Help with new to me 45 flintlock

[olskool]

it depends on the gun. some will be like lightning with to standard size and some need drilling, it depends,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Leatherbark]

Hey all,
Hope you have had a great day! So I picked up a nice little 45 Cal poor boy at friendship this last weekend. I was able to put about nine rounds through it over the weekend. The touchhole was pretty worn and oversized on it, probably a solid 1/8. It was extremely fast ignition!! First target picture is from 25 yards offhand at friendship. Then I had the vent replaced with a Chambers white lightning vent by one of the smiths at Frindship. I’m home now and was able to take it out this afternoon. A lot more delay today. Second picture is shooting from today off a rest at 25 and 50 yards. Last target picture is shooting freehand at 25 and 50 yards! Very humbling!
I was using 3F in the barrel as well as for primer. I did try priming once with some 4F with no noticeable difference. I also put a new Flint on today. I was making sure my vent hole was clean. Today it was like shooting a percussion when you have hang fires.
Thoughts? Am I really that bad? ;-) Don’t answer that one
Aaron

A slotted liner will be probably be threaded 5/16 x 24. Your White Lightning liner you took out will be threaded 5/16 x 32, but might be 1/4 x 32. If it is you can drill and tap for a 5/16 x 24 and use a screw in liner. Get you another WL liner and take a flashlight and a pick/needle and reach back into the touchhole and count the threads. Do the same on the new liner and saw/file off the appropriate amount of threads. Before filing count them again so it doesn't protrude.

Good luck

 

[Hatchet-Jack]

White lightning liners are 1/4-32. They are not slotted. Just order a new one. Measure the depth of the threaded hole. File the liner threads down so it won't protrude. Screw it in and double check it's flush. Tighten it with vise grips. Cut off the sprue with a hacksaw. File it flush. Peen the edges with a small ball peen hammer. Drill a 1/16" hole. You won't wear it out in a life time of shooting, but if you do you will know how to extract one and replace it.

Update: Bob already covered these steps. Sorry I just noticed.

1/16" not 1/8" I updated my post

 

[NorthFork]

Uhmmmmm... drill the new liner out to 1/8". If the darn thing shot fine before the new liner and now it does not........well......

 

[Kansas Jake]

I suspect 1/8” is a typo but I wouldn’t drill a touch hole larger than 5/64” in most cases. I usually try 1/16” if I’m having issues related to the touch hole.

 

[bronko220002]

Wow that's a big hole. Honestly what I would do is take the barrel to a smith in your area and have him install a helicoil in that hole and the drill and tap it to accept a 1/4"-28 nipple (Standard T/C nipple size) which are available just about anywhere. Or it you're handy you can do it yourself. Helicoil repair kits are available online for less than $15
Or you can do it yourself with your current vent liner. Grind or file it down to the length you need, screw it in place with some good thread lock (Flexbar Rocksett High Temperature Thread Locking Compound 2oz) then drill and tap for a 1/4"-28 nipple. should be no problem especially if you have a drill press.

 

[smo]

Flintlocks don’t have nipples…

 

[Hatchet-Jack]

I suspect 1/8” is a typo but I wouldn’t drill a touch hole larger than 5/64” in most cases. I usually try 1/16” if I’m having issues related to the touch hole.

Yep I meant 1/16". Good lord don't drill it to 1/8" Loja Man lol!

 

[Loja man]

Yep I meant 1/16". Good lord don't drill it to 1/8" Loja Man lol!

If I did I would be right back where I started this whole adventure!!! It was a 5/16 x32 linner that was incorrectly installed at Friendship. A new one is on its way! So…. I don’t need to worry about contouring the vent liner to the inside of the barrel? Cut/sand it flat to the depth of the inside/closest point to the outside of the barrel.
Aaron

 

[Grenadier1758]

When you install the new vent liner, it will need to be adjusted to conform to the inside diameter of the barrel before sanding it flat to be flush with the outside flat of the barrel. The White Lightning liner has a counter sunk taper at the top. Don't cut off any of the liner until after it is installed. You can shorten the threaded portion to the length of your existing liner, but wait to file it smooth until after it is installed.

 

[Hatchet-Jack]

I don’t need to worry about contouring the vent liner to the inside of the barrel? Cut/sand it flat to the depth of the inside/closest point to the outside of the barrel.
Aaron

Good question and I wanted to confirm with my teacher/mentor before answering... You are correct. It's not imperative that it fits the contour.

He did say the easier/better way would have been to remove the breech plug and file it down, which is what the smith should have done in the first place.

 

[Loja man]

Good question and I wanted to confirm with my teacher/mentor before answering... You are correct. It's not imperative that it fits the contour.

He did say the easier/better way would have been to remove the breech plug and file it down, which is what the smith should have done in the first place.

Hey Jack, I considered this. But since it’s a 20+ year old rifle, I don’t know that I would’ve had much luck removing the breach plug….

 

[Grenadier1758]

Good question and I wanted to confirm with my teacher/mentor before answering... You are correct. It's not imperative that it fits the contour.

He did say the easier/better way would have been to remove the breech plug and file it down, which is what the smith should have done in the first place.

While it is not imperative that the vent liner as it enters the bore perfectly conform to the bore, it should stop at the bottom of the groove.

