D M Dolliver

[excess650]

Yours isn't the only contemporary that suffered from breech plug/touch hole placement issues. I have a 20+ year old early Lancaster style, and a friend has a similar age (by the same maker)rifle that both had the issue. Both were resolved by changing the touch hole liners and slightly relieving the breech plugs. Mine also needed to have the pan widened so as to better center the priming powder.

20 years ago we would have struggled with delayed ignition, but we have more collective knowledge these days as a result of the 'net and sites like this one. :hatsoff:

 

[Grenadier1758]

The notch on the face of the breech plug is not just a contemporary solution to matching the touch hole to the powder charge. I have talked to a number of members of our club who have kept the old guns and they have seen the notch on the face of a breech plug on guns over 200 years old.

We have the advantage of being able to recognize the issue on a more modern make gun and being able to solve the problem.

 

[bigted]

I very muck appreciate all the helpful hints and suggestions as well as the slight history.

Hope i get to try her again this weekend and see if i have addressed the problems

 

[bigted]

https://flic.kr/p/YCTkZ5

Any luck this works

 

[bigted]

https://flic.kr/p/XC6dkj

Seems to work so far.

 

[bigted]

Took her out for an outing wensday and had a bit better time but problems persist.

She fired a bit faster this time but still get a click//boom.also got better accuracy with concentration and follow thru on the bench ... off hand it remains dismal.

Discovered i needed more lube on the patch as i could shoot till i wanted to switch something around so i would swab her out.

Also dryballed it. Luckily i had the vent liner slotted for an easy removal to shovel in a small amount of powder to blow it out.

So when i cleaned her up i alsodrilled out the vent to 5/64rths. This is the only change this time. Hopefuly i can get the "click/boom" to just a boom.

This girl is really taking me to school ... but think i like it. Hope those pictures came thru.

 

[Zonie]

Maybe your sensitive to sounds?

I know I often hear the flint hit the frizzen and the start of the POOF sound just before the rifle fires.

Flintlocks will never fire as quickly as a percussion gun. It's just the nature of the thing.

Of course if there is a real time delay that's another matter and your drilling out the vent hole should speed things up.

 

[excess650]

I am one of those folks who notice the "delay" between the trigger pull and gun recoiling. The longer the barrel on my flinters, the longer the delayed ignition seems to be. In reality, its probably the perceived striking of the flint to frizzen in relationship to the muzzle report. My 28-1/2" and 32" barrels seem instantaneous vs the 38" and 42" barrels. This shouldn't be the case as my shorter barreled rocklocks are .58 and .62cal, so lower MV than the .45 and .50 cal in the longer barrels. My "quickest" flinter is the 28-1/2" barreled .62, and it also has the smallest flash hole. :hmm:

If that lock is Chambers' round faced English lock, it will be dead reliable and fire with some of the dullest looking, used up flints that you have.

 

[bigted]

Thanks fellas. Im just hopin she and i get to a partnership in our relationship.

Very well may be that the sound of the rock hitting the hammer is a sound i need to adjust to. Im VERY new to these flinters ( this being my first) . very well may be a multitude of stuff new to my senses.

I am incouraged tho that when i hold thru all the comotion she hit where that front sight is settin ( least at 25 yds anyway).

 

[bigted]

Oh and by the by ... She wears a R. E. Davis lock ... Good?

 

[kurts]

Is your vent coned on the in side so that it is thin at the face(like a white lightning) or a long hole? If you can cut a slot in it must be pretty thick, I say get a new liner (WL)very easy to fit, you've had the plug out so no problem with that.

 

[smoothshooter]

The notched breech plug goes back to the 1600's, and shows up in several technical periodicals and detailled woodcut prints of the time.

 

[Zonie]

Folks, you can not install a White Lightning vent liner in a gun that does not already have one installed without making a serious change.

All of the White Lightning liners have a 32 pitch thread on them and no other vent liner commercially available uses that thread pitch.

Guns with non-White Lightning vent liners also cannot be rethreaded to the 32 pitch threads without going to the next larger thread size.

If your current vent liner is a 1/4-28 UNF or a M6-.75 thread, the existing threaded hole must be enlarged and threaded for a 5/16-32 UNS thread.

If it is threaded for a 5/16-24 UNF or a M8-1.25 thread it must be enlarged and threaded for a 3/8-32 UNS thread.

Going to the larger thread size can cause the new thread to be larger than the barrel flat causing the thread to break out into the next flat.

It's not dangerous but it is pretty ugly.

 

[kurts]

Track has other threads than what chambers has, sometimes you just have to think a little bit and work around some things.

 

[bigted]

All shooting today was 25 yards. Used both KIK 3Fg and Ol E 2F. Using an English flint and .010 patching lubed with SPG lube.

Way better today. The 5/64ths drill made her shoot much faster but still had a slight click/boom but much much better. Shot enough to fall deeply in love with this flinter smoothie. Getting closer by leaps and bounds. Off the bench i held all shots in 4 inch groups with the majority going into 2 inch.

Seeing light at the end of the tunnel (hope its not a train). Drilled the touch hole out to my next drill size (3/16ths). Might

 

[Zonie]

I'm guessing you meant 3/32 (.09375) instead of 3/16 (.1875) ?

Don't do it.

5/64 is about the maximum a person should use for a vent hole and even then, IMO, a vent that large shouldn't be used on guns under .45 caliber.

 

[nwtradegun]

some not toos. don't fill pan to cover flash hole. don't tip rifle to side, powder then blocks flask hole.

 

[bigted]

Shore hate to cover my FLASK hole ... LOL. How do you carry the weapon while hunting if they are so tender with the prime position?

Zonie ... Yes meant 3/32. Already drilled it tho so may need a new liner with 1/4 X 24 ... Gonna try it first tho.

This is what I had hoped it would be. Very fun and gives me a real vintage feel like none I have ever dreamed possible.

Now if I can just get it to shoot standing on my hind legs ... This is more self training tho

Thanks for all the great advice fellers. I'd never done this well without you.

 

[excess650]

When you replace that liner, make sure that it is coned on the inside. The closer the powder to the pan, the quicker and more reliable the ignition. My .62 has .055" touch hole, but I opened the .58 up to 1/16" which is where my .45 and .50 are. I had the .45 up to a bit more than .070", but discovered its problem was other than the size of the touch hole, so replaced it.

 

[Zonie]

Also, new vent liners are always too long.
They are made that way so they can be used on thick walled barrels.

Before installing a new vent liner, figure out the thickness of the barrel at the location the vent liner will be.

Get a hexagon nut with the same internal threads as the new vent liner.

Screw the new vent liner into the nut, pretending the surface of the nut that is on the same side of the vent liner with the counterbore is the interior of the barrel.
This will be opposite the screw driver slot.

Adjust the vent liner in the nut so the "too long" end is sticking up out of the nut and then clamp the nut in a good vise or with a pair of Vise Grips. Use a lot of force so it firmly clamps the vent liner.
The threads inside the nut will deform and clamp the liner without damaging the liners threads.

Now, use a good metal cutting flat file and file off all of the exposed liner.
When you finish, the vent liner length should be exactly the same as the barrel wall thickness.

By the way, while the vent liner is clamped in the hex nut, you can drill out the small hole if you want to.

Unclamp the nut and remove the vent liner.
Screw it into the barrel and go have fun shooting your flintlock. :grin: