Monday, January 16, 2012
Muzzleloaders: What is a Sabot, and how much better is it?
Muzzleloaders: What is a Sabot, and how much better is it?: Sabots are one of the most modern inventions that have made a difference in muzzle loading today. In order to get accuracy; you nee...
REAL conicals are they worth it?
REAL conicals are some of the nicest conicals produced for their cost.
They will fit down most barrels, tight enough to make the difference between hitting and missing your intended target. They are extremely cheap to make, and can be made with pure lead for best results. If you use wheel weights, you usually run into alloys that make the projectile to hard. Sometimes the projectile is so hard, that the conical has a hard time moulding to your rifling on your barrel.
Like all Projectiles, you must work up a load for your best accuracy. I usually run 90 grains of 2F. Others go as high as 100 grains of 2f. If you go to hot of a load, you will start to strip out your rifling on your conical, rendering it less accurate.
Don't sell short these conicals, I have come extremely close to MOA with these conicals. They are also extremely nice for hunting. You do not have to swab out your barrel after every shot. I have shot 30 plus time without cleaning the barrel, and the last shot was just as easy to load as the first shot.
They will fit down most barrels, tight enough to make the difference between hitting and missing your intended target. They are extremely cheap to make, and can be made with pure lead for best results. If you use wheel weights, you usually run into alloys that make the projectile to hard. Sometimes the projectile is so hard, that the conical has a hard time moulding to your rifling on your barrel.
Like all Projectiles, you must work up a load for your best accuracy. I usually run 90 grains of 2F. Others go as high as 100 grains of 2f. If you go to hot of a load, you will start to strip out your rifling on your conical, rendering it less accurate.
Don't sell short these conicals, I have come extremely close to MOA with these conicals. They are also extremely nice for hunting. You do not have to swab out your barrel after every shot. I have shot 30 plus time without cleaning the barrel, and the last shot was just as easy to load as the first shot.
What is a Sabot, and how much better is it?
Sabots are one of the most modern inventions that have made a difference in muzzle loading today.
In order to get accuracy; you need the most tight fitting conical that you can muster up inside that barrel. The rule of thumb is: the looser the projectile, the less accurate your projectile will be. Sabots make that much difference in accuracy.
You most accurate muzzle loaders today, will always use sabots along with a very high twist rate on the barrel. The twist rate will be as high as 1 in 24 or faster.
Sabots will be harder to load, can be used in most all rifles, and you still must work up a load for it.
If you want to use a REAL conical, you do not need a sabot. REAL conical do a wonderful job of fitting most any barrel out there, with a nice tight fit that can make the difference if hitting and missing a target. I have come very close to MOA with REAL conical using 90 grains of Pyrodex R/S 2F.
This load may not work for you all that well, but if you find a load between 90 and 100 grains, I think you will be happy with the result of a REAL conical.
They are also very easy to cast while being extremely cheap to shoot.
Some of the things you must watch for, are sabots burning up because of too much heat. Also the sabot can break apart from to much of a load. Today's sabots can now withstand extreme heat, as well as compression caused by some modern smokeless rifles like the ML10II.
In order to get accuracy; you need the most tight fitting conical that you can muster up inside that barrel. The rule of thumb is: the looser the projectile, the less accurate your projectile will be. Sabots make that much difference in accuracy.
You most accurate muzzle loaders today, will always use sabots along with a very high twist rate on the barrel. The twist rate will be as high as 1 in 24 or faster.
Sabots will be harder to load, can be used in most all rifles, and you still must work up a load for it.
If you want to use a REAL conical, you do not need a sabot. REAL conical do a wonderful job of fitting most any barrel out there, with a nice tight fit that can make the difference if hitting and missing a target. I have come very close to MOA with REAL conical using 90 grains of Pyrodex R/S 2F.
This load may not work for you all that well, but if you find a load between 90 and 100 grains, I think you will be happy with the result of a REAL conical.
They are also very easy to cast while being extremely cheap to shoot.
Some of the things you must watch for, are sabots burning up because of too much heat. Also the sabot can break apart from to much of a load. Today's sabots can now withstand extreme heat, as well as compression caused by some modern smokeless rifles like the ML10II.
Friday, January 13, 2012
What kind of projectile should I use?
