus yesterday I used my old batch of 9 Plus that I had on hand. Following are the loads that I used today.

.350 Hornady ball, .018 bulk pillow ticking patch. 9 Plus patch lube, 40 gr. 3F Goex.

.358 cast ball, .015 bulk pillow ticking patch. 9 Plus patch lube, 40 gr. 3F Goex.

.358 cast ball, .018 bulk pillow ticking patch. 9 Plus patch lube, 40 gr. 3F Goex.

Fired a total of 15 shots before the breeze picked up. Did not do any swabbing between shots at all. Loading was easy and consistent the entire time. My groups did tighten up somewhat, but there are other variables in play for the moment. All in all I'm very pleased with today's results. I don't remember why I switched patch lubes many years ago, guess I was looking for a better mousetrap. I also have a tin of Track of the Wolf Pure Mink Oil that I'm anxious to try out but that's for another day. Here in the Arizona mountains is the pleasant time of year, probably go shooting again tomorrow.

Jim