Traditional Muzzleloading Association
Traditional Firearms => Flintlock Long Guns => Topic started by: chuckpa on June 16, 2008, 09:38:41 PM
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Can anybody tell me if the barrel length on a Brown Bess effects the shot pattern at 30yds. I was looking at the ships carbine from MVT with a 26 inch barrel for turkey hunting in MN where they require a minimum of 12 gauge for a muzzleloader.
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The last inch or so in the barrel is what gives us our shot pattern.Not the length of the tube.
With modern BP your are not going to gain much in velocity when you get over 24 inches.
Its really up to you to what you like and what your needs are going to be inside the re-enactors circle.
I can tell you this,,IF you have a short bess,,you better be prepared to show Who you are,when your persona was and where your character was. If you go with the longer pattern,,it covers MUCH more ground.
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If it's going to be used for Turkey hunting only, you could have it jug choked. Otherwise, getting a tight enough for turkey group at 30yds is going to be difficult with any length cylinder bore barrel.
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... getting a tight enough for turkey group at 30yds is going to be difficult with any length cylinder bore barrel.
Well, unless it is a 25 yard barrel...
When/where ya huntin, Chuck?
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My son lives in Brainerd. I will be out there visiting him. I don't do reenacting but that ships carbine was copied from one that is in the Smithsonian. I just thought it would be a very handy gun.
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My son lives in Brainerd. I will be out there visiting him. I don't do reenacting but that ships carbine was copied from one that is in the Smithsonian. I just thought it would be a very handy gun.
Go for it then.Should make you a great woods gun.If you decide to sell it let me know.I could always use another flinter around here.
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you can never have enough flinters. Does anybody have any experience shooting shot loads from these open cylinder guns?
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My cylinder choke Shot Gun does ok.
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There are some things one can due with a cylinder bore smoothie to make a more effective load. I, and several others that I know, have had success with prerolled paper cartridges. The better the paper and more wraps makes the tube stay intact longer. Some folks have even gone to the trouble of waxing their cartridge tubes for this reason. The tube ends up acting like a shot cup, and holds the shot column together for a split second as it exits the barrel. It also prevents the gas in the tube from disrupting the shot column. You have to experiment as you can get too much paper and the column can tumble when it exits the muzzle before it separates really screwing things up, and you have to adjust the diameter of the dowel that you use so the cartridge doesn't get too big for the barrel.
You can also increase the size of the shot, although that does reduce the amount of pellets in the pattern. For example I use 7.5 shot in a choked caplock SxS for squirrel, but I use 5 or 4 in a cylinder bore musket.
You load the gun with your standard powder quantity (I like 70 grains of 2Fg = 2.5 drams) Then you would ram a pre-rolled paper cartridge on top holding your shot. No need to tear it open. It works best when it fits so well that it contacts the sides of the barrel, but isn't so tight that you have to jam it hard to seat it. You want the cartridge to stay intact in the gun. On the other hand you don't want it so loose it will slide forward if you point the barrel at the ground. Some of my friends report that they put a wad between the shot cartridge and the powder, to further protect the shot column, but I have not had to do that with squirrel loads. It does give me enough to hit squirrels at 30 yards when 20 was what I could do with a standard load in the past, and the turkey hunters report better patterns at 30 yards as well.
You will have to experiment.
LD