Why Little Love For Flintlocks?

[Loyalist Dave]

For pure phun, flintlocks are fine. For practical field accuracy, they suck.
No one I've ever known can get passed the "bang...BOOM"!

Ah the spoken heresy of the ill informed!

Mine shoots 2" groups at 100 yards. A properly tuned lock has no perceptable lag time between flash and bang. Complaining about slow lock time is the same as complaining a modern rifle with a newly mounted scope doesn't hit the bullseye with the first round..., they need to be adjusted a bit before they work..., then they work just fine, same with a flinter As for practical field accuracy..., mine hits deer in the heart and lung at 90 yards, without worries. My first deer taken with my flintlock was done when it was raining.

LD

 

[mykeal]

No one I've ever known can get passed the "bang...BOOM"! Certainly not when the 'bang' is very much in your face.

Utter nonsense. You need to make the trip to Friendship.

 

[Pulp]

Watch "Impossible Shots" on Wednesday night on the Outdoor Channel. They usually have a spot with a flintlock shooter from Maine, can't remember his name. He has no problems with flash......BOOM, and he has no problem hitting what he's aiming at. I swear his lock time is faster than my Hawken percussion.

 

[Pete D.]

accuracy

For practical field accuracy, they suck.

I have a Lyman GPR flint gun. 50 caliber.
Three shots at 100 yards - 90 grains ofGoex FFg and a PRB.


My field shooting is a 50 yards so I figure that the gun is good to go.
Pete

 

[BCRider]

Hey! PeteD! How much is "just right" for some fffg in the pan?

I got a flintlock rifle a couple of months back but still don't have a flint for it. But they are coming. I don't have any 4f but I've got 3 lbs of 3f and if I can make it work then SUPER!

One aspect I have read about is to keep the powder out of the flash hole. A lot of the delay between the flash and the actual BANG! is apparently due to powder being stuffed into the flash hole so it has to burn its way in instead of a spark or two flashing across and setting off the main. That sound about right?

 

[mykeal]

The main charge is ignited by hot gas from the burning primer, not by a spark entering the touch hole. That's why you want the powder away from the hole - you don't want it blocked so the gas can't enter.

As for the right amount - enough so that the sparks find it quickly, and not so much that it blocks the touch hole. It depends on the shape and depth of the pan and the location of the touch hole with respect to the pan.

3fg should work just fine.

 

[sprice]

For fun or collecting they're great, for all practical uses (hunting, self defense, offense, anything that involves killing) they're not very good.


I thought you were comparing them to regular cartridge firearms- when compared to other black powder/muzzloaders I prefer the flintlocks just because they are more original and it's a fun gun to hunt with, or to have on your wall that looks like the ones in the revolutionary war.

 

[BCRider]

Mykeal, so just a light sprinkle that fills the lower curve but not so high as to come up to the touch hole?

 

[Jefferson Herb]

If you want to go the effort,screen your fffg,[the fines ]and use that for priming powder.
I'm still learning,have Lyman GPH .54 and if shooting offhand twitch at the flash.I will try less than 3gr prime and adj the flint,[some turn it over].I don't have a delay,Range master commented on that issue one day,also keep prime powder to outside of pan.

 

[mykeal]

There's a fellow on The Muzzleloading Forum named Larry Pletch who has done a fantastic job of running some amazing tests with flintlocks. He's used high speed cameras and other measuring equipment to study lock timing while varying amount and placement of priming powder in the pan. Some of his results debunked some long-held homilies about priming a pan; others were confirmed. One of the things studied was the idea of tapping the gun to pile the primer charge towards the outside of the pan, but the data was not really conclusive - most people felt it didn't really matter a lot.

For those concerned about the last thousandth of a second of lock timing it can be a complicated thing. However, for most of us the admonition to not cover the touch hole is sufficient.

I usually use a pan charger that throws about 2-3 grains of 4fg, and the only extra effort I make is to ensure the hole is clear. I can't describe in meaningful terms 'how full' that makes the pan; it's just what I do.

 

[Pete D.]

How much is "just right" for some fffg in the pan?

What Mykeal said.
It will depend on your gun of course but in general I'm using less than half the pan.
When I use FFFFg, I use a charger and two pushes (4-6 grains) are enough for instant ignition. I try to get the same level of fill with FFFg.
Pete

 

[BullRunBear]

I've found a little less than half the pan works well and I tilt the rifle away from the touch hole for decent ignition time. I tend to shoot flintlocks more accurately (slightly) than caplocks which surprised me. All I can figure is that knowing there is a slight ignition delay I am more careful to stay steady. Just a guess.

Jeff

 

[[email protected]]

This is just about right. Just a little 7 F in the pan.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Through most of the 18th Century, soldiers primed from their cartridges. Ask any American Revolution or French & Indian War reenactor how they prime their guns.

As far as I can tell, it was about the 1790s when priming horns started appearing. These were carried by riflemen in the British Army. Civilian use probably preceded this, but I'm unsure when.

 

[Cosmoline]

From Pteryplegia, the poem about wing shooting from 1727, one of many useful tips:

Nor Prime too full, else you will surely blame
The hanging fire and lose the pointed Aim.
Should I of This the obvious Reason tell:
The caking Pressure does the Flame repel
And Vulcan's lamed again by his own Steel.
Yet cleanse the Touch-hole first: A Partridge Wing
Most to the Field for that wise Purpose bring.
In Charging, next, good Workmen never fail
To ram the Powder well, but not the Ball;

http://www.cherrytreefamily.com/pteryplegia.htm

 

[carlsca]

Flint locks are cool, I just don't know enough about them.

 

[Mike OTDP]

A couple of tricks...

First, try to get Swiss Null-B priming powder. It's 7Fg equivalent, and lightning-fast.

Second, make sure to spread the priming powder over all the pan. You don't need a thick layer...but you do need to make sure that the first spark into the pan finds powder to ignite.

Third, you will get different stories about using a pick on the touchole. I like having a small pick...insert it, load, then remove the pick and prime. This guarantees a hole into the middle of the powder for the flash to reach.

Fourth, make sure that the flint has as much contact area as possible. It won't ever be perfectly even, but if you are only making contact with the frizzen at one point, field knap the flint.

 

[Shultzhaus]

I carry a can of that compressed air stuff in my range box. Does a great job of clearing touch holes and nipples. Called "Dust Off'", can be found at Staples, Office Max, ETC.

 

[Cosmoline]

With a good frizzen and the touchhole in the proper location, just a wiff of 4F in the pan will work every single time until the flint wears out or the hole gets clogged and needs a prod. But the location of the touchhole is often way too high. This is why you'll find that the higher end flinters have such good ignition compared to the low end ones. It's not really the quality of steel, it's the care taken in placing the touchhole and making sure it is in proper alignment to the pan.

 

[[email protected]]

The touch hole is slightly above the pan. This setup is for speed.

 

[[email protected]]

This is how I have primed for over 40 years, and it has been proven to be
the fastest. A little of primming powder is placed over the touch hole. Yes
that's right, over the touch hole. This gives me the fastest time. Larry Pletcher who I met and talked to at Friendship has run several test on
Flintlocks as to the speed at which they fire. The best place to put the powder in the pan is here. Right over the hole. I defily anyone to tell the
difference of shooting my Flintlock vs. percussion. Right Mykeal. You heard it
and saw it at Friendship. Next year mebbly we can get together and you can
fire some shots with it.

 

[rocky branch]

I have a friend who is a professional shooter.
He likes to practice with flinters as the rare or minimal delay aids him in practicing his "hold."

I quit using separate priming powder and never had a problem.
Flinters require a bit more attention, but just a bit.
Good training.
Personal preference rules.

 

[osprey176]

I switched to caplocks many years ago.The smell of burnt hair bugs me.

 

[Magwa45]

I just got my first flintlock this year and I love it. But I still have some learning to do about flint knapping, etc. And I worked up some squirrel loads. It is a .40 cal. so I'll start with the tree rats.

 

[Packman]

Well, I just got into Black Powder at the beginning of this summer, so I'm still pretty new. I'm having fun with my Cap and Ball revolvers for now. I don't have anything against a flintlock, and would like to try it someday. Right now, though, I'm blowing all my money on more modern firearms.

I like giant clouds of smoke!