So I borrow a Flintlock...

[jimmymac]

...for late season primitive weapons season here in PA. It is a 50 cal Thompson Renegade. I took it to the range yesterday to see how it would shoot. Fun stuff. All groups fired at 50 yards off a bench. 90 grains of Goex FFg black powder.

Round balls:




240 Grain Hornady XTP sabots




285 Grain Buffalo Bullet sabots:

 

[watercam]

Nice work, ought to do the deed...

 

[NorCalMikie]

I like the bottom target.

 

[jds holler]

Nice shooting. I thought the Renegade was percussion. Or did they make both? jd

 

[Dub]

good shooting! Round balls and patch can be quite accurate

 

[jimmymac]

Nice shooting. I thought the Renegade was percussion. Or did they make both? jd

It’s a Renegade.

 

[TheOtherZilla]

I had a 54 Renegade.. Not a Flint lock but percussion cap. My standard was a snoose can@100 yds. Used 400 gr Maxi balls. Never had an animal take a step if I hit it.. Fun when you only get one shot..

 

[mikeinct]

TC may have changed up the rifling twist on those 50 cal barrels. Mine was a joke. a cruel joke for hunting. With enough powder to really nail a deer the round ball & patch was not accurate enough. Downloading to get accuracy, Not powerful enough. Of course back then in CT no other projectile was legal. Please Use the 285 grain bullet on deer sized game. mike in ct

 

[PatMiles]

regression can be fun!

 

[msinc]

Yep, them flintlock guns is a lotta fun for sure. I lived up there in 79-81 and as I remember it we didn't have anything but patched round balls back then. Somebody might have made custom bullets, but none of us had them or knew they existed. If we wanted more "knock down" we just stacked two round balls in the barrel...they'll hit within an inch or two at 100 yards.
Flintlocks....good god almighty the next thing you know somebody will be on here bowhunting!!!!!

 

[Gman]

Yep, them flintlock guns is a lotta fun for sure. I lived up there in 79-81 and as I remember it we didn't have anything but patched round balls back then. Somebody might have made custom bullets, but none of us had them or knew they existed. If we wanted more "knock down" we just stacked two round balls in the barrel...they'll hit within an inch or two at 100 yards.
Flintlocks....good god almighty the next thing you know somebody will be on here bowhunting!!!!!View attachment 1147281

Thats some nice shootin' with a recurve ! I give you instinctive shooters "TONS" of credit. Killing an animal with primitive weapons is the ultimate challenge.

 

[msinc]

Thats some nice shootin' with a recurve ! I give you instictive shooters "TONS" of credit. Killing an animal with primitive weapons is the ultimate challenge.

Thank you sir!!! It takes a lot of practice and if you stop you have to do it all over again...it's often said that shooting a bow instinctive is not like riding a bicycle. Compound bows are like a benchrest rifle...recurves are like a Peacemaker shot from the hip.

 

[jds holler]

TC may have changed up the rifling twist on those 50 cal barrels. Mine was a joke. a cruel joke for hunting. With enough powder to really nail a deer the round ball & patch was not accurate enough. Downloading to get accuracy, Not powerful enough. Of course back then in CT no other projectile was legal. Please Use the 285 grain bullet on deer sized game. mike in ct

If I recall, back when I was messing with that stuff, the word was that the Thompson barrels were faster twist to be most accurate with the Maxi-Balls. The guys who were bound by "round ball rules" for their primitive matches were replacing them with round ball barrels which have a gawdawful slow twist.

I've got a nice Thompson Hawkin that I built from the kit, (mid-seventies vintage) and it does OK with round balls, but could do better. I've never shot Maxi's through it. It does well as a 50 yard squirrel gun. Oh, and mine's a percussion. jd

 

[jds holler]

Yep, them flintlock guns is a lotta fun for sure. I lived up there in 79-81 and as I remember it we didn't have anything but patched round balls back then. Somebody might have made custom bullets, but none of us had them or knew they existed. If we wanted more "knock down" we just stacked two round balls in the barrel...they'll hit within an inch or two at 100 yards.
Flintlocks....good god almighty the next thing you know somebody will be on here bowhunting!!!!!View attachment 1147281

Those look like the aluminum barge poles that I used to shoot.jd

 

[dkhunt14]

If I recall, back when I was messing with that stuff, the word was that the Thompson barrels were faster twist to be most accurate with the Maxi-Balls. The guys who were bound by "round ball rules" for their primitive matches were replacing them with round ball barrels which have a gawdawful slow twist.

I've got a nice Thompson Hawkin that I built from the kit, (mid-seventies vintage) and it does OK with round balls, but could do better. I've never shot Maxi's through it. It does well as a 50 yard squirrel gun. Oh, and mine's a percussion. jd

Yes the twist was a little fast, but the real problem was the grooves were too shallow. I had mine cut deeper by a fellow names Bobby Hoyt near Gettysburg. It cost 25.00 to recut the rifling deeper, then it really shot. Then add a cheater frizzen and the ignition was way better. I shot competition with mine and it shot really well with round balls. The gun also shot Lee REAL bullets well. Matt

 

[Bojo]

I was gonna look to see if you maybe borrowed my renegade, no sense in even looking tho as I cannot get mine to shoot that well without shots or maxiballs.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I have a renegade and hawken. Both percussion 50cals. They both have the 48 twist barrels made for the maxi ball. I have never seen one that didnt shoot surprisingly well (t/c that is)

 

[snert]

PA has that flintlock rule for primitive arms. Add suspenders and a straw hat, drive yer buggy with a clapped out mare pulling it and you are a regular Pennsyltuckian....

 

[Ccrider]

Nice shootin. Hope ya finish the deal and do that gun proud.