My New Pedersoli Flintlock got here today.

[Lowpower]

Hehe. Thanks for that source, Leroy!

 

I just bought 5 flints from Track of the Wolf but I had seen some English guy that had picked up a mess of it from around the Thames River in the UK.

He had a mess of chunks the size of melons in boxes all over the place.  I was hoping to find a source here in TN or nearby so I could learn how to do it from scratch. 

In another life, many years ago I was in Survival. In fact, I think I still have a copy of my manual still lying around. It's easy to live off the land although i'm startin to

move slower.  To me knapping from scratch is just another project in a long line of lessons learned. 

[leroy]

Lowpower.... I forgot the most important thing about the river bottom flint story... Most of the time, we would see chunks (...nodules...?) of flint in roundish rocks layin by themselves in the plowed ground... They were light tan to almost white on the outside and the flint was a beautiful graphite gray, light to dark with a few streaks of white in it...

 

The roundish rocks were from about half inch diameter up to 3 or 4 inches in diameter... Evidently, when they got plowed up, the plow would break a corner off and expose the flint inside... The disc harrows evidently did the same thing... 

 

As to the source in Tennessee... I would be tempted to check out some of the rock hound dealers that sell geodes and quartz.... They may have some...

 

leroy

 

PS--- I "enjoyed" the "source" too... It's amazin what some folks are interested in... 

[DaveS]

I seem to be able to find flint laying just about every where. Smaller pieces can be had in some limestone driveways. Nodules are a little harder to find, but they are around. Dixie Gunworks used to sell nodules. I don't know if they still do. I do need to learn to knap flints though. Just seems fitting and all.

 

Dave

[bajabuc]

Chert is american for flint…there's not one lick of difference in the geology.  All sorts of rock works.  Pretty much if it makes a  concoidial fracture, it'll spark.  Agate makes a different fracture…straighter and without the bulbous struck end but it sparks good.  Don't know if you've been to the shoots south of Murfreesboro, but the boulders in his front yard have chert nodules.

[Lowpower]

What's strange about Western TN is I don't see lots of rock of any sort. Just lots and lots of pebbles. I think when it cools down 

I may head over to big muddy and prospect around it's shores or stroll around Shelby Forest.

[DaveS]

What's strange about Western TN is I don't see lots of rock of any sort. Just lots and lots of pebbles. I think when it cools down 

I may head over to big muddy and prospect around it's shores or stroll around Shelby Forest.

Walk a rocky stream bank. You'll be amazed at what you find. Plowed fields are an amazing source of flint. You might even fight a nice arrow head. When I come across another nodule, I'll ship you one.

 

Dave

[Lowpower]

Thanks, Dave.

 

If you find one to ship I'll cover the shipping!

 

Bob

[Lowpower]

Well, it poured most of the day and seeing as how I don't wanna get my powder wet.... :D

 

i ran a rod down the barrel once more and filled my big powder horn with FFFG and the little one with 

FFFFG. 

 

I plan to go out tomorrow morning and do some serious shooting with it so maybe I can get a decent range report in.

 

I'll take my tried and true Hawkins to put a couple of rounds out then give the ole flintlock a work out.

 

I was gonna bring out my .45-100 but I think I'll devote the whole session to ole Mr. Flint.

 

Old Indian Chant....

May the rain God's move the clouds East and allow rays of sunshine to permeate the range. Hallaluya!

 

Lp 

[Lowpower]

We still have heavy rain in this part of the State which it's heading toward Nashville by now....

 

I'm going to work up some loads for my 6.5-06 today and maybe load a few hundred .45's(LC).

 

Everything is ready to go for tomorrow. Other than what will probably amount to steamy heat it should be fine to go 

shooting.

 

I think I'll spend a few hours at the range. I will test my .45-100 and 6.5-06 loads, create a good load for the Flintlock, 

shoot my Cap lock, see if I can dial in my model 41 for the 4 silhouette distances, and maybe run a round of trap and skeet.

 

Note: auto correct is not your friend.....

Edited August 31, 2014 by Lowpower

[DaveS]

We still have heavy rain in this part of the State which it's heading toward Nashville by now....

 

I'm going to work up some loads for my 6.5-06 today and maybe load a few hundred .45's(LC).

 

Everything is ready to go for tomorrow. Other than what will probably amount to steamy heat it should be fine to go 

shooting.

 

I think I'll spend a few hours at the range. I will test my .45-100 and 6.5-06 loads, create a good load for the Flintlock, 

shoot my Cap lock, see if I can dial in my model 41 for the 4 silhouette distances, and maybe run a round of trap and skeet.

 

Note: auto correct is not your friend.....

Sounds like you're in for a fun weekend!

 

Dave

[Lowpower]

Well I'm back home. Good range day so here's the good news.

 

The 6.5-06 is 1/4 MOA at 100 yds. Time to cheek it at 300 then on out to my normal 600 yds. 

