Can somebody show me a video of someone shooting what you would call a fast flintlock?
Thanks
Thanks
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Fast Flintlock
- Thread starter Boomerang
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Ya that's what I find too. :idunno:
Col. Batguano
75 Cal.
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You should access some of Pletch's writings. He's done a ton of them. They far more in depth, and outweigh what you're likely to hear here.
But to another poster's point, if you fill your pan up to just below (but not quite covering) the flash hole, (with Null-B) that's likely to provide the fastest flash transfer between the pan and the main charge.
But to another poster's point, if you fill your pan up to just below (but not quite covering) the flash hole, (with Null-B) that's likely to provide the fastest flash transfer between the pan and the main charge.
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A properly placed vent hole will not be covered by the priming powder, even when the pan is full.
It makes no difference, then, if the pan is level full of primer. It may even be faster, because the priming powder ignites closer to the vent. The main charge will be set off before all the powder in the pan burns away, so the amount of powder in the pan has little to do with the speed of main powder ignition.
It may SEEM like the gun fires faster with less prime, but tests show that is not the case.
For targets, I use less prime. For hunting, I use more.
I have a video, somewhere, of me shooting a musket with just a drilled vent hole, that seems to go off instantly. I'll see if I can find it.
It makes no difference, then, if the pan is level full of primer. It may even be faster, because the priming powder ignites closer to the vent. The main charge will be set off before all the powder in the pan burns away, so the amount of powder in the pan has little to do with the speed of main powder ignition.
It may SEEM like the gun fires faster with less prime, but tests show that is not the case.
For targets, I use less prime. For hunting, I use more.
I have a video, somewhere, of me shooting a musket with just a drilled vent hole, that seems to go off instantly. I'll see if I can find it.
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yep, looked pretty instant from here.
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If you want to give folks a real Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot moment...a well turned inverted flintlock will do it. Just don't have one of moi doing it. Just when you get one of the "flintlocks only work now and then" in the crowd, do this two or three times! Boogidy-boogidy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEbPcur2dE4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEbPcur2dE4
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Walks with fire
54 Cal.
Which ignites faster?
Using a quill in the vent at loading or powder kissing the pan?
I have always felt it was faster to have nothing but air between the barrel charge and the pan charge so that the pan igniting jumps to the barrel charge rather than a fuse effect.
Using a quill in the vent at loading or powder kissing the pan?
I have always felt it was faster to have nothing but air between the barrel charge and the pan charge so that the pan igniting jumps to the barrel charge rather than a fuse effect.
Thanks guys! Those look like they are pretty fast. I'm used to fast lock times with a caplock, but I would like to get a 40cal flintlock in the near future. I just don't want to spend the money on a good flintlock and wished I would have stuck with a caplock. :idunno:
For me a really sharp flint makes all the difference in how fast my lock is. A poor sparker will almost always be slow going off.
My .45 flint squirrel LR has a "home made" TH liner and is quite fast, but like all flintlocks isn't quite as fast as a caplock. But....so what.
This LR is impervious to the amount and location of the prime {4f}and if the flint is sharp, always fires.
Started to use Chambers' "White Lightning" TH liners on all the new builds and when function firing the first build w/ a WL, was disappointed w/ the ignition speed.....it was too fast and took some of the enjoyment out of shooting a flintlock.....anyways for me.
Did some experimenting w/ the WL and found that it too was impervious to the amount and location of the prime. The dia. of the TH was .067 {#51 drill}and it didn't need any "monkeying" around w/ tooth picks or TH picks. Same as w/ my "home made" liner.
When hunting w/ the .45 squirrel LR, the amount and location of the primr varies due to an inaccurate primer and sometimes I brush off the excess w/ my finger so the frizzen will fully close and at other times there's an amount that looks "skimpy" , but both situations and anything in between always ignites the main charge.
Wars were fought w/ flintlocks and people depended on them for survival and food and I can't believe that the flintlock guns of that era were as unreliable and finicky as some are today......Fred
This LR is impervious to the amount and location of the prime {4f}and if the flint is sharp, always fires.
Started to use Chambers' "White Lightning" TH liners on all the new builds and when function firing the first build w/ a WL, was disappointed w/ the ignition speed.....it was too fast and took some of the enjoyment out of shooting a flintlock.....anyways for me.
