Flintlock vs Percussion

[meanmike8665]

I prefer percussion, because underhammer flint guns are real hard to come by.
I do own flint rifles and pistols, and underhammers.
Almost forgot, I also have a mule ear.
I like them all.

Michael

 

[Adui]

How can one debate what he likes?....I like flintlocks, percussion, rifles, smoothbores, doubles, pistols, revolvers, cannons and every odd thing in between...

Yup, thats me too. Though I only gots a couple caplocks and a cap revolver.. :hatsoff:

 

[azmntman]

My one flintlock is far from a custom well tuned machine. Its a traditions hawken style, could use a tuning but I dont know how. I do LOVE shooting it. That said I like flinter better though I own more than 20 caplocks. I know how to work on them a bit more than tuning a locks geometry etc. In my later years as I get more time I will likely be found with a flintlock. For now I shoot and LOVE my caplocks. It is certainly a combination of the challenge and of my historical interests being from Plymouth rock to the early 1800's. I do also LOVE the mountain man era.

This here peeing match is like ford/chevy. Fer gawds sake just drive :youcrazy: :surrender: :yakyak:

 

[Griz44Mag]

As long as zombies aren’t attacking me I trust my flinter fusils to do any job I ask ”˜em to.

If the zombies are trying to take over, I will not be using either of them. I will have rat-atat-tat with the large capacity thingys hanging under it...
But until then, I do prefer my caplocks, mostly because that's what I own right now. I will have a rock banger in the near future, and I am positive I will love it just as much as my other adopted smokers...

 

[Sunkmanitu Tanka]

I'll give a kick-start ... I was shooting all kind of things ... revolvers, percussion rifles, a yellow boy Winchester, even sinew backed bows... Hey I even learned to work a lariat ! Somehow I was not really one hundred procent happy any more with all that ... Maybe that was the reason I changed so many times from one gun to another... One day a shooting buddy dared me into trying a flintlock. I changed the lock on one of my percussion guns and never looked back again! Apart from the fact that I find a gun with a flintlock more aesthetically pleasing to the eye than the same gun with a percussion lock, I found a renewed interest in shooting and the use of a flintlock more challenging. I changed all my percussion guns into flintlocks, and would do so with my Yellow Boy if it would be possible (interesting thought ... :hmm: )... Your mileage may vary ... it is just my personal feeling on the subject. To each his own ! :hatsoff:

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Now, for all of you who insist on the issue of which is better and what you prefer?

EGAD MAN! That's like asking a devoted father which of his children he loves the most! :blah:

NONE of my rifles or smooth bores are the same with the difference being the ignition system, so not really a question that I can answer. each have their virtues and faults.

I love my Trudy, a .54 flinter with a 38" swamped barrel, as she's deadly accurate and I've taken all of my flintlock deer with her.

I love my Patience, as she's a .40 flinter and pops the heads of of squirrels and rabbits, and does fine on targets.

I love my Tack, because he's factory Dixie TN Rifle, with an after market L&R lock and is a great off-hand target rifle,..., but he's a bit heavy for all day hunting.

Shorty was my New Englander .54 caplock, which was a great wet-weather backup to Trudy, and was very handy in the woods in heavy brush. I bought a 12 gauge barrel for Shorty, and gave the whole set-up to my teenage son as a graduation gift. He's going to start BP deer hunting this fall.

My SxS caplock shotgun (no name) slays pheasants and squirrels, and is the only shotgun that I ever hit my limit when shooting pheasants.

Red, my flint trade gun, does well on squirrels, and when I work up a round ball load, maybe on a deer this year.

So how would I choose which is "the best"? Each have their niche.

LD

 

[Elnathan]

I prefer flintlocks because I am much more interested in the historical period 1720-1830 than later periods, and much prefer the styling, architecture, and decorative features of American flintlock rifles and guns over later American percussion rifles and guns.

Same here. I've got nothing against percussion guns per se, but almost all the interesting history and interesting guns predate the system.

Also, I see a lot more whining about percussion-bashing than I ever see actual percussion-bashing.

 

[TFoley]

Me too. I've gotten to be a mite selective in my old age, though, so I've narrowed my choice of guns down to anything that goes bang and makes smoke.

tac

 

[Billnpatti]

Yep :metoo: I've got both kinds and love both. A flintlock is sort of like a kid that requires a bit more attention in their raising. They may be trying at times but you don't love them any less.

 

[Gene L]

Hard to say. When I got into it, about 1970 or so, it was practically all caplocks. You couldn't find flints if you could find a flintlock.

But I do think a caplock is "better." Less moving parts, virtually water proof in rain showers. And I like the way they look...simple whereas the outside of a flint lock is kinda busy.