 

I was successful tuning my Anschutz at a higher FPS. Im getting a hair over a 1/4 inch at 100 yds and small one hole groups at 50 yds which is kinda normal for an Annie.

 

I found out I easily hit center mass every time at 50 yds with my Cowboy six gun in Colt .45. It shoots around 5 inches 5 and 4 inches low. I just put the sights on the shoulder and bang. Center mass every time.  I guess that means those old westerns where the cowboy's were shooting their 24 shot six guns CAN make the bad guys duck at distance!   :D

 

I know that no one cares about Annie targets or center mass shots and pretty much standard sub-MOA rifles so there's no reason to post pics.

 

Alrighty, now for the bad news.

 

My Kentucky rifle doesn't seem to like Triple 7 in any version. FFFG, FFFFG. My first shot today did the normal flash and I waited so long I was gonna put the rifle down when it finally went bang. I'd say 2 maybe 3 seconds between flash and bang.  I had shot that one offhand just to fire a fouling round. I reloaded and this time shot off some bags, 

I think the delay was around 1 second that time. A friend who was there and shoots black powder told me the Trip 7 is needs more heat to set it off. That's why I works so 

well with a cap as the cap directs the hot charge right at the main charge and is pretty much instantaneous. He suggested since I already had powder with me to just mix a 

duplex load of 3-4 gr of Goex in first then my main charge of Trip7 and try to use a lil powder in the pan as I can get away with. 

 

BTW, the second shot was dead center approx 6 inches low. I CANNOT say that I actually was able to hold it through the hang fire but I must gotten lucky. :)

 

IMHO I think I'm going to stay away from duplex loads and go get me some Goex FFFG.  

 

What do ya'll think?  And, Dave, is yer old FL hang firing much?

 

Edited to add I did not shoot my Hawkins today and we did get rained out. Heavy rain for about 1/2 hour which just had me trying

to keep my powder dry. After the rain came the Western TN Steam Room. We immediately went to a feels like temp of over 100 degrees.

 

I also didn't bring my .45-100 because a friend called me asking if I had some Eley .22LR he could try with his brand new (used) Model 54. Bringing another

friend into the shooting mix made me decide to limit what I was shooting. I brought my 6 gun because I had a few hundred rounds to play with and hey!, shooting

distance with those old sights sure is fun! I was using a mess of old LFN 200 gr pills. 

 

Lp

Edited September 1, 2014 by Lowpower

[DaveS]

Well I'm back home. Good range day so here's the good news.

 

The 6.5-06 is 1/4 MOA at 100 yds. Time to cheek it at 300 then on out to my normal 600 yds. 

 

I was successful tuning my Anschutz at a higher FPS. Im getting a hair over a 1/4 inch at 100 yds and small one hole groups at 50 yds which is kinda normal for an Annie.

 

I found out I easily hit center mass every time at 50 yds with my Cowboy six gun in Colt .45. It shoots around 5 inches 5 and 4 inches low. I just put the sights on the shoulder and bang. Center mass every time.  I guess that means those old westerns where the cowboy's were shooting their 24 shot six guns CAN make the bad guys duck at distance!   :D

 

I know that no one cares about Annie targets or center mass shots and pretty much standard sub-MOA rifles so there's no reason to post pics.

 

Alrighty, now for the bad news.

 

My Kentucky rifle doesn't seem to like Triple 7 in any version. FFFG, FFFFG. My first shot today did the normal flash and I waited so long I was gonna put the rifle down when it finally went bang. I'd say 2 maybe 3 seconds between flash and bang.  I had shot that one offhand just to fire a fouling round. I reloaded and this time shot off some bags, 

I think the delay was around 1 second that time. A friend who was there and shoots black powder told me the Trip 7 is needs more heat to set it off. That's why I works so 

well with a cap as the cap directs the hot charge right at the main charge and is pretty much instantaneous. He suggested since I already had powder with me to just mix a 

duplex load of 3-4 gr of Goex in first then my main charge of Trip7 and try to use a lil powder in the pan as I can get away with. 

 

BTW, the second shot was dead center approx 6 inches low. I CANNOT say that I actually was able to hold it through the hang fire but I must gotten lucky. :)

 

IMHO I think I'm going to stay away from duplex loads and go get me some Goex FFFG.  

 

What do ya'll think?  And, Dave, is yer old FL hang firing much?

 

Edited to add I did not shoot my Hawkins today and we did get rained out. Heavy rain for about 1/2 hour which just had me trying

to keep my powder dry. After the rain came the Western TN Steam Room. We immediately went to a feels like temp of over 100 degrees.

 

I also didn't bring my .45-100 because a friend called me asking if I had some Eley .22LR he could try with his brand new (used) Model 54. Bringing another

friend into the shooting mix made me decide to limit what I was shooting. I brought my 6 gun because I had a few hundred rounds to play with and hey!, shooting

distance with those old sights sure is fun! I was using a mess of old LFN 200 gr pills. 