OK, so there are conicals and round balls, but what should we use for a projectile?
First of all, we must understand what each of the two projectiles can do.
A round ball can be almost as accurate as a conical, but they are much lighter than your standard conical. This makes the hitting or knock down power much lower than your standard conical, whether it is at close range or down field.
Not only will it have less knockdown power, but it will have far less carrying power downfield. In other words, it will slow down much faster than a conical as it gets further downfield.
So, how do you makeup for this loss of power? Get a bigger BORE! Instead of that 50 cal ball, go for a 54 Cal ball, a 60 cal ball, or as large as you want.
A 50 cal ball only weighs in at about 175 grains. A 50 cal conical weighs in at LEAST 200 grains, and 245 is usually a common weight to begin with. From there, they can go all the way up to 500+ grains. It may be traveling a few hundred feet slower, but the knockdown power is tremendously greater because of that mass that is being moved.
So, are balls better than conicals? No. they are inferior in all aspects. Can they be as good as a conical? Only if you get a ball in a caliber that is heavy enough to weigh in as much as a conical that will do the job for you. That means you may have to purchase a much larger Caliber than what you really want.
First of all, we must understand what each of the two projectiles can do.
A round ball can be almost as accurate as a conical, but they are much lighter than your standard conical. This makes the hitting or knock down power much lower than your standard conical, whether it is at close range or down field.
Not only will it have less knockdown power, but it will have far less carrying power downfield. In other words, it will slow down much faster than a conical as it gets further downfield.
So, how do you makeup for this loss of power? Get a bigger BORE! Instead of that 50 cal ball, go for a 54 Cal ball, a 60 cal ball, or as large as you want.
A 50 cal ball only weighs in at about 175 grains. A 50 cal conical weighs in at LEAST 200 grains, and 245 is usually a common weight to begin with. From there, they can go all the way up to 500+ grains. It may be traveling a few hundred feet slower, but the knockdown power is tremendously greater because of that mass that is being moved.
So, are balls better than conicals? No. they are inferior in all aspects. Can they be as good as a conical? Only if you get a ball in a caliber that is heavy enough to weigh in as much as a conical that will do the job for you. That means you may have to purchase a much larger Caliber than what you really want.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
What powder should I use?
There are so many different kinds of powder, that picking between them is almost a nightmare.
First we must understand what the different powders are:
FGGGG (1F)
FFGGG (2F)
FFFGG (3F)
FFFFG (4F)
The lower number of "F"'s the following will be true:
1. The slower the powder will burn.
2. The lower the barrel pressure (if the projectile leaves the barrel!!!!)
3. The slower the rise of the barrel pressure.
1F - Used for cannons and heavy projectiles.
2F - Used for 50 cal and above.
3F - Used for 50 cal and below.
4F - Used for Pan Primer on Flintlocks.
If you notice, 2F and 3F are both used for 50 cal. PLEASE NOTE!! that the manufacture (if they allow 3F in their 50 cal guns) will ALWAYS say use about 15 percent LESS of 3F. So, if you shoot 100 grains of 2F, 85 grains of 3F is the equivalent.
We now know about the "F"'s and the speed of the powder, but what kind of powder should we use?
First off, choose the speed of the powder to fit your gun. My rule of thumb is: Safety is first and always foremost. This means I will never use 3F in a 50 Cal. That extra little "Poof" 3F gives, is not even close to worth the extra money, speed, or safety. Go check out the charts at Hodgens if you do not believe me. Check out the speed difference between 2F and 3F with the same loads. . .you are already traveling at 1500 FPS, that extra 100 FPS is negligible. At 100 yards, that projectile will not get there that much faster. . .
1500 FPS = .2 secs to travel 100 yards
1700 FPS = .176 secs to travel 100 yards.
Difference = .023 secs difference.
That is 23 thousandths of a second. Is this extremely short bit of time worth the extra money? Is it worth the extra stress on your equipment? Is it worth the extra kick on your shoulder? In my opinion, it is worthless. AS a hunter you can't tell the difference.
So, we have our new 50 cal gun. . .We have decided that 2F is just fine. (And yes, 2F is fantastic in pistols too!) What kind of powder should we buy?
