Traditional Muzzleloading Association
Traditional Firearms => Flintlock Long Guns => Topic started by: butterchurn on August 19, 2008, 10:33:16 PM
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How do you get the best accuracy from your smoothie? Just askin' for opinion and what works for you.
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Practice...practice...and more practice! I use a undersize ball, .520 in a .54, and a denim patch. The ball can be started with my finger.
Sixty grains of 3f is all I need.
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Beside the actual load and shooting itself, I find my personal inherrent accuracy is greatly increased by handling the arm in question a few days a week and by dry-firing. I made a flint out of teak wood that I snap in my Caywood Wilson. I sometimes also balance a penny out on the barrel at the webbing band transition and attempt to keep it there while cocking, 'aiming', firing, and the follow-through.
Mounting and cheeking the arm to me is super critical for a smoothbore! That cheek weld you establish has to become 2nd-nature and sub-concious. It is said that for muscle memory to take hold, you need to do the activity in a concentrated mode at least 50 or more times, and then keep a regular schedule so you don't lose it. I also practice quite a bit in the house with a pellet rifle. Now all my practice is done offhand by the way, as is all of my shooting.
One GREAT tip to do with a friend is to load your arm, but not prime it. Hand it to your friend and have them maybe prime it ... or maybe not. Have them hand it back to you so you do NOT know whether or not she is primed.
This drill will readily and immediately identify any flinching or anticipation of the shot. If/whenever I have a 'misfire' at the range ... the comment I hear is not "Oops, there's a misfire, the enemy will get ya!", but rather "Did you see that? His arm mis-fired but his barrel NEVER moved!"
Now as to loading, my winter lube is Track's Mink Oil while my warm weather lube is Hoppe's BP solvent. Right now though, I am trying Ballistol lubes patches, 4:1 to 6:1 ratio ala Dwight Schultz, that are dry. My patch is a very thin 0.010" square of homespun (,$3/yard @ Wal*Mart), over 70grs FFFg powder.
Though the patch may be 'thin', in the cold seasons, I have shot and re-shot the same patch 5 or more times ... just to prove they weren't being blown out.
Sometimes in the Summer if just plinkin' out to 30-yards, I'll just dry-ball the smoothie, see here. (http://http)