french amber flints

[Stumpkiller]

What can one say about a nation whose most illlustrious war hero is a WOMAN, who was betrayd by a gutless king.

Napoleon? Lafayette? Fronk? Guynemer? Navarre?

The first firearms made at US arsenals were near-exact copies of French muskets. Both sides in our Civil War adopted the kepi hat for our soldiers because we WANTED to appear as strong and fierce as the French (who originated it). They've just had a bad 90 years or so lately. All the brave ones were removed from the gene pool from one hundred and fifty years of battles leading up to WWII.

The highest honor a German soldier could recieve in either world was was the FRENCH Pour la Merite.

 

[Kootenai]

Here in NW Montana our club bought a batch and packaged in by the dozen. I bought a dozen and have been using them. I have been dissatisfied with them as probably a third have cracked diagonally on me. The cracking has been anywhere from the first shot to about the twentieth shot. We have not found them to be any better than the black English flints.

As a side note, I found an original amber gunflint sometime in the past. I originally just thought of it as a piece of flint. When I started shooting flintlocks it jumped right out what its original purpose was. It is also cracked diagonally. Interesting but I doubt if any conclusions can really be drawn. The original looks like a harder piece of flint. JMHO.

Kootenai

 

[Old Charlie]

I had the the same problem. They would break into peaces after only a few shots. My black English flints do not.
OLd Charlie

 

[musketman]

What I find intresting is that the English black flint and the French amber flint is only sepperated by 21 miles of water (English Channel)

 

[riverrat43]

I bought a few from Horst and got them quickly. About half were unusable due to size. I contacted Horst and McCann and they were quickly exchanged for the correct size. Even sent me a couple of extras for my trouble. Really nice folks to deal with. I couldn't tell any difference in the performance of the amber flints and the English Blacks..except as noted, the amber ones seem to chip off and crack diagonally more then the blacks do. I'll stick to Tom Fullers.

Lived in France for three years and agree that American tourists can be obnoxoius.

Been in combat with several nationalities as well. I remember hearing that the British Officers wore Red Coats so the blood wouldn't show when they were wounded thereby frightening and demorilizing the enlisted troops. French Officers wear brown pants. Nuff said.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Been in combat with several nationalities as well. I remember hearing that the British Officers wore Red Coats so the blood wouldn't show when they were wounded thereby frightening and demorilizing the enlisted troops. French Officers wear brown pants. Nuff said.

There's another country wearing brown pants and I know you're not wanting to open that door. :nono:


:winking:

The French flints were what the Americans would have had available during wars and embargos with England, so they can lend a bit of added authenticity to "the experience" of a Charleville or Committee of Safety musket.

 

[Bill Bryan]

I bought a bag of 5/8" amber flints at a club shoot several months ago. The first one I tried in my 50 cal Kentucky pistol got over a hundred shots. I'm pretty impressed.

 

[guncobbler]

So we have a a generous helping of Brit forum members and a smattering from other parts of the world including former Soviet block. Are there any
French members or lurkers? Did I miss the inline like edict that said we couldn't have French members because we couldn't get along with them? There have to be French muzzleloader shooters out there somewhere. GC

 

[RangerThacher]

I studied the historical archaeology of colonial American sites while in college. At most 18th century military site (including British) French amber flints and spalls almost always outnumber English grays. The usage of dark gray English flints did not surpass the usage of French ambers until the 1790s and after. So for the F&I War or AWI reenactor, French amber is more historically accurate as it was the most common form used in the 18th century. That's why I like French ambers. I don't really care whether it sparks every time. I want the most accurate flint while reenacting, and that includes historically accurate poorer performance than a modern machince cut English gray.

 

[roundball]

".....modern machince cut English gray....."

Not sure what this means...can you elaborate?

 

[RangerThacher]

".....modern machince cut English gray....."

Not sure what this means...can you elaborate?

A machine cut flint is a flint cut with a blade rather than knapped. A cut flint has flat surfaces and square angles. A knapped flint or spall has irregular surfaces and angles.

 

[roundball]

".....modern machince cut English gray....."

Not sure what this means...can you elaborate?

A machine cut flint is a flint cut with a blade rather than knapped. A cut flint has flat surfaces and square angles. A knapped flint or spall has irregular surfaces and angles.

I'm sorry, I wasn't clear...I know the difference between a machine cut flint and knapped flints...I've just never heard of a "machine cut English flint".

I've seen machine cut agates, and machine cut flints TC sells (don't know what they are) but never heard of or seen a "machine cut English flint"...who sells them...are they in catalogs somewhere?

 

[RangerThacher]

I'm sorry, I wasn't clear...I know the difference between a machine cut flint and knapped flints...I've just never heard of a "machine cut English flint".

I've seen machine cut agates, and machine cut flints TC sells (don't know what they are) but never heard of or seen a "machine cut English flint"...who sells them...are they in catalogs somewhere?

Probably the same thing you're thinking of. I guess "machine cut" may be more of an archaeological term. And it looks like I may have been mistaken by labeling them "English." Sorry. The dark gray cut flints that TOW sells are from Arkansas, not England.

