Faster ignition?

[brew]

Although I have been shooting percssion guns for many years I have recently purchased my first flintlock smoothbore and it is a blast to shoot however I am expieriencing delayed ingnitions. What can I do to minimize this delay?

 

[Rebel]

First off welcome to the world of finicky flinters. :: You might start by drilling the vent hole out to 1/16" or 5/64". Are you getting plenty of spark? What type of flint are you using? If it is a sawn flint, get rid of them and get some knapped Black English flints. You can order them from October Country or Track Of The Wolf. Where is the vent hole located in relation to the pan? It should be centered in the pan, and the center of the hole should be a the top edge of the pan. Use only about 1/3 pan of priming. These ideas should give you a place to start. Good luck and good shooting.

 

[Bushwhacker]

If you use too much powder in the pan it will "WICK" and cause slow iginition. ffffffffffffffffffffffttt boom :curse: most common cause of slow iginition. Be sure to use real black powder :redthumb:

 

[Big John]

Agree with the above replies,also a little trick, flick a couple of specks into your touchhole after picking. Maybe change to finer powder, from 2f to 3f. :thumbsup:

 

[musketman]

however I am expieriencing delayed ingnitions. What can I do to minimize this delay?

First off, it's a flintlock, even though some flintlocks are just as fast as percussion guns, it has a different geometry...

Be sure you are using real black powder as a main charge, flinters don't do well with Pyrodex or 777 down the tube...

All of the other advise will help out tremendously for increasing ignition time...

 

sometimes the flash hole is located to low and when you fill the pan you cover the hole or partially cover it.
I place my flash hole or the liner , so the hole is just at the top edge of the top of the pan but if yours is lower don

 

[brew]

This is all great advise. I will try your suggestions and let you know how it goes with "old smoothy".
Thanks.
Brew

 

[OTHERN]

There is one other bit of advice that may help. Most people when they mount the gun to their shoulder will roll the gun towards the body and then bring it up to the shoulder. If you do this with a flintlock you can cover the touch hole with the priming powder and cause slow ignition. If you watch, most precussion shooters will do this. An experienced flint shooter will roll the gun away from the body and then mount the gun to the shoulder. This insures that the priming powder stays on the outside edge of the pan where it belongs.

 

[Donny]

:winking:http://members.aol.com/illinewek/faqs/tuning.htm

 

[TARGUY]

donny read the articel,now im confused i always thought they were called vent picks. he calls them vent pricks :hmm:

 

[TARGUY]

pick or pricks
articel or article
i know i can't spell

 

[madstone]

Brew,
As others have shared the flintlock must not "fuse" through the touchhole. It should flash through. If it does this it is very nearly as fast as a cap gun? Try using small amounts of FFFFg and work up to a prime that is small enough it doesn't scorch you or others, nor blows off the frizzen yet provides a large enough flash to ignite the load.
I always filled the depression in the pan, or just a bit less, on strange locks. I also used to carry a small feather's quill in the touch hole to keep powder out of it. If small enough the quill will flatten enough to not spill the prime nestled in the pan. A raindrop or drip, though, will follow this quill right to the prime.
If anything usually the pan's load can be shifted slightly away from the touchhole.
Also previously said, the flashhole should be centered and should, I suppose, be conical on the inside. A straight tunnel, through the liner, will not allow the flash to reach the charge easily. I'd try this, then drill the hole out a tiny bit. Or better, get another liner and try it.

:m2c:

 

[vinnynj]

my smooth rifle use to be a little pokie becouse it had just a small hole in bbl so i just kept drillin it bigger till i got fast consistant ignition only problem was you would blow powder out the hole while loading if you 1/2 cocked the gun and closed frizen it would self prime which is good for hunting but bad for your health i finaly had a wight lightning touch hole liner put in and bingo fast as a cap lock and more dependable now if i get fip(flash in pan) it is a dull flint never had to pick touch hole just carey a pick for when i dry ball vinny in wet nj

 

[weirdjack]

now if i get fip(flash in pan) it is a dull flint never had to pick touch hole just carey a pick for when i dry ball vinny in wet nj

I am just curious....if you "get fip(flash in pan)", why would that indicate your flint is dull? Seems to me that a flash in the pan would indicate everything except a dull flint. After all, it is apparently sharp enough to ignite the pan charge, right? A dull flint is generally indicated by a lack of flash in the pan.
What do you do with the vent pick when you dryball? Use it to poke powder in the vent one grain at a time?
WJ

 

[Slowpoke]

I shoot a smoothrifle with a large Queen Anne lock. The larger the lock the slow the ingition time will be. That's why flintlock pistol locks are so quick. There's really nothing you can do about the speed, just remember to always have your priming powder below your touchhole. Another thing that I find challenging with these large locks is the "hammer shock". Big flint hitting a big frizzen sometimes causes your shots to be off course. Just remember to hold smoothbores tight and follow through your shot.

SP

 

[vinnynj]

jack dont know why but itl flas and not go bang tap the filnt a little and reprime and goes bang if it dont go bang i fill the pan to top and poke it into hole with pick and repet after pickin in 2nd pan full prime and let it go will have a delay but gets the ball out havent pulled a dry ball yet have pulled a ball stuck 1/2 way down bbl after shootin buck shot with a bad gas seal of hornet nest and the buck shot smeared or melted on inside of bbl resultin in a stuck ball and the end of my hunt