Breech Inspection

[jdkerstetter]

A properly set up flintlock will blow it's vent clean when fired and will fire quite reliably without the use of a pipe cleaner. :wink:

Enjoy, J.D.

 

[M. De Land]

Well perhaps mine are not properly set up than because both flint pistols seem to require a pick to keep them shooting reliably.
Seems like a flash hole would get fouled out and clogged with burnt carbon and fouling after some use just as a barrel does if not cleared periodically.
I like to use a soft black wire pick with a round end instead of the hard sharp ones as it pushes the fouling plug out without distorting the flash hole. Mike

 

[tx50cal]

We cut about. 230" off of the breech end of the barrel yesterday. The inside threads were chased with a tap and look good. I took the barrel home and cleaned the breech area very well with brake cleaner and a .40 cal bronze brush to get the threads completely clean. I took some more measurement and I am about. 030-.040 from bottoming. This is shere the slow filing and repeated checkping starts. I am pretty sure that I will have it breech by the end of the weekend. I will then tend to the other slight changes I have to make and then finish up the areas that need it.

 

[M. De Land]

Well great,I was quite sure you were good to go with the existing parts once you sent the detailed pictures and could get a look see. Mike D.

 

[Rifleman1776]

A properly set up flintlock will blow it's vent clean when fired and will fire quite reliably without the use of a pipe cleaner. :wink:

Enjoy, J.D.

:thumbsup:

 

[Rifleman1776]

Seems like

"seems like" is not the same as reality.
Touch holes do blow out and rarely clog. Exception might be in very humid weather and a long wait between loadings. Then mud happens.

 

[M. De Land]

Let me ask you a question then, do you have and ever use flash hole pics of any kind with your flint locks while shooting them or do you rely solely on flash holes clearing themselves? Mike D.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Let me ask you a question then, do you have and ever use flash hole pics of any kind with your flint locks while shooting them or do you rely solely on flash holes clearing themselves? Mike D.

Had to think on that a while before replying. I do keep a pick in my range box and hunting bag but rarely use one. Last time I used one was just after I got my new fowler. It simply would not ignite. :cursing: I had to pick primer into the hole every time just to clear. Then I changed powders. Went from Swiss 1 1/2Fg to Shuetzen 3Fg and ignition is now 100% reliable. The pick was then a tool to fix a problem.
To answer, I never use it under normal circumstances.

 

[jdkerstetter]

May be straying a bit here, but I think it goes to my earlier suggestion of opening up the hole in the OP's breech face. So.....

On the use of vent picks: Perhaps the same question could be asked of the loyal percussion shooters, "Do you ever use a nipple pick?"

How about having to use one of those tiny drill bits to cut the fowling cake from the nipple?

Do you have to remove the nipple for a good soak to try to disolve the crust after a shooting session?

I cut my teeth on percussion guns, my Dad was into black powder guns before they were cool, starting with an origianl Upper Susquehanna rifle that had been passed down through the family.

With a capped nipple there's no exhaust, what fowling that doesn't blow out the muzzle is trapped in the bore, especially accumlating in the powder chamber and flash channel. The longer and the flash channel or the narrower the breech cavity the bigger the problem. Wiping frequently can exacerbate the problem by pushing all the crap in the bore into the flash channel where it can't be wiped out and requires another step to remove it. Pipe cleaner, maybe???

I contend that, other than maintaining the flint, the firelock mounted gun needs less care and feeding to remain reliable than does the percussion gun, especially the modern Euro imports with their long narrow flash channels and undersized breeches.

To further my point, I believe that the inferior set up of many modern production caplocks is one of the things that set the in-line rifles on their course to popularity. Ask yourselves, are they any easier to load? The bolt configured ones sure aren't easier to prime. Are they any more accurate? Other than the fact that they fit and look like a more modern gun the industry's main selling point was a more reliable percussion ignition than what was commonly available on side locks....that and those fast twist, plastic skirted pills they push. :barf:

Maybe it's just me, but I've never had to use a pipe cleaner on a flintlock. :wink: Enjoy, J.D.

 

[M. De Land]

Thanks for the candid answer, I will give her a try, perhaps I only think I need to keep the hole picked to work properly. Wouldn't be the first time a had a notion that turned out to be error. Mike D.

 

[jdkerstetter]

Mike, Is your flintlock guns vent directly into the side of the barrel or is it vented into some kind of seperate breech? This can make a big difference.

The Pedersoli's, for example, have a reduced powder chamber making for a long flash channel instead of the vent exposed directly to the side of the powder column.

Obviously vent size has a lot to do with ignition also, which has been discussed to death in the flintlock forum.

Enjoy, J.D.

 

[M. De Land]

Directly into the powder column on one and into an angled flash hole to the base of the powder on the other. Mike