Oddball twist rate loading information needed.

[BCRider]

Hi all. I got an Armi Sport Kentuckian flintlock rifle a few months back and I finally got some flints for it. The TC black agate flints are throwing a lovely shower of sparks so it SEEMS like I'm all set to try it out at my local club's black powder shoot tomorrow.

From the looks of the frizzen after just a few trial sparkings it is obvious to me that the rifle was never shot by the first owner. Other than what appears to be a single trial scuff the frizzen was unmarked.

But the barrel has an odd twist rate. It's a 1 in 36" rate that seems to be in between the 1 in 60 for PRB and the 1 in 28'ish for minniball. I'm wondering what they were thinking about or if it's intended more as a modern black powder hunting gun that should use sabot rounds or something equally as odd. In the meantime I'd like to shoot some PRB and I'm wondering if I can somewhat adapt to the fast twist rate by altering the charge or something like that.

I believe that I'm also right in assuming that for a .45cal barrel I should at least start with .440 ball and lubed patch? Then go a few thou one way or the other based on how tight it fits? How much pressure is normal to start and finish ramming the patch and ball home?

I'll get a picture of the beauty up shortly but in the meantime this is the rifle I'm speaking about.

http://www.armisport.com/eng/dettaglioA.asp?idSottoFamiglia=12

Oh, one other thing I'm wondering about. How do you wash out the barrels on these rifles without getting the stock soaking wet? I'm used to my revolvers where I just dunk the whole front up to the forcing cone into a bucket of hot water with some dish detergent and swish then around a bit for quick cleaning and every fourth or fifth time do a full strip, clean and bake to dry. This just isn't going to work with the rifle.

 

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Keep your powder charges between 40-50 grs . Use real black powder
start with a .440 ball and .015-.017 patching. After about a hunderd shots
or when that load is real easy to push down the barrel, you might try a .445 ball. Even before you shoot it you might try a small square of scotch brite
on the end of the ramrod. Push this up and down the bore about a hundred times. If you don't have any try some 4 ought steel wool. Have Fun.

 

[mykeal]

Cleaning:

You can remove the barrel and immerse the breech end in water or attach a hose to the nipple and put the other end in water. Wet a cleaning patch and swab the barrel using a cleaning jag for the gun's caliber. Using a wet patch will set up a suction action when the rod is pulled out, sucking water up into the bore through the hose. Expel the water by pushing the jag back down and repeat several times, changing to a new wet patch every 2 or 3 times.