Did you see the episode in which the competitors used a flintlock "Kentucky Pistol" in the team competition.
When the so-called expert gave the competitors their training, he warned them not to tip the barrel down because the ball would roll out.
Put yourself in the place of the competitors. if you heard so-called expert give that warning, what would be the first question you'd ask?
Doc Hudson
2012-04-04T13:38:42Z
For the record, the so-called expert, allegedly he winner of the Friendship Shot, instructed them to carefully measure their powder charge, dump it down the muzzle, drop in a bare ball, and prime the piece.
Was Greg the the one who seemed to know what the heck he was doing, or was he the one who stood there for five minutes not firing?
Doc
2012-04-04T13:56:59Z
Yep.
One of the shooters actually had the ball roll out of the barrel during the competition.
Doc
2012-04-05T09:41:57Z
My question would have been, "Where the heck is the patch?" I've been shooting blackpowder for over 30 years and i know you don't load a rifled gun without a patched ball, and smooth bores have a wad to keep the bullet in place.
Thanks for the comments gents,
Benjamin2012-04-04T12:42:47Z
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I thought it was odd that they didn't use a patch. I guess making them use a patch could slow down the competition by a few seconds, but if that was a problem they wouldn't be using a flintlock in the first place. If you saw the way Greg handled it though, I'm not surprised he didnt ask any questions.
EDIT: Greg stood there for 5 minutes at half cock trying to squeeze the trigger.
I wondered about that - I'm far from an expert on Black Powder, but have shot other people's gear at times. What I thought I had remembered was that there was some kind of wadding between the ball and the powder when people were showing me how to do it, and it made something close to an interference fit between the combination of ball and wadding and the barrel so it was a little work to ram the ball all the way down to the bottom of the barrel. In fact I vaguely remember an admonition that I had to make sure it was rammed all the way down otherwise the gasses could build up in a pocket and blow the barrel up before getting the ball moving. I never thought about that enough to decide if I believed it, but I remember ramming the ball all the way down none the less.
So, to specifically answer the question it would be one of:
1) "Really? How did they shoot downhill?" 2) "What? I thought we needed wadding between the ball and powder to hold it all in place?" 3) "Are you serious? Do we have the right size ball?"
"really, where did you learn that?" " did you even read the manual?" if he says he's too smart to read a manual, I'd say "then you must know you're supposed to patch the bullet, right?"
then I'd tell him I'd rather load the pistol on my own -- the "expert" doesn't even know to patch the bullet, how can i be sure he didn't over/undercharge the gun? use the wrong bullet? in fact, when others fires the gun I'd keep my distance.