Well, I shot my newly built flintlock this weekend for the first time; you can see the gun here. http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=38717.0
Things were going relatively ok for awhile. I was shooting a 50 caliber ball with 50 grains of Goex FFF and I managed to hit a 2-inch diameter bulls eye at 50 yards. However, on about the twelfth shot the main charge did not ignite, notwithstanding the primer igniting. I changed flints, but still no joy and decided that my vent hole must be plugged. I didn't have anything small enough to clean out the vent, so I had to leave the range with powder and a patched ball still in the bore of my rifle
. Fortunately I was able to safely pull the ball from the barrel once I got home.
Another problem I had was the seemingly excessive tight fit of the patched ball in the 50 caliber bore. The balls I'm shooting are 0.495" diameter and the patches are 0.020" thick. I used my hickory ram rod for pushing the ball and patch home, but it was not easy. I even swabbed the bore between shots to reduce fouling buildup, but it was still a struggle to get the ball seated against the powder.
Questions please:
1) Is it common for the vent hole to plug after only a dozen or so shots?
2) Is my ball and patch combination too large for my 50 caliber bore? If so, what would be the ideal ball/patch combination?
Thanks!
Jason