Flints

[Kentuckywindage]

I bought a pack of 3 Arkansas Cut 5/8" flints for my cva mountain rifle and after 12 test drops, they stop sparking :cursing: Im now on flint #2 and it too has also stopped sparking. I want to blame the lock, but for the past 4 days ive been using home "cut" flints that i found and hammered out and havnt had a problem until i ran out of my home made flints. I usually get a shower of white sparks for the first 3 shots on a new flint and then it goes to orange and then to a fine pin head size SINGLE spark :cursing: Any clue? Ive already tried replacing the frizzen, frizzen spring and main spring. Its helped great and made the home flints work like a charm. However, i can not get these Arkansas flints to spark worth a manure. Im about ready to drop $150 for a ne L&R lock and if that dont help, im REALLY going to be peeing fire balls.
Any websites that sell flints that are actually good and allow sparks to happen? I'll buy a few Quality flints to try and see if this fixes my problem before i go ahead and buy a new lock.

 

[roundball]

I bought a pack of 3 Arkansas Cut 5/8" flints for my cva mountain rifle and after 12 test drops, they stop sparking :cursing: Im now on flint #2 and it too has also stopped sparking. I want to blame the lock, but for the past 4 days ive been using home "cut" flints that i found and hammered out and havnt had a problem until i ran out of my home made flints. I usually get a shower of white sparks for the first 3 shots on a new flint and then it goes to orange and then to a fine pin head size SINGLE spark :cursing: Any clue? Ive already tried replacing the frizzen, frizzen spring and main spring. Its helped great and made the home flints work like a charm. However, i can not get these Arkansas flints to spark worth a manure. Im about ready to drop $150 for a ne L&R lock and if that dont help, im REALLY going to be peeing fire balls.
Any websites that sell flints that are actually good and allow sparks to happen? I'll buy a few Quality flints to try and see if this fixes my problem before i go ahead and buy a new lock.

I've tried TC's agate flints, TCs premium agate flint, Arkansas flints...all were junk as far as I'm concerned...tried Tom Fuller Black English Flints and thought I'd died and gone to heaven...all I've used for several years now, usually shooting an entire 50 shot range session on the same flint with more life left.

Cains Outdoor west VA should have good prices...talk to Ed or Scott Cain...800# on their website...[url] www.cainsoutdoor.com[/url] ...tell them you were referred by guys on a ML forum...they coordinated a massive flint buy last year as a promotional business sale for Flintlock shooters.

 

[Glenfilthie]

How long does a flint last anyways? How much do they cost?

 

[Kentuckywindage]

$1.35 each for tom fuller black english flints. I paid $7 for 3 of the pieces of craps i bought today. They work fine on my traditions but every 5 "shots" theres one that barely throws off any spark. I'll be ordering a dozen tom fuller flints tonight. Thanks roundball! Also found that they sell the L&R lock for $133 VS $150. I'll use that as my last resort. Really love this rifle and i'll do what it takes to keep her going.

 

[roundball]

How long does a flint last anyways? How much do they cost?

Tom Fuller 3/4"W x 7/8"L black english flints in my TC locks average in the 60-70 shot range.
2-3 in a hundred will give 80-100 shots...2-3 in a hundred will give 20-30 shots...but the vast majority will give me more than a 50 shot range session...into the second 50 shot range session before I have to start knapping every few shots, and then I usually just change it out...clean it and toss it in a "used flint" jar.

Ed Cain normally gives volume purchase discounts...ie: if you buy bulk bags of 25, 50, 100, etc...

 

[410-er]

I just got my lock back from TC with a cut agate flint in it.It was there so I used it.Lasted about 8 shots.Just put in and tried the Tom Fuller black english for the first time and really like them.Normally I use French.

 

[roundball]

I just got my lock back from TC with a cut agate flint in it.It was there so I used it.Lasted about 8 shots.Just put in and tried the Tom Fuller black english for the first time and really like them.Normally I use French.

