Extremely cold weather hunting

[Michael76]

Hello All ,
First let me say that , I love my flint lock . It is truly replacing my center fire rifles . Currently I have a TVM barn gun ,42inch swamped barrel ,54cal. . I feed her a wonder lube patch with .530 ball on top of 70 grains of fff black powder. I use the same powder in the pan. I hunt in Jefferson county Pa and got a really nice doe last year on the last day of flintlock season.
This year I was back in my favorite tree stand dreaming of back strap rapped in bacon when another doe walked out and was as good as mine ,I took my time , I lined up my shot , took a deep breath letting half out , sllllooooowwwwwly squeezed the trigger and .............. the hammer fell the flint hit the frizzen lots of Sparks and white smoke but ..... No bang and my back straps rapped in bacon leaped away .
Heart broken I reached into my possibles bag grabed my pick cleaned out touch hole reprimed , took aim at a tree where the doe had been standing and boom my rifle went off no problem .
So here is the question , it was very, very cold in the tree stand -4 to be exact ,so does anybody have any ideas about how get a flintlock to go off in extremely cold temps?

Thanks

 

[Ron LaClair]

It wasn't the cold, you should have picked the vent first and you would have had backstraps :nono:

 

[silly goose]

I'll second that.

 

[FishDFly]

In all honesty, instead of practicing creative writing, you need to spend more time practicing your shooting.

 

[Thing]

Cold Temp. have nothing to do with flintlock ignition.

 

[ny griz]

:idunno: Why would he have to spend more time practing his shooting?He didn't miss,his rifle didn't go off. Griz

 

[BrownBear]

:idunno: Why would he have to spend more time practing his shooting?He didn't miss,his rifle didn't go off. Griz

If he'd been practicing in the same conditions, he'd have known how to prevent misfires.

Most guys never go to the range in the rain, but I do it often. I want to know how to keep my gun working right in the rain, and the only way to learn that is to climb out from in front of the TV and go do it.

 

[longcruise]

Yeah! :thumbsup:

And, we can use all the creative writing we can get.

 

[will5a1]

Can you be more specific, i.e. how will practice ensure more reliable ignition? Is it that he will develop better loading habits?

 

[Tracy]

Have you ever had a misfire?

 

[ny griz]

:rotf: Yep,we all go out and practice when it's -4 out.Yer a better man then me. :thumbsup: Griz

 

[Michael76]

I've never had a misfire with this gun, I am happy to say. The lock is very good and I keep my flint sharp. This rifle has never disappointed me ( as long as I do my part) . This was the first I have ever had a problem with this gun .
I just was not sure if there was some way of lessening the chances of a miss fire when I hunt in less than perfect conditions with my flintlock.

Thanks

 

[Spikebuck]

Misfires can happen to all of us. The best way to minimize that is to make sure you go through the same careful routine every time. For me that includes running a pick into the touch hole all the way until it hits the other side of the barrel. I use a piece of 14 GA copper wire that I've sanded down to fit into the touch hole. I also check the pan prime periodically to be sure it's still dry and loose. If it is not and it's up against the touch hole, besides brushing out the pan and re-priming, I'll re-pick the hole.

This process pretty much ensures the touch hole is clear.

Really cold temperatures should not affect the firing of your flintlock. I routinely hunt in very cold temperatures, including below zero, and haven't had any issues....yet. :grin:

 

[Ron LaClair]

Woods Guy, some years ago I wrote this little poem to remind me what I should always do to insure my flintlock never lets me down.

"Flint be sharp to make good spark, no damp be in the pan

pick the vent it must be clear to do the job at hand.

plug the vent with feathered quill when storing for the night

do your part so carefully and it will serve you right."

 

[Michael76]

Thank you very much I appriciate it

 

[Livbucks]

Never seen rain at -4.

Doubt it was the picking that made the difference. More likely the fresh pan charge. Yea it may have ignited but the first one may have fizzled more than flashed.

 

[Patocazador]

My guess is it was condensation around the touch hole which dampened the powder from either the temp difference from heated vehicle to -4 or breathing on it if your position allowed your breath to contact that area. My glasses sure fog up in cold weather.

Using 4F in the pan sure wouldn't hurt anything either.

 

[coloradoclyde]

-4 isn't that cold.....my teeth don't begin to chatter until -30 :grin:

 

[Ron LaClair]

Using 4F in the pan sure wouldn't hurt anything either.

I agree

"Doubt it was the picking that made the difference. More likely the fresh pan charge. Yea it may have ignited but the first one may have fizzled more than flashed."



"My guess is it was condensation around the touch hole which dampened the powder from either the temp difference from heated vehicle to -4 or breathing on it if your position allowed your breath to contact that area."
:bull: :td: :shake:
:rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

 

[LongrifleDoc]

Nice poem, but why must you plug the vent at night?