Queen Ann pistol cal.50 "target match"

[flibuste]

here is some test with a smoothbore Pedersoli at 25meters , duelist :





Sights have been installed : this explain the "target match" !!!





a stag thumbpiece and engraved screws :






A lyman venthole :




There is stil a slight delay in ignition : it has to be fixed in order to get a better accuracy but however : 100% of the balls are within the target !!

This pistol is not ridiculous at 25meters !

regards

 

[mykeal]

Beautiful gun and some pretty nice shooting.

 

[arcticap]

So what will you do to improve the ignition delay, use a drill to open up the vent or replace it?

How's the trigger pull weight, did you do anything to make it any lighter than original?

This pistol is not ridiculous at 25meters !

You can say that again, nice target!
Will you be able to change the sights to raise the impact at all?

 

[flibuste]

The point of aim is about one meter below so that is correct and I will not change anything.

The lock was functionning quite correctly and the frizzen produced sparks without any problem ; however the frizzen spring was too strong and that would ruin the flint very fast so I weakend the spring and now the lock is OK;

The problem was the venthole which would not permit a correct ignition : the barrel is 7mm thick at the breech and the original hole was 1.6mm diam ; at first I increased it to 2.5mm but eventually I installed a flashhole (1.3mm dia); and afterwards increased it to 1.9mm : it is much better but not perfect.

However I noticed that the granulation of BP would have a high impact on speed of action : that is why you will notice that the load which was first only BPC (FFg) was modified into a first pour of PNF2(FFFg) and afterwards BPC : that improved a lot the speed.

I will try with FFFFg in the pan (instead of FFFg) and a FFFFg + FFFg load in the barrel : if it not sufficient I will increase the hole to 2.2mm

If I can get this pistol to instant ignition, the accuracy will be stunning !!!!!

 

[BHP FAN]

experiment with less priming powder. the less you use, the faster the lock time,until you reach the point of diminishing returns, and there's not enough to set off the main charge.

 

[mykeal]

You're already larger on the touch hole size than I would normally go; usually a #50 (0.7 inches or 1.778 mm) is the largest I have seen work well.

You would be better off, I think, to consider coning the hole entrance (that is, beveling or countersinking) or perhaps installing a touch hole liner that is already coned. Ideally the inside should be coned or beveled first, then the outside, but doing the inside first takes some special tools unless you install a liner.

As far as amount and location of powder in the pan, there is some excellent test work done by Larry Pletcher who goes by the screen name of Pletch on The Muzzleloading Forum. Pletch has photographed and timed a large number of different lock, flint, touchhole and primer combinations using very high speed photography. Many of the results have been published in Muzzleblasts magazine and online on The Muzzleloading Forum. Many of the videos are also posted on YouTube; just search on the name Pletch or Pletcher. Many of the 'old legends' of flintlock timing have been shown to be no more than legend by his tests.

 

[Mr_Pale_Horse]

Most Pedersoli 's have a smaller than bore size ignition chamber. This means there is more distance from the pan to the charge. I have the best success doing the following:

1. While holding a charged but unprimed pistol in my left hand (frizzen closed), lightly strike the lock area of the pistol stock with the heel of my right hand. After each blow, open the frizzen and check to see if powder from the charge has exited the flash hole. Close and repeat if no powder is present.

2. Use as little prime as possible, such that at most, the prime is just below the flash hole.

 

[flibuste]

Some test at 25meters , 2 handshold:

1.7g BP cornmeal and patched cal50 ball

The last 25 balls are within the drawing. aiming below the target.....




Regards

 

[BCRider]

To produce the conical entry hole that mykeal suggested in post #6 it would not be hard to make a "D" shaped reamer from some drill rod then harden it or even to grind a conical taper in a cheap screwdriver then grind away a little more than half the end to produce a cone reamer.

Based on that last post with the target from 25meters clearly you would be a formidable foe in a duel back when these firearms were in vogue....

Hey mykeal, I think you missed a "0" in your touch hole size since it's showing as 0.7 inch.....

 

[mykeal]

Uhh, yeah, maybe .7 is off a decimal point or so.


Hey, I did say it was the largest I've seen....

 

[BCRider]

I'd be afraid the ball would roll out...

 

[Crawdad1]

That's acceptable accuracy out of a smoothbore for that range.