Getting a grip on the leather pad

[Ricochet]

I am sure this has been discussed before but just a heads up for new to flintlock guys like myself. I was having trouble getting my jaws to grip the leather and hold tight on the flint. I tried thick, thin, supple, hard, it helped some but seemed to always need something else. It seemed that the tighter I tried to turn it the more it wanted to move about. I have a couple of checkering files so I just filed across the faces of the the jaws that contact the leather. It is amazing how it will hold and I don't seem to need to tighten it near as much now. Anyway, a simple fix, hope it may help someone out.

 

[Straekat]

Another way of getting better griping power is to use thin sheet lead or a round ball pounded flat with a hammer, instead of leather.

 

[WKD]

Another way of getting better griping power is to use thin sheet lead or a round ball pounded flat with a hammer, instead of leather.

Lead will thin out more with use and become loose, thats why people started using leather Use a graver(prefered) to lift little burs on the face of upper and lower jaws or as said a checkering file will work but a graver is how they did it back in the day.

 

[rafterob]

If your cock jaws are smooth this can be an issue, so roughing or raising the surface will help. Another trick is to super glue the leather pad to the flint. That helps a little but will make a difference for all cock styles.

 

[Rat]

Good tips...I've never had a loose flint that I can remember. ?? Hey Rico, did you get some longer flints?

 

[Ricochet]

I have them ordered from track of the wolf. I have actually made a few from heat treated percussion flakes that seem to be working better than the others. They just dont seem to last. Actually the others don't last either now that I think on it. I am getting 12-15 shots before I have to nap an edge. I don't know if this is the norm or not.
But at 2 bucks a piece, I am looking at making some for sure

 

[hanshi]

A good flint, mounted correctly in a good lock should give more shots than that before needing to be knapped. I often get 30 to 60 shots before having to knap the edge; but there are exceptions. One flint I used simply wore out to the point it was about 1/4" long. It was never knapped and I stopped counting after 100 shots. Then there was another that gave 5 shots and nothing I did made it shoot one more time. Most fall in the middle. Try bevel up and bevel down. Mount it very close but not touching the frizzen. The flint should scrape down the frizzen and not hit head on. About a 50 to 60 degree strike is what you want.

 

[Rat]

What hanshi said. Judging from this pile of flints on my desk, I sure don't use them up very fast. I have not ordered flints for a long time. A lot of mine have come from TOW, and work well/long lasting, those should be good ones.

 

[Jim Evans]

Does your Flint have a hump on it? If so you will need to grind it off.
If not Try a softer piece of leather.

 

[smo]

Great advice above, here’s another “Tip” a Builder shared with me on flint leather.

It’s better too use soft , thicker leather and cut as shown below....

The frizzen ends of the leather are cut at approx. 45 deg. angle so they don’t interfere with the strike by hitting the frizzen face on its way down.

The hole in the middle lets the back of the flint rest against the cock screw, thus no backward slippage.

Having the correct size of flint is a must for flint life as well.

Good Luck too all you “Newbies” , lol
I’ve been on the Dark side now for 10 years......
And I’m still learning.

Enjoy the ride!

The late Paul V (RIP) wrote a great article on ....Flintlocks : How to shoot them.

It’s in the Articles Section here on the Forum.

It’s a great read for someone just starting out.

Be Warned! Paul could get a little looooong winded from time too time . LOL

I for one miss his commentary here.

 

[PluggedNickel]

Great advice above, here’s another “Tip” a Builder shared with me on flint leather.

It’s better too use soft , thicker leather and cut as shown below....

The frizzen ends of the leather are cut at approx. 45 deg. angle so they don’t interfere with the strike by hitting the frizzen face on its way down.

The hole in the middle lets the back of the flint rest against the cock screw, thus no backward slippage.

Having the correct size of flint is a must for flint life as well.

Good Luck too all you “Newbies” , lol
I’ve been on the Dark side now for 10 years......
And I’m still learning.

Enjoy the ride!

The late Paul V (RIP) wrote a great article on ....Flintlocks : How to shoot them.

