# .68 or .69 flintlock pistol



## GunnSmokeer (Jun 25, 2013)

I have a JAPAN-made replica of an earl 18th century flintlock smoothbore pistol.  Some of these are called "Tower pistol" replicas. I guess that has something to do with the originals being made or proofed in the Tower of London?  Anyhow, this looks to be a 1960s-1980s replica.  9" full octagon barrel.  No breech plug or seam from welding-- it looks like they forged or drilled out a pistol barrel blank with a solid breech end, except for the flash hole and a welded-on tang to attach to the stock.

It measures something like .675 bore diameter at the muzzle. Again, it's a smoothbore.

Any suggestions on loads for this thing?  

The old fellow at Deercreek gun shop in Marietta suggested 40 grains, and maybe that would be powerful enough with a tighter-fitting ball.  THe only balls I could find locally around Atlanta or north Georgia were .62 caliber, and even with the biggest thickest patches I could find, they're a pretty loose fit in the bore. 

Shooting it with a duplex load of about 45 grains (5 grains of 4F down near the flash hole and a volume of Pyrodex equal to what would be 40 grains of FFG black powder) gives very mild performance.  Not a lot of boom. Not much recoil. Similar to a .45 acp.  The slug doesn't even bury itself into soft wood. It dents the wood and bounces off, from 20 feet.  

I'm not going to use this pistol for hunting or self-defense, but I would like to work-up a load that leaves shooters IMPRESSED with its power.  

Any suggestions?


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## White Horse (Jun 25, 2013)

I'd be careful about shooting that pistol with stronger loads. I expect my friend at Deer Creek was being cautious with his suggestion, which I think was a very good one.

Pistol loads are traditionally lighter than long gun loads any way.

If the bore is .69, a ***rifle*** starting load would be 65 grains or so. For a pistol with the same caliber, 40 grains is quite reasonable.


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## GunnSmokeer (Jun 25, 2013)

*reasonable*

well the performance isn't quite reasonable.  But maybe that's more of an issue with the undersized ammo than the actual powder charge.

I'll work on that.  

Just out of curiosity, WHY are handguns loaded to half the power level of rifles?   If it's recoil, this massive 4-pound pistol has a lot of mass to help absorb and smooth-out the recoil.  

Although I suppose one difference is that a rifle of the same style would normally have a barrel band, and this thing only has a small pin, no bigger than a 1/16" drill bit, about 4" back from the muzzle connecting the barrel to the stock.  That little pin and the one screw through the tang are the only physical attachment points of barrel to wood.


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## White Horse (Jun 25, 2013)

I'm not certain why pistol loads were much less than long gun loads.

You might try a load of shot in the pistol. 40 grains of powder, a card wad, a load of shot equal in volume to the powder charge, then a soft wad made with paper, or wasp's nest material, on top of the shot. That's likely what pistols of that type were originally loaded with. 16 gauge cards may fit. 

As I said, though, it pays to be cautious. Some of those older replica guns, especially made in Asia, have not been proofed at all, and may not have originally been meant to be shot at all. You are on your own as far as shooting the pistol you describe. Keeping the powder charge down will help it be safe.


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## SASS249 (Jun 25, 2013)

I have some 69 caliber balls I cast for my smoothbore. Be glad to give you some to try.  I am out of town until next week but shoot me a pm with contact info and I will get with you when I get home


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