Flintlock problem

[VEARL]

Have seen a problem with my small Siler lock.
When I fire the rifle, the cock comes forward as usual, and strikes the frizzen. However the frizzen doesn't open up all the way. The bottom edge of the frizzen and the flint are touching one another.
The flint is a 5/8 by 5/8 English flint. Showers are great but by the frizzen not opening fully, it seems to cover the pan somewhat. Have had several misfires possibly due to the frizzen not opening fully and allowing all of the sparks to strike the pan.
Any help in regards to correcting the frizzen is greatly received.
Vearl

 

[Many Klatch]

Your frizzen is bouncing back after the flint has reached the bottom of its stroke. They will sometimes do that if you look at slow motion videos. It shouldn't affect your ignition though. What sized touch hole do you have?

Many Klatch

 

[roundball]

Could be a number of things of course, but unless you've suddenly developed some mechanical problem with the lock, I'd suspect the little 5/8" flints are to short...they're very small to begin with and any wear / knapping, etc shortens them even more.
T/C recommended 5/8" flints when I first got into Flintlocks, had that problem, went to the next larger 3/4" W x 7/8" L flint and never had the problem again.
If you haven't already done so, one easy thing to check is this...if you normally start your flints "bevel up", try flipping that same flint over so it'll impact the frizzen higher and see if that makes a difference.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Show us a picture of your lock at half cock with flint in place and frizzen closed. More better, two pictures, one with bevel up, another bevel down. The flint should not touch the frizzen face and should be about 1/4" down from the top.

 

[nchawkeye]

I have a small Siler as well and the frizzen will sometimes bounce back, I suspect this is what is going on...Put your finger on the barrel in front of the frizzen and pull the trigger, if it is bouncing back you will feel the frizzen hit your finger...

 

[Toomuch51]

Must concur with Rifleman, With frizzen closed and lock at halfcock position the flint should be all but touching the face of the frizzen about 1/2 to 3/4 up the face.
One other issue would be spring tension at the frizzen spring. This can be addressed by carefully honing the tail of the pan cover where it contacts the spring.

Toomuch
--------
Shoot Flint

 

[Billnpatti]

I'm going to make a guess here just on the information that you have posted and say that your flint may be too long for your lock. Try a shorter flint and see if that solves your problem.

 

[M. De Land]

Yeah, that was kind of what I was thinking also Bill. I had a lock doing that for awhile. It was jamming against the frizzen at the bottom and would not full stroke.
I think the fix was annealing and reshaping the frizzen spring on mine.
Had to tweek so many things on that lock I kind of forget just what were all the cause and effect changes.I also changed the cock serpentine angle.Both helped and stopped the frizzen jamb at the bottom of the cock stroke. Mike D.

 

[nwtradegun]

try putting a spacer behind the flint . stiff leather or a pc. of rolled up sheet leather to space flint closer to frizzen. this should tell you if flint is to short.

 

[roundball]

I'm going to make a guess here just on the information that you have posted and say that your flint may be too long for your lock. Try a shorter flint and see if that solves your problem.

Try a shorter flint? His post says: "...frizzen not opening fully..."

He's already using a tiny 5/8" flint...I don't understand how using an even shorter one would make the frizzen start opening all the way...maybe I don't understand
:hmm:

 

[FishDFly]

Why not just move the flint further out in the jaws?

 

[Arrowstorm]

Flint should be barely touching frizzen at half cock. Bezel up or down, whichever way it takes to get the flint seated firmly in the jaws and as close to the top portion of the frizzen without touching, so that the flint will travel well along the face of the frizzen. It is highly unlikely that the frizzen is actually bouncing back after being struck. Use a piece of leather folded on the backside of the flint to get a little bit more of the flint towards the frizzen.

In my Traditions lock, if the flint bezel is facing upwards, it throws a good spark but doesn't push the frizzen fully open. Bezel facing down, it throws a great spark and opens the frizzen as it should.

 

[LRB]

A rebounding frizzen is a very common problem, and the first concern to be looked into when one believes it has not opened fully. This is often corrected simply by removing metal on bottom of the tail allowing the frizzen to move forward a bit more. If one determines that it is in fact not opening, and a longer flint is not the answer, then look into making the spring weaker. It can be thinned, made softer by a higher temper, or by heating and closing the V slightly, then re-heat treating. Also if actually not opening, the main spring may be too weak. In a lock that is working correctly, but the flint touches the frizzen at half cock, then the tumbler notch or frizzen size needs to be altered. The flint should not touch at half cock.

 

[VEARL]

I took a 50 cal RB and hammered it flat (really thin) Cut it to the shape of the lower cock jaw.
Slip it underneath the leather that held the frizzen in place. Turned the flint to a bevel up position. Works like a charm.
Don't know if it was the flint position change or the additional thickness under the flint, but I'm happy it is working now.
Now to get back to war with these tree rats.
Thanks everyone for your help.

 

[buzp]

I use 5/8x3/4 flints for my small siler lock and have no problems. You might want to try one of these before making adjustments to your lock.

 

[Kapow]

+ one. How I fixed my Siler. :thumbsup:

 

[don hepler]

I also would check the screw, that goes thru the frizzen, making sure it's not to tight. I put a dab of anti-seize grease on the frizzen spring where it cams open. The frizzen should flip open with the resistance of the spring, and not be bound by friction. I always leave my frizzen open when the rifle is stored to relieve the tension on the frizzen spring.