Starting a jacob dickert rifle

[Daryl Pelfrey]

Hello all. New member here, been in muzzeloading for a long time. Not the best but have built a few rifles. Im startjng a jacob dickert style  in 36 cal. I would love to be a good flint shooter but no matter how fast a gun i still flinch at the flash in the pan. Maybe ive just not shot a really good flintlock yet.Maybe i will build another sometime but for now im a percussion shooter.Love squirrel hunting with frontloaders. Maybe I can get some flintlick pointers sometime from some of you.
 Thanks Daryl Pelfrey

[smylee grouch]

Welcome Daryl, not because it's the thanksgiving season but I would go flint lock and don;'t look back. It won';t be long and you will not be able to see any difference in ignition speed between the two. Go cold turkey to flint.

[rich pierce]

With good target focus the flash becomes peripheral to me. I kind of know it’s there. Just a matter of familiarity.

[Dennis Glazener]

I have been blessed that I noticed no difference in shooting my first muzzle loading rifle which was a cheap percussion and my first personal flintlock which I built with a Chambers Siler and a Chambers white lighting vent liner. Never will go back to a percussion again. I really don't notice the flash of the pan. I do notice the slight delay but I also noticed it on the percussion (drum/nipple).
Dennis

[bgf]

Try looking for (NOT AT) the flash, assuming you have eye protection.  I know flinching very well and it is your primal instinct to avoid an explosion in your face (recoil not usually issue with muzzleloaders).  Trying to ignore it rarely works as more than a reinforcement that it is something you should avoid!  By trying to see it as part of your shooting process, you can sometimes override an unconscious reaction...just something to try.  If that works, stretch your attention to the muzzleblast and target.  If your eyes are still open and you are on target when the ball hits the target/backstop/tree/etc., you will have a good shot.

[M. E. Pering]

I would definitely have no question if it were me... It would be a flintlock.  A well-made flintlock can be just as fast as a percussion, but it does take proper priming and loading.  The ball will be out the muzzle before your flinch reaction reaches the rifle.

Here is something that should cure people of the flinch, though it is just an idea, and I have never had the problem, so I am just guessing here.  Once you have the flintlock. take it out and just blow off a bunch of pans of powder, with no load.  You can probably easily do a pan a minute.  Just aim at something, touch it off, and re-prime after brushing out the pan and repeat.  After doing this for 1 or 2 hundred pans, you will find your flinching minimalized, if not gone altogether.  This will also help you get used to shooting flinters, like when you need a sharper flint, and how little powder is actually needed in the pan to make that little flash.  I have found with pan charging, less is more.

And besides... Flintlocks are A LOT more fun than percussion. 

Matt

[Tim]

Do You guys think a set trigger helps with flinching?

[Davemuzz]

If the flash really bothers you, consider (yes....not PC) mounting a Lyman 66 peep sight on your tang. The Lyman completely blocks the pan flash from your vision.

I have one on my T\C Hawken. But at this point in my life, my just build Leman has a regular open sight and it doesn't bother me at all.

[M. E. Pering]

Timbotide, no.  Set trigger shouldn't help with flinching a bit that I can see.  I think it is more a matter of just getting used to it, and knowing what you are going to see when you pull that trigger.  I think most people can get used to the flash with just practice.  As they say, familiarity breeds contempt.

Davemuzz, that is a good idea that could help some people.  As far as that goes, I don't think there is anything wrong with someone mounting a scope on their rifle, if that helps them enjoy the experience more.  If that is what helps you enjoy the shooting sports more, then more power to you.  I, on the other hand, enjoy the ancient experience.  It is the experience that I am seeking, so I love the flash... lol.  I don't use a rifle to get my meat anymore, so it is all just the experience now.

Matt

[alacran]

Nothing wrong with being a percussion shooter or builder. I love shooting my flintlocks as well as I love shooting my Hawken and my percussion pistols.
Built my first flintlock because a good friend at our local club. would always say "but you were shooting a caplock" whenever I bested him.
I asked him if he liked it better when I did so with a flinter.
There is no right or wrong in what type of muzzle stuffer you shoot.

[Mike Brooks]

#1 you need to put away your caplocks and only shoot flint. And shoot ALOT. You'll get over the flinchies. #2 A Lancaster rifle would be near the bottom of my choices for a .36. You might consider a REALLY LATE Lancaster. Personally  I'd go with maybe a late VA or NC rifle for a .36, or any of the Appalachia schools.

When I first started shooting flint almost 40 years ago I'd practice every day inside the house. Pick a spot on the wall and aim and fire …..with an unloaded gun of course and a wood flint. It will not only get you over the flinchies it will improve your hold.

[Craig Wilcox]

I second what Mikey wrote above.  When I first began to shoot competitively, one of my coaches told me to do what Mike did - shoot the wall!  I practiced and practiced - and started to become a fair shooter.
In my law enforcement work, I had to qualify 4 times a year, twice for the Florida Park Service, twice for the Florida marine Patrol, even tho both were for the same agency.  Did pretty good with it.
I have carried on with this same "shoot the wall" technique for over 40 years, and tho I now have a built-in tremor, still manage to keep the shots in the black.
It's like the old saying, "I seem to get better every time I practice".  Doesn't matter if it is a pistol or a rifle, modern weapon or antique.

[Daryl Pelfrey]

Ive already got the Jacob Dickert stkck #4 grade and a 36 cal barrel. I think I may just go flintlock. Im wanting to be good enough with it to take squirrels though.  Maybe I can get there. Thanks  to all of you. Any suggestilns on flash hole liner?  I already know the lock will be large siler.

[smallpatch]

White lightning liner!!!

[Eric Krewson]

I don't see the flash of a flintlock except when I take a shot at a deer in the fading evening light, then it blinds me, obscures my target and makes me flinch slightly unless I really get ready for it as I squeeze the trigger.

[Daryl]

If I don't see the flash, it's because my eyes are shut & I'm already flinching. I "try' to STEEL(harden) myself against flinching & SEE the shot hit the mark (that is what I call steeling the shot'.

If shooting with Taylor,  a flash in the pan, or failure of that even, I like to hear - "Nice Hold". What I usually hear is "Good thing THAT didn't go off, you'd have shot the ground 6' in front of you".

IT happens.