High Speed Video of Percussion Rifle

[HardBall]

I'm sorry if this video has already been posted but my question is regarding the lag between the cap firing and the charge igniting.



Notice the cap fires, then there's a flash back through the nipple, then finally the fire from the muzzle.

Do you guys think that lag is normal?  Or could he be using a heavy charge of slower, 1F powder and possible a weaker cap?  I would think with a caplock the main charge would ignite sooner?

Makes one realize that follow through with the shot is of great import, not only with a flintlock, but a caplock as well.

I also think it's interesting how much flame comes back through the nipple and it seems as if the hammer is raised just a bit as the flame escapes back through the nipple.

The fireball and round ball exiting the muzzle is just too cool to not watch over and over again.

[Robby]

That was interesting . I wonder what he is shooting, ball or shot, looked like a shot load to me. It was interesting in that it is the first time I have seen a slow motion video of a muzzle loader being fired where there wasn't  some gas escaping before the round itself. Now that I think of it, even center fires ooze a little gas before the projectile appears.
Robby

[doug]

   what puzzles me is that I can't see any sign of recoil during the shot.  Neither vertical nor horizontal change.  Most people with most guns would move at least a little even with target loads

cheers Doug

[NAF#123]

To me it looks like he is shooting a conical, and that is strange that there is no recoil.

[HardBall]

I had to slide the video back and forth (the slider at the bottom that goes across while playing) to see the change but his body is moving- I can see it in his forearm, shoulder and head if I go back and forth between the early frames and the latter frames.

[Leatherbark]

Could be using a substitute powder. Everyone that I have ever used I could actually here the hammer hit the  nipple a micro second before firing. I cannot perceive that sound with black powder. Still though some of those substitute powders have been more accurate at times.


Bob

[HardBall]

Could be using a substitute powder.

I hadn't thought of that, it could be a substitute.  That might explain the visual fizz-boom.

[Hungry Horse]

 My thought is that this video is severely doctored. The kodiak is a direct ignition firearm, so there should be no lag to speak of.  My only question is, that if you look like that with your shirt off, and somebody was going to put a video of you on the WWW, why wouldn't you be shooting at them?

                     Hungry Horse

[Daryl]

It appears he is also shooting a slug - this is a VERY bad idea in a double rifle due to load movment in the unfired bore. The bullet than can become an obstruction.

Those hunters who tried them in the mid 1800's on even dangerous game just as quickly stopped using them and went back to round balls- even in the little 16 bores, the minimum suggested for dangerous game.

I truely wish these guys would learn to shoot round balls with cloth patches.

[Robby]

I thought maybe it was a slug too, but now think it is a shot load and packing with the shot just beginning to dome out. I can't look at it anymore, getting cross eyed, need a hi-def, big screen!
Its hard to get a read on the lag time with super slow motion. Look at the video's of locks in super slow by Pletch. Just when you think there is no ignition the pan starts to flare, when in reality its almost instantaneous.
Robby

[Larry Pletcher]

Does anyone know what the frame rate was used to do this film?  That would tell us alot.  When I did the locks, I used 5000 frames per second.  The video of the flintlock rifle was done at 15,000 fps.

Judging from the speed of the hammer fall, I'd guess 1000-2000 fps.  If that assumption is close, then the projectile is traveling pretty slowly.  I'd guess that the load is fairly light.  Please understand that this is my gut reaction based on watching my own stuff - not anything measurable here without frame rate.

Regards,
Pletch

[Larry Pletcher]

In 2009, we videoed a small Siler percussion lock owned and prepared by Lowell Gard (Bevel Up).  He welded a percussion drum into the cutout so that the lock would fire a percussion cap.  We again filmed at 5000 fps with Lowell holding the lock.  In the video Lowell releases the sear at about 27th second. Below is the link to the video:



This may help to tell about how fast the camera was filming the percussion double.

Regards,
Pletch

[Daryl]

Good 'catch', Larry - I see both hammers cocked at .06 and first smoke at the nipple at .07 and the fist ejecta from the breech at .12 with .11 being nothing at the muzzle.

Yes - it might be shot or a slug. I do not see any muzzle rise, which would possibly mean a light load as speculated by Larry.

[Dave Faletti]

I wonder if its a large charge with a cushion wad on top.  Seems like too much flash at the muzzle for a small charge and too little recoil. 

[Steve-In]

There is a German site selling high speed video cameras that had several shots of firearms going off.  On most there was very little if any movement until after the bullet had left the barrel.  I don't have that link any more but it was something that always puzzled me.  Toward the end of the video you can see some muzzle rise.

[4ster]

Over the short period of time in the clip the gun moves quite a bit; at least two barrel diameters by the end.  Keep your eye on the front ramrod pipe against the little light colored patch in the background.  You can see the gun start to recoil horizontally as soon as the projectile starts to move in the barrel.  The movement is mostly horizontal until the projectile(s?) exit the muzzle then the muzzle starts to rise as the gun continues to move back.  The segment from hammer fall to the projectile exiting the muzzle is over a quarter of the length of the clip so this is really a short period of time.  My guess is that if the clip continued you would see quite a bit of muzzle movement.

I had a similar experience when I was photographed in high speed.  (Only six frames from hammer fall to fire out the muzzle in my case.) My avatar is from that clip, but you can't tell anything from it since it is so small.  On the full screen, the gun moves back first before starting to exhibit muzzle rise, which really doesn't start to happen until the ball exits the gun.