Hunting with real BP

[Rat]

Flintlocks are fun and reliable...but the weapon has to be a good one, of good design. If the gun or the lock just don't work right...that can be quite frustrating.

If the flints came with the gun, they certainly could all be used flints.

You can get flints mail-order at quite a few places.

So what I hear you saying is that if the pan flashes, the gun goes bang. It's your lock that's not sparking...a "flash in the pan" refers to the pan flashing, but no bang.

Indeed you will have to look at finding the right flints, but your cock-spring (main) could be either too weak or too strong, and the same could be true for the frizzen spring. A flinter is really quite sophisticated, the springs have to be "just right" and in balence with each other, and then the geometry of the lock has to be right.

I can't quite recall or picture what the 1816 Remington is...is this a military musket or rifle-musket? If so musket locks are usually pretty trouble free, but again the springs could be wrong. What caliber is it??

Some of your cleaning/wiping issues almost sounds like it has some kind of "patent" breech...which someone else was just having problems with.

Good luck and I hope it's just a matter of getting a good flint in the jaws.

Rat

 

[Keith]

I don't know what size my cleaning patches are, :m2c:but they are sold as cleaning pathes. They are not the same as the patches I shoot. Cleaning patches are going to be thinner I believe. This might be part of your stuck jag problem.

 

[chickenlittle]

I've seen people post that ESD can't ignite BP and I'm curious where that info comes from. Since BP is an explosive, it seems obvious that an ESD spark could set it off. I also don't see how you could show it can't. Run as many tests as you want, all you can say is that it didn't explode under these conditions in x number of trys. You can't say it wouldn't explode the next time you try.

Either way, the powder manufacturers will put it into ESD safe containers to cover their butts.

 

[Rebel]

i normally get white cooton flannel by the yd a Jo Anns fabrics and then take the wife's rotary cuter and cutting mat and cut about 3" squares. Using the rotary cutter and mat, i can fold the fabric until i have about 5-6 thiknesses and cut them all at once with the cutter. Can cut a couple hundred patches in a few minutes this way. As for a lube for cleaning, i usually just dampen the patch in my mouth and use that. Sometimes i will use rubbing alcohol on the patch. Be sure when you wipe your flint to get the bottom edge of it clean. That is where a lot of the crud builds up on them. I use a jag.

 

I've seen pitchers of static 'lectricty pass'n thru a piles of BP on some tests thet were performed, cain't fer tha life'a me 'member wher I seen it. Might'a been sumpthin the "Mad Monk" (Bill Knight) posted on tha old[url] Shooters.com[/url] site which aint available anymore.

Maxi chime in here and remind me wher we seen them tests be'n done and who done'em!!

YMHS
rollingb

 

O.K. you ol' dog. I'll search me memory banks.
O.K. I'm done searching. Can't find a darned thing! :redface: :redface:
But I'll do a search.
Madmonk (bonafide blackpowder expert!) turned us onto a nice site that proves static will not set of black.
Black IS a conductor of 'tricity.
That's why static won't set it off.
Made o' charcoal don' ya' know? Coated in graphite ya see. 'Lectric goes right thru it WITHOUT building HEAT.
T'aint the 'lectric what sets stuff afire, 'tiss tha heat don'cha'know.
No resistance, no heat. RESISTORS get hot!
Conductors don't get so hot.
Get it?
Basic physics what?
Worry 'bout the gas in yer garage. Much more dangerous than black.

 

FOUND IT! Go to shooting accessories.

 

Thanks Maxi,.... I wouldn't be as confused as I am, if I had a memory like yores!! :haha: :thumbsup:

YMHS
rollingb

 

[1816Rem]

Rebel, thanks for your input. Today showed great progress. No struck ram rods. Thanks again......

Even tho my venture to purchase flints from the only Gun Shop in my area to carry them didn't work as hoped, I did make progress there as well. It turned out the only flint he had was from TC which were machine agate flint and substantially smaller than my old ones. Since they were the only game in town, I took them. At first they didn't work well since they were too far back from the frizzen and not at the correct angles. After jury rigging a holder, I did get sufficient spark and the flint appears solid. I have not had a loss of ignition in the pan or any misfires since installing it. In addition the time between flash in pan to Boom is much shorter and this makes firing the rifle much more enjoyable......I did read that someone posted that the machined flints should be thrown away. Anyone else have any experience with these TC flints? I am planning to order some British Flints of the correct size; does anyone have a mail away source that they are particularly pleased with?

In any case, tonight life is good and I want to thank each and every poster who responded to help me thru these frustrations. :winking:

 

I never did have much luck with TC's cut agate flints, I like the black English flints better. "Track Of The Wolf" stock tha Black English in various sizes, and if memory serves me, you can order'em online.

YMHS
rollingb

 

[roundball]

There may be multiple locations, but the best flints & prices I've found for Tom Fuller hand knapped black english flints are from John & Linda at October Country (octobercountry.com).

Your best price is buying bulk bags...50, 100, etc...and yes, you'll use them so go ahead and get a big bag. Measure the width of the frizzen face and that's the "size" flints you need to specify.

Bothered by your statement about jury-rigging a holder for the flint...you should be using a piece of leather that wraps around the flint top, back, and bottom in a "U" shape, leaving the front sharp edge of the flint exposed of course...and the jaws of the hammer are tightened down very tight on the piece of leather. (excess leather sticking out past the jaws is unnecessary and of no help)

When installing the flint, close the frizzen, set the hammer on half cock, and position the flint so it all but touches the frizzen...normally should barely be able to slide a sheet of paper between the flint edge and the frizzen face.