1. Pyrodex R/S
2. Pyrodex Select
3. Pyrodex Triple 7
4. GOEX 2F
5. Swiss stuff?
6. All the other brands out there like Clean shot etc.?
Each of these powders have their own bragging rights. There are two kinds of powders. REAL black powder like GOEX, and (lets say) Artificial powders like Pyrodex. Pyrodex is made to be used exactly like real Black Powder, grain per grain. Black Powder is very very dirty, while Pyrodex (Artificial Powders) are not quite as dirty.
The rule of thumb is: The more you pay for Artificial powder, the cleaner it is. It may pack a "little" (emphasized as LITTLE) more punch, but it also brags on being cleaner. But we must also remember, that "little" extra punch is really not that big of a deal.
So what is the big deal about that extra money?
1. It is REAL black powder.
2. It is a cleaner Artificial black powder.
One other thing. . .Our stupid government reclassified REAL gun powder (powder made with SCKNO3) as an explosive. It is much more difficult to get now, that means higher prices.
So you now have different kinds of powder you can use. You know that real black powder is more expensive, yet the most dirtiest of them all. You also know that the more you pay for artificial powders, the cleaner they usually are. So, what should you buy?
I have found through the years, all the powders are just as accurate as the others. Real black powder stores much better than artificial black powder, and that artificial powders have a fairly long storage life by themselves. Now it boils down to prices vs cleaning.
Lets face it. . .You GOTTA clean your gun, if you think 6+ dollars more per pound is worth that little extra time you clean a dirty gun, then go buy that expensive stuff. If not, then enjoy shooting for 50 percent less money, and spend another 3 more minutes cleaning your gun.
Another thing, If you are going to any of the Muzzle loading competitions, you MAY have to use real black powder. Some may not allow Artificial powders. One such organization is: NMLRA National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association. They allow both REAL and Artificial powder, and they shoot throughout the USA.
First we must understand what the different powders are:
FGGGG (1F)
FFGGG (2F)
FFFGG (3F)
FFFFG (4F)
The lower number of "F"'s the following will be true:
1. The slower the powder will burn.
2. The lower the barrel pressure (if the projectile leaves the barrel!!!!)
3. The slower the rise of the barrel pressure.
1F - Used for cannons and heavy projectiles.
2F - Used for 50 cal and above.
3F - Used for 50 cal and below.
4F - Used for Pan Primer on Flintlocks.
If you notice, 2F and 3F are both used for 50 cal. PLEASE NOTE!! that the manufacture (if they allow 3F in their 50 cal guns) will ALWAYS say use about 15 percent LESS of 3F. So, if you shoot 100 grains of 2F, 85 grains of 3F is the equivalent.
We now know about the "F"'s and the speed of the powder, but what kind of powder should we use?
First off, choose the speed of the powder to fit your gun. My rule of thumb is: Safety is first and always foremost. This means I will never use 3F in a 50 Cal. That extra little "Poof" 3F gives, is not even close to worth the extra money, speed, or safety. Go check out the charts at Hodgens if you do not believe me. Check out the speed difference between 2F and 3F with the same loads. . .you are already traveling at 1500 FPS, that extra 100 FPS is negligible. At 100 yards, that projectile will not get there that much faster. . .
1500 FPS = .2 secs to travel 100 yards
1700 FPS = .176 secs to travel 100 yards.
Difference = .023 secs difference.
That is 23 thousandths of a second. Is this extremely short bit of time worth the extra money? Is it worth the extra stress on your equipment? Is it worth the extra kick on your shoulder? In my opinion, it is worthless. AS a hunter you can't tell the difference.
So, we have our new 50 cal gun. . .We have decided that 2F is just fine. (And yes, 2F is fantastic in pistols too!) What kind of powder should we buy?
1. Pyrodex R/S
2. Pyrodex Select
3. Pyrodex Triple 7
4. GOEX 2F
5. Swiss stuff?
6. All the other brands out there like Clean shot etc.?
Each of these powders have their own bragging rights. There are two kinds of powders. REAL black powder like GOEX, and (lets say) Artificial powders like Pyrodex. Pyrodex is made to be used exactly like real Black Powder, grain per grain. Black Powder is very very dirty, while Pyrodex (Artificial Powders) are not quite as dirty.
The rule of thumb is: The more you pay for Artificial powder, the cleaner it is. It may pack a "little" (emphasized as LITTLE) more punch, but it also brags on being cleaner. But we must also remember, that "little" extra punch is really not that big of a deal.