It’s in the Articles Section here on the Forum.

It’s a great read for someone just starting out.

Be Warned! Paul could get a little looooong winded from time too time . LOL

I for one miss his commentary here.

WOW! Hey Smo, thanks for sharing that tip on Paul V's "Flintlocks: How to shoot them article!" As a newbie to black powder I'm reading, reading, reading, but it seems there are often more than one way to do things, with Flintlocks especially. The questions are: What is the best way? What is the easiest way? And of course, those answers can vary from gun to gun, lock to lock, shooter to shooter. Most replier's say something like, "this well works for me......ymmv!" The more I learn, the more I find I don't yet know. I'm enjoying the ride though, and with the expert advice I'm finding on this forum will in time find my own way. I find I'm reading more, and posting less now.
As I too can be long winded when typing replies, that less posting is a good thing I thinks! :thumbs up:

 

[stewart.leach]

Ricochet, I had the benefit of learning a lot about flints and flintlocks from some very experienced shooters. A few of their most valuable thoughts:

Buy flints a dozen or more at a time, then sort into three grades. Perfect rocks that are flat on top and bottom, with front and rear edges parallel are saved for match or hunting use. Mid-grade, a bit irregular are for practice. The worst group- uneven on top, very pointy on top, round rocker on the bottom- get tuned up.

Flints that have uneven height across the top, or are pointy on top can be made to work better by using super glue to attach small slivers of dense leather to even out the surface. Same treatment to the bottom rear of flints with a round bottom helps. May need to add shims to both top and bottom.

If you have access to a tile saw you can trim flints with it to make them work really well. After a few cut fingers I glued leather pads inside the jaws of a cheap pair of slip joint pliers. Using those I can easily see what I'm trimming. Orient flint in pliers to get best approach to the saw blade. Wear a dust mask and eye protection. If you don't have access to a tile saw, try a "mizzy wheel" diamond abrasive tool for a Dremel grinder.

Gluing the leather jaw pad to the flint as mentioned above is a real time saver when you need to change flints in the middle of a match relay. Club-level matches around here are usually fired in twenty-minute relays, so there's no time to dawdle. I keep a "turnscrew" and a couple of padded flints in the bottom of my shooting bag. I snap the new flint a couple of times, then re-tighten the screw.

 

[FishDFly]

"Gluing the leather jaw pad to the flint as mentioned above is a real time saver when you need to change flints in the middle of a match relay"

That is an idea that I will definitely adopt, thanks.

 

[Artificer]

Gluing the leather jaw pad to the flint as mentioned above is a real time saver when you need to change flints in the middle of a match relay. Club-level matches around here are usually fired in twenty-minute relays, so there's no time to dawdle. I keep a "turnscrew" and a couple of padded flints in the bottom of my shooting bag. I snap the new flint a couple of times, then re-tighten the screw.

Gluing the leather to the spare flint/s is a very interesting tip. Thank you.

When I began competing with my old Brown Bess Carbine in the mid 1970's, I learned back then it was an important thing to have leathers and pads already matched up for use both in Matches and in Reenactments, for the fastest changing of flints when needed.

What I always did was oil or grease all around the Cock, Screw and Top Jaw. Then I wet thicker leather and tightened the leather and flint in the cock. Then I rub formed the wet leather around the flint. Then I took the leather wrapped flint out of the Cock and set it aside to dry. I would usually do at least three or four leather wrapped flints at a time that way. Then I cleaned and oiled the Cock, Top Jaw and Screw. However, I never thought about Super Gluing the leather to the flint and that can easily be done after the leather dries around the flint, by lifting the top or bottom and applying the glue, then pushing the leather back in place.

Gus

 

[Dave Orchard]

You can make a longer flint leather that fits around the cock.
You have to fully UN-screw the top-jaw & screw to install it, but you won't drop the leather while changing ing flints, ant it allows you to use a slightly longer flint with it's heel clear against the thread screw til it wears and you knap it a bit shorter. ("Different ships, different long-splices... ";-) )
Dave