Flinting in the wind

[jtmattison]

I went shooting this morning and there was a steady wind about 20mph.
I had about six misfires and I blame the wind for blowing my priming fire away from the touchhole.
The other day when it was calm I had zero misfires.
Also today I was shooting with the touchhole drilled out to 5/64. Before it was 1/16.
Have you all found wind to be a problem or am I just doing something wrong?

Huntin

 

I guess my question would be, if you had zero misfires with the hole drilled to 1/16", why did you drill it out further to 5/64"?

Regardless... I can see wind causing problems... the only way to know for sure is go out and shoot again when it's not windy. If you have zero misfires again, you know it was the wind. If you still have misfires, then you know it's you. :redthumb:

 

[roundball]

I went shooting this morning and there was a steady wind about 20mph.
I had about six misfires and I blame the wind for blowing my priming fire away from the touchhole.
The other day when it was calm I had zero misfires.
Also today I was shooting with the touchhole drilled out to 5/64. Before it was 1/16.
Have you all found wind to be a problem or am I just doing something wrong?

Huntin

From you're explanation, you got pan flash OK so that means the powder didn't get blown out of the pan while priming.

I guess anything is possible, but down at that low pan level, the flare from gunpowder is awfully strong and right there at the vent...I'd be surprised if wind could get down in there and turn that flare so sharply it would be blocked from the vent...dunno...maybe others have had that happen
::

 

[jtmattison]

I drilled it to 5/64 because some folks on here suggested it.
I was experimenting. I have new vent liners that are 1/16.

My priming charge was firing like it should but I still had misfires when the wind was gusting.

I'll be shooting again tomorrow and Sunday. We'll see what the weather brings. Hopefully it will be calm so I can blame the wind for today's misfires.

Huntin

 

[Stumpkiller]

You may benefit from a flashguard. Ted Cash has fancy ones. Mine is a piece of copper pipe sawn and beaten into submission.

Are you using FFFFg? I never had my FFg priming "blown out", but I usually hunt in the woods where the wind is calmer. Stand on the lee side of a tree.

 

[musketman]

I went shooting this morning and there was a steady wind about 20mph.
I had about six misfires and I blame the wind for blowing my priming fire away from the touchhole.

Turn around 180 degrees and the wind will blow the powder towards the touchhole... :winking:

I personally like the wind at my back, this blows the smoke away from my poor, asthma wrenched lungs...

 

[musketman]

Stand on the lee side of a tree.

How do you know what the side of the tree is named??? :winking: :haha:

 

[jtmattison]

Stump,
I'm priming with 3f.

MM,
If I turned around I'd be shooting at the range house ::
I don't think the rangemaster would like that.

Huntin

 

[TANSTAAFL]

A good rocklock (even cheap ones can be tuned to do so) should fire upside down.

 

[cayugad]

I did notice the other day shooting in the wind that when I was loading the pan a little of the powder from the small priming flask, I think blew out, but actually the ignition was really fast.

Now that it was mentioned, I got to try that upside down thing!! Has anyone on this forum actually done it and made it work or is this a theory type statement?

 

[sniper68]

I was just shootin a couple of weeks ago and the wind was 15-20 mph gusting to 35 mph. . No promblemo. With ingnition that is. Even the groups were pretty tight, just kinda off center. Just make sure you don't to much powder in the pan, that could be a factor in a heavy wind, maybe? :m2c: :hmm:

 

[Zonie]

Interestingly enough, wind was one of the things I have repeatedly seen mentioned in the old books when the authors were talking about the superiority of Precussion rifles.

(quit throwing things! I'm just repeating what they said.)

Wind, especially on the Plains, seemed to cause misfires for the hunters who carried flintlocks.
If I can believe what was written, I guess that putting up with wind, and it's effects on priming just goes along with the challenge of shooting the guns our forefathers used. ::

 

[Greg Walden]

Now that it was mentioned, I got to try that upside down thing!! Has anyone on this forum actually done it and made it work or is this a theory type statement?

Yeah, I did it ... regular large Siler lock ... it worked like a charm (just as fast as rightside up) but it burnt the heck out of my left arm while holding it!

(no foolin', it really worked, twice)

Greg

 

Yeah, I did it ... but it burnt the heck out of my left arm while holding it!

(no foolin', it really worked, twice)

Greg

What? didn't you burn it bad enough the first time? :shake: :youcrazy:

Woody

 

[ol vern]

If your pan powder was going off,the problem most likely is the touch hole was plugged.
. Try picking the vent to bring a few grains of powder from the barrel into the priming pan.

Works for me


:results:

 

[jim gray]

I've done it, too. I had a heavy leather jacket on though. No powder burns. I also fired my son's Traditions flipped over lock side down and no powder in the pan. It went off on the second try.

 

up side down works great as seen with and under hammer designd flintlock

 

I did notice the other day shooting in the wind that when I was loading the pan a little of the powder from the small priming flask, I think blew out, but actually the ignition was really fast.

Now that it was mentioned, I got to try that upside down thing!! Has anyone on this forum actually done it and made it work or is this a theory type statement?

Years ago, at the Annual Easter Rendezvous in Rangely Colo.,.... one of the "events" was shoot'n at a 25 yard gong while hold'n yore flinter upside-down and use'n the sights!! (you'd be surprised at the number of "low hits" until ya practiced a while!)

Yes,... a "well tuned" flintlock can be fired reliably "upside-down"!! :thumbsup: ::

YMHS
rollingb

 

[WV-Rocklock]

I have only been shooting flint for a short while,But from reading and talking to folks,I was under the asumption that they had to shoot upside down if they were tuned right. I have a large and small Siler and after some tweeking they both will. I like to see the looks on peoples faces when they see it. I won $5 from my brother this summer that way!

 

[musketman]

Now that it was mentioned, I got to try that upside down thing!! Has anyone on this forum actually done it and made it work or is this a theory type statement?

Remember, black powder explodes in all directions at once, we see it puff up in our priming pans because the pan itself restricts it from blowing down, but it does push against it as it goes off...

So when a flintlock is inverted, the powder still blows upwards as normal, and this is where the touchhole is located on an upside down flintlock...

The frizzen opening and ignition is too fast for gravity to dump out your inverted priming powder...

Try it with just priming powder and a unloaded gun, see for yourself if it works...

The upside down thing works for percussion guns too... :winking: :crackup: