45 FLINT ON THE BENCH

[hortonstn]

had the pleasure to shoot a match sat it was 100 yards, i'd never shot this new 45 i built at that distance, i figured it would be a educational experience and it was, 10 relays 3 shots each
shooting at a 8 inch bull on white with a 2"bull or x  this was a bench rest match open sights
to my dismay  i didn t do to bad here are the facts... gm b weight 45 55 grains fff stayed in a 4 inch groupe shooting .018 pillow ticking .0440 ball
next was 60 fff with a .0445 bacically the same group .018 ticking
next was 60 fff  with .020 teflon ticking stayed in 3 inch circle. with .0445 ball
actually won a 1,3,4 thats not bad for me with original sights
 now the question what should i try next to tighten this up i'd love to beat all these guys with this flintlock  they all shoot cap bench rifles my rifle weights about 7.5 lbs
your thoughts are appreciated
paul

[Dphariss]

Consistency.
Consistent bore condition.
If you wipe wipe EXACTLY the same with uniformly wet patches drying bore the same every time.
If you use a water lube wiping may not be needed.
Consistent powder charge
Weigh the balls and use a GOOD mould. Balls need to be near perfectly round some moulds don't do very well at this.
Consistent seating pressure.
Clean vent.
I would use a pipe cleaner. The hobby store types will got through a 1/16 vent. I would leave it in the vent when loading to eliminate powder blowing out when loading.
I would increase the powder charge in 5 gr increments to maybe 80 grains.
I would try FF and FFF Swiss BP and maybe 1.5 F Swiss. There is an excellent chance Swiss will out shoot all others. But it might not either but if you are after serious accuracy you have to experiment.

Try the Dutch Schoultz method. Its worth a try.

Any fouling on the lands that the ball will run over or you can feel when loading WILL degrade accuracy.
You might try cutting the patches at the muzzle.

There are a lot of variables...

Dan

[Roger Fisher]

had the pleasure to shoot a match sat it was 100 yards, i'd never shot this new 45 i built at that distance, i figured it would be a educational experience and it was, 10 relays 3 shots each
shooting at a 8 inch bull on white with a 2"bull or x  this was a bench rest match open sights
to my dismay  i didn t do to bad here are the facts... gm b weight 45 55 grains fff stayed in a 4 inch groupe shooting .018 pillow ticking .0440 ball
next was 60 fff with a .0445 bacically the same group .018 ticking
next was 60 fff  with .020 teflon ticking stayed in 3 inch circle. with .0445 ball
actually won a 1,3,4 thats not bad for me with original sights
 now the question what should i try next to tighten this up i'd love to beat all these guys with this flintlock  they all shoot cap bench rifles my rifle weights about 7.5 lbs
your thoughts are appreciated
paul

So, Hortie where was said group and scores?  I would kick up the charge to 70, 75, 80.......do that and you'll beat them more than you should maybe!