Harpers ferry lock/flint issues.

[Sharpie44]

I’ve gotten it to fire but now I’m having issues with getting the flint to produce enough sparks. It took me ten tries to get it to go off last time. I see two problems that could be causing this

1.)The spring is very weak not even close to my hawken rifle. You can pull it back with your pinky finger without a problem.
2.)The flint is very small and chipped. I’ve got another on order but I think I might try and stick one of my spare rifle flints in it.

Any suggestions?

 

[flintlock75]

I would check to make sure the spring/hammer are not dragging inside the lock mortice. This could cause the hammer to be slowed in travel. It could be a weak spring, mine is lighter than my rifles but still has plenty of power. The flint size could be an issue, i went to a 5/8" flint in mine and it works very well. I tried a 1/2" flint first and had the same problem of no sparks. The larger flint works better. Check the angle of the flint,you might try puting it in upsidedown to get a better angle.

 

[phoenix511]

Assuming you have a Pedersoli Harpers Ferry like mine, my mainspring is very stout and cocking the hammer requires some effort. Perhaps your mainspring needs replacing. My lock sparks nicely.

Regarding the flints, the 1/2 long X 5/8 wide size seems the best way to go. Sometime flints are too long and rest on the frizzen when at half cock, so I shorten them on a green grinding wheel used to sharpen carbide tool bits. I've tried knapping away at the back edge but without much success. If you use flints less than 5/8 wide, you are cutting back on the amount of sparks the lock will throw.

 

[Zoar]

My Harper's Ferry pistol---and many other owners have complained---that the ANGLE of the cock-to-frizzen is not optimum. It smashes the flints with too frontal of an attack rather than more of a downward strike that would get far better sparking. Someone suggested cutting a wedge out of the front of the cock neck, bending it closed back together, then welding/soldering it.

My guess is your flint does not work because that pistol has smashed it worthless.

I think finding a new cock of the same size yet with more of an angle downward would be the easiest and most reliable solution. This is hardly the first time this post has come up. I emailed Pedersoli and they insinuated I just don't know how to put a flint in the cock jaws.

I guess most owners of the Harper's Ferry suddenly get amnesia and unlearn how to use a flintlock... (haha) But seriously, I just wish they would offer a REPLACEMENT cock with a more severe angle to end the endless and persistent ROCK SMASHING complaint about these pistols that shows up every few months on THIS forum...

These pistols should spark better than they do, They need to change the current angle of attack and the flints would last alot longer too.