Hangfires

[Larry Pletcher]

1/16" drill bit isnt even close to fitting. Any tricks to drilling it or just clamp it straight and use the drill press?

It's obvious to me now that you have a vent liner installed. That means that you have a very small depth to drill as the liner is coned out very close to the barrel flat. The web may be only .030 or so. I would think that you could drill this by hand, watching to keep the bit at 90 degrees to the barrel flat. Don't go after it like you're beating snakes; easy does it.

I'd try the 1/16" first.

Spin a countersink by hand to remove the burr and provide a very slight exterior cone.

Shoot the gun and see if it helped - bit it does.

If you need to go larger, try one step up(#51 I think.)

Don't go larger than necessary.

Regards,
Pletch

 

[David Bickish]

Is black powder the only choice for flintlock or is a substitute of some kind useable. I have hang fires every time with Triple 7?

 

[mykeal]

-----could you drill another touch hole just below the other one to make ignition quicker--what would it hurt to have two holes???-----

A second, additional touch hole would be twice the area; if their combined areas totaled less than that of a 5/64" diameter circle, then it might be OK.

 

[mykeal]

Is black powder the only choice for flintlock or is a substitute of some kind useable. I have hang fires every time with Triple 7?

Real black powder (ie. Goex, Kik, Wano, Swiss) is the only choice for a flintlock. The substitute powders have higher ignition temperatures. See the answers to your thread asking this question.

 

[RC]

Is black powder the only choice for flintlock or is a substitute of some kind useable. I have hang fires every time with Triple 7?

its the right choice! :thumbsup: IMHO!!

 

[broknaero]

Thanks, Pletch that makes perfect sense. I'll tinker with that Idea. Thanks for all the help guys!

 

[J.D.]

-----could you drill another touch hole just below the other one to make ignition quicker--what would it hurt to have two holes???-----

A second, additional touch hole would be twice the area; if their combined areas totaled less than that of a 5/64" diameter circle, then it might be OK.

IMHO, drilling a second hole is a waste of time. Enlarging the TH increases the area exponentially, for example, doubling the diameter of a hole increases the area by a factor of 4. So a hole 2 times larger has 4 times the area. And while increasing the diameter from .062, to .070 doesn't increase the area of the TH all that much, it's enough to make a big difference.

IMHO, doubling the area of a single .062 dia TH would require drilling it to about .092. IMHO, that is waaaayyyy too big of a TH for any normal flint gun.

So, 2 smaller dia THs equaling the area of a single over large TH only serves to decrease breech pressure, and usually accuracy.