Traditional Firearms > Flintlock Long Guns

Tower and Baker Conversion

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LongWalker:
Used to be (roughly 1960s-ish) fairly common to use a piece of trapdoor barrel for the barrel on a target pistol.  There really wasn't a better source for fast-twist pistol barrels at the time.  I've owned several of these over the years, including one "sleeper" I made that won a fair number of range bets.  (In high school I took a CVA "overcoat pistol", re-built the lock, and lined the barrel with a piece of turned-down trapdoor barrel.)   

They usually shot best with a tighter than expected patch/ball combination due to the actual bore dimensions.  A .445" ball with a tight patch will do better.  I usually used a .451" ball with .015" patching.  Most accurate charges were in the 20-35 grain range using FFFg Goex. 

Shooting round ball "gallery loads" from a trapdoor rifle (from a .45-70 cartridge) I usually use a .457" ball seated over 45 grains FFFg--in most rifles that load will do OK out to 100 yards if the winds aren't bad. 

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