flint lock gun?

[mainiac]

Having always been a cap gun guy, I dont know jack about flinters. How many shots can be fired with a flint, before its gone? Am trying to determine if the flint is cheaper than a cap gun? Is all flints the same, or should a person look for a certain kind?

 

[flintlock75]

Good Question,
My trade gun gets 40-50 shots from a flint.
Brown Bess gets 20-30 shots.
Jaeger rifle eats flint 15-25 shots.
I only use English flints in my guns, they have given the best performance for me than any others.
Each gun is different, alot seems to depend on the hardness of the frizen, the angle of contact, and the quaulity of the flint.
Flints are running about $16.50 a dozen depending on size. thats $1.38 ea. I just spent $4.00 for a tin of 100 caps. Im not sure how much you will actually save, it all depends on how many shots your flint lasts. Flints can be re-sharpend with a diamond cutting wheel, once a cap fires its gone. I hope this answers your question.

 

[roundball]

A lot of folks consider Tom Fuller's Black English Flints (from England) the best...and flint life can depend a lot of the particular lock...ie: a 3/4" flint might average 50 shots each in one lock, and 75 in another...that sort of thing.

A flint might cost $1.50 and if you got 75 shots that would be 2 cents each...vs. 100 caps for $3.00...just really isn't a cost issue to make a Flintlock vs. Caplock decision over...

 

[Rancocas]

I don't order any special flints. I just pick mine out of a bin at the various trade fairs or wherever I come across them. I choose the ones that are well shaped and fit the flintlock that I intend it for. I usually pay from .75 to $1.25 apiece for them.
I get anywhere from 10 to 30 shots per flint. Sometimes I can reknap them and get a few shots more.
(I have an original old one, broken, that I found on the Natchez Trace a few years ago. Wish I knew who dropped it.)

 

[Robert Egler]

I don't pay for flints at all anymore. Have a couple hundred pounds of flint that cost me nothing but the exercise to collect it, and I make my own. I'm certainly not Tom Fuller, and they aren't always pretty (ok, they’re almost never pretty, actually), but they work. Get usually between 10 and 30 shots from those that work. Maybe 8 out of 10 work, some just won’t spark, but since they're free that's not a problem.

Just takes a good supply of flint and a lot of practice to be able to knap your own. Lots of waste at first, but like most things you get better with lots of practice.

If you are going to have to buy raw flint, it would be cheaper to just buy the finished gunflints, otherwise you’ll end up with a lot of expensive flint chards and 2 or 3 usable gunflints when you start making your own. :wink:

 

[Bob Gular]

I just ordered some grey flint/chert nodules from a gal in Texas on Ebay. 'Bout fifteen pounds of good sized chunks for just over twenty-six dollars delivered. She has a few more listed. Search Texas flints chert. I'll see how they work and post the results. At the price of flints today, this may be the way to go. Film at eleven.