How do you choose a musket?

saskgunowner101

saskgunowner101

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It must have been one too many episodes of the Sharpes Rifles t.v. series that got me thinking about getting a reproduction musket of some sort. Curious how you guys go about deciding? Based on looks, or function, or who carried them?

Are smooth bore rifles good for anything other than a 200-300 year trip back in time? Flintlock or caplock?

I'm not a re-enactor, nor will I be, so I'm wondering what sways your opinion?

Any thoughts or random babble appreciated.:d
 
I plan on buying a Pedersoli Brown Bess at some point this year. Chose the Brown Bess just because its so iconic, and it plays an important part in Canadas history. Besides taking you on a 200+ year trip back in time, they'll definitely put a grin on your face and everybody else's at the range when you pull it out and shoot it off. If u want a truly useful muzzleloader, buy a rifled one.
 
Depends on what you want to do with it I guess...Not wanting to re-enact is no big deal. flintlocks are fun but require more of a learning curve than percussion guns. If there is a black powder group near you it would be wise to meet with them. I have found that they are all very nice and helpful people. A smooth bore can fire round ball and/shot so they are more flexible. It takes more time to learn to shoot one than a rifle when it comes to round ball. I would recommend that if you are determined to get a smooth bore then get one in a smaller caliber such as 62 as they are easier on both the shoulder and your lead supply. That being said my favorite smooth bore is a 65 caliber Charleville. It is very comfortable to shoot and a great deal of fun. Unless you buy an Indian made gun you will find that they are not cheap though. I guess I am going to bring up the old argument again about cheap aand crappy indian guns but my experience with them has been otherwise. Good luck.

Cheers. SJ
 
I saw loyalist arms mentioned in other posts, and from what I read, I would most likely go with one of their offerings.

As for the black powder aspect, I've only shot inline ML's (or cap n ball), but I have a general idea.

Are right hand flint lock safe for a left hander to shoot with safety glasses?
 
saskgunowner101 said:
Are right hand flint lock safe for a left hander to shoot with safety glasses?
Click to expand...

Simple answer, no. Your face would be in very close proximity to the ignition blast and do mean blast. IMHO, you would receive some serious burns, might even get a permanent powder tattoo. Even standing too close on the lock side is something people only do once. It's a lot more than just a piece of hot brass.
 
Flinters are a huge pain in the a$$ imho. Very unreliable ignition. That's not to say that they can't be made to be reliable, but it takes a tonne of tinker, tweet, adjust, knap, surface harden/temper, change out mainspring, clean, dry...and you haven't even shouldered the gawd damn thing yet.

Although shooting a RH flinter left handed wouldn't be ideal I don't think that it would set your face and hair on fire (That's if it ignited:p). RH or LH you don't want to fire a flintlock into a strong head wind. That will send unburnt/burning powder back your way but that's just part of BP fun...you end up dirty:).

I prefer caplocks. All the fun of BP with only 30% of the fuss. ;)
 
I chose a big bore Pedersoli Bess as my keeper and shooter. It has a good fast lock, sparks well now with fast ignition, relatively accurate and very nice quality. Love it. It likes a french amber or english black flint with a Lead buffer in the jaws best.

The ignition if the flint is sharp and you set your pan powder right, almost instantaneous.
 
Like I said earlier, getting contact with a local black powder group would be a good idea. They have regular group shoots and are happy to let people who are interested try out their particular choice of smoke pole. My first muzzle loader was a flintlock but it was a very poor one. it was so frustrating that I wanted to wrap it around a tree. I sold it as a decorator piece for very little money...I have heard nothing but good things about Loyalist Arms. They go over gun they sell apparently so the locks are tuned and the frizzen sparks like the 4th of July.

Cheers. SJ
 
Would you trust a Loyalist Arms made in India rifle to fire a full cal projectile with a full charge ?? some shooters in this Forum appear to be skeptical about those...
 
warrenlikesboats said:
Would you trust a Loyalist Arms made in India rifle to fire a full cal projectile with a full charge ?? some shooters in this Forum appear to be skeptical about those...
Click to expand...

