Tom:

I had the bess out yesterday trying to better my load.
I tried lubes and patches and wads and even buckshot
loads. What I found was that in my bess an unpatched
round ball of .715 with 100 grains lets me hit what I
point at. But here it gets weird. The .715 balls
that got wet and have a patina of "rust" / corrosion
hit my target every time, but new clean round balls
miss.....

So I'll just stick with what works and try to figure
it out later I guess.

I'm new to reenacting and so it only seems natural to
take the bess out this year. It is going to be hard
to pass on the longer shots waiting for a deer to
wander in close though. I'm used to a rifled barrel
with better accuracy and longer range.....



--- odie_43215 <odie_43215@...> wrote:

> Mike,
>
> Thanks for the quick response. Archery season
> started Oct 1st here
> in Ohio with gun season starting November 28th. Our
> Muzzleloader
> season is December 27 - 30th. I was going to use 80
> grains of FFF
> powder with a patched .735 ball and 3 grains of FFFF
> powder in the
> pan. My friends told me if I couldn't hit the deer
> with the musket
> because the roundballs are so large I could simply
> just throw them
> at the deer and probably do the job. I will keep you
> posted on my
> luck. Please do the same. I don't think many people
> use a Brown Bess
> to hunt with.
>
> Tom
>
> --- In Muzzleloaders@yahoogroups.com, "Mike S."
> <mssgn3@y...> wrote:
> > odie:
> >
> > I too will be hunting with my Bess for the first
> time
> > this year.
> >
> > My Japanese made bess is a tight fit with .735
> balls
> > and shoots well with .715 balls. I use 100 grains
> of
> > FFF powder with both but use the same measure to
> prime
> > with so the charge is actually probably ~ 95
> grains.
> >
> > Being a smooth bore I am probably going to try to
> get
> > under 75 yards...but I think THIS IS THE YEAR OF
> THE
> > FLINTLOCK for sure!
> >
> > Let us know how you make out. The season here in
> > northern NY kicks off Saturday :)
> >
> > --- odie_43215 <odie_43215@y...> wrote:
> >
> > > Hi,
> > > I'm new to this group. I am a Revolutionary War
> > > re-enactor and I have a
> > > short land version British Brown Bess flintlock
> > > Musket. I want to use
> > > it this year deer hunting. Anyone have any
> > > experience with a .75
> > > caliber musket. Do's and don'ts other than the
> usual
> > > safety rules? Best
> > > load for it?
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > __________________________________
> > Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005
> > http://mail.yahoo.com
>
>
>


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