 

Lp

Three F in the tube and Four F in the pan...instant, no hang fire! GOEX Black Powder all the way. With 3F in both there is no "hang" fire, but a slight delay of mili seconds.

I'll see if I can get a video clip.

 

Dave

[DaveS]

Here ya go....

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvM9-cJEWq4

 

Dave

[Lowpower]

Very nice video!  

 

I think I'm going to drill out an antler to make powder measure once I come up with the charge for my KY FL.

I have my powders in horns like you use but I'm still using a brass measure and I'd like to get away from carrying the weight.

  

I'm still trying to figure out what musket bag I need. When I consider I can carry my horns and a powder measure around my neck

all that's left is the breech hole pick (made that), flints (I probably need to make some sort of a flint wallet to put in the bag) and 

lead balls. I got a loading block and plan on making some more. I can use the blocks for loading and carry a small bag of lead .490's.

 

I mowed the front yards this morning so will be stopping by Bass Pro to get the Goex FFFG tomorrow morning before work.

 

They're calling for rain on Sat and my schedule just went from Tues-Fri to Mon-Thurs so I'll try and get out Sunday to run the Goex 

as the main charge.

 

Lp

Edited September 5, 2014 by Lowpower

[Lowpower]

Dave,

 

Alright time has gone by but I finally got out and shot it again today and said I'd send a range report...

First things first. My tired old eyes have trouble seeing a dark front sight on a black target so I swapped it out

to a globe front sight. So I go to the range, set up a target and start shooting.

 

The 1st and 2nd shots are on the very bottom of the target at 50 yds. I have no elevation on the rifle at all and 

my globe is one of the lowest sights I could put on the barrel. 

 

[URL=http://s587.photobucket.com/user/ren1795/media/trgt_zps547001e6.jpg.html][/URL]

 

I adjust fire but have a slight hang fire and pull the 3rd shot to the 4 o'clock. 

 

I go back and rest the middle of the ring of the front globe on the top of the target and fire #4 which is at 10 o'clock.

#5 is the bullseye and #6 is the 11 o'clock shot.

 

Ok, I'm up at 50 gr for the load. I know I need to find some sort of adjustable rear sight I can use. 

 

Flintlock lessons learned:

 

Oil residue from the ignition priming powder gets on the flint and the frizzen. Without wiping the the frizzen 

and the flint off I got a hang fire due to a light spark. I didn't notice and reloaded to try again. This time, no spark. 

Wait a few then re-ock and try again. A friend suggests I wipe everything down. I do and reset some primer powder. 

Re-cock, aim, Bang. 

 

I took another look at my flint. I'm still on the original one that came with the rifle. It now showed it was a bit 

farther from the frizzen when it's in the down position while the the action is at half cock. I loosened up the cock

and flipped the flint around. Now I have a great spark.

 

My 4rd shot was made using very little primer powder. My bud suggested he only put enough to fill 1/2 the pan and no more.

I tried it and got a good, almost simultaneous ignition. The 5th shot while it looked good was a pure luck center shot. 

I used the same amount of primer powder. good ignition. The last shot was the same primer load. 

 

Ok, so I need a decent rear sight. I'm pretty sure my spreads are due to having an ok elevation but I really had no idea 

exactly where center line was. I had to lift my head which moved me around some to see if I was in alignment. Not a good thing.

 

I stopped there for the day to clean up and head for the barn. 

 

I ran a wet patch through the rifle followed by a dry patch after every shot. I wanted to ensure I didn't drop powder down with any hot ashes. 

I also used my home grown pick every couple of shots to ensure the sparks had a clean channel to the main charge. One thing interesting

about the wet patch is you can hear the air being pushed out of the flash hole. Like a little piston.

 

About my ball patches. I'm using .490 balls and pillow ticking, washed 3 times to soften it up. I stick each one in a small tube of water

I bring to the range. This is only for target shooting. I wring it out then patch the ball into the muzzle.

The fired patches look good. No tearing. A perfect black circle from the powder burn while pushing the ball out of the barrel. I picked up 4 of 

them and they were alike. As I mentioned earlier I believe this used rifle I bought has never been fired. I wonder if and how many rounds it

might take to season the barrel. Any ideas?

 

I heard timing a lock is something I may to look at if I want to ensure instant ignition. My bud said something about heating the cock

and bending it so when the cock in in the fired position over the pan it is pointed right at the center of it. This is supposed to ensure the

spark goes down into the pan and ignites the powder. Yes? No?

 

I also heard the pan can be shallow but can be enlarged in width but not in depth. Again to let the powder fire quicker. Yes? No? 

 

For now I'm still sorting out the Flintlock but when I get the sight I should be able to build up a good load for it.

 

Lp