Did some experimenting w/ the WL and found that it too was impervious to the amount and location of the prime. The dia. of the TH was .067 {#51 drill}and it didn't need any "monkeying" around w/ tooth picks or TH picks. Same as w/ my "home made" liner.
When hunting w/ the .45 squirrel LR, the amount and location of the primr varies due to an inaccurate primer and sometimes I brush off the excess w/ my finger so the frizzen will fully close and at other times there's an amount that looks "skimpy" , but both situations and anything in between always ignites the main charge.
Wars were fought w/ flintlocks and people depended on them for survival and food and I can't believe that the flintlock guns of that era were as unreliable and finicky as some are today......Fred
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I agree.. :thumbsup:Eric Krewson said:
I've been shooting flinters since '76. Mostly all I shoot, as I keep suppository guns just for self defense. Shooting them is a chore, just to keep in practice. My flinters feel instant to me. However when I give my gun to a new shooter they all talk about the slight delay. Some of instant flint shooting is knowing your gun. Soon any slowness disappears.
Here's a video I did when I first got my TVM Southern Mountain rifle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBwQ0nJ6Wrw
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This is a vid I took of my buddy shooting my .58
This gun uses a chambers Dale Johnson lock, white lightning vent liner and good sharp flint.
Vent is aligned perfectly splitting the top edge of the pan......primed with Swiss 4F.
All of my guns go off like this.
Just fill the pan level and let er' rip....I've never subscribed to the theories of banking away or using less prime etc. I want as much priming powder surface area and as close to the vent as possible. Don't really care if the prime trickles into the vent....fill it and forget it.
A fast lock, good clean vent, and a sharp flint and that's what I get everytime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rDkN6mFW2Q
This gun uses a chambers Dale Johnson lock, white lightning vent liner and good sharp flint.
Vent is aligned perfectly splitting the top edge of the pan......primed with Swiss 4F.
All of my guns go off like this.
Just fill the pan level and let er' rip....I've never subscribed to the theories of banking away or using less prime etc. I want as much priming powder surface area and as close to the vent as possible. Don't really care if the prime trickles into the vent....fill it and forget it.
A fast lock, good clean vent, and a sharp flint and that's what I get everytime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rDkN6mFW2Q
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A couple of videos of production guns, heavily modified to shoot. The rifle is an old Italian "Kentucky", lock redone with Siler parts; hammer, frizzen, mainspring, enlarged pan, touch hole liner.
https://vimeo.com/235771398#t=7s
The pistol is an early Pederosoli Harper Ferry 1805 with replaced hammer on a Russ Hamm lock. Touch hole liner.
https://vimeo.com/235772008
https://vimeo.com/235771398#t=7s
The pistol is an early Pederosoli Harper Ferry 1805 with replaced hammer on a Russ Hamm lock. Touch hole liner.
https://vimeo.com/235772008
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I've found fast ignition is a result of many things mentioned. Sharp flint, tapered flash in barrel or liner, powder grains near touch hole opening and smaller priming charges. In reality, what ignites the main charge is the intense incandescent heat from the priming charge flash. There's a lot of debate about whether picking the main charge or using a quill helps or not, but as long as the hole is kept clear and the powder is near the opening it's usually fairly instantaneous. Many new flint lock shooters are reacting to having a nice shiny BOOM going off 4 inches from their nose! There has to be, just by physics, some lag time but with practice you learn to look through the sights and ignore the BOOM and the slight delay...even if only a fraction of a second. :wink:
The one caveat to bear in mind about Pletch's great videos is that the one he uses to test how much the depth or location of powder in the pan can influence how quickly a lock fires, is done by poking a red hot wire down through the load to the bottom of the pan all at once.Col. Batguano said:
That is NOT how your lock initiates ignition. It throws sparks on TOP of your load instead of through all levels of it at once. Pletch did that in an attempt to eliminate the variation of a new-flint versus a well used flint influencing the results. I think he went too far the opposite way with it. There are no flintlocks that initiate ignition in the that manner.
This is not the only video he has done though and with the extremely high speed instruments that he uses to measure his tests, the results he gets give you some great insight as to what is happening when you pull that trigger.
Twisted_1in66 :thumbsup:
Dan