So what is the big deal about that extra money?
1. It is REAL black powder.
2. It is a cleaner Artificial black powder.
One other thing. . .Our stupid government reclassified REAL gun powder (powder made with SCKNO3) as an explosive. It is much more difficult to get now, that means higher prices.
So you now have different kinds of powder you can use. You know that real black powder is more expensive, yet the most dirtiest of them all. You also know that the more you pay for artificial powders, the cleaner they usually are. So, what should you buy?
I have found through the years, all the powders are just as accurate as the others. Real black powder stores much better than artificial black powder, and that artificial powders have a fairly long storage life by themselves. Now it boils down to prices vs cleaning.
Lets face it. . .You GOTTA clean your gun, if you think 6+ dollars more per pound is worth that little extra time you clean a dirty gun, then go buy that expensive stuff. If not, then enjoy shooting for 50 percent less money, and spend another 3 more minutes cleaning your gun.
Another thing, If you are going to any of the Muzzle loading competitions, you MAY have to use real black powder. Some may not allow Artificial powders. One such organization is: NMLRA National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association. They allow both REAL and Artificial powder, and they shoot throughout the USA.
That darn Muzzleloader is inaccurate!
So you are disappointed because you can't cloverleaf at 100 yards, or MOA at 100 yards.
First thing you must learn about, is *why* a projectile is accurate, inaccurate, stumbles, or just plain worthless.
They shot for years with smooth bores, yet they were accurate. Then rifling was introduced. Accuracy was greatly improved.
A smooth bore was like throwing a knuckle ball. No rotation, random movement through the air, and consistency did not exist. But for shorter yardage, it was a killer of game. It was able to accomplish what a woodsman wanted to accomplish at that era of time.
Rifling was introduced.
Rifling in muzzleloaders worked out very well, and in time, through patience of experimenting, we were able to find out that different varying of rifling twist would cause different grades of accuracy.
We found out that a conical was much more accurate out of a higher twist rifling than a (P)atched (R)ound (B)all (PRB). But, at the same time, the inventor of the Minie Ball was fighting against the PRB diehards that used very little twist in the rifling. ( We are going to skip all the history here, and keep it to why the rifling is a 1:48 twist.)
Through trial and error, we found out that the standard 1:48 twist was just fast enough to keep a conical from tumbling, yet slow enough to keep a PRB pretty much in line. The guns with a 1:48 twist is a compromise for people like you and I, who want to be able to pick and choose the projectile we stuff down that barrel.
This also creates a problem. The 1:48 twist is NOT the most accurate twist for our play toys. It is a compromise of accuracy vs ammo.
All of your good PRB will have at LEAST a 1:66 twist or slower. This slow twist is worthless with conicals. All of your good Conical guns will have a minimum of 1:28 twist or faster. This faster twist stabilizes and increases accuracy of the conicals. . .to the point of MOA when properly loaded.
So, what do you do with a 1:44 or 1:4X twist?
You LEARN to load your gun properly, coming up with the BEST load for BEST accuracy. If your projectile is a Ball, you want your projectile to leave the barrel a little slower than a Conical. This is controlled by your power measure.
I will say this in as few words as possible. No barrel is exactly alike, no barrel will shoot exactly the same. That means each gun will have to be treated as a new gun to be broken in. Lets learn how to do it.
1. You must get rid of ALL variables, and try to keep them constant.
2. In order to do so, loading and shooting the gun MUST be the same every time.
3. A perfectly clean barrel will shoot differently than a barrel that has already been shot once.
Here is a routine to follow:
1. Dirty up your barrel with a pre-charge of powder. That means fire off about 20 or 30 grains of powder without a conical.
2. Some people use spit, some use #13, some use dry patches, some use butter bore, some don't use anything, but run a patch down the barrel once or twice with the above. (It will look black, but that is OK)
3. Load up 70 grains of powder, load up your PRB or conical, and fire.
4. Go to step #2 and repeat. (Do this until you have fired 3 times.
Go to your target, mark it as 70Grn, PRB (or 250 grain conical), (or whatever you used as a projectile). Pin up another target and go back to step one and repeat with with 80 grains of powder. Repeat again with 90 grains of powder, Repeat again with 100 grains of powder.