 

[roundball]

I'm sorry, I wasn't clear...I know the difference between a machine cut flint and knapped flints...I've just never heard of a "machine cut English flint".

I've seen machine cut agates, and machine cut flints TC sells (don't know what they are) but never heard of or seen a "machine cut English flint"...who sells them...are they in catalogs somewhere?

Probably the same thing you're thinking of. I guess "machine cut" may be more of an archaeological term. And it looks like I may have been mistaken by labeling them "English." Sorry. The dark gray cut flints that TOW sells are from Arkansas, not England.

:v

 

[Henry]

Actually , the amber flint is marginally better
than the black one , not a whole lot .
The big difference was the way it was knapped ,
it took until 1800 for the english to knap a french
style gun flint out of black flintrock.

There is more than 21 miles between the black
and amber flint quarries , the best amber flint comes from central France , area called Dordogne .
It was already active in stone age period.

The best flint knapped today is Jean Jacques
Dutrieux , http://www.abime.be/
Of course , not all of his production is perfect
the best stuff is sold at premium price , the average stuff is ... well cheaper .

Amber flint is PC even in the British army,
when a french fort was taken the 3 things sought
after by British soldiers ( and officers )
were. : wine , medical supplies and flints .

French bashing seems very popular in the USA
as much as eating at Mc Donalds ( and by the same people ? ) we do not care to much about it ,
there are still many Americans who seem to
like us [url] http://www.mike-lowery.supanet.com/ http://members.tripod.com/frenchmarine/ http://tafdc.org/html/les_compagnies.html http://www.angelfire.com/mi3/FandIwar/[/url]

In the same way , we are very thankfull to
Track of the Wolf , The Rifle Shoppe , Gettz,
Davies and many others , for the help they
give us in re-enacting the history of the Nouvelle France .

 

[roundball]

Actually , the amber flint is marginally better
than the black one , not a whole lot .

Just so we're clear, I only speak to my specific experiences, I try to never generalize, and did not in this case...I've been using black English flints most every weekend for almost 4 years...decided to try a couple dozen French amber flints...they were markedly not as good as my BEF's...that is simply a fact.

French bashing seems very popular in the USA

Just so we're clear, unless my advancing years are playing tricks on my mind, nowhere in my post did I make any comment that resembles French bashing.
:v

 

[Slowpoke]

I personally have found the French flints to be superior to English flints in Chamber's, Hollenbaugh, and L&R Locks. I did have some trouble with them in Traditions and TC's lock. They ate into the Traditions because the frizzen was soft and shatters in the TC because the throw is a little short.
It really just depends on the lump of rock Jean decides to knapp, some lumps are better as I'm sure is the case with Tom. Kinda like diamonds, flaws, inclusions, color fluctuations, etc.

 

[roundball]

I personally have found the French flints to be superior to English flints in Chamber's, Hollenbaugh, and L&R Locks. I did have some trouble with them in Traditions and TC's lock. They ate into the Traditions because the frizzen was soft and shatters in the TC because the throw is a little short.
It really just depends on the lump of rock Jean decides to knapp, some lumps are better as I'm sure is the case with Tom. Kinda like diamonds, flaws, inclusions, color fluctuations, etc.

That's somewhat outdated information...all my TC locks are the new redesigned style...they don't shatter flints anymore and are outstanding in every respect...just this past Saturday I shot an entire 50 shot range session with the same BEF and never knapped it...will start my next range session with it.

The 2 dozen french amber flints I got did not perform as well as the BEF's and it had nothing what-so-ever to do with the lock...they seemed softer then a BEF and wore down very quickly.

So I'm sorry, but those are the facts regarding my experience with french amber flints and with the outstanding performance I get every week from BEF's, I can't ever imagine wasting my time buying any more french flints.

 

[Slowpoke]

So I'm sorry, but those are the facts regarding my experience with french amber flints and with the outstanding performance I get every week from BEF's, I can't ever imagine wasting my time buying any more french flints.

I couldn't agree more. I wouldn't recommend using French flints in TC guns, and you shouldn't waste your time or money on them.

But, if you use a Chamber's, L&R, or Hollenbaugh lock, I recommend the French flints. I had a Beef shoot this past Sunday, I shot a 1 lb of powder and 75-100 RB. I never changed flints, I did knapp it twice, and plan on starting the next match with it.

 

[roundball]

So I'm sorry, but those are the facts regarding my experience with french amber flints and with the outstanding performance I get every week from BEF's, I can't ever imagine wasting my time buying any more french flints.

I couldn't agree more. I wouldn't recommend using French flints in TC guns, and you shouldn't waste your time or money on them.

But, if you use a Chamber's, L&R, or Hollenbaugh lock, I recommend the French flints. I had a Beef shoot this past Sunday, I shot a 1 lb of powder and 75-100 RB. I never changed flints, I did knapp it twice, and plan on starting the next match with it.

Use whatever floats your boat...I'm not interested in a debate about french amber flints...I simply responded to the gentleman's post with the facts of my experiences.