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Top Shot Program -- Shooting Flintlock Pistol

competentone
Did anyone with expert knowledge on flintlock pistols catch Top Shot's program (History Channel) earlier this week?

They were shooting a flintlock pistol in the competition, but the "expert" who instructed them had them loading with balls of such a smaller diameter to the bore that they would roll out of the end of the pistol if the pistol wasn't kept pointed level or slightly upward.

I was watching in disbelief. They were supposedly reenacting "pirate" behavior with the pistol. I was thinking there was no way pirates would have been running around with a pistol that could lose its load so easily.

Shouldn't patches have been used around the ball to keep it snug in the barrel? Or shouldn't a larger diameter ball been used so it would stay put?
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Comments

5 comments

Date Votes
  • JamesNorris
    I agree totally, I thought I must have been doing it wrong for the past 55 years, but at least I have never lost my BALLS. I now truly question thier EXPERTS.
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  • allen griggs
    That guy didn't know what he was doing.
    He is a fool to get on tv with an improperly loaded pistol, and claiming to be an expert.
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  • yoshmyster
    It's more challenging that way.
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  • machine gun moran
    You missed the part where he set off the powder in the pan with a blowtorch.
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  • 44caliberkid
    I just saw this episode today. To be generous, since he knew they would be shooting many rounds, in an event where speed counted, he may have used an undersized ball so they could still load quickly after the barrel was fouled.
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