a reliable flinter????

[iluv308]

I have a choice between lyman or pedersoli....i'm a hunter so don't care about historical correctness I want a reliable flintlock in 54-or larger.....any comments....thanks

 

[4v50 Gary]

If you're a shooter...

then go with the Lyman Great Plains Rifle. It's popular and reliable (but the lock's internal mechanism is coil spring).

 

[zahc]

Aren't coil springs better? Pedersoli make some nice stuff too.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Coil springs are certainly stronger and more reliable and less likely to break on you. However, for the purists, they're not authentic. Just nit-picking but hey, I'm going to buy another Lyman Great Plains just to go with the brass scope I've got.

 

[flintman]

Thank the Good Lord,another flint shooter!

Glad to have you my Friend,Lyman is my first choice between the two also!

 

[Mike Irwin]

More than once I've seen people cursing the horrible quality and unreliability of their flintlock rifle only to find out that they're using absolutely crap quality flints or simply don't know how to adjust the flint in the jaws.

No matter what kind of flintlock you get, stay away from sawn flints. Go for hand knapped English flint or chert.

Expensive?

Not hardly.

Sawn flints can run upwards $5 a piece, which is absolute highway robbery.

Hand knapped flints can be had for as little as 75 cents a piece if you buy in bulk, or get a deal at a gun show or through a group buy.

Longevity?

I used to count myself lucky if I could get 25 shots out of a sawn flint before it was trash.

When I finally found some hand knapped English chert flints at a gunshow, I kept track of how long they lasted...

With proper dressing and adjustment, one of those flints took me entirely through a 1-lb can of black powder, and part of another can. At 60-grains of FFG (volumn measured) per shot, it came out to be between 120 and 125 shots.

The other flints didn't last quite as long, but they lasted a LOT longer than the sawn crap.

 

[Iggy]

Never mind...

 

[Tommy Gunn]

You want the Lyman Great Plains Rifle.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Only 25 shots on your flint, Mike?

I have over 125 on mine (yes, I'm cheap) and Wallace Gusler (another skinflinter when it comes to flint) has over a 100 on his.

 

[Poodleshooter]

I've been through 2 pan chargers full with my current sawn flint. Course it's been flipped and chipped to keep it going.
I've got a stash of knapped English cherts on standby,though.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Gary,

Note that I said the 25 shots was GOOD performance for a SAWN flint.

Read my message again and see how many I got from the hand-knapped English chert...

 

[bfoster]

When the lock time of a flinter is broken down into the various segments of its mechanical operation the best designed "vee" spring locks usually function more quickly than well designed coil spring locks. Lock time depends on the strength of the spring(s), mass of the hammer (cock), required distance of travel, and other factors. The difference is so small that it is on no practical consequence because the lock time proper is but a small fraction of total ignition time in flintlocks: the time taken between the time that the sparks hit the powder in the pan until the main charge is ignited consumes some 60-80% of the total time between when the sear and the bent part company and ignition of the main charge. See the Journal of Historical Armsmaking Technology, Volume IV, January 1991, for a detailed analysis of traditional flint lock performance.

Bob

 

[4v50 Gary]

Sorry Mike. I see another cheapskate in the ranks of skinflinters.

 

[goon]

I would go with the Lyman.
My own experience with the deerstalker tells me that they are reliable.
Mine went off every time, provided that I kept the soot wiped off the frizzen and picked the touch hole out about every six shots.
All I had to do was get the pan primed right and it cracked every time.