Any flintlock hunters around here?

[HighUintas]

I don’t usually look at the muzzleloader section because of all the inline BS So glad to see other flinters here. Yes, successful with them over the years.

Built my first one in 1982 -83, 20 ga./62 cal. Northwest trade gun. Taken all types of small game, ducks, geese, pheasants, grouse and the like as well as a whitetail. I shot it almost always and became pretty good with it. Still my favorite.

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Late 80’s I then had a copy of 1822 54 cal Leman trade rifle built for me and I did the finish work. Taken whitetail, mule deer and 3 free range buffalo with4 shots. All patched round balls hand casted.

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My latest one is a copy of one in the Smithsonian a J.J.Henry trade rifle. Elk, mulie and small game. All have a good bit of character, saddle wear, breaks mended with rawhide. The horn is from one of my buffalo.Good times

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Those are fantastic! What calibers area they?

I've wanted a jj Henry trade rifle for awhile. There's a couple of nice looking ones in a Hawken rifle book (Hanson) that I'd like to make a copy of. Who built yours?

I'm unsure if my next one will be an early Hawken (I'm a fan growing up near STL) or if I'll do a long .36 flint. I need a small game getter as my only flintlock is a .58

 

[Olsolitaire1]

Love that grouse photo, what a cool hunt.

Sage grouse lots of them, lived in Winnemucca & Elko NV. for 12 years

 

[jrbarnes9972]

Still after in in WV

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

 

[cmwhitmoyer]

I took mine out yesterday. Got to the farm, started walking to my stand and found fresh tracks in the snow on the lane to my stand. Then I crossed the human tracks coming from the Amish farm next door. The m-fers drove off the property in the morning. Right before lunchtime. They even walked through the woodlot behind my Uncle's house. They don't have permission to hunt on the property but the Uncle won't have them cited for trespassing.
I sat the rest of the day hoping something would come back but no luck.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

 

[HighUintas]

I did a little bit of LARPing this morning. I found some snowshoe hair tracks on my way back, but didn't have enough time to follow them and try to get one.

I had a load in my barrel for quite a while, so I decided to check my zero and 50 yd. Not bad considering I haven't shot in quite a while, I was on skis, and my rest was a tree branch.

I really need to paint the back of my front sight white so it's easier to see. I had a really tough time aiming at the center of the black with the low light conditions.

 

[Formidilosus]

Has anyone here done work on performance with their flintlocks- as in what size grouping at 50 or 100 yards (not just a random 3 shots), distance, speed shooting, etc?

 

[ElPollo]

I don’t usually look at the muzzleloader section because of all the inline BS So glad to see other flinters here. Yes, successful with them over the years.

Built my first one in 1982 -83, 20 ga./62 cal. Northwest trade gun. Taken all types of small game, ducks, geese, pheasants, grouse and the like as well as a whitetail. I shot it almost always and became pretty good with it. Still my favorite.

View attachment 816264

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View attachment 816266


Late 80’s I then had a copy of 1822 54 cal Leman trade rifle built for me and I did the finish work. Taken whitetail, mule deer and 3 free range buffalo with4 shots. All patched round balls hand casted.

View attachment 816267



My latest one is a copy of one in the Smithsonian a J.J.Henry trade rifle. Elk, mulie and small game. All have a good bit of character, saddle wear, breaks mended with rawhide. The horn is from one of my buffalo.Good times

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Who made the iron mounted JJ Henry for you?

 

[HighUintas]

Has anyone here done work on performance with their flintlocks- as in what size grouping at 50 or 100 yards (not just a random 3 shots), distance, speed shooting, etc?

I have recently started trying to figure out my functional max distance this year. The first year I had issues with the muzzle and bore. That's a whole separate post.

I haven't yet done 10 shot groups on the load to see what's best, because I'm fairly certain as long as the charge is high enough for my barrels twist and my PRB tightness, I still can't shoot the difference of what would be the "best" load and my load. What seems best so far, is a full 120gr by volume measure of 2f schuetzen. Generally, the tightest possible PRB combo is the most accurate as long as the patch has no tears, holes, or indications of blow by.

