How you fill your pan makes no difference ...

[lexington1]

If you have a proper touch hole, well centered, and slightly convex shaped, you don't even have to use powder. In fact priming powder will slow down the ignition.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Who's wasting 4f in the pan... disgusting!

 

[Sidney Smith]

Funny
I've primed the pan of my .32 caliber flintlock, then walked all over the woods, climbing over fallen trees, up hills, etc. The gun is never in one position too long. I will admit it is never placed upside down however. Damn thing still goes off when I pull the trigger. Even though I went outta my way to load just a pinch of priming powder, held it away from the touch hole and everything. I must be doing something wrong.

 

[Rob M.]

Funny
I've primed the pan of my .32 caliber flintlock, then walked all over the woods, climbing over fallen trees, up hills, etc. The gun is never in one position too long. I will admit it is never placed upside down however. Damn thing still goes off when I pull the trigger. Even though I went outta my way to load just a pinch of priming powder, held it away from the touch hole and everything. I must be doing something wrong.

What ever works for you bud ,more power to ya , do believe I wrote that before . Go with your bad self and your well disciplined priming powder .

 

[Rob M.]

Alrighty then !! I'll be saving a lot of powder now that I never have to prime my lock again ! ......

If you have a proper touch hole, well centered, and slightly convex shaped, you don't even have to use powder. In fact priming powder will slow down the ignition.

 

[Dusty_Traveler]

Who's wasting 4f in the pan... disgusting!

 

[mushka]

Most of the misfires I've had with a flintlock have been because of the flint improperly set not the abundance of powder used.

 

[WALT53]

I hear so many times you have to fill the pan , half way , push the powder away , or sometimes , toward the pan , use 4 F , dont put too much in , part it down the middle , make a void near the T.H. etc. etc. this or that .... You should be able to just dump powder in the pan and close the frizzen thats it . If you over fill it too much and the frizzen wont close , sure , knock some out so it'll close completely but thats it . If you have to do some sortta voodoo for your flintlock to go off or if you aren't getting fast ignition ....something is wrong with your lock , your Touch hole , or both .

Proofs in the pudding,touch hole location and a proper lock and the gun goes bang to easy.

 

[Rob M.]

Proofs in the pudding,touch hole location and a proper lock and the gun goes bang to easy.

Yep , you betcha bud . Easy peezy ....

 

[IanH]

You got it, Rob.

I spent a lot of time reading the work Larry Pletcher did and was so generous to share with the world. I read a lot of posts here that leave me shaking my head. If your ear can actually detect a difference of 20 milliseconds you are not made of the stuff humans are made of.

 

[lexington1]

Alrighty then !! I'll be saving a lot of powder now that I never have to prime my lock again ! ......

And if you have a big enough touch hole you don't need powder at all. Too big and the ball falls out through the touch hole....

 

[Omahkapi'si]

A large enough touch hole and you'll have a self-priming rifle.

 

[Ballshooter]

My Kibler colonial and my 62 Issac bear rifle is not picky I just put in what I think looks good and shoot.

 

[IanH]

It's amazing what you learn from actually doing stuff instead of reading about stuff on the internet and deciding whose opinion is more correct.

 

[kyron4]

You got it, Rob.

I spent a lot of time reading the work Larry Pletcher did and was so generous to share with the world. I read a lot of posts here that leave me shaking my head. If your ear can actually detect a difference of 20 milliseconds you are not made of the stuff humans are made of.

I believe some of his test involved the touch hole location and even that didn't have much of a change. His testing puts all the myths to bed.

 

[Rum River]

I have an RCBS digital powder trickler attached to my flintlock.

Makes for easy and exact powder drops.

.1 grain makes the difference between meat or no meat on the table.

Cool!! That's what I do too!!
The patchbox comes in handy for a power source..........

 

[jackpine54]

I used to prime with FFFFg and try to use an exact amount, placed perfectly in the pan. Now I just pour some out of the horn into (sometimes around) the pan. Fg and finer, whatever is in the horn and have still been filling all my tags and knocking paint off all the targets. Way simpler

 

[PathfinderNC]

I’ve tried shooting my flintlock upside down but then everything falls out of my pockets and stuff.

 

[Doc Cox]

I am no expert but I have been shooting and hunting with flintlocks for over 50 years.
I prime with whatever i am using for the main charge, 2 Fg / 3 Fg,
I use a cows knee to cover the lock in bad weather, ie rain/snow.
I never use 4 Fg as it is not graphite coated and quickly turns to soup from moisture in the air.
I never cover the touch hole with prime powder.
This has worked for me for many years.

 

[Art Caputo]

You got it, Rob.

I spent a lot of time reading the work Larry Pletcher did and was so generous to share with the world. I read a lot of posts here that leave me shaking my head. If your ear can actually detect a difference of 20 milliseconds you are not made of the stuff humans are made of.

I’m content with my flintlock’s priming method/set-up when I personally can’t detect(perceive a difference in ignition time from shot to shot with the same rifle, or between different rifles. Looking for consistency, and pay attention to sparking and flash-hole size/orientation. I believe that what is considered to be satisfactory ignition time with a flintlock can vary between shooters.