Flints - English vrs French

[TDM]

I prefer English black but really never had problems with the French ambers.

 

[French Colonial]

I like the French ambers but honestly the English flints also last up to 60+ shots in my better locks.

Why use anything else?

 

[tenngun]

I like English because they seem easier to get.
We have chert here in the Ozarks, sometimes white,yellow or grey. Flint-chert, what’s the difference? Mostly none.
As I understand it, not having much interest in geology is all flint is chert but not all chert is flint (?????)
Anyway I’ve made a lot of flint from chert, but I’m too lazy and not skilled enough to make it handily so I buy them.
Howsomever all my home made chert worked as well as flint I’ve bought.
In the end the only difference I found with amber French and grey English is the color

 

[TDM]

English blacks are very hard to come by at present, hopefully that will change soon.

 

[Cvkotvkse]

Experimenting with the better-quality stone from N. Florida/S. Georgia, specificallly "first quality" Flint River chert and agatized coral from the rivers along the border. The former is very similar to the French amber; the latter is VERY hard, with a high tensile strength. Both have worked well for me w/ strike-a-lights over the years. Will keep y'all posted on using them on my flinters now that I've made the jump to them over the past two years.

 

[nhmoose]

I like them pretty French ones myself. Never kept count how many shots I got from any flint. That was never a consideration it seems till a web forum seemed to make it one.

 

[TDM]

I like them pretty French ones myself. Never kept count how many shots I got from any flint. That was never a consideration it seems till a web forum seemed to make it one.

I agree, at one point I did try to record numbers in my note book, but then I thought, why bother. I just keep lots of flints on hand.

 

[wiscoaster]

I ordered some amber French flints from Track of the Wolf and they were rather slow to ship on third day. Most of their English flints were out of stock. I ordered some Tom Fuller English flints from an ebay seller and they were shipped next day, though their shipping was a rip. It seems there are flints available if you're willing to pay up for them.

 

[1860man]

For anyone interested, TOW has French ambers back in stock. I ordered some.

nube hear what about machine cut flints

 

[TDM]

nube hear what about machine cut flints

They’re certainly better than nothing.

 

[deerstalkert]

nube hear what about machine cut flints

they will work if need be, but I found that some locks geometry won't let them work well. they just leave me cold looking at them.
kinda like the difference between a real woman and a trans.

 

[springfield art]

How many shots do you typically get out of a flint? I have my first flint lock and have fired about 70 rounds on the original flint? Just wondering how long they last!

That's quite good and perhaps better than most.

 

[BigAl52]

I just called Stonewall Creek Outfitters. They had French amber flints in the 7/8 x1 inch size. I bought a bag of 50 from the nice lady on the phone.

 

[French Colonial]

nube hear what about machine cut flints

When flints are knapped they break along the grain, when they are cut it is usually across the grain and will fail along the grain.

Will not usually last as long as knapped flints.

 

[Twisted_1in66]

How many shots do you typically get out of a flint? I have my first flint lock and have fired about 70 rounds on the original flint? Just wondering how long they last!

You're getting that long flint life because your rifle has good geometry and you have the flint positioned correctly. I'd suggest you Lower the cock down slowly, holding it back with your thumb until it touches the frizzen. Then get a close look at the angle it touches the frizzen. Odds are it's between a 55° and 60° angle. Whatever that angle is, that's the angle you want the new one to strike the frizzen. You may need to reposition the new one forward or backward a little bit to get that angle but that makes all the difference in the world. Have someone take a close-up picture of it while you hold it in place if you can and keep that pic for reference.

The illustration below shows the angle I'm talking about. If it hits the frizzen at a 45° angle it will smash the edge and you'll have to re-knap it. If you hit it at too much of an angle (like slapping the top of the flint against the frizzen) it will throw a big piece of it off the bottom. Once you get it right, it will slice sparks off the face of the frizzen and is virtually self-sharpening. Of course the face of the frizzen is cupped slightly to facilitate that slicing motion, so you need to look closely at the contact point on the frizzen. I often get 100+ strikes out of a flint (from use in reenactments). Yours sounds like it's perfectly positioned now, so take a good look at it (get a picture) and try to get the next flint to strike the frizzen exactly the same as the one you have now because IT'S WORKING!

I actually learned this from a gentleman who used to post on this board. Unfortunately he passed about 10-years ago or so. Made all the difference in the world to me. Hope it does for you too.

