Flint questions LOTS...

[Big Sky Trapper]

My misses gave me a Traditions kentucky flinter for a retirment gift friday night. A beauty to me (both the gun and my misses!!) 50 cal, shoots wonderfully. 3 inches or so at 75 yards. im really liking the flint lock action more than my cap lock each day...(Those little tiny caps are a bugger for me to put on haha)

A few ??? about flinters...

1. It didnt come with flints so I purchased the only locally ones and they are for a TCA gun, 5/8 x 1/2 double cut. They seem to work ok, but nearly impossible to keep tight in the hammer. In the last page of the TOW catalog a whole slew of differant sizes there...any recomendations on whats the correct size for this gun???

should I keep some kind of saftey leash on the turn screw to keep it from backing off??

Now for my percussion rifle I allways carry a few small parts, spare nipple, clean out screw, little odds and ends. Any recomendations for spares for a flinter to carry??

Now when you hunters carry your flint guns do you keep the pan cahrged with the frizzen closed on on a charge with the hammer on "half cock" or wait till your just ready to fire then charge your pan.

Many thanks for your time in advance.

BIG SKY TRAPPER

 

[rich pierce]

For keeping the flint in the cock are you using a leather washer? Make it a thicker one with some "give". That should help the grip. Cut flints are flat and don't have much to grab on. You might superglue some fine sand to the top and bottom gripping surface if you like to play around with stuff.

Most everyone primes once they are in the field and trust their half cock notch.

I carry extra flints, a screwdriver to change them and a small vent pick and pan brush. I bet this is going to make you a lifetime flintlock shooter!

 

[Kentuckywindage]

I own a traditions kentucky flintlock.
#1 go to[url] www.cainsoutdoor.com[/url] and order a dozen Tom Fuller Flints in 5/8"

#2, take a roundball and pound it flat and shape/trim it to your flint. I have had ZERO luck with leather in my traditions and cva. The lead i have excellent sparks when i wrap the flint in lead.

I shoot 110 grains FFFg goex and a .490 Speer roundball, .015 Bore butter patch, and it will hold a solid 1 1/2" group @ 100 yards. Hurts my shoulder like heck but i want the tightest groups i can get out of the rifle.

I think you'll have some excellent sparks once you swap on a T.F flint and wrap it in leather.

 

[Harddog]

The safe way to carry your gun at half cock in the field is to have a frizzen stall on the frizzen. A frizzen stall is a leather glove like cover that fits over your frizzen and prevents the flint from striking the frizzen even if it falls off the half cock notch. The frizzen stall has a leather wang or cord that is connected to the frizzen stall on one end and usually tied to the trigger guard on the other end. When one needs to shoot it is easy to pull the frizzen stall off the frizzen at the same time as you are pulling the cock to full cock. Simply pull the frizzen stall off the frizzen and let it hang down on the cord.

Randy Hedden

 

[Kentuckywindage]

What do you do when this happens when the rifle is on half cock and doesnt allow the frizzen to drop back into place? I normally keep my rifle primed while walking/hunting and this kind of makes me want to stay unprimed this season. Not to rob your thread or anything but i figured we may both run into the same problem.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Go to Dixie GW, or TOTW catalogs, and order a " Hawken Flint tool" It has a screwdriver blade on one side, a vent pick wire( too small but can be used) a hole through it so you can tie with a leather thong to the strap on your bag and put the tool in the bag, where it is easily retrieved. The back can be used with a piece of flint to start fires. I do carry a patch jag, and a ball puller jag in my bag, and a small leather " wallet " that carried extra flints, and lead for wrapping the flint. That goes into the bottom of my bag. I have a short starter, and adjustable powder measure, and a couple of tins to hold cleaning patches, lubed, pre-cut patches, and a ball bag to carry extra round ball. To keep the round ball from corroding between shoot, I put a couple of lubed patches in the bag with the balls. It seems to work keeping the lead from oxidizing. If you are going to cut your patches at the muzzle, then carry extra patching rolled up in your bag. I carry a small bottle of moose milk, for cleaning in the field, and a screwdriver to use in removing or tightening the lock screws. The rest of the tools, including my range rod, remain in the car, the tools in my range box, so that if I have to make any major repair, I can do it at my car, and not have to drive all the way back home.

 

[appaloosabob]

Hi there
For Kentucky Windage:
Your flint is too long. I had the same problem with my Pedersoli/Cabela's Kentucky and had to knap the flit shorter to let the frizzen close. I am new to the flint thing but this just seemed like the logical thing to do.
Oh BTW I wrap in lead and it works great! :thumbsup:

take care

 

[FlintlockJonny]

I have a traditions as well...and leather works wonderfully, just tighten her up good!

