• Friends, our 2nd Amendment rights are always under attack and the NRA has been a constant for decades in helping fight that fight.

    We have partnered with the NRA to offer you a discount on membership and Muzzleloading Forum gets a small percentage too of each membership, so you are supporting both the NRA and us.

    Use this link to sign up please; https://membership.nra.org/recruiters/join/XR045103

Is this enough spark?

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Dunno what system you are running, but I have never seen an attachment similar to the OPs. I clicked on it and noticed it downloaded to my mac. Once it downloads you have to open the download separately.

Windows 10. I see 4 others had the same problem. I did the download and opened it to see a blue screen with a musical note in the center and that's all while it ran.
 
glw:
I'm in agreement with some here. IMHO, your rock is too short and is sparking too weak, and way too low on the frizzen. Get a longer hand knapped English. Should clear up the problem right quick?
Again...just my opinion. I'm not an expert.
Good luck.
God bless:
Two Feathers
 
Quick update. Many thanks - this is by far the best forum I've ever encounted. Much better for this sort of thing than any other place on the Internet that I've found.

I'm going to order some new flints today from TOTW. Also, that yellow thing holding the flint in my video is, in fact, a piece of leather although I don't know where it originally came from (I bought this gun from a friend).

Finally, that bit about the **** being too small and a newer design being available: that's the best news I could have heard. I'm going to that website this morning and seeing if I can get one.

Thanks again. I'll report back at some point. I'm not very good at keeping up with this forum daily. Until then, just for fun, here's another slowmo video: this time of the pan flashing. Just an experiment to prove to myself that it sparks enough. Obviously, no charge or ball in the barrel.

 
It only takes one spark to ignite BP, but more, and bigger is better.

It appears that the bottom half of the frizzen is all that has been scraped (first video). Flint striking higher would be better, but this assumes that the frizzen will fully open. Geometry on all locks is not the same, and neither is halfcock notches. I have locks that vary from having the flint from almost touching the frizzen to fully 1/2" away at halfcock, so experimentation is required. It doesn't look like you can space that agate out much further and still have a good grip on it, but its worth trying. You can make a "test flint" from a piece of wood and see how long it can be and still function properly. Ideally, the flint should be as wide as the frizzen, and as long as will function properly.
 
I must be the odd guy out here. I see adequate sparking, most of which are directed into the pan. If you are having ignition problems - and you didn't say that you are - a knapped flint would be better. But I think that lock will fire as is. You've had suggestions from well-meaning folks from replacing the flint (probably a good idea anyway) to a new lock. Why not try shooting it first? I think you'll be fine. Have fun.
 
Latecomer to the thread, but the spark shown in the VID is quite the norm that I initially experienced in my early days of flinting……..Results we’re generally inconsistent and frustrating due to weak sparking. Results could be improved, and the rifles usable with attention to the flint type, positioning, and priming method but, total reliability, confidence, and consistency with a flintlock was not experienced until I my adoption of top quality locks(ie.Siler,etc), flints, and their proper orientation within the rifle was achieved. Just my experience….
 
As said earlier, only one spark can set off a pan of powder. But one spark or a few sparks can be unreliable. More spark is better.

@glw, if you are going to order the hammer, get the new frizzen (sometimes anvil, hammer or steel) as well. The pair will work much better together than just the one part. Be sure to order the new style hammer and frizzen.
 
I have worked on a number of TCs and found they are not the cookie cutter guns that one would expect, they can vary. Others have stated they ran into problems with the instillation similar to what I found.

I put the lock bolt into the bridal like it was supposed to go, no shortcuts, no extra hole in the lock plate.

It all came out well in the end but I wouldn't want to do it again.

View attachment 89989
I don't see enough of them (thank God) to be able to see any differences. Looks like you did a fine job! I did a lock-bolt your way once! That's when I came up with my way! lol
 
On the TC parts from the Gun Works it is best to call, they don't list what they have on line.
Funny story: I did call and the guy (forgot his name) said (and I'm summarizing), "Wait. Let's go over a few things first before you start spending money." He then suggested I go over the lock, clean it, and make sure it's acting right. But first, get a decent flint. LOL.

Nice guy.

I'll do all that tonight and then await new flints and re-do the experiment.
 
that last video shows quite a delay from sparking to powder flash. what are you using for priming?
too lazy to go back and see if you said already :ghostly:
That's a slow-motion video so the delay isn't as much as it seems. I wasn't really aware of a delay when I pulled the trigger. But, to answer the question, I was using FFF. