Hot and Humid Shooting

[GregC]

Hey all...just some observations about my shooting experience this past Saturday.

It was HOT and HUMID here in Pittsburgh. Mid 80's with humidity around 70 %.

I was shooting my TC Renegade that is normally flawless.

Had much trouble with getting the gun to spark. I think it had to do with the prime. After shooting...even seconds after shooting, the pan would be full of this thick, wet sludge that got on the hammer, flint and frizzen. Nasty stuff. Using 4F prime.

I bet I had a dozen or so misfires. Never had a flash in the pan. When the pan powder ignited, the gun went off..but I had trouble getting the pan to ignite.

Any other similar experiences? Was using the BE Flints from October Country.

Greg

 

[roundball]

Hey all...just some observations about my shooting experience this past Saturday.

It was HOT and HUMID here in Pittsburgh. Mid 80's with humidity around 70 %.

I was shooting my TC Renegade that is normally flawless.

Had much trouble with getting the gun to spark. I think it had to do with the prime. After shooting...even seconds after shooting, the pan would be full of this thick, wet sludge that got on the hammer, flint and frizzen. Nasty stuff. Using 4F prime.

I bet I had a dozen or so misfires. Never had a flash in the pan. When the pan powder ignited, the gun went off..but I had trouble getting the pan to ignite.

Any other similar experiences? Was using the BE Flints from October Country.

Greg

Very common occurrance for me here in central NC...our humidity is usually well up into the 70, 80, 90% range from May through October...pan turns to soup by the time you sit the rifle down...I keep a rag handy and wipe the pan after every shot.

Then, after every half dozen shots, I stop and completley clean all surfaces of the lock, flint, and vent hole with drug store alcohol on a rag, Q-tips, and pipe cleaners.

I never have misfires as long as I do this "preventive maintenance" every few shots ahead of time...just goes with the territory for that kind humidity

I use Goex 2F & 3F main, Goex 4F prime, Black English Flints.

 

[cayugad]

When I shot my T/C Hawkins Flinter on Sunday it was right before a rain. It was hot and humid. I noticed the 4f in the pan would turn to a thick kind of paste at times (first time shooting this spring this happened). So I was real careful to wipe the pan clean and the flint and frizzen each time with a rag and some isopropyl alcohol. Just before it was time to shoot I would prime the pan, and the rifle worked excellent.

I finally started feeling rain drops hit me and thought it might be a good idea to call it a day, but had a blast.

I was shooting some 245 grain Buffalo Ball-ets with 90 grains of Goex 3f out of the .50 and the accuracy was very good, but they were hard to load after the third shot. The rifle barrel was fowling real bad. When I switched back to roundball and moosemilk patches, then they loaded fine again.

 

[Black Hand]

Try priming with 3F instead. 4F is a moisture-magnet while the 3F does not readily suck moisture from the air due the fact that it is coated with ??graphite?? (I read it somewhere I just don't remember). I prime with what I put down the barrel, the ignition may be a little slower, but there are less moisture problems.
Black Hand

 

[roundball]

Try priming with 3F instead. 4F is a moisture-magnet while the 3F does not readily suck moisture from the air due the fact that it is coated with ??graphite?? (I read it somewhere I just don't remember). I prime with what I put down the barrel, the ignition may be a little slower, but there are less moisture problems.
Black Hand

I think he's referring to the pan 'residue' attracting moisture after the shot when it's extremely humid...maybe not

 

Try priming with 3F instead. 4F is a moisture-magnet while the 3F does not readily suck moisture from the air due the fact that it is coated with ??graphite?? (I read it somewhere I just don't remember). I prime with what I put down the barrel, the ignition may be a little slower, but there are less moisture problems.
Black Hand

:RO:Never did have much luck with the unglazed 4F . :imo: Use whatever I shoot , works fine for me . The again I don't worry about placing in the top 3 each time I shoot. I guess it is whatever you feel comfortable using . Enjoy. :hatsoff:

 

[Bill Bryan]

I live in south Georgia so I feel your pain. I always keep a couple of moist cotton patches at the firing line and wipe the pan after each shot. Otherwise I get the same build up of black "goo" in the pan. :agree:

 

[Greg Walden]

Humidity? Florida ...

It's that time of year around here, too. Pan stays damp after first shot. However, I don't get misfires as long as I wipe the flint and frizzen face each shot. I don't know why, but this gun almost never misfires. That's with the powder standing in the pan for maybe as long as ten minutes, too.

Greg

 

[Bob J]

Humidity? Florida ...

It's that time of year around here, too. Pan stays damp after first shot. However, I don't get misfires as long as I wipe the flint and frizzen face each shot. I don't know why, but this gun almost never misfires. That's with the powder standing in the pan for maybe as long as ten minutes, too.

Greg

Do you use alcohol to wipe flint, pan and frizzen?

 

[Greg Walden]

Bob,

Nope, I just use my finger! :: I clean bore and pan etc with TC Number 13 every 15 rounds or so, or when it gets harder to load. I fired 30 rounds without cleaning last weekend, but I was using a fiberglass range rod instead of the hickory rod.

Greg

 

[Bob J]

Bob,

Nope, I just use my finger! :: I clean bore and pan etc with TC Number 13 every 15 rounds or so, or when it gets harder to load. I fired 30 rounds without cleaning last weekend, but I was using a fiberglass range rod instead of the hickory rod.

Greg

Don't cut your finger on the flint like like Zonie ::
That's a good amount of shootin' between swabbin'. What are you using for lube?

 

[Greg Walden]

Hi Bob,

Wonder Patches 1000 Plus pre-cuts, .015 with .490 cast balls. Muzzle coned to where I can thumb-start 'em, and they seem to go down even better in the humidity. I use a range rod most of the time; I wouldn't be able to fire more than 10 rounds at the most with a wooden rod without cleaning.

Greg

 

[roundball]

Hi Bob,

Wonder Patches 1000 Plus pre-cuts, .015 with .490 cast balls. Muzzle coned to where I can thumb-start 'em, and they seem to go down even better in the humidity. I use a range rod most of the time; I wouldn't be able to fire more than 10 rounds at the most with a wooden rod without cleaning.

Greg

My Saturday morning shoots during the hot humid months here work well...temps are usually pleasant enough at first light so it doesn't bother much, however, the high humidity sure does keep everything loose and easy to load.

A Saturday morning routine is 40 shots, 50-60grns Goex 3F depending on caliber, TC's pillow ticking patches prelubed with Natural Lube 1000, and while I have to clean up the lock every half dozen shots, I don't wipe the bore until I'm ready for the drive home...really makes for an enjoyable shooting trip

 

[cayugad]

I have to admit it was a new experience for me shooting in the humid weather. And I will say I learned a lot. First thing is keep an eye on your pan powder. Other then the one time I had to wipe out this paste crud, the rifle worked perfect even using the Goex 4f as the primer.

I am just amazed at how dependable the flintlocks really are. I always avoided them because of all the horror stories I heard about, pan got wet, flint was dull, failed to spark, etc. After owning two of them now, the more I shoot them the more I enjoy them.

Someday I will get that flint knapping down but until then I just keep chipping away a very little at a time. Seems to be working.

 

[Grantman]

I immediatedly close the frizzen after firing. The residual heat in the pan really helps to dry things out.

 

[Cruzatte]

I've had pretty much the same experience with humitidy here in N.E. Kansas. Yep, it does get pretty sticky here in the summertime, sure enough. Temperatures up into the mid-90s and humidity of 50-60% are common June through September. As somebody else suggested, I also keep a rag handy and every few shots, wipe off the frizzen, flint, the underside of the frizzen, and the pan. Or, should I have forgotten the rag, (and I sometimes do) a cleaning patch with a little solvant will do, as well.

Cruzatte :m2c:

 

[scott k]

Shore was sticky this weekend hmm. All the sudden it got hot here in PA. ::
What I've bin doing is using the opposite end of the strip of pillow ticking that I'm cutting the patches from. Less stuff to forget at the house when going to the range. Make shore that you get the bottom of the flint as that seems to be the main problem when mine doesn't spark.
Works good enough for me. :m2c:
Lehigh...

 

[Stumpkiller]

Happy Birthday Lehigh!

It's amazing how much difference a day can make in "pan goo". It effects bore fouling the same way.

I use the end of my ticking, also. If it's going to be a "gooey" day I slice off 6" or so and keep it handy on my pouch strap so I can wipe the pan and flint. As it cruds up, I dampen it for wiping between shots and slice off a new piece. The alcohol isn't a bad idea, but I don't routinely carry any.

 

[2172]

We had our annual silhouette shoot last Saturday...I watched a couple of topflight flint shooters battle the humidity...while I am a devoted flinter, I've decided that the pan-sludge problem was taking too much joy out of my shooting, so, at the match, and until the Fall, I shot my percussion favorite...no misfires, no problems..Hank

 

[Wart]

Agreed, humid weather does put a damper on bp hunting/shooting. There are times that I've shot in the rain with little to no problems getting the primer to go off. This is not the case with humid weather though as it worsens ignition. Being a traditional shooter, I wipe my pan and flint with a strip of patching material hanging from my shooting bag (on some occasions, I've used the bottom of my longhunters shirt. This doesn't set well with the wife <g>).
I do keep a brass push type primer with 4f for certain situations (usually when someone has to pull their nipple or if I need to get a bit a powder pushed into the touchhole but generally I prime with 3f year round.
I've found that with my smoothbore, its best to not run a patch down the barrel between shots. It seems to cause more problems with buildup at the breech. This I was use to doing in my rifle and felt I should do it in the smoothbore but found it caused more problems than by not doing it.
What works best for me is to load, prick and prime. I keep my powder to the far side of the pan (not against the touchhole) as well. Hope this helps
:results: