Flintlock Rifle? Replicas? Loading?

[psuskifan]

I have to be honest up front and I don't want you to get jealous: This weekend my buddy, dad, and I watched the original Disney Davy Crockett movies during the rain. As you can imagine I started looking more of the history (Crockett had a lot of rifles, the most famous being Old Betsy). I have never shot much less held a flintlock rifle. Here comes the questions:

1) What would a flintlock rifle cost that one could actually rife? I imagine it would be a replica?

2) I looked up a lot of youtube video and it appears from them loading is a 10 step process. Once you get used to it can you just eye ball powder, throw in some paper, and jam the round down the barrel?

3) Obviously it varies, but what does a round cost?

[Remington788]

An antique in working condition would cost many thousand I think. Many of them were converted to percussion caps when those became popular

New replicas can be found at Cabellas for about $400 all the way up to $1,000.

No you do not just eyeball the powder charge like in the movies. You measure it carefully. Otherwise your shot will not be accurate and consistent.

I figured the cost once and decided not to think about it anymore. Mainly it depends on the price you pay for black powder and how much you choose to use in a round. A pound may cost up to $30 and you get about 100 shots (I'm estimating that). Round balls about $20 for 100. $8 for 100 patches. These are just back of the envelope calculations.

It's a lot of fun to shoot one, I will be taking mine to the woods this year to hunt during the flintlock only season.

[ScotsGuards]

Ok, first of; don't believe everything you see on U-Tube.

Item 1. One can buy quite a number of flintlock weapons from quite a number of sources. They can be antiques or modern reproduction arms. The antiques are very expensive, especially the ones which might be in good enough condition to actually shoot. Though shooting them might hurt their value and possibly the item itself due to age.

Reproduction arms can be had for a few hundred dollars into the thousands for high end custom guns. The best off-the-rack weapons are made in Italy. There are some very reasonably priced US made rifles as well though these are semi-custom made.

Item 2. Loading: In the interest of safety one does not just "eyeball" a powder charge, lest you get not enough nor more dangerously, too much. Black powder is an explosive, not a propellant. One needs to remember this. Also one NEVER loads directly from a powder horn or flask for this very reason. Basically what you have with a powder horn is a potential hand grenade. Carelessly handled it can be an unpleasant experience. I know, I've seen horns explode.

As for the loading procedure; 1. Measure your powder charge and pour it down the barrel. 2. Take a pre-lubricated patch and place it squarely on the end of the muzzle. 3. Place the ball on the patch and seat it in the muzzle as far as you can. 4. Take your ball starter and force the ball and patch down a bit farther. 5 Take out your ramrod and force the ball and patch down the bore the rest of the way till it seats at the bottom, compacting the charge. 6. Half-cock your lock. 7. Prime your pan. careful; a little goes a long way. You are now ready to shoot. Of course all the above steps should only be done with your rifle pointed in a safe direction. (Down Range).

Shooting a smoothbore military weapon is similar but that is another subject for another time as you asked about flintlock rifles.

Item 3. Cost of a round varies a bit due to the size of the ball but on average round balls sell for about .10 cents each and a pound of good powder goes for about $22.00 on average and one can get about 70 shots a pound depending on powder grading, charges and calibers. This all breaks down to about .41 cents a shot on average. Pretty close to most fixed ammunition.

I hope this helps answer a few of your questions.

[Gunsnwater]

Check out dixons muzzle loading in kempton pa. Get Dixie gun works catalog.

[bob308]

some here are closer then you tube. ever could get. I have been shooting muzzleloaders since 85. it is a lot more then you described.

a pound is 7000 gr. so if you use a powder charge of 50 gr. that is 140 shots a pound. if the balls weigh 120 gr. that would be 50 to the lb. a pound of lead is $1 . patching can be bought at the fabric store about $3 a yard. on this same .45 gun you would get at least 600 patches from that yard.

I can not give you a price on powder because I have not bought any in a while. I buy mine in 25lb kegs.

if you are really wanting to do it you could come over and shoot one of my match rifles some day.

[dk99358]

I won a Traditions Pa. Pellet Flintlock in a gun drawing last year. It is designed so that you can use Pyrodex pellets or loose powder. I think the list price was about $370. Mine's in some sort of camo finish.

I'm shooting 80 grains of loose pyrodex, a cast 240 gr bullet for the 44 mag and a sabot. Been working good so far, it'll see the deer woods this fall.

I think I paid about $20 for the powder, the sabots are about 13 cents and I had the bullets on hand but they're about 12 cents apiece currently depending on what you get.

Fun stuff and a definite change from cartridge guns.

Dale

[ScotsGuards]

some here are closer then you tube. ever could get. I have been shooting muzzleloaders since 85. it is a lot more then you described.

a pound is 7000 gr. so if you use a powder charge of 50 gr. that is 140 shots a pound. if the balls weigh 120 gr. that would be 50 to the lb. a pound of lead is $1 . patching can be bought at the fabric store about $3 a yard. on this same .45 gun you would get at least 600 patches from that yard.

I can not give you a price on powder because I have not bought any in a while. I buy mine in 25lb kegs.

if you are really wanting to do it you could come over and shoot one of my match rifles some day.

Bob: My experience as of late runs to larger caliber weapons and we usually shoot 90-110Gr. loads. Our weapons run to the .58 -.75 Cal. so we get fewer shots per pound than you do.

[psuskifan]

Thanks for all of the info everyone and the kind offers to show me whats what. I think I am awhile away from diving into flint locks but if I ever do, I know where to go!

[vetman03]

Dixon's is THEE place to go for anything you need. It is practically a museum. Hey they are only about 12 miles from Cabela's so make a day of it.

My friend and I shoot muzzleloader-inline early season and then flintlock late season. It is a real kick. It is so different with the smoke and flash and the ba-boom of the flintlock going off. Last year I also bought a black powder percussion Lyman pistol that uses the same patches/caliber as our rifles so we have had more fun with that also, without having to stock more balls and patches and such. You just need the percussion caps which are cheap. Powder amounts are different from the rifle. I strongly recommend Lyman for a rifle. Excellent piece of hardware.

[abner13]

Another vote for Dixon's and the Lyman Great Plains rifles. I own one in .54 flintlock. If you want a high quality , accurate and authentic mountain man rifle , this is it.

The real 1830s rifles of J&S Hawken and JP Gemmer were heavy duty rifles made to shoot patched round ball. Those modern things like the T/C Hawken with short barrels and lots of brass might look cool , but are NOT authentic. Most have a fast (1:48'') twist to shoot modern conical or minie bullets. The real mountain rifles had a 1:66 or 1:72 twist for patched round ball accuracy.

The guys at Dixon's will teach you all you need to know.