When you are done, you will have 4 targets. . One of those targets will have the tightest group. That is your starting load. One of the other targets will have the next to the tightest group. If your tightest group is 80 grains, and your next to the tightest group is 90, then try 85 grains of powder, and see if that tightens the group even more.
When you are done, you will have a "Load" that is accurate for your rifle, as LONG as you use the same projectile. When you change projectiles, you are changing another variable. You will have to redo this entire process over again to get your best accurate load for that projectile.
First thing you must learn about, is *why* a projectile is accurate, inaccurate, stumbles, or just plain worthless.
They shot for years with smooth bores, yet they were accurate. Then rifling was introduced. Accuracy was greatly improved.
A smooth bore was like throwing a knuckle ball. No rotation, random movement through the air, and consistency did not exist. But for shorter yardage, it was a killer of game. It was able to accomplish what a woodsman wanted to accomplish at that era of time.
Rifling was introduced.
Rifling in muzzleloaders worked out very well, and in time, through patience of experimenting, we were able to find out that different varying of rifling twist would cause different grades of accuracy.
We found out that a conical was much more accurate out of a higher twist rifling than a (P)atched (R)ound (B)all (PRB). But, at the same time, the inventor of the Minie Ball was fighting against the PRB diehards that used very little twist in the rifling. ( We are going to skip all the history here, and keep it to why the rifling is a 1:48 twist.)
Through trial and error, we found out that the standard 1:48 twist was just fast enough to keep a conical from tumbling, yet slow enough to keep a PRB pretty much in line. The guns with a 1:48 twist is a compromise for people like you and I, who want to be able to pick and choose the projectile we stuff down that barrel.
This also creates a problem. The 1:48 twist is NOT the most accurate twist for our play toys. It is a compromise of accuracy vs ammo.
All of your good PRB will have at LEAST a 1:66 twist or slower. This slow twist is worthless with conicals. All of your good Conical guns will have a minimum of 1:28 twist or faster. This faster twist stabilizes and increases accuracy of the conicals. . .to the point of MOA when properly loaded.
So, what do you do with a 1:44 or 1:4X twist?
You LEARN to load your gun properly, coming up with the BEST load for BEST accuracy. If your projectile is a Ball, you want your projectile to leave the barrel a little slower than a Conical. This is controlled by your power measure.
I will say this in as few words as possible. No barrel is exactly alike, no barrel will shoot exactly the same. That means each gun will have to be treated as a new gun to be broken in. Lets learn how to do it.
1. You must get rid of ALL variables, and try to keep them constant.
2. In order to do so, loading and shooting the gun MUST be the same every time.
3. A perfectly clean barrel will shoot differently than a barrel that has already been shot once.
Here is a routine to follow:
1. Dirty up your barrel with a pre-charge of powder. That means fire off about 20 or 30 grains of powder without a conical.
2. Some people use spit, some use #13, some use dry patches, some use butter bore, some don't use anything, but run a patch down the barrel once or twice with the above. (It will look black, but that is OK)
3. Load up 70 grains of powder, load up your PRB or conical, and fire.
4. Go to step #2 and repeat. (Do this until you have fired 3 times.
Go to your target, mark it as 70Grn, PRB (or 250 grain conical), (or whatever you used as a projectile). Pin up another target and go back to step one and repeat with with 80 grains of powder. Repeat again with 90 grains of powder, Repeat again with 100 grains of powder.
When you are done, you will have 4 targets. . One of those targets will have the tightest group. That is your starting load. One of the other targets will have the next to the tightest group. If your tightest group is 80 grains, and your next to the tightest group is 90, then try 85 grains of powder, and see if that tightens the group even more.
When you are done, you will have a "Load" that is accurate for your rifle, as LONG as you use the same projectile. When you change projectiles, you are changing another variable. You will have to redo this entire process over again to get your best accurate load for that projectile.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
How to fire those crazy Traditional Muzzleloaders.
They are called muzzleloaders for a reason. . . because everything is stuffed right down the front of the barrel in a certain way to make it go off.
First comes powder. . .
The second thing stuffed down that barrel depends upon the person and how they will be using it.
a. Maybe a patch wrapped around a ball.
b. Maybe a Sabot wrapped around a conical
c. Maybe a "wad", "Gas check", "Spacer" or whatever you want to call it. followed by some kind of Conical, ball, Sabot, or even lead shot.
