Recent rifle is now my favorite

[Patocazador]

I got my first flintlock about 6 months ago. It's a sort of Carolina gun from what I've been told. 42" Green Mountain 13/16" barrel, small Siler lock, Davis trigger, in .45 caliber. I'm still getting it broken in and getting used to the "flash-BANG" aspect.









Thanks for looking.

[Hawken50]

   Now thats mighty fine there.

[pilgrim]

   very nice flintlock rifle

[crazell]

Very nice looking flintlock you have there.

[William]

It looks well made and has a nice finish on it.  Who built it?  How does it shoot?

[graybear]

Looks right purty. If she shoots like she looks, you got yourself a real winner.

[Patocazador]

As Forrest said, "pretty is as pretty does." I got the gun at least second-hand and it was virtually unshot. The gun maker is a guy from east Texas and this is numbered #16. It looked fantastic at first glance but after removing the ramrod, I found a void and a longitudinal crack through the stock so I had to to do a repair and a bedding job prior to ever shooting it.




Another potential problem is that the dovetails for the sights are cut pretty durn deep thus worrying me about how much metal is between the bottom of the dovetails and the grooves of the barrel. I removed the sights and found all intact and replaced the rear with a peep sight a fellow on another forum made for me.




All in all, it shoots pretty good groups but I'm still trying to find the best load/patch/lube. The bore is on the small side for a .45 and I mainly shoot .433 balls with .018 ticking.

So the jury is still out on how it shoots but I didn't pay a whole lot for the gun so the initial work taught me a lot about long rifles and kept me out of trouble.

You're sorry you asked now, aren't you?   

[Hanshi]

What you have there is a nice looking rifle in a great, all around caliber (actually a .44 rather than a .45).  The difference between the two is of no consequence and calling it a .45 works for me; I have a similar barrel but still call it .45.  It's certainly worth fixin' and even though the sight dovetails are needlessly deep, I wouldn't worry worry as long as you stay away from overloads.  It should make a fine deer/small game rifle.  As for a "whoosh-bang" there shouldn't be one if the lock is good and the vent hole is drilled to 1/16".  You have a good rifle to learn by. 

[William]

I agree with Hanshi, still a nice looker and definitely a learning experience.  Hopefully you can work up an accurate load and then wow us all with some targets and maybe a deer or two.

[hotfxr]

Outside of my marvelous Mongrel rifle and the Lyman GPR which was brand new, every firearm I acquired was messed up in one way or another. for me most of the fun with these was tinkering with them until everything was squared away and safe. I believe I was able to learn more about them through this process. You have a beautiful piece and I don't doubt you will overcome the "oopses" and will end up with a true collectors piece. Nice find and good luck.