Flint mounting- spaul up or spaul down?

[one_lucky_monkey]

Hi Folks,

I am going out this sunday to fire up my new Brown Bess and am interested in your opinion of which is better when mounting a flint in the Bess.

Spaul up or spaul down, and why?

Thanks.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Hi Folks,

I am going out this sunday to fire up my new Brown Bess and am interested in your opinion of which is better when mounting a flint in the Bess.

Spaul up or spaul down, and why?

Thanks.

Which ever works best for you.

 

[redneck]

mine is by petrosoli i use it with it down. what flints r u using

 

[ZUG]

Each flint has it's own "sweet position" to give the best/most spark - you will have to experiment to find it.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I flip mine every 30 shots or so to get more even wear. Works both ways.

 

[Alden]

I will agree it depends mostly on the position of the frizzen the flint strikes. You want enough surface being scraped so enough burning steel ignites that bad girl. I ensure at least half the face is scraped.

As for Stumpkiller's approach: I never heard that! Wonder if it works. The flint striking position can be adjusted at the cock. I use leather myself. Not a bad idea Stump. Self knapping flints...

 

[MSW]

I flip mine every 30 shots or so to get more even wear. Works both ways.

what a cool idea ... how come nobody ever suggested that to me? Why am i always the last to find out the cool stuff?? It's not fair!!

(i'm having a pity party here)

anyway, cool suggestion ... gotta try that trick..

 

[Stumpkiller]

I break off a twig and put it in the leather behind the flint to adjust the gap for a good strike.

"Cheap" I believe is the term.

 

[Billnpatti]

Bevel up or bevel down? This has been a point of contention for probably as long as there have been flintlocks. Some like it one way and some like it the other. Sometimes it's a function of the lock, sometimes it's a function of the flint and sometimes it's a function of personal preference. Maybe its a function of the various combinations and permutations of all of these. I guess if I were to express an opinion, I'd say to first consider how the flint strikes your frizzen. It needs to make a good scrape down the frizzen to generate good sparks. What you need to do is to put your flint in your lock and then ease it down on your frizzen to see how and where it strikes it. If it strikes it about the upper third and in such a way that the frizzen flips open, it is time to give it a try by snapping it with the gun unloaded and unprimed. Look at the sparks that are generated. If it sparks nicely and operates smoothly, you are golden.

I've never tried flipping my flint every 30 or so shots but it makes sense. Give it a try. Much of making your particular rifle a good, accurate and reliable shooter is through experimentation. Go forth and discover. :thumbsup:

 

[colmoultrie]

Is that a hole for a trigger lock behind your trigger in the photo or decorative work?

Forgive me; I'm on an iPod at the moment... Just wondering if that were some wacky NY regulation.

 

[Alden]

That's to tie the string through the first time you actually test fire it.

:grin:

Stump, I note your jaw is bottomed out in BOTH your pics...

 

[Stumpkiller]

Ornamental - not a trigger lock.

Sorry, but I am of the opinion that a trigger lock is like a lock on a fire extinguisher. I don't own one.

Stump, I note your jaw is bottomed out in BOTH your pics...

Nope. It pivots on that step but isn't bottomed out until the top-jaw screw touches the neck of the cock.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Contention?
No contention at all.
Do wat works.
Enuf said.

 

[stone knife]

I break off a twig and put it in the leather behind the flint to adjust the gap for a good strike.

"Cheap" I believe is the term.

I tried your twig behind a shorter flint and it worked perfectly, now I'm getting more shots from each flint.

 

[Joel/Calgary]

I break off a twig and put it in the leather behind the flint to adjust the gap for a good strike.

"Cheap" I believe is the term.

I tried your twig behind a shorter flint and it worked perfectly, now I'm getting more shots from each flint.

For what it's worth, I have never found the need for a prop behind the flint. This is using leather for a pad. Until the flint too short to hold stably, I just set the edge to be a hammer-stall's thickness off the face and make sure the top jaw is sufficiently snug and I have never had any slippage or noticeable diminishment of sparks. I have occasionally had the screw work/vibrate loose, but I suspect under-tightening was the underlying cause. As usual, one must find what works with his/her own weapons, supplies, and techniques.

Regards,
Joel

 

[Grandpa Ron]

The Siler lock in my rifle likes bevel down. My two trade guns with a Davis and an L&R like bevel up.

I try bevel down because it gives a longer frizzen scrape but on my trade guns the bevel up throws the sparks directly into the center of the pan.

I also use a twig, match stick or bamboo skewer to push the flint as far forwards as possible and still get a good solid bite in the jaws.

You have to try it and see. Some locks can be flint eaters if the flint is not mounted properly.

Good luck and keep us posted

 

[Ike Godsey]

on all of my rock-locks i use the flints like shown in the pic here:

reason for that is that the flint needs to contact the frizzen on a very high point to make sure the flint has contact to at least 4/5 of the frizzen making good sparks. (see the red line, thats the point of impact on the frizzen)

it always worked great for me.

someone here mentioned, some locks are true flint eaters. true. i have one of this locks - a 1717 french musket lock - so i changed the frizzen spring and installed a spring from Pedersolis Brown Bess (see pic an compare to the one above).

the longer legs of the frizzen spring gives a smoother move of the spring and so a smoother way the frizzen opens. sparks very well right now and double the lifetime of my flints.

ike

 

[one_lucky_monkey]

Thanks guys,

I'm using English flints and started out with spaul up and it worked fine for 8 shots and had to re-knap it after two consecutive no fires, then it worked fine again for several more fires. I think I will try Stumpkillers suggestion of rotating every so-many shots.

My Bess worked great, on a bench rest for first three shots and got a six inch group about six inches high and to the right at 25 yards, after that shot freehand and started was shooting low and then realized that I was dropping the muzzle in anticipation(she's got a pretty good whallop at 75 grains, I can't imagine why someone would load one with 120 grains like I have heard about.)
All in all not bad for the first time I shot her. :grin:

 

[pargent]

They shoot much flatter out to 75 or 100 yds with a heavy load .Just make sure that your flint isn't becoming a little loose after a few shots, it only takes a little to make ignition suspect .

 

[sumoj275]

The more I read and see your BB's the more I am getting the itch for one. Something about the size of that ball, the history of the gun, and the usefulness of it in the field.