Range Report - Pedersoli Kentucky Flintlock- Need Opinions

[RANGER94]

Hello Everyone - a very close family friend gave me his wife's Pedersoli Kentucky Flintlock made in 1979 (.50 cal).  It is in good condition, shot very little.  This is my second outing - the first I used the PA conicals - which were accurate, but very dirty, and after the 3rd shot I had to clean the gun.

Weather was cold, about 40 degrees, but no wind.  50 yards, from a bench.

Night before ran dry patch, alcohol patch, then dry patch.

I decided to start with 50 grains, since that it what my friend's wife formerly used, and my 13 year old daughter will be shooting this on occasion.

1)    50 grains of 3F, .490 Ball, Use the Joanne’s Fabric 10oz Natural Bull Denim 100% Cotton Fabric as patching material.  Cut using 1 1/8 Arch punch.  I ran each patch in my tin of Mink Oil before each shot.  Extremely tight fight, had to use 2X4 to whack ball starter.
2)   No cleaning at range.
3)   1st shot hit about 8 inches high.  2nd & 3rd Shots, about 8 inches high, about 2-3 inches left.
4)   Upped to 60 grains, 3shots, similar performance
5)   Upped to 70 grains. Hit about 8inches high but more towards 10-11oclockposition.  2 shots.
6)   3rd shot of 70 grains went eratic, across the target.
7)   Gun got tougher to load, very tight, very dirty.  Went back to 50 grains, then went completely erratic.  Accuracy was non-existant.  All shots after this were extremely erratic, all over the place.

Am I starting with to light of a load and that is dirtying the barrel creating the inconsistent accuracy?


Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!!!

Ranger94

[smylee grouch]

What do the patches look like? I would smooth the crown and use cut st the muzzle patches. Also I would soaked patches in lube
so not an excess of lube on surface of patch

[Sparkitoff]

Can you cut the patch at muzzle?  1 1/8" seems like a lot of patch material. I think you should shoot a bigger group first, like 5 to 7 shots with the exact same load. Repeat but swab between shots. Then increase charge and do the group with and without swabbing. By doing this with 50, 60 and 70 grains I think you will at least see what charge the barrel prefers. Then you can adjust lube and see if groups change. Same for changing powder granulation.

[snapper]

Have you used this patch material before in other rifles with good results?   I agree with prior post, what do the patches look like?  Also agree that you might be using too big.   Also when you say you ran the patches through the mink oil, what does that mean? Are they damp?  Soaking wet?

Fleener

[rich pierce]

Have you used this patch material before in other rifles with good results?   I agree with prior post, what do the patches look like?  Also agree that you might be using too big.   Also when you say you ran the patches through the mink oil, what does that mean? Are they damp?  Soaking wet?

Fleener

I agree that checking the patches is #1 in load development. If your patches are shredding or cutting, nothing else you do will improve accuracy.

Fleener, what is the possible effect of patches that are too large?  Very interested as I’ve thought larger patches might help by carrying more lube.

[snapper]

IMO patches that are too big in dia. they bunch up at the front of the ball.   It makes loading harder with a short starter.   I can not say if they have an impact on accuracy.   

Fleener

[smylee grouch]

Measure the dia. Of the recovered cut at muzzle patches.  I think they will be 1&1\8 + inches in dia.For a 50 cal.

[RANGER94]

Thanks for the help here!

1)  On my next visit I will attempt to recover the patches, the way my range is set up, that maybe a challenge.
2)  I have used these patches in my TVM .40, but used ballistol 25% + water 75% as my lube.  Loading was equally challenging but accuracy on this guns was good.  The patches I cut for the .40 were 1 inch.
3)  I recently got out of the habit of swabbing between shots (I had a tendency to flood the barrel and create ignition problems).  Perhaps for this gun it maybe required.
4)  Mink oil - my process (which may be incorrect) is to rub the patch around in circles in the in the tin of mink oil, and then load.  I may be putting to much on, or not enough.

Thanks again for your assistance!!

Ranger94

[snapper]

Everyone's loading process is different.   You have to find what works for you and what you like.

I use a .535 ball and .015 patch for all my .54's.   If I am shooting a .40 I run .395 balls and .015 patches.  I use for patch lube, equal parts of rubbing alcohol, murphy oil soap and peroxide.   My patches are fairly damp.   I do not clean for a round ball gun.  My patch cleans the bore as it is loaded.

I can shoot all day with the above and not have an issue.   If loading gets hard, I know that my patches need a little more moisture.   It is just something that you develop a feel for.

You will get it figured out.

Fleener

[Daryl]

What do the patches look like? I would smooth the crown and use cut st the muzzle patches. Also I would soaked patches in lube
so not an excess of lube on surface of patch

All good sugggestions, in my opinion. This one is also spot-on.
When using mink oil (getting ready for hunting), I heat the oil to a liquid, the soak the patches in it, then squeeze the stack of patches to
get out the excess. Only having a smear of lube on the patches might be why loading is difficult. Too, the condition of the muzzle is important
when using a snug combination.  A short little nub on the starter's knob, is when I use to get the ball started. PM me your e-mail address and
I will send you a video showing loading a .45 rifle with a .445" ball and .022" (10oz) denim patch - no 2x4's needed, just the starter and the rifle's
hickory rod.

[Mike from OK]

Thanks for the help here!

1)  On my next visit I will attempt to recover the patches, the way my range is set up, that maybe a challenge.
2)  I have used these patches in my TVM .40, but used ballistol 25% + water 75% as my lube.  Loading was equally challenging but accuracy on this guns was good.  The patches I cut for the .40 were 1 inch.
3)  I recently got out of the habit of swabbing between shots (I had a tendency to flood the barrel and create ignition problems).  Perhaps for this gun it maybe required.
4)  Mink oil - my process (which may be incorrect) is to rub the patch around in circles in the in the tin of mink oil, and then load.  I may be putting to much on, or not enough.

Thanks again for your assistance!!

Ranger94

Quick tip for recovering patches... If you have kids or grandkids offer them a certain sum for each patch they recover. If a little money is involved they'll pay close attention AND it'll save you some legwork. Probably not kosher at a range but when I shoot in the pasture my little one will stand behind me and to my left to see where the patches land.

Mike

[Leatherbark]

First I would make sure that barrel isn't leaded up from the PA conical.  I shot one of these for a couple of years and I was very satisfied with the accuracy.  I would start from scratch with a .015 to .018 cotton ticking patch with that .490 ball.  Seems I settled using the regular wall mart ticking lubed with TOW mink oil and 65 grains of 3f Goex.  Loaded easy and retrieved patches could be used again.

Bob