So I picked up a really good condition Lyman Deerstalker flintlock .50 caliber for $150 about a week ago. My brother needed some cash, so I bought it from him with the understanding that I won't sell it for a year and if I do, he gets first chance at it. This isn't my first flintlock (and that experience came in handy today) so we grabbed the stuff and headed off to try it out.
I found that with the .490 balls he'd been using, the fit with a .010 patch was very tight and really hard to load after the first shot. So on a whim, I grabbed some .454 balls I had left over and tried shooting them. I used double patches at first, but then switched to single patches. I wasn't trying to win awards, but they were at least all hitting paper at our impromptu 35 yard range. I also screwed up and forgot the main charge once, but fixed it by pulling the vent liner and dribbling some powder in to blast the ball out.
Anyhow, the manual calls for a .490 ball but as I said, that's too tight. How loose of a ball/patch combo could I get away with?
I found that with the .490 balls he'd been using, the fit with a .010 patch was very tight and really hard to load after the first shot. So on a whim, I grabbed some .454 balls I had left over and tried shooting them. I used double patches at first, but then switched to single patches. I wasn't trying to win awards, but they were at least all hitting paper at our impromptu 35 yard range. I also screwed up and forgot the main charge once, but fixed it by pulling the vent liner and dribbling some powder in to blast the ball out.
Anyhow, the manual calls for a .490 ball but as I said, that's too tight. How loose of a ball/patch combo could I get away with?