 

[Twisted_1in66]

Hey Kentuckywindage,

Looks like you have two problems, one of which is easy to fix. Firts, your "half-cock" position seems to be a bit farther forward than I'm used to seeing, and second your flint is not seated far enough back in the jaws.

I looks like you're using lead to hold the flint and it looks like the lead wrap is pretty thick. An easy thing to do with either lead or leather is cut a V shaped notch in the middle of the back at the fold, so you can move the flint right back against the jaw screw. If you opened the leather or lead out straight it would look like a diamond cut in the middle of the piece. This is easy to do and will probably solve the problem on the first try. If not, you probably made the V cut too narrow (been there, done that).

As you can see by your pictures, your flint should never contact your hammer stall at half-cock, or it will hold open your pan and you will lose your prime.

Good Luck!
Twisted_1in66 :thumbsup:

 

[jethro224]

What do you do when this happens when the rifle is on half cock and doesnt allow the frizzen to drop back into place? I normally keep my rifle primed while walking/hunting and this kind of makes me want to stay unprimed this season. Not to rob your thread or anything but i figured we may both run into the same problem.

You might have to cut a notch out of your lead wrap so it will fit around the screw and let your flint sit back farther. The flint should have just a small gap, like maybe a business card between it and the frizzen stall (or even just touching it) at half-cock with the frizzen down. You definitely don't want the pan held open at half-cock.
The flint should hit the frizzen 2/3 or so up toward the top. Some locks (like my GPR) like the flint turned bevel down too.
Leather always worked for me. Never tried lead. Heard there's pros & cons... :hmm:

 

[Twisted_1in66]

Hey Big Sky Trapper,

I'd recommend against using those flints. They are wider than the frizzen (hammer) and if you center it on the frizzen, you may be smashing the inside edge of the flint into your barrel, which will scar up your barrel in a very short amount of time. If your flint is too wide, be sure the excess width hangs out the side opposite the barrel.

I have a couple of rifles. One is a Traditions PA Longrifle. My Traditions longrifle loves the 5/8" Tom Fuller Black English flints. The Traditions lock is made for the 5/8" wide flints. You can get them in the standard 5/8" wide by 3/4" long size from most good flintlock shops or sites. Track of the Wolf (TOW) also sells the 5/8" square ones if you constantly find you're having trouble seating the flint back far enough in the jaws (see Kentucky Windage's pictures).

You can use either a leather or a lead wrap around your flint for the jaws to hold onto, and if you feel like reading a few hours worth of comments, dissertations, and disagreements, do a search on leather vs lead. In any case, you need to wrap something around the flint to hold it securely in the jaws. If the flint is too far forward, cut a notch in the back of the wrap so you can butt the flint right up against the jaw screw.

Another thing that you'll find makes a big difference is the angle that the edge of the flint strikes the frizzen. The magic angle is 55°-60°. If the flint hits at this angle, it slices pieces of hot steel as sparks off the frizzen and is virtually self-knapping, so your edge is always sharp.

If the angle to too straight at the frizzen, it will crush the edge of the flint and you will constantly be knapping it. If the angle is too far forward, it will strike the frizzen with the top of the flint and break a big chunk off the front of the frizzen. So, bevel up or bevel down, slide the flint forward or slide it back, do anything you need to do to get that magic 55°-60° angle.

Hope this helps,
Twisted_1in66 :thumbsup:

 

[Kentuckywindage]

Well i tried the V cut and it lowered it a lot but no where near what i need. Even when i had the arkansas flints it would hold it open a bit. Its ok though. I'll be hunting in an area where i'll be sitting for some time. I'll just keep the hammer pulled back and the frizzen stall on the frizzen held with possibly a rubber band. Im just happy that i now fixed my flint problem and she sparks purdy.

 

[FlintlockJonny]

IMHO, I would make sure, even if you are fine with the setup, that you have everything safe!!!! That is the number one priority. You should be able to half-cock and have a small gap...like a slice of paper or two as stated before. Keep looking for shorter flints and if you can't find any shorties, do what I did for my pistol...bust one in half. It worked great!

 

[Big Sky Trapper]

Good dicussion and great answers. I hadnt thought of the frizzen cover for saftey, Ill be building one of those. I did order some TF flints, and a few from TOW, Plus the knapping tool. This one is very fast becomming my fav rifle.

Thanks

Big Sky Trapper