Flash holes on original rifles

[birddog]

I am doing some research before beginning a longrifle project. I have many questions in general, but one area in particular is nagging me at the moment.

Were the flash holes on original flintlock rifles always simply a small hole drilled through the barrel? Or did the gunmaker somehow make a "funnel" (for lack of a better term) similar to the removable flash plugs seen on more modern muzzleloaders on the market today?

If the original had a flared opening inside the barrel, how was this accomplished? Do you know the standard size of the original flasholes?

Any insights or thoughts on how builders do this today would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[tg]

The liner as we know it was used but not to any great extent as I understand it, the common way of fixing a burned out touch hole was to cut off and re-breach the barrel and drill a new hole, some of the student of the old guns feel many of the liners on originals were installed during the 20th century when the rebirth of the ML sport rekindled interest in the old guns. there was a tool that allowed the hole to be coned from the inside nut one has not been found on this side of the Atlantic so know one knows if it was used here or not, most of the learned folks I have seen post on this subject seem to think that the holes were a lot bigger than we use today from 5/32-7/64 with a slight cone on the lock side. Many have went to the bigger holes and reported results comparable with the finest liners made today
I am going to enlarge the holes on a couple of my liners to see how the bigger hole works.This topic gets kicked around quite a bit over on the Blue heron and Trekker forums.

 

[birddog]

Thanks 'tg.

So do you feel that most of the original rifles had a straight hole or one that was slightly coned on the lock side, and these holes were larger than what is used today?

Are most rifles produced today made with a liner, or are there some that are simply drilling the hole?

I will try and find the other forums also.

 

[2172]

the very few old guns I've had a chance to look over were just larger-than-we-are-used-to holes..straight in. I've seen one fired at our club where the touch hole pick was an ice pick..that big....not a shooter to stand to the right of..
how can i find the blue heron and the other board you mentioned? Hank

 

[musketman]

I have an old, American made .69 caliber flintlock musket that was made in 1838.

Anywho, It has nothing more than a hole drilled through the side of the barrel, as viewed from the outside.

My Brown Bess has a simple hole drilled through the barrel too.

 

[tg]

Below is the addy of the Trekkers website it will have a link to the forum and a link to the Blue Heron Merchentile which will have a link to the Blue Heron forum, and it does seem that most of todays builders use liners and even though not historically common it is generally accepted, Caywood though will not use them, the use of liners is much like the use of primo curly maple on French and English trade guns, widely used today virtually non existant in the 18th cent.The two forums listed have some folks who have handled and even owned some of the guns in Schumways books, so they are looking to the originals for how things were done not towards modern builders interpretation. I think the modern supped up liners are a bit like using shotshell primers on caplocks..most of my guns have them but I would not hesitate to go with a plain hole a bit larger and coned a bit on the outside on any future project. I guess it comes down to whether one has a totaly 18th century mindset or wants to drift forward in time and compromise a bit.


http://www.historicaltrekking.com/