I use 70gr for 50yd practice. It's mild recoil and is right on poa. 120gr is about 4" high at 50 and usually a touch high at 100.

My max off hand distance is 50 if I've been practicing. Max rested distance so far is 75. On game.

Speed. Right now I'm at about a minute to reload (I think ) but that's not using a paper cartridge and I don't have a fast system figured out yet. I'm so slow I haven't bothered to time it.

Using a paper cartridge you should be able to do 20s. I think a Canadian version of you has said he can do 10, but can't remember for sure. There's a good chance the cartridge will have same poi as PRB if your PRB is a tight load.

I just made a couple paper cartridges recently but haven't shot them yet. Need to test the design and then work on speed.

I consider it to be a one and done shot opportunity at the moment. Much more practice is needed.

There's also, the dreaded flinch. Having the pan go off in my face makes me flinch like hell and I actively have to fight it every time I shoot. When I used to shoot my 30-284 at 50 rounds a week, I knew I didn't flinch one bit and poor shots were due to form. After shooting this a lot, even with the mild 70gr load, I notice myself wanting to flinch with my 243. So, I'll be practicing today by dry firing with a charge in the pan since my gun is already dirty for the day.

The flinch calls marked on the targets are actually flinches. It very noticeable with the slight delay in ignition.

100yds, 120gr, 5 shots. I think one of those high large holes is mine, but not sure.


2f OE, this powder is hotter than 2f schuetzen, which is why I did 100gr as a guess.



2f schuetzen hunting load. 0.570 ball, ~1700fps


Testing to see if there's difference in poi between clean bore and dirty. Not much difference for me. Let a couple of kids at the range shoot. They are the 2 high shots.



Off hand at 25 with the 70gr load


100 yard, 120gr hunting load

 

[ResearchinStuff]

Has anyone here done work on performance with their flintlocks- as in what size grouping at 50 or 100 yards (not just a random 3 shots), distance, speed shooting, etc?

Most people can barely get a flintlock to fire, much less commit serious practice to it. Even when i hunted flintlock a bunch I rarely put more than 20 practice rounds a year through it. Shooting any kind of volume requires a ton of cleaning, and you'll need to sharpen or replace flints frequently. Basically, everything with a flintlock is a hassle and little to no fun, except the hunting part. Not saying that people shouldn't, just that they typically don't, even if they're very effective killers.

 

[HighUintas]

Most people can barely get a flintlock to fire, much less commit serious practice to it. Even when i hunted flintlock a bunch I rarely put more than 20 practice rounds a year through it. Shooting any kind of volume requires a ton of cleaning, and you'll need to sharpen or replace flints frequently. Basically, everything with a flintlock is a hassle and little to no fun, except the hunting part. Not saying that people shouldn't, just that they typically don't, even if they're very effective killers.

I don't find it bothersome at all. If you have the right lube and patch/ball size you can shoot all day without swabbing between shots even once. If you know how to manage the flint and the lock and have a quality lock, you should be able to get at least 25 shots out without replacing the flint or fiddling with it. With Flint management, you should be able to get 75 shots with one Flint

If you're shooting real BP the cleaning takes a total of like 10 minutes of hands on time.

So it's really not bad, it's just that you can go fire off 50 rounds in 1 hrs and neglect cleaning for 3000 rounds haha.

The only reason I don't shoot a flintlock as my sole rifle is because my effective range is 75 yards.... And I hunt to get meat.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

We have very, very different experiences. Running moose milk patches every other shot i can get ~10 shots before loading the next becomes problematic. Sparks are noticeably reduced in about the same time, requiring some amount of flint fiddling.

Full cleaning is a 60-90 minute process depending on how many guns were shot, much of that time is waiting for water to boil and barrels to flash dry. I always use fffg for my main charge.

Curious to know your process, and how many years you've maintained good performance out of your barrel.