I bet my life on it because I did just that, hundreds of times with a couple of them. Loyalist arms guns are made with good steel and they spark well, just proof load em and you are good to go.

I ran up to 110 grains of 1F through em with a .715 round ball atleast a few dozen times, no problems, just a good boot in the shoulder.
 
Edenchef said:
Simple answer, no. Your face would be in very close proximity to the ignition blast and do mean blast. IMHO, you would receive some serious burns, might even get a permanent powder tattoo. Even standing too close on the lock side is something people only do once. It's a lot more than just a piece of hot brass.
Click to expand...

I guess cap lock is the way to go then. I'm probably ugly enough without powder burns and missing hair.Laugh2
 
You should check out what Pedersoli has. I am not sure if any of our sponsors are a dealer. If not, check Shooter's Choice in Waterloo. You will find Pedersoli a bit more expensive than some reproductions, but well worth it. I own two Pedersoli flintlock pistols. They fire every time I pull the trigger. My brother has two Pedersoli cap lock pistols. Great shooters. There should be no problem finding a left handed flintlock.

Kevin
 
My Flinter is Pedersoli and I love it, they make very good guns. I did a quick search but could not confirm if Pedersoli makes any left handed Flintlocks, I think Marstar is a Pedersoli Dealer.
 
I would start by going to a shoot with the local black powder club. I would suspect that most of them practice once or twice a month on their home range. I think most shooters would offer you a shot or two with their particular gun which would give you some idea of which one you like. I would also suggest starting with a percussion rifle with set triggers because there is a significant learning curve with flintlocks. I would strongly recommend wearing some sort of glasses while shooting and that goes double or triple if shooting a right handed gun left handed.
I think the risk of singing yourself with a flinter is greatly overstated. I also think that when you graduate to flintlocks, buy a good gun or alternately buy a good replacement lock for a less expensive gun. Cheap flint locks aren't worth squat in my opinion. Most any percussion lock will fire a cap but not so cheap flint locks. I probably shoot flinters quite a bit more than percussion and once you learn the basics they are or should be just as fast ignition as a percussion gun.
I would hesitate on buying a bess or a charleyville because they use a lot more powder and lead. I would go with a trade gun for that reason if you go the smoothbore route. With practice they can be just about as accurate as a rifle out to about 75 yards. I have several times seen a trade gun come in as top shot in a line of 100 shooters with a great variety of types of guns. Keep in mind that trade gun matches require no rear sight and flintlock ignition.
Only final thing that I can think of is when shooting a flinter in the rain use a cow's knee cover for the lock and also don't use a a vent liner with a screw driver slot in it because in my opinion they will wick in rain drops by capillary action. Also I have a strip of patching material tied to my possibles bag, which I use to dry the pan and the bottom of the pan cover during moist weather

cheers mooncoon
 
Id mostly disagree about cheap flintlocks. I have a $400 Traditions Kentucky flintlock rifle (made in Spain) that ive been shooting for 2 years now, and its been nothing short of excellent for the money! Theres ALOT that a newbe can do wrong when it comes to owning their first black powder, let alone a flintlock. Having a Newb start out with a $1200 Pedersoli is like having a newb driver start out in a Lamborghini.

Unfortunately for smoothbores..... expensive is the only option.
 
I had an Indian charleville (before I acquired the Pedresoli Charleville I currently have) and it came with no touch hole so thus it had to be proofed. We loaded it with 140 grains of powder and double balled it. Then secured it to a truck tire. It was fired using a long string to ensure safety and everyone was behind a solid wall. The gun passed with flying colors and I must have fired close to 500 rounds at least over the next 3 years I owned it. I did have to case harden the frizzen at one point but I have seen new guns that needed that done.

Cheers. SJ
 
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