When the barrel is prepared, the last thing you are to load up, is your primer, cap, or flash pan powder.
Usually most guns have a two position hammer. . .
Position 1, halfway cocked. This is used to load the primer. You should NOT be able to pull the trigger and release the hammer.
Position 2, fully cocked. This is the firing position. When trigger is pulled, the gun will go off.
For a percussion, things are pretty easy. At position 1, load your #11 cap, pull the hammer back to full position, point and fire.
For a Flintlock, things are a little more complicated.
Three things must happen in order to fire a flintlock.
1. Spark.
2. Pan ignition.
3. Main Charge ignition.
If any of these three things fail, you will have a dud.
Spark:
To get proper spark, the following MUST be present and working.
1. The Flint should strike between 1/3 to 1/2 way down from the BOTTOM of the frizzen. If it strikes near the top of the frizzen, it only smacks your flint into the frizzen, produces no spark, breaks it off, and destroys everything you ever wanted to happen. If it strikes properly, the angle of the flint will dig INTO the steel frizzen, shave off a little steal, carry the hot glowing spark down towards the pan powder, push back the frizzen, and ignite the pan powder. That is a LOT to happen for step one.
2. Ignition of the Primer Pan. In order to have the best ignition of a pan, your powder should cover as much area as possible. This means a DEEP NARROW pan is not near as good as a shallow wide pan. A wider pan catches more spark from the lock mechanism.
3. Main charge ignition. Your Primer Pan must somehow ignite your main charge. The only way to do this, is keeping the flame in the vicinity of the main charge. The closer to the main charge, the hotter the flame, and the accessibility of the flame to the main charge are the igniting characteristics.
There are a few tricks to encourage fast ignition, sure ignition, and speedy main charge ignition. When properly done, the lock time of a flintlock is actually FASTER than that of a percussion! First, you must understand how a flintlock works. It does NOT work on FORCED fire or FORCED blast like a percussion. A percussion forces a fire into the main charge, a flintlock doesn't.
So, lets look at what makes black powder burn the fastest!
1. Space.
2. Area exposed (from the space)
What this means, is when loading a flintlock, you are NOT to pack it down tight, ram it down, and call it good. This may be perfectly ok for a percussion, because the fire will be force into the main charge with a mini blasting cap.
With a flintlock, you are to STOP as soon as your projectile "touches" your powder. This allows "space", or "air" around your main charge. This air allows the flame to migrate throughout your main charge, causing a much faster ignition. It is also one of the reasons why your flash pan powder burns so rapidly.
Now, how can we speed up the igintion of the main powder from the flash pan?
There have been many studies and slow motion vidio's on flash pan speed and igition. Powder placement in the pan is almost an non-issue. It is true that the ignition speed is slower with the pan powder away from the flash hole, but it is still non-negligiable to our human reflexes. So, how do you speed it up?
First things first. . ..the more powder exposed to the flame, the faster the ignition. How do you do this? Take a piece of wire, shove it in the touch hole vent, and make a hole through your main charge. What happens, is the fire will ignite more of the main charge this way. If you do not poke a hole in it, ignition is only accomplished on the FIRST grain of main powder that is exposed to the flash pan fire. It must then migrate grain by grain until the main charge is ignited. Which is better in starting a fire? a bunch of matches all set to go off, or just one?
Second thing. . .you want flame as close to the flash hole as possible. . .stick some of that fine grain of 4F powder down that hole and right to the very edge and even cover the hole a little. It will ignite.
So now you have it.
1. How to adust your flint.
2. How to load your muzzleloader.
3. How to load your pan.
4. How to speed up your main charge. (Two ways!!)
5. How to migrate that flame into the main charge via the touch hole.
When all is said and done, a flintlock will actually have a faster lock time than a percussion. By the time the hammer hits the bottom, the flashpan is already lit and doing its duty. On a percussion, the hammer must travel ALL the way down to the bottom BEFORE even igniting the cap. After ignition of the cap, the flame must travel through the bolster drum, into the main charge, and then ignite the main charge.
First comes powder. . .
