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[SASS249]

Darkhorse: Not really. Closest thing I found were descriptions of loading early rifles without patches and using a hammer to seat the ball. Never found a reference to short starter use with patched groundball and never saw any original bag with one. I think we use a larger ball than was common. I actually shot some 457 balls out of a50 using really thick patching and they were easy to start a d pretty accurate.

 

[trad bow]

SASS249 what was the style rifle used on the Georgia frontier in the 1790 time period? I’m looking into buying a flintlock and creating a persona for that time period in Georgia.
Jeff

 

[SASS249]

Trad bow: That depends. If you are looking to portray someone living on the frontier in North Georgia either mountains or Piedmont then almost any of the early virginia or lancaster rifles could be appropriate. Most of the settlers in this region seemed to move in through Virginia or North Carolina. A high quality rifle such as a Beck or Isaac Haines style would be possible, but so would most any other. For a production rifle today TVM's early Lancaster would not be a bad choice.

However, If you wish to portray someone moving into Georgia either from the Coast or the South then you have lots of other options. People forget the French and spanish influence in that part of the state. I personally think that the french Fusils were used more than people want to admit. They were a very common and versatile gun.

Look at this link: http://www.northcarolinalongrifles.com/longrifles.html
Gives you a good idea of what would have been found in North Carolina and would fit the Georgia Frontier fine.

 

[trad bow]

Thank you. My fathers side of the family were in Bencumbe County North Carolina in 1790 thru the 1830,s before settling in Murphy NC area. Most still in that area around Murphy.

 

[Darkhorse]

Darkhorse: Not really. Closest thing I found were descriptions of loading early rifles without patches and using a hammer to seat the ball. Never found a reference to short starter use with patched groundball and never saw any original bag with one. I think we use a larger ball than was common. I actually shot some 457 balls out of a50 using really thick patching and they were easy to start a d pretty accurate.

I agree, I used to think a short starter was used so frequently nobody saw a need to document their use. But now I think the patched ball was not nearly as tight as many shoot today and could be started with the ram rod. This makes more sense to me as in an indian fight a tight combo requiring a short starter could get you killed.
I've always used a .530 ball and .018 ticking patch, I thought I needed this for accuracy. But now with the shoulder problems I have this combo is now hard to start and seat. So last year I tested some .015 patch material and was surprised at the accuracy I was getting. Further testing showed the patches showed no burn through or shredding up to 80 grains of 3fg, after that they started coming to pieces.
So I shot some groups with 75 grains 3f and the thin .015 patch and got some tight groups and good patches. I used this load last season and harvested an 8 point and a doe with complete pass throughs on both.
I can start and seat this load with just the ramrod.
The .015 material I have is has the tightest weave I could find at the fabric store but not nearly as dense and tight as real pillow ticking. So I ordered some different .015 material from a new source I'm hoping this material will be better. I also ordered some Mr. Flintlocks patch lube for testing.
http://www.emshootingsupplies.com/store/p703/DISCOUNTED_BULK_.015"_STRIPS.html
Best prices were on their ebay site.

 

[leoparddog]

The Lancaster I built this year is hard to load with a .530 ball and .015 patch. Initially I had to hammer the ball down to get it started. I bought a coning tool and did a 3/4 coning job to the muzzle - basically stopped short of 100% complete and shot it a few weeks ago. I still needed the short started but could use my hand without bruising my palm. I really don't like the short starter though.

So I find myself considering completing the muzzle coning or finding some .012 or .010 patching material. When I've gone to the fabric store all of the thin materials seem very flimsy. Have y'all run across decent patching material thinner than .015?

 

[Darkhorse]

Eastern Main shooting supplies carry several types of both shooting and cleaning patches so I had to read each one carefully. The one I chose was advertised as a tight weave pillow ticking in sizes .010,.015 and .020. What I"m after is a dense, tight weave like real pillow ticking. But I won't know what I've got until it gets here.
If I remember rightly you have a Rice barrel in your Lancaster? I had the same problem with my Rice when I first started shooting it. The way they do the barrel end causes this I think, chamfer is too short and tight, rifling to sharp, stuff like that.
So I just got a rubber mallet to whack the short starter to seat the ball and just kept on shooting.
That was hundreds if not a couple of thousand shots ago. It's still a little hard to start the .018 patch but it's a whole lot better than it was.
My .015 material loads real easy.

 

[leoparddog]

After a bit of internet searching I found some 0.010 patches from the possible shop. Not cheap but I'll give them a try. Yes, its a Rice barrel. I'll give the new patches a try when they arrive. The sell it by the half yard and pre-cut. If the pre-cut work I'll probably buy a yard which will last me a long time.