FiveStrings
Member
Yesterday I finally got the opportunity to get to know this new Pedersoli Brown Bess. The good news is that firing this musket, for me, captures everything I already loved about BP shooting, and multiplies the thrill x 100. It really is a splendid firearm, and it's accuracy and ease of use really surpised me. I shot about 25 balls through her altogether (which took a while to do) from a rest at a 50 yard target and was able to shoot groups roughly the size of the palm of my hand (along with a smattering of flinch-fliers, too). A paper target mounted against a backing that already has a big hole in it doesn't stand a chance against the .715 round ball - that target was pretty well shredded!!
I started with a .715 ball, lubed .015 patch, 80 gr Goex ff and a Goex 4f priming charge. AT 50 yards these shots hit consistently low and left of center. At 90 grains FF the POI got a little better, at 100 grains it was hitting dead on. The recoil was just right - satisfying, but nowhere near as punishing as my Trapdoor carbine. It fires fast, too. At least one of the shots was as instantaneous as a centerfire cartridge.
The not-so-good news was that I had a lot of trouble getting flint to spark reliably. Being that I'm a total beginner with flintlocks, I expected I'd have trouble with something, and it was the flints. Lots of misfires where the flint just would not spark the priming. I'm using Tom Fuller 1 1/8 x 1 1/4 English flints I got from TOTW. THey seem awful big, but again, I don't really have anything to compare them to. I tinkered around with the flint situation quite a bit, changing out a couple, and playing around with the angle of the strike (left/right). I also tried using the 2f as primer instead of the 4 f. I can't really say anything I did consistently improved things. One problem could have been that I had the flint set in the jaws wrapped in a small piece of denim. Could be that it just wasn't fitting in the jaws properly like that. When I got home I sacrified an old belt and cut some small leather strips to use. That seems to hold the flint in place more securely and also gives me a little more flexibility making adjustments.
Even with the misfires, it was a great afternoon. I love my Walker, my other cap and ball revolvers, and my Trapdoor, but the big Brown Bess musket really is a "game changer".
I started with a .715 ball, lubed .015 patch, 80 gr Goex ff and a Goex 4f priming charge. AT 50 yards these shots hit consistently low and left of center. At 90 grains FF the POI got a little better, at 100 grains it was hitting dead on. The recoil was just right - satisfying, but nowhere near as punishing as my Trapdoor carbine. It fires fast, too. At least one of the shots was as instantaneous as a centerfire cartridge.
The not-so-good news was that I had a lot of trouble getting flint to spark reliably. Being that I'm a total beginner with flintlocks, I expected I'd have trouble with something, and it was the flints. Lots of misfires where the flint just would not spark the priming. I'm using Tom Fuller 1 1/8 x 1 1/4 English flints I got from TOTW. THey seem awful big, but again, I don't really have anything to compare them to. I tinkered around with the flint situation quite a bit, changing out a couple, and playing around with the angle of the strike (left/right). I also tried using the 2f as primer instead of the 4 f. I can't really say anything I did consistently improved things. One problem could have been that I had the flint set in the jaws wrapped in a small piece of denim. Could be that it just wasn't fitting in the jaws properly like that. When I got home I sacrified an old belt and cut some small leather strips to use. That seems to hold the flint in place more securely and also gives me a little more flexibility making adjustments.
Even with the misfires, it was a great afternoon. I love my Walker, my other cap and ball revolvers, and my Trapdoor, but the big Brown Bess musket really is a "game changer".