The second thing stuffed down that barrel depends upon the person and how they will be using it.
a. Maybe a patch wrapped around a ball.
b. Maybe a Sabot wrapped around a conical
c. Maybe a "wad", "Gas check", "Spacer" or whatever you want to call it. followed by some kind of Conical, ball, Sabot, or even lead shot.
When the barrel is prepared, the last thing you are to load up, is your primer, cap, or flash pan powder.
Usually most guns have a two position hammer. . .
Position 1, halfway cocked. This is used to load the primer. You should NOT be able to pull the trigger and release the hammer.
Position 2, fully cocked. This is the firing position. When trigger is pulled, the gun will go off.
For a percussion, things are pretty easy. At position 1, load your #11 cap, pull the hammer back to full position, point and fire.
For a Flintlock, things are a little more complicated.
Three things must happen in order to fire a flintlock.
1. Spark.
2. Pan ignition.
3. Main Charge ignition.
If any of these three things fail, you will have a dud.
Spark:
To get proper spark, the following MUST be present and working.
1. The Flint should strike between 1/3 to 1/2 way down from the BOTTOM of the frizzen. If it strikes near the top of the frizzen, it only smacks your flint into the frizzen, produces no spark, breaks it off, and destroys everything you ever wanted to happen. If it strikes properly, the angle of the flint will dig INTO the steel frizzen, shave off a little steal, carry the hot glowing spark down towards the pan powder, push back the frizzen, and ignite the pan powder. That is a LOT to happen for step one.
2. Ignition of the Primer Pan. In order to have the best ignition of a pan, your powder should cover as much area as possible. This means a DEEP NARROW pan is not near as good as a shallow wide pan. A wider pan catches more spark from the lock mechanism.
3. Main charge ignition. Your Primer Pan must somehow ignite your main charge. The only way to do this, is keeping the flame in the vicinity of the main charge. The closer to the main charge, the hotter the flame, and the accessibility of the flame to the main charge are the igniting characteristics.
There are a few tricks to encourage fast ignition, sure ignition, and speedy main charge ignition. When properly done, the lock time of a flintlock is actually FASTER than that of a percussion! First, you must understand how a flintlock works. It does NOT work on FORCED fire or FORCED blast like a percussion. A percussion forces a fire into the main charge, a flintlock doesn't.
So, lets look at what makes black powder burn the fastest!
1. Space.
2. Area exposed (from the space)
What this means, is when loading a flintlock, you are NOT to pack it down tight, ram it down, and call it good. This may be perfectly ok for a percussion, because the fire will be force into the main charge with a mini blasting cap.
With a flintlock, you are to STOP as soon as your projectile "touches" your powder. This allows "space", or "air" around your main charge. This air allows the flame to migrate throughout your main charge, causing a much faster ignition. It is also one of the reasons why your flash pan powder burns so rapidly.
Now, how can we speed up the igintion of the main powder from the flash pan?
There have been many studies and slow motion vidio's on flash pan speed and igition. Powder placement in the pan is almost an non-issue. It is true that the ignition speed is slower with the pan powder away from the flash hole, but it is still non-negligiable to our human reflexes. So, how do you speed it up?
First things first. . ..the more powder exposed to the flame, the faster the ignition. How do you do this? Take a piece of wire, shove it in the touch hole vent, and make a hole through your main charge. What happens, is the fire will ignite more of the main charge this way. If you do not poke a hole in it, ignition is only accomplished on the FIRST grain of main powder that is exposed to the flash pan fire. It must then migrate grain by grain until the main charge is ignited. Which is better in starting a fire? a bunch of matches all set to go off, or just one?
Second thing. . .you want flame as close to the flash hole as possible. . .stick some of that fine grain of 4F powder down that hole and right to the very edge and even cover the hole a little. It will ignite.
So now you have it.
1. How to adust your flint.
2. How to load your muzzleloader.
3. How to load your pan.
4. How to speed up your main charge. (Two ways!!)
5. How to migrate that flame into the main charge via the touch hole.
When all is said and done, a flintlock will actually have a faster lock time than a percussion. By the time the hammer hits the bottom, the flashpan is already lit and doing its duty. On a percussion, the hammer must travel ALL the way down to the bottom BEFORE even igniting the cap. After ignition of the cap, the flame must travel through the bolster drum, into the main charge, and then ignite the main charge.
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