GPR Lock Improvement

[Muley]

Oops! What happened?

[RobD]

i could say i shot myself in the foot, not literally, just figuratively by not watching, or rather feeling, the sand beneath my feet whilst in the ocean.  got done in by a rock or shell.

[Muley]

Keep your boots on. Oceans are dangerous.

[Muley]

I'd like to thank publically amm1851 for sending me a small powder horn for free.

Thanks John  


This forum and it's members are the greatest.

[Uncle Russ]

I'd like to thank publically amm1851 for sending me a small powder horn for free.

Thanks John  

This forum and it's members are the greatest.

Uncle Russ...

[rollingb]

I'd like to thank publically amm1851 for sending me a small powder horn for free.

Thanks John  


This forum and it's members are the greatest.

I couldn't agree more!  :hey-hey  

[Ohio Joe]

The best people in the world are traditional muzzleloading folks, that's for sure!  

[amm1851]

I was glad to be in a position to help somebody out. Lots of folks in this hobby/pastime/obsession have helped me out over the years. While I didn't need a public thanks, I appreciate it.  

[Muley]

Shot the GPR yesterday. Very accurate, but i've got work to do to get it to be reliable. Slightly slow fire when it fires. I had more flash in the pans than anything else.

One thing was obvious. I used the pan primer. One push is 3gr. One push never worked. Two pushes (6gr) worked half the time. Three pushes (9gr) worked the best, but still not 100% of the time.

I'll keep working on it. I love the gun otherwise. I was only shooting at 25yds, but it shot 1" groups when it would fire. I wasn't concentrating on accuracy so much as getting it to fire off.

I watched some videos of flintlocks being shot. The guns that didn't have a vent liner had what looked like huge touch holes. Almost like mine with the vent liner not installed. The hole in my vent liner looked tiny compared to those guns touch holes that didn't use a vent liner. Am I seeing things?

[RobD]

pete, make SURE the pan and frizzen and flint are CLEAN, and always stick a pick far into the touch hole after the tube has been loaded.

some folks find drilling out the touch hole to .062 helps with ignition.

[Muley]

I did all that Rob. I ordered a vent liner from TOW that has a .0625 hole. I'm not sure that's bigger than what I have now. I'll have to ask the seller where he bought the vent liner. I have a feeling it's TOW.

I wiped the pan, frizzen, and flint clean with an alcohol patch. I picked the hole before and after loading the load. I tried black English flints and actually got better results with a cut agate flint, but I need to try the English flint again.

I suspect the breech channel may be plugged a bit since the seller didn't seem to take care of the gun. Not sure that would cause a FIP though. Why would it work good sometimes?

I always get a FIP. Wouldn't that eliminate any problem with the flint or frizzen? One time it took me 5 tries to fire off the load. All FIP and I finally got it to fire by using a lot of powder in the pan. What would cause that? The vent liner seems to be in the perfect position to the pan.

[RobD]

THIS is why i like the ability to take off a breech plug and find out exactly what's going on inside.  this is particularly true with patent breech plugs that have both an ante-chamber and flue.  at this point, i'd clean the barrel real good as best you can, use a .22 brush with a patch to get into the ante-chamber, too. scrub away!  any roughness or pitting or residue will impede ignition. all metal surfaces smooth and clean. experiment with different locations of the priming powder in the pan.

[Muley]

I did that with the barrel after shooting yesterday. I flushed with hot soapy water for 20 min. I also got into the breech with a small wire brush and clean best I could. I wish I had the tools and vice to remove the breech plug, but not happened where I live now.

Am I right about a FIP Rob? If I fire off the pan powder everytime, but the load doesn't fire. The problem isn't the flint/frizzen/pan powder? I'm trying to eliminate what isn't a problem.

[RobD]

is there at least a 1/3rd space between the pan powder and the touch hole?

[Muley]

I've tried the powder in every position possible. The best results came from using enough powder to cover the bottom of the whole pan. About 9gr.

How would you keep the powder in one position when hunting? While carrying the gun the powder will move in the pan no? No way can I prime right before the shot. I'm a still hunter and keep moving. When I take a shot it's usually done pretty fast. No time and too much movement to do before shooting.