 

[hanshi]

I've used black, amber and white flints and rate them all about the same. I've had a very few flints that served very well, self sharpening and never had to be taken off the lock. At around 100 (+ or -) shots I stopped counting. Generally I get from 20 to 40 shots and then knap them for about the same number of shots. Often they end up getting knapped a couple of times. Sometimes all I have to do is wipe them off or maybe scrape the edge to get more shots without having to knap it. I have a couple of locks that are so good they'd probably spark with a wooden flint.

 

[TonyC]

You're getting that long flint life because your rifle has good geometry and you have the flint positioned correctly. I'd suggest you Lower the cock down slowly, holding it back with your thumb until it touches the frizzen. Then get a close look at the angle it touches the frizzen. Odds are it's between a 55° and 60° angle. Whatever that angle is, that's the angle you want the new one to strike the frizzen. You may need to reposition the new one forward or backward a little bit to get that angle but that makes all the difference in the world. Have someone take a close-up picture of it while you hold it in place if you can and keep that pic for reference.

The illustration below shows the angle I'm talking about. If it hits the frizzen at a 45° angle it will smash the edge and you'll have to re-knap it. If you hit it at too much of an angle (like slapping the top of the flint against the frizzen) it will throw a big piece of it off the bottom. Once you get it right, it will slice sparks off the face of the frizzen and is virtually self-sharpening. Of course the face of the frizzen is cupped slightly to facilitate that slicing motion, so you need to look closely at the contact point on the frizzen. I often get 100+ strikes out of a flint (from use in reenactments). Yours sounds like it's perfectly positioned now, so take a good look at it (get a picture) and try to get the next flint to strike the frizzen exactly the same as the one you have now because IT'S WORKING!

I actually learned this from a gentleman who used to post on this board. Unfortunately he passed about 10-years ago or so. Made all the difference in the world to me. Hope it does for you too.


View attachment 251409

Thanks for the excellent explanation. The flint I am using came installed on the lock purchased with my Woodsrunner. I’ll take your advice and get a couple of pictures for reference when I install a new flint.

 

[Twisted_1in66]

Thanks for the excellent explanation. The flint I am using came installed on the lock purchased with my Woodsrunner. I’ll take your advice and get a couple of pictures for reference when I install a new flint.

One thing you'll notice is that although you may order the same size flint that is in your lock, they are often a little shorter or a little longer. If you are using a piece of leather to hold the flint in your locks jaws and the flint won't move back far enough because the back of the leather is up against the screw that tightens the jaws, there's an easy fix. Take the flint out of the lock; fold the leather pad in half; and cut a V-shaped notch in the center of the folded end. That actually makes a diamond cut in the leather, which allows you to move the flint back just a little further back until the back of the actual flint contacts that screw.

On the other hand if the flint is significantly shorter than it should be, you can put a twig behind the leather pad to keep it from creeping back in use. Otherwise, over time and repeated firings, it may creep back far enough to start smashing the edge of your flint. Sometimes positioning the flint so the bevel on the flint is up is needed and sometimes bevel down works better. Do whatever you need to do to get that flint to strike at the correct angle, which yours already has, and enjoy shooting a reliable and long-lasting flint.

 

[TonyC]

One thing you'll notice is that although you may order the same size flint that is in your lock, they are often a little shorter or a little longer. If you are using a piece of leather to hold the flint in your locks jaws and the flint won't move back far enough because the back of the leather is up against the screw that tightens the jaws, there's an easy fix. Take the flint out of the lock; fold the leather pad in half; and cut a V-shaped notch in the center of the folded end. That actually makes a diamond cut in the leather, which allows you to move the flint back just a little further back until the back of the actual flint contacts that screw.

On the other hand if the flint is significantly shorter than it should be, you can put a twig behind the leather pad to keep it from creeping back in use. Otherwise, over time and repeated firings, it may creep back far enough to start smashing the edge of your flint. Sometimes positioning the flint so the bevel on the flint is up is needed and sometimes bevel down works better. Do whatever you need to do to get that flint to strike at the correct angle, which yours already has, and enjoy shooting a reliable and long-lasting flint.

Sounds like excellent advice. Thank you!

 

[DixieTexian]

I get 1 or 2 shots per flint (english) with my Pedersorry Scout. Still working/tuning the lock. I think its going to up my count on my next shooting session to maybe a dz. shots per flint, if its French Amber.

My Scout does much better than that, even with such strong springs. Maybe try a different size flint?