I'm old enough that my uncles actually owned and hunted with caplocks exclusively, so I was immediately attracted to my family's fairly recent history. When I got back into it a few years ago, I was going to get a semi-custom caplock, but was talked out of it by the builder. For some reason. Anyway, I've got a couple of flintlocks now and love them because of the romance in them.

I think a flintlock is more challenging, and get a kind of satisfaction from that challenge.

 

[Col. Batguano]

Shooting a flintlock will make you a better shooter. You will shoot a cap lock better.

 

[tenngun]

My first gun was a MowreyAllen and Thurber. It shot real well though I had to beef up the hammer spring a bit. Then I shot a bess at a shoot one day, I fell in love.
I was late teens, and had that condition that has haunted me all my life, a bad case of Lackocash, so it took me a near a year to save for my first flinter. But when I did my poor ol Mowrey became my little Puff the Magic Dragon. She hung on the wall to be taken down and oiled but not shot. I sold her and hope she found a happy home.
I doo wish I had her now, but all my main shooters are flinters, I said I only had one cap gun, but I I do have some revolvers. So that was a little overstatement.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Well golly gee, I guess I just wade in on this topic with glee!
For hunting purposes from small game to large game I stand firmly with the percussion lock as superior! If for no other reason the faster ignition timing and what that means to accuracy!
I hunt with and love both ignition systems immensely, but when and if food was required to feed my family. ..I'll be hunting with a caplock!

I agree.

When you're cold, wet and hungry, or just need to bring home some food for the family, a flintlock is not what you want. Percussion guns are much more moisture resistant, fire instantaneously, and are simpler to maintain in the field. These are reasons why it made flintlock weapons all but obsolete and why it replaced them in near entirety.

 

[Black Hand]

When you're cold, wet and hungry, or just need to bring home some food for the family, a flintlock is not what you want. Percussion guns are much more moisture resistant, fire instantaneously, and are simpler to maintain in the field. These are reasons why it made flintlock weapons all but obsolete and why it replaced them in near entirety.

And I will disagree.
I've used a Flintlock in all weather conditions. If I do my part, meat comes home - even when I'm cold, wet and hungry...

Then there is the historical aspect. Unless you are portraying very late- to post-Fur Trade periods, caplocks are not PC/HC.

 

[Gene L]

They're pc/hc to my family until ww1, although not of the period of this forum. I'm not a pc/hc guy anyway, so it doesn't bother me in the least. I like them both, and have zero replicas that would pass a pc/hc examination, but I love them all.

 

[Heelerau]

Since getting some flintlocks, I barely touch a cap lock for hunting. I have used cap locks since I was 12yrs old and got my first flintlock when I was 40 odd.
The British Army did some tests back in the 1840's of the new percussion system vs the current flintlock Bess. 1000 shots in all weathers and conditions, something like 300 odd miss fires by the flint system, and only about 30 odd miss fires via the percussion system. That for my mind covers a pretty good comparison and the British would have been keen to keep the flint lock to save money so I reckon it would have been an unbiased test. This covers pretty well the reliability of either system.
Personal preference is another thing, if I am hunting in really rough wet weather, I would take one of my percussion patch ball rifles, in better weather its a flintlock every time. I have hunted successfully on wet days with my flintlock, but in this case I would be as mentioned more inclined to a cap lock. Another advantage of the flintlock not covered by the British Army test, you can find flints on the ground and knapp them if you run out, you don't find caps in nature !!
Like Fleener I love all my children equally,

cheers

Heelerau

 

[azmntman]

They're pc/hc to my family until ww1, although not of the period of this forum. I'm not a pc/hc guy anyway, so it doesn't bother me in the least. I like them both, and have zero replicas that would pass a pc/hc examination, but I love them all.

:metoo: :thumbsup:

 

[Heelerau]

I found the book with the reference to British Army Board of Ordnance tests. Firearms by Howard Ricketts. Page 85. "The first of the tests, in 1834, was probably forced on the Government by Forsyth who wanted to impress on them the obvious differences between the two locks. The 1834 tests were carried out in all types of weather, and no less than 6000 rounds were fired. There could be no grounds for doubting the superiority of the new form of ignition for the result showed that the flintlock had misfired 922 times against only 36 misfires from the percussion cap."
This addresses the reliability issue, still took the British Army two more years to issue percussion arms but that is another story !
This does not take away the satisfaction of successfully taking game with a flintlock, or the fact the attraction that some of us feel for this ignition system. I agree if you can shoot well with a flintlock offhand it improves your shooting greatly with any other rifle you choose to shoot, particularly those "brass manglers " which of course will never catch on.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

I "portray" ME. I don't reenact or do anything like that, completely unnecessary to enjoy the hobby despite what some think.

 

[fleener]

Thanks Heelerau

that is interesting.

IMO, there is no doubt which one is more reliable.

That does not diminish people loving to shoot their flintlocks, or with proper care and handling to have a reliable gun to shoot.

Fleener