This year is the year of the flint!

[Buck Tales]

Well I have made up my mind to harvest a deer with my flint lock this year even if it takes all season.:fight: I missed a deer 2 years ago and went back to my Hawkins to fill the freezer. Last year I missed again, :huh: 2 shots, and went to the Omega to get it done. Not this year, I've been practicing already and intend to shoot that thing 500 times before the season opens.:eek: I'm going to dial that thing in until I can drive tacks at 50 yrds. I'll post targat picks as the summer progresses. I'm on a mission!!!

[BLACKCLOUD]

good luck with that. I tried a flint lock years ago in nj, couldn't hit anything. Went back to my inline.

[hunt4life]

It takes a lot or discipline to shoot a flintlock accurately and consistantly. I shot my buddys a few yrs ago and did not deal very good with that delay in the ignition. I admire your persistence buck tales. If you harvest one with it, it will mean a lot to you!...good luck!:bow:

[Pagrizz]

Are you missing because of the open sights or you flinching when the pan goes off? How do you put the powder in the pan ? It makes a differance on how fast the charge goes off and the time you have to flinch.

[Buck Tales]

That's part of it I guess, I'm not getting consistent ignition. I place the same charge in the middle of the pan and sometimes Bam and sometimes fizzle, bam. LOL I'm pretty good at holding for the shot but have noticed a flinch here and there. I'm not that far out at this point, but I'm determind to get way better. I use a wire tye to clear the frizzen hole each time(flash hole) in hopes to have a more uniform kaboom. I think the next time out I'm going to clean between each shot to mimick a first shot in the morning scenario.:fight:

[Buck Tales]

P.S. The open sights are fiber optic and should not be an issue even with these old eyes. LOL

[Pagrizz]

Put your pan powder as far away from the hole as you can.Believe it or not this will increase your ignition time.Are you using English flints?Are you using a good frizzen?I see where you are shooting a hawkins .Does that mean you are shooting a T/C? T/C'S are great guns ,but they do not harden their frizzens right and that can cause alot of misfires.I replace alot of them at the start of each season or I put on a lyman.I have fiber optics on mine too.The old eyes can not pick up the old sights any more either.

[Buck Tales]

No I'm not shooting a TC for the flint lock. This is a gun my son bought me at the gun show a few years back. It's a CVA with a synthetic stock. I am using an english flint but didn't realize the powder should be farther back from the flash. I'll try that on my next outing in a week or so. I'll have to see about what can be done with regards to make and model to get a differt frizzen if I can't get this one to my liking. I will not give up, I have a goal and I'm going to tough it out. The whole truth behind it is my mentor, my uncle, and I have a shoot off going to see who gets the first deer with a flint lock. Neither one of us has connected with the flint yet and the trash talk is getting the size of a land fill. LOL Of course the click no spark got him the year before as the miss at 50yards got me last year. I could go on and on but reality is, come October, W.Virginia has an early doe season for black powder. You guessed it, I'll be there and the competition is on once again.:fight:
Only this time I'm going to be tuned in to shootin fly wings off in 30 mph winds at 600 yards. Well at least I hope to hit paper at 50.:o Nothin like a little excitment to get you going. LOL I'll let you know how I fair at the range if I get there this weekend.

[Buck Tales]

Update, too tired to go to the range this weekend. Honey dew list almost killed me. I'm going later this week and I'll post pics of target.

[Buck Tales]

Well now, moving the powder out a bit definitly helped. The ignition was more consistent and my flinch was way less. First shot was low but
one adjustment put the spot on.:thup: I was going to shoot a lot more but realized I left my 4F at home in the gun case when my primer measure went dry. :o I didn't want to try a bunch of other ideas at this point like how well 3F might fire, Etc. Even though it may work just fine, I need to be consistent right now. I was happy with the results and will continue as planned at this point.

[Pagrizz]

I see where you are going to try some 3F.3F is usally will be a little more accurate , but you lose a little speed over 2F.If your shots are fairly close it should not matter , but on longer shots you can see a differance in bullet drop.

[dargentieri]

Buck Tales, I have a customer that I visit in WV, and my coworker who lives down there is also hunter, maybe we can team up on some deer. When are you thinking of going? Is the early season flintlock only or just muzzleloader?

[Buck Tales]

It's muzzleloader only and zone specific I believe. There are a lot of areas it opens early and you are allowed 1 doe only for the special season, which I believe is a week long. My Uncle and I are making it our flint lock shoot. LOL You can use any muzzle loader but we slam the deer in rifle so we want to make the early season a special hunt hunt.

[Buck Tales]

Well after lots of holes in the target, I'm starting to think this is not going to be so easy. :o I shot about 20 rounds again today @ 50 yards and while all were on the paper, few were in the black. Off hand is not an easy task with a flint lock for sure. I am getting better ignition moving the powder farther from the flash hole. I'm going to try adjusting the trigger pull next week to a tad bit lighter to help smooth things some more. Still had 2 or 3 click no goes, but they are less and less each time I go out. I'll take some target pictures next week so you guys have something to laugh about. I think with all this humidity the pan looked wet after a couple of shots and maybe was the cause for a couple of the no goes, misfires. Will see how a new flint acts next week.

[Pagrizz]

Remind me what load,what powder and what bullet you are using.Maybe I can give you ideas on what to try.

[Buck Tales]

Currently I'm using 90 gr 2F with a maxi which I believe is like 380 gr bullet. I'm sure most of group is me and my hold, but it is coming together. When I'm tired it opens the group up I noticed. I lightened my trigger pull but haven't had time to shoot it yet. I'll give it a whirl this weekend EARLY one morning before I melt. With a good nights sleep I know I will do better. What do you think about a patched round ball for hunting?