Suggest you take a few minutes and read through those three articles I posted for you...should help tremendously

 

I'd also suggest thet you learn how to "re-knap" yore flints when they git dull,.... ain't no sense'n throw'n away perfectly good flints when you can put a "new edge" on'em!!

YMHS
rollingb

 

[1816Rem]

Roundball. I did read the articles from your links. Very informative. Thanks for sharing. Since the flints were too short, I used an idea from one of these article to stuff some material,ie leather, wood, etc to move the flint forward. I made a stiff copper strap that I wrapped over the leather which enabled proper clamping by the jaws yet allowed moving the flint forward....

Thanks again......

 

[Rat]

I'd sill like to see a pic of a 1816 Remington.

Glad things are starting to work out...sounds like the right flint will do it for sure. I'd also say that patronizing October Country would be good...they are good people.

Flintlocks are very enjoyable, easy and trouble free once you learn them. I guess kind of like riding a bike can seem impossible at first, and then it's just first-nature.

Be sure your touch hole is not covered up with powder when you touch her off...and you should get real quick ignition.
It's funny when you are hunting you'll eventually be very aware of where and how the priming charge is sitting in the pan, depending on how you carry and "cant" the gun.

Rat.

 

[1816Rem]

Rat, I'll be more than happy to post a photo of the Remington as soon as I sort out my records on how to post photos on this board.

I had a very good weekend of shooting. No struck ram rods. That was the good news. The bad news was I lost my ram rod. I ask you how can anyone shoot their ram rod down range. The ram rod is gone but somehow the ball only was off by hitting 2" low.

My misfires were clearly flint problems and I have been able to address that by close attention to the flint.

I am enjoying shooting the rifle and life is good. :redthumb:

A question I have related to hunting with the flintlock is: what do you folks do after a day of hunting; fire off the loaded charge as you quit for the day, remove priming powder and maintain charge in barrel overnight, etc.....

 

[roundball]

It's a lot of fun when everything works, huh!

Personally, I don't like leaving a charge in the rifle, and I don't like firing it off after dark at the end of a day's hunt...it needlessly calls attention to where I'm hunting, it may get neighbors in the vicinity upset shooting after dark, sheriff or wardens may be called, etc...and then the rifle has to be completely cleaned when I get home.

I just take about 2 minutes and either pull the load with a ball puller, or blow it out with compressed air, wipe the bore, and let the rifle completely warm up and dry out in the house.

Then I load fresh the next time I use it...whether it's the next morning, next week, or next month...I never worry about having a loaded rifle around or if it'll fire the next time I use it.

 

[brushbuster]

most shooters buy a c02 ball discharger .i personally dont have one so i have a buried pipe i discharge the round into when i get back to the house .i live in the country so this isnt a problem,how ever i will be purchaseing one in hte near future.but i never ,repeat never leave the gun charged over night .it doesn'ttake much moisture to create a missffire when the chips are down :nono: :cry: :shake: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[frontloader]

I read an article somewere that he loads and shoots then loads wipes out in front of the load. When done huntting if he did not fire the rifle he plugs up the holes and leaves it were the temp,is the same as the outside temp.Reprimes next day. Said he never had a misfire. Anyhow that what i read.

 

[Rat]

Well Mr.1816 Rem...you might want to load with a "range rod" at the range, (bring a couple...dowels are cheap) and leave the real ram-rod in the gun!! The next best thing is of course the habit of always returning the RR to the gun. But I don't think RR's going down range are all that unusual. I have read about where after a charge on a fort, or fortifications during the civil war, the fortification would be "bristling" with ram-rods. !!

I leave my ML's loaded...days, weeks, even months at a time during hunting season. Percussions I just de-cap and then put something between the hammer and nipple so moisture cant' get in there.

With Bess I just dump the pan and stick the feather in the touch hole. I have never had a miss fire with a "hunting load" in a clean gun.

You can pull a nipple and check the main charge, and make sure the nipple is clear. Obviously, it's even more easy to check the main charge and touch hole on a flinter.

I think where people get into trouble with miss-fires is from left over oil from cleaning, or maybe water seeping back out of the breech plug threads...?? I really don't think it's from drawing moisture out of the air. "Dry cleaning" the weapon before you load the hunting load is what I think is critical.

I do suspect that popping a cap before loading will leave fouling that can attract moisture. I think that happened to me once, when I got my first ML, and I stopped "clearing" the gun by snapping a cap, and I got better results, no miss-fires since. I have been told that caps won't do that any more...but I'm not taking that chance. If the gun is cleaned right there's no reason to clear the flash channel with a cap.

Before loading my guns for a hunt, I pay very close attention to cleaning all oil out of them. Again, never a miss-fire.

:results:

Having said all that, if I've been hunting in a hard rain, or have any reason to suspect the load has "gone soft", got moist, I will fire the gun, clean and reload. Pretty easy to clean after just one shot. If it does not actually rain on the gun...the load stays good. (for me)

This season I did hunt grouse one day in off and on drizzling rain. Left that load in about a week, and it fired perfectly normal when I did touch it off. Powder drawing moisture from the air may be a bit[url] over-rated...again[/url] I think it's oil or moisture from inside the gun...and that can be prevented.

Rat