TC did you right...
:hatsoff:

 

[fw707]

I shoot the English flints too, and I usually get 40-60 shots from them. You can extend the life of the flints if you set them forward in the cock as they wear down, and knap them a little.
My biggest gripe is that if you order a dozen flints you'll be lucky to get 7-8 that are shaped right to fit in the hammer. :cursing:

 

[shmrck1]

roundball,
I have delt with Cains and you are correct,Ed and
Scott are great folks to deal with. Their TF flints a very reasonably priced. Another source
of great flints is Rich Pierce.He too is very
easy to deal with and sends out a quality flint,
that work very well in my Lyman GPR.He can be contacted here thru the MLF.Just another opinion.
snake-eyes :hmm:

 

[dry ball john]

I am not an expert on flints But Acouple years agojust for kicks I purchased a cut flint at a rendezvous just to try it out and guess what-- it only sparked twice so I went back to my favorites, one is the French amber form Horst and Tom Fullers, I kinda like the french ambers though as I NEVER had a problem with them
Keep Smiling John

 

[shmrck1]

dry ball,
I certainly did not mean to imply that there
was anything wrong with the T/F or the French
amber flints.I was just listing another source
of,what I feel are quality flints. Like has been
stated earlier some locks prefer some flints.I
like to Rich Pierce flints.They work for me.
snake-eyes :v

 

The answer may be that you have unfortunately got a bad batch of stone there. Also, try turning the flints over and see it that helps.

 

[Birddog6]

When you are paying a buck to 1.25 a piece, they are not gonna sort & give you perfecty shaped flints. Now if you want to pay $3. each they may do that. I buy them in bulk & get 100-200 at a time. First thing I do is pull of the tall humpbacked ones out. Then I order a dozen Mizzy Wheels from the Jewelry Supply Store. When they come I set up the vaccume & Dremel & I grind the tops off all the humpback ones & make them flat. Takes about a 2 minutes a flint & in a short while I have them all done & all useable & saves me the aggravation of them tiping forward or down or coming loose. Last time I ordered 300 flints & ended up grinding 100 or so, but I was picky & if it was not perfectly flat, it went in the grind bag & I sat down & ground them all in about an hour & have several years worth of them ready. You can figure about 10 flints ground per Mizzy wheel ofr so if I remember correctly.
An alternative to this is go to NAPA and get some Sonic Weld. It is a dark gray epoxy in a tube, you cut off a lil with a razor, knead it together & take a pinch & build up the back of the flint til the top is flat. Let it sit for an hour & you are good to go. One tube will do ? probably 50-100 flints or so, never really counted them as it takes a piece about the size of a pencil eraser to make one flat normally. Bering a dark gray almost black it is not noticable in the lock unless you were looking for it.

:thumbsup:

 

[roundball]

Just as an aside, I tried a couple dozen mchorst French flints myself...my experience was that they sparked as well as a TF-BEF but were a little softer resulting in shorter flint life than TF-BEFs...compounding that, they cost about twice as much as a TF-BEF...never had any reason to buy any more.

I've become spoiled by Fuller black english flints...if I start a sharp 'flat top'...(or a hump back that I've ground down to make it a flat top)...for a 50 shot range session I rarely ever have to knapp it during that first session...if I do it's maybe just once.

 

[Birddog6]

If you want to try a couple of English Flints I will mail a couple to you to try.

There is no way I would buy a replacement lock.

 

[roundball]

BD6, I've used the mizzy wheels, then switched to these...they go through flint like butter...larger grinding wheel with diamond dust in it makes it very fast and a larger smoother surface results too.

Dremel Diamond Cutter(grinding)wheel at widgetSupply...they're in the category of burrs & cutters...(not 'grinders').
[url] http://www.widgetsupply.com/page/WS/PROD/dremel-diamond-wheel-1/BDL34[/url]

 

[George Holton]

And if you want really hot sparks, find a piece of a carbide tool bit or even make a piece from a small green wheel, its pc' ness might be questioned though.

 

[Birddog6]

Roundball: Thanks, I will try them I needed to order a 100 of the lil 1/4" & 3/8" sanding drums anyway & now have a good excuse to make the order.

Thanks :thumbsup:

Keith

 

[JHarkins]

A few years ago there was a fellow from San Diego selling a synthetic red ruby stone. From what I was able to learn they were an indexable machine insert. I've been looking for them ever since. They cost about $10 each but would shoot all day on a single edge and had eight edges. Does anyone know where to find these?

 

[Joel/Calgary]

Kentuckywindage,

Have you tried sharpening the cut flints with a diamond steel or lap. Hand sharpened ones seem to last somewhat longer, and they can be resharpened many times.

That said, I prefer knapped flints in all my firelocks.

Joel