Ignition Problems – No I idea what I am doing!!! Please help!

[Rock Home Isle]

Start here

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Then go here

 

[Rock Home Isle]

And finish here

 

[bldtrailer]

50 shots on a unkapped flint isn't bad. the above nail will work or learn to pressure flake but you need to learn how to freshen the edge
another tip is wipe the pan frizzen and rock with 91 % alcohol and between rounds wipe with a dry cloth/paper towel

when you bring your flinter out wipe the inside of the barrel with 91% alcohol and a dry patch this removes the oil and moisture
, then wipe the lock and rock with the same , prick the touch hole ( every time you load) never wipe with your fingers your skin has oil in it a dry patch or rag( at the shoots you will see old timers use their shirttails)

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Oh wait…this as well

 

[snakebit]

As some of you may know, I recently bought my first flintlock. I do not know anyone who shoots one so I have no mentor. It seems I’m getting as many misfires as fires. I have read posts and watched vids, obviously I’m missing something, perhaps lots of things. Some flash and no fire, some no flash at all. I am nearing wits end beginning to regret going down this path. Maybe you guys can help.

I bought the used Traditions with a black flint in the clamp. It worked fine for maybe 50rds. Even with the leather notched and the flint against the screw, the flint touched the frizzen at half cock so I was careful closing the frizzen when the pan was charged.

Eventually the tip of the flint became blunt and it was unreliable igniting the primer. (Don’t ask me whether it sparked good or not, I have no idea what a good or bad spark looks like, and the vids don’t help.)

I bought new flints from a supplier recommended by someone here. I told the supplier the frizzen was 5/8 wide and he recommended ½” wide flints. The are sort of amber colored and I have to clamp them well forward of the screw otherwise the top of the clamp hits the frizzen before the flint.

The first new flint worked fine for about 3 dryfires and 2 rds, then it became chipped and was unreliable igniting the primer. I watched vids on napping the flint, looked easy, but when I tried, big uneven chunks came out. I really have no freakin’ idea what I am doing!

I installed another ½” flint, I dry fired several times, it sparked but doesn't look as good as the vids. A vid said the flint should scrape the frizzen as the hammer drops, but mine seems to only touch the frizzen near the point of impact, I do not see evidence of rubbing all the way down like I see in vids. (I polished the face with coarse paper so I can see the fresh flint marks.). Maybe I’m not getting a good scrape? (BTW: The frizzen seems good and hard by the file test.) Perhaps the lock geometry requires my flint to be extremely forward for a good scrape?

I hope some of you will notice some obvious things I am doing wrong and set me straight. I need you guys to help turn this into lemonade!

Thanks!

I assume your rifle has a patent breach? They can be tricky until you learn how work around them. These are a few things the folks on here passed along to me, and it helped tremendously. I replaced the vent liner with one from RMC, another was when I swabbed my barrel I was doing it too fast, with too wet a patch, I was pushing sludge down into the breach, preventing enough heat from getting to the main charge. You want to swab slow, with just a damp patch. That way you are grabbing the fouling and pulling it out, instead of pushing into the breach. There should be space between the flint and frizzen with the frizzen closed, and hammer at half cock. If your flint is short, you can put some leather behind it. You may have to flip the flint, but you need it to strike and scrape the frizzen around the 2/3 mark, angling the sparks into the pan. The correct size, and good fitting flint is the best way to go. Picking the vent could help a lot too. Just don't give up.

 

[kyron4]

On my Traditions I use the 5/8" wide by 3/4" long flints both Black English and French Amber. At half cock the flint is between 1/16" to 3/32" from the frizzen. This gets you to the the 60* angle( +or- a few degrees) that is optimal for the flint to shave down the frizzen without hitting or skipping off.

Some pics of the touch hole and pan along with flint and frizzen will help the diagnosis go along better.

 

[smoothshooter]

At first, it may seem there's a lot of stuff to learn when starting out with flintlocks, but if you have a good quality RELIABLE lock, the rest is like learning to drive a golf cart. Mastering the nuances of each individual lock is, in my opinion, an aspect too often overlooked. I.e : An improperly hardened frizzen that won't throw sparks will ruin other efforts until it's replaced, fixed, or faced. Flash hole askew? Uh ...well, now that IS a problem.

Folks in this here group can certainly help, for all of us were new to flintlocks at one time. Percussion's easy - I had two percussion guns with missing.broken mainsprings, fired them with a bunch of rubber bands wrapped around the hammers. More variables with rock locks. Have fun.

A good flintlock gun should cost you at least $800 or more. A good lock alone is worth $300 by itself.
Percussion guns have locks that cost a lot to make and generally require no tuning.

 

[smoothshooter]

I assume your rifle has a patent breach? They can be tricky until you learn how work around them. These are a few things the folks on here passed along to me, and it helped tremendously. I replaced the vent liner with one from RMC, another was when I swabbed my barrel I was doing it too fast, with too wet a patch, I was pushing sludge down into the breach, preventing enough heat from getting to the main charge. You want to swab slow, with just a damp patch. That way you are grabbing the fouling and pulling it out, instead of pushing into the breach. There should be space between the flint and frizzen with the frizzen closed, and hammer at half cock. If your flint is short, you can put some leather behind it. You may have to flip the flint, but you need it to strike and scrape the frizzen around the 2/3 mark, angling the sparks into the pan. The correct size, and good fitting flint is the best way to go. Picking the vent could help a lot too. Just don't give up.

I second this comment about patent breeches being problems. I despise them and will not buy any gun that has one.

 

[kyron4]

A good flintlock gun should cost you at least $800 or more. A good lock alone is worth $300 by itself.
Percussion guns have locks that cost a lot to make and generally require no tuning.

This is true, however if it weren't for the pawn shop CVA's and "cheap" Traditions kits a lot of people , myself included, would not get into the hobby. My first flintlock was a $350 Traditions Kentucky rifle kit. I learned a lot and after some tuning of the lock and some trial and error, it has been very reliable and a joy to shoot. A good car should cost $20,000 but I get from point A to point B in a $2,000 Ford Focus just fine.

 

[BruceHH]

OK, we are still waiting on the photos - they will help a bunch. First though, loosening the hammer screw is not a good idea. It sounds as though your lock could use a good tuning and oiling. Next, Schutzen powder is not bad, but Schutzen 3F for the priming may be part of the problem. The touch hole below sunset is not a problem either unless it is real low like partially covered by the pan. Your touch hole size may or may not be an issue. Having a patent chamber is not a bad thing despite internet lore. An improperly located touch hole going into a patent chamber is the bad thing.

 

[kyron4]

In case you're curious here a picture of a CVA patent breach on a cut away rifle. It's a cap lock but same idea on flintlock .

 

[flconch53]

I would suggest NOT using a 1/16” drill bit to clear the touchhole, particularly when the gun is assembled. About as aggressive as I get is using pipe cleaner. You may want to try something as simple as a straighten out paper clip to clear the touchhole and pick the powder. And if you want to go completely non HC/PC you could try something like a soft dental pick.
View attachment 377117

I would suggest a PC of stainless wire that can be bent slightly to clear the touch hole.

 

[Banjoman]

Don’t give up pilgrim! I learned to maintain and shoot flintlocks on my own with just books and this here internet thing. If I can do it, anybody can. And when you take that first squirrel with one, oh man, they ain’t no turning back then! Hang in thar!