1768 Charleville

[rescuerandy2]

Did not make it to 75 yards today but the Charleville shot well at 50. This is my third time out and have shot about 40 runs up to today. Yesterday, I shot 5 rounds with no issues, did a bit of cleaning with water, and then hit the wall. I kept getting the pan igniting but not the main charge. After some adjustments to the flint, I again had no main-charge ignition. Finally, I charged the pan and rolled the musket enough to shake some of the 4F into the touchhole. Voila!! For the next 15 rounds, I worked my priming the same way and all 15 rounds went off on the first shot. Do not mind doing this from know on but curious to what happened? Thanks, Randy

[gsimmons]

Make sure the breach is absolutely dry and the vent is clear. Use not so wet patches then dry patches when cleaning at the range.

[gew8805]

gsimmons is correct. Cleaning with water, you may well have pushed "mud" into the vent and that caused your problem, as I am sure you are aware, when cleaning at the range, you must be sure that the bore and the breech are completely dry and that the vent is clear. A vent pick will remove any possible obstruction from the vent after such cleaning and should be religiously done after cleaning.

I have to say the when shooting a smoothbore with a correctly sized ball (undersized by rifle standards) I will not clean the bore at the range, it is part of the joy of military musket shooting. Occasional vent cleaning is necessary though, each soldier was issued a vent pick and was trained to use it.

[rescuerandy2]

Yes, the patch was very wet but I did clear the vent each time. From your suggestion, I just dampen the patch, run more dry patches through, and blow out the vent with some compressed air. Thanks, Randy

[Doco overboard]

Sometimes flintlock ignition can be improved by leaving a piece of music wire in the touch-hole when priming and using the least amount of priming possible to speed the main charge. What is your starting load and how did you determine the condition of the breech for safety? I think thats great your wringing that one out, flintlocks are fun to shoot but are high maintenance, you gotta want to do it for sure.

[Patrick Chadwick]

I shoot my flintlocks in competition, and to get through a round without hitches the touchhole must always remain clear and "crud-free".

Furthermore, for safety reasons one should first load the main charge and ball, adding the ignition charge to the pan as the last action before aiming, cocking and firing.

To achieve all these conditions, it is advisable to proceed as follows:

1) Half-cock the lock.
2) Insert the pick into the touch-hole and close the frizzen down on it to hold it in place.
3) Use a moist (NOT WET) swab to clean out the bore. A safety benefit of this is to douse any conceivable burning fragments in the bore that could ignite the main charge when it is poured down the barrel. At the same time, the clamped pick prevents crud or moisture being pushed into the touch-hole.
4) Run a dry swab through the bore.
5) Pour in the main charge and load the patched ball. Push down firmly, but do not ram tight.
- I strongly recommend making a witness mark on the ramrod so that you can see that the ball is properly seated and you have neither forgotten the main charge nor double-charged.
6) Open the frizzen, remove the pick, and pour in the fine ignition powder. Close the frizzen.
7) Aim, cock and fire.

It is the flash from the ignition through the touch-hole that should ignite the main charge, not a much slower grain-to-grain progression of burning along the ignition channel. If you ignore the correct use of the pick to keep the channel free for every shot (and not just to clear the hole when it has already become blocked), then, when the ball is rammed down, some of the relatively coarse main charge will be forced into the touch-hole, and ignition will be slower, tending to a noticeable "flash - fizz - bang" sequence, during which time the barrel has moved - unless you are a lot steadier than I am! And after a while, the touch-hole will become sifficiently clogged with burnt powder residue to cause misfires.

Try it and let us know if it works for you!

[rescuerandy2]

Thanks all. Our County Range requires we load ball/powder at tables behind the firing line and prime when we are on the firing line. Agreed, this is much safer but does slow thing down a bit.

I did have a gunsmith checkout the breech plug and it was cleared to fire.

As one who day job is teaching history, I am thrilled to be able to fire this piece of US history. It still amazes me that I can do this and the weapon is still accurate enough to take on the Redcoats.

Finding the correct antique bayonet has become my next challenge but they do appear on Ebay from time to time.

Randy

[MikeVee]

Good Evening All. From my previous posts you can see I was in the hunt for a Charleville. Yesterday, I got my new, antique "68 Charleville to the range with great success and much smoke. It was amazing to be firing a weapon that has a very high probability of having been in the Revolution.

In 1968 we were on our annual summer trip to Upstate NY and visited Fort Ticonderoga. I saw a Charleville being fired and have been waiting 48 years to fire my own. Wish this could have been done when my dad was with us as he to was in awe of seeing that weapon fired at such a historic place. Randy

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Thanks for sharing that memory. Our family did the same. Gunsmoke & The sound wave of the ceremonial cannon...felt that BOOM !

[rescuerandy2]

MikeVee. Thanks for shaking loose a bit more of the my story. Yes, the cannon was unreal and after that I made it a point to touch every cannon at the fort. It was raining and my folks thought I was crazy. I am convinced that my "crazy day" at Ticonderoga set me on my life's path. If my mom would not have been there, I am sure dad would have joined me. Randy

[MikeVee]

OK. Here's another part of the fort that stuck in a kids memory. The privy which I think was like a wall at adult 'seat height' with lumber railings over to the back wall to keep someone from falling in - I think.