Interesting in that your mentor suggests the best practice of a builder is to remove the breech plug and file the liner to more perfectly match the internal barrel bore.

 

[Loja man]

My new liner just came in!! My system is struggling right now so don’t know if I will have the strength/energy to work on it today! But it’s here!!

 

[akroguy]

Grrrr!!!!! That’s really frustrating! The smith really cranked that touch hole liner in with a pair of channel locks! I’m concerned with cutting a slot in it and trying to back it out…. I guess they’re new threads and it’s only been in there a few days. Yet comparing the amount of torque you can put on a channel lock versus a screwdriver doesn’t seem promising. I guess he was trying to seat the touchhole liner firmly so it might come out easy …Removing a breach plug that’s been in there 20+ years also doesn’t seem promising!

I just pulled a breech plug out of a Navy Arms 1841 Mississippi rifle that had been in there likely since it was built. IN 1964.

Upend the barrel, soak the breech plug threads with penetrating oil and allow some time to soak. There is a commonly used wrench that I shall not specifically state here lest I be called a heretic that I've used many times to pull breech plugs. If this heretical and unsanctioned wrench is applied from the bottom of the plug ONLY and in a careful manner so as not to mar the top edge of the tang, it'll work fine.

But, you didn't hear it from me.

 

[Loja man]

The new liner is in! My 50 caliber brass jag fits snug in the 45 Cal barrel. You can tell there’s a little bit of friction on it, but it slides fairly freely. So I used this in gauging the depth of the vent liner. I was feeling very confident with where I had it. Then I was feeling brave! Since I already had the barrel in the vise I put a wrench on the breach plug!! Wonders of wonders! It came out without kicking and screaming!! You could tell it had anti-seize lube on it! The barrel is a GR Douglas! I was very impressed with how clean the face of the breach plug was when I removed it!

 

[Loja man]

So I was able to shoot it the other day after fixing it. Went next door to my parents with the fam. Kids got in the pool. Father and I set up a chunk of fire wood as a target. Shot 3 times before drilling vent hole larger. It was faster than last time! Still not as fast as when I first shot it at Friendship. Drilled touch hole out to 1/16. Shot some more. It was definitely even faster. Still not as fast as the first time I shot it still Friendship. The flint was also a little dull and worn. New flint helped things. So I would say I had 30 shots out of that flint. I would say from what I have read that is pretty average??
Aaron

 

[Hatchet-Jack]

So I was able to shoot it the other day after fixing it. Went next door to my parents with the fam. Kids got in the pool. Father and I set up a chunk of fire wood as a target. Shot 3 times before drilling vent hole larger. It was faster than last time! Still not as fast as when I first shot it at Friendship. Drilled touch hole out to 1/16. Shot some more. It was definitely even faster. Still not as fast as the first time I shot it still Friendship. The flint was also a little dull and worn. New flint helped things. So I would say I had 30 shots out of that flint. I would say from what I have read that is pretty average??
Aaron

Glad to know you got er fixed!

Keep playing with things like pick the vent hole, how much priming powder, 4f or maybe just prime what you're loading with 3f, the placement of the powder in the pan etc. Every gun is different, you just have to find the sweet spot.

30 shots from one flint is pretty good, but we want to get more if possible. Did you sharpen it? did you try spinning it around and using the other end?

 

[Loja man]

Hey Jack,
So I’ve been almost exclusively using 3F in the pan. I do have some 4F that came with a gun I bought about a year ago. I like the thought of only needing the one powder. I will say when shooting this last time, I was trying to use less powder in the pan than I had been using at friendship. So maybe I need to up my pan powder a little bit.
I did sharpen the flint once. I had a couple times where no spark set off the powder in the pan. That’s when I switched flints. The old one was pretty stubby…. I did not try flipping it over. Did you mean flipping it over or spinning? I hung onto it just because so maybe I will try flipping or spinning it.
It was also extremely humid that day. After each shot my pan was very damp. I was wiping it out after every shot.

 

[Hatchet-Jack]

Hey Jack,
So I’ve been almost exclusively using 3F in the pan. I do have some 4F that came with a gun I bought about a year ago. I like the thought of only needing the one powder. I will say when shooting this last time, I was trying to use less powder in the pan than I had been using at friendship. So maybe I need to up my pan powder a little bit.
I did sharpen the flint once. I had a couple times where no spark set off the powder in the pan. That’s when I switched flints. The old one was pretty stubby…. I did not try flipping it over. Did you mean flipping it over or spinning? I hung onto it just because so maybe I will try flipping or spinning it.
It was also extremely humid that day. After each shot my pan was very damp. I was wiping it out after every shot.

It does keep it simpler to prime from the horn. I like 4F when I'm shooting at the offhand line but if I'm in the field or on a woods walk I just prime from the horn.

Some flints have an edge on front and back. I was meaning you could spin it 180 degrees, but flipping it bevel up or down is also something to experiment with to get the most sparks.

When my flints get too stubby to sharpen in the field I bring them home and put them in a vise lined with a piece of leather to do a little more surgery on them. A nail with a step cut in it and a small hammer to tap it works very well to strike larger flakes off. It doesn't always work but it's worth a try.