Are we doing a disservice to new flint shooters?

[Brokennock]

I've been wondering about this for quite a while. Everytime I see folks posting shooting advice to new flintlock shooters.

It seems the 1st thing everyone starts going on about is ignoring the pan flash and all the ways to go about not letting it effect the shooter. So, in essence, the 1st thing everyone makes a big fuss about is the #1 thing we don't want the shooter to notice or think about. Before they've even had an issue with it. This doesn't make sense to me.

There are a lot of good marksmanship reasons to focus on the front sight and to follow through at the shot. A lot of good reasons to dry fire practice. Do we really need to make a fuss about the flash and put it in the shooter's head?

 

[Cruzatte]

I've been wondering about this for quite a while. Everytime I see folks posting shooting advice to new flintlock shooters.

It seems the 1st thing everyone starts going on about is ignoring the pan flash and all the ways to go about not letting it effect the shooter. So, in essence, the 1st thing everyone makes a big fuss about is the #1 thing we don't want the shooter to notice or think about. Before they've even had an issue with it. This doesn't make sense to me.

There are a lot of good marksmanship reasons to focus on the front sight and to follow through at the shot. A lot of good reasons to dry fire practice. Do we really need to make a fuss about the flash and put it in the shooter's head?

Good question. On the other hand, how many times have I heard someone say "Man, I just couldn't get used to that flash in the pan."?

 

[SDSmlf]

Do we really need to make a fuss about the flash and put it in the shooter's head?

Yep, then there is something to fix.

First muzzleloader I ever fired was an original Bess supported by cross sticks. Wasn’t 10 years old at the time. Badgered the guy at the range who was shooting it until my old man said let the kid shoot it. Can tell a long detailed description of the event. No memory of the pan flash. Owned and fired multiple flintlocks before I learned that pan flash was an ‘issue’.

Believe you have a valid point.

 

[Cruzatte]

First muzzleloader I ever owned was a flintlock. Back then I just had to have a flintlock. My reasoning was "If Dan'l Boone and Simon Kenton learned how to shoot with a flintlock, well by golly, I can too." And there was no one around to argue with me. Heck, there was no one around shooting front stuffers at all!

 

[Griz44Mag]

Hmmmm.... I had not even noticed it. Now I am going to be worrying about it!
My first flinter - (Brown Bess - 75 cal, .735 PRB, .010 patch, MAP for lube, 80gr 2f, 3f prime, 55 yards, no in between wiping.
Only thing I struggled with was having to wait for the cloud to drift off so I could see the plate swinging!
10" plate, 18 rounds fired, 16 hits on plate. 5 of the shots were standing. (Hence - 2 misses)
Nope, never even noticed if there was a flash or not..... I will pay more attention next time.

Funny how those big balls leave a little lead pyramid deposited on the plate...

 

[SDSmlf]

The

First muzzleloader I ever owned was a flintlock. Back then I just had to have a flintlock. My reasoning was "If Dan'l Boone and Simon Kenton learned how to shoot with a flintlock, well by golly, I can too." And there was no one around to argue with me. Heck, there was no one around shooting front stuffers at all!

Actually remember as a kid the disappointment in there not being a clack, woosh, boom like on TV when shooting a flintlock. Guess the guys whose guns I shot knew what they were doing. And in the 1960s with no internet. Nobody knew who Al Gore was. How did they know what to do? I had to actually talk to someone or read about muzzleloaders/flintlocks in magazines. I still have magazines and catalogs from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Not sure when pan flash became a problem, but I didn’t know about it back in the day.

 

[Grumpa]

Yes, you are on to something. The pan flash is the means by which the main charge is ignited. Period.

If the shooter is watching the pan flash, he is not watching the front sight and the target, and he is not following through the sight picture. I don't recall ever hearing of anyone getting blinded, or set on fire, by the pan flash! The shooter should forget it, and concentrate on what he should be doing.

If a shooter develops a "pan flash flinch", he should take his unloaded firelock, prime the pan, and fire it off, while concentrating on his sight picture. A dozen times if he needs to, until he sees that all that spark and flame is nothing to be concerned about, and can go back to shooting.

Richard/Grumpa

 

[Brokennock]

If a shooter develops a "pan flash flinch", he should take his unloaded firelock, prime the pan, and fire it off, while concentrating on his sight picture.

Exactly, key word being IF. Why do we put it in the new shooter's head before they even fire a shot?

 

[Brokennock]

Good question. On the other hand, how many times have I heard someone say "Man, I just couldn't get used to that flash in the pan."?

What I'm getting at is to deal that, after, they say "I couldn't get used to the pan flash." Not to have them worried about it from the start.

 

[Brokennock]

Hmmmm.... I had not even noticed it. Now I am going to be worrying about it!
My first flinter - (Brown Bess - 75 cal, .735 PRB, .010 patch, MAP for lube, 80gr 2f, 3f prime, 55 yards, no in between wiping.
Only thing I struggled with was having to wait for the cloud to drift off so I could see the plate swinging!
10" plate, 18 rounds fired, 16 hits on plate. 5 of the shots were standing. (Hence - 2 misses)
Nope, never even noticed if there was a flash or not..... I will pay more attention next time.
View attachment 9151
Funny how those big balls leave a little lead pyramid deposited on the plate...

Yup. Me too. Never really noticed it. But, no one ever told me I was supposed to notice it, but in the same breath tell me I should ignore it.

I don't say a word about the pan flash to folks who want to try and take a shot with one of my flintlocks, and none of them have ever commented on the pan flash. I do tell them to focus extra hard on the front sight all the way through the shot because there Might, Might, be a little more delay to the shot than they are used to. Most comment they are shocked there was no perceived delay, once they stop grinning and laughing enough to talk.

 

[Rat]

It seems to me, I'm not sure...but, isn't it usually the person posting that first mentions the flash? Seems like "they" usually bring it up first. ??? Something like: "I'm not sure how I'll deal with the flash". Or something like that. I think that's what I usually see, but haven't thought about it before.

 

[Brokennock]

It seems to me, I'm not sure...but, isn't it usually the person posting that first mentions the flash? Seems like "they" usually bring it up first. ??? Something like: "I'm not sure how I'll deal with the flash". Or something like that. I think that's what I usually see, but haven't thought about it before.

Not necessarily. Look at "which "just one thing,"" thread. There are many just like it. New shooter, new to flintlock former cap lock shooter, seeking advice to get started. I've noticed it a lot. If it were just threads where the person seeking advice had said the flash was bothering them I would not bring it up.

 

[tenngun]

I guess I’ve always said it because every time I’ve been to an open range and had some one who has never shot an ml try one of my guns it’s the first thing the person says, some sort of ‘ wow there was that big flash in sure I jumped’

 

[Loyalist Dave]

It seems the 1st thing everyone starts going on about is ignoring the pan flash and all the ways to go about not letting it effect the shooter. So, in essence, the 1st thing everyone makes a big fuss about is the #1 thing we don't want the shooter to notice or think about. Before they've even had an issue with it. This doesn't make sense to me.

Ah..., well..., I wish somebody had said it to me when I started with flinters, because after a while I picked up the bad habit, all without prior "suggestion", of being distracted by the movement and flash of the lock and pan. I had to train myself away from that, and that took a while. I have to remind myself to severely focus on that front sight and to try to maintain it on the target during recoil to have a follow through.

LD

 

[Sparkitoff]

My sons are 12 and 13 respectively. I told them to concentrate on the target and sights and don't worry about anything else. They shot just fine. After a few shots each one of them says to me while pointing at the lock, "Does it do that when I shoot too"? Then they both got a kick out of watching one another's sparks. As the original post points out, if it is not mentioned it will not be anticipated and maybe not even noticed. I tell someone everything right about a flintlock, not what could be wrong. I am only two years into having one flintlock (and it is my favorite rifle). I was tiring to read all the doom and gloom that a lot of people gave me. A few were very favorable and encouraging. I've not experienced any woes with the rifle. Yes, I did have a "flash in the pan" about 3-times total early on out of around 200 shots but I figured out it was likely preventable. Like anything else new, people need encouragement and motivation, not "the sky is falling".

 

[Melnic]

I notice the delay from trigger pull to big bang more than I notice the flash.

Its not the comments about the flash that I think are counter productive to egging on new flintlock shooters.

 

[eggwelder]

i shoot a right-handed rifle from the left, and near noticed the pan flash until someone mentioned it on here a few years back. kinda bugged me for a shot or two, but not anymore. when a new shooter shoots it, i don't even mention it

 

[BullRunBear]

Good question. For some reason, the pan flash never bothered me. And I didn't mention it to the folks I've introduced to flinters so it wasn't a problem for them. They saw me shoot, knew there was a flash but since I ignored it, so did they.
Jeff

 

[Rat]

Well...the whole issue is kind of "strange", or puzzling to me, as I am totally, absolutely, completely unaware of the flash in the pan. Nock, you are probably right.

 

[Col. Batguano]

Generally you can tell if a pan flash is bothering a right handed shooter if the hits are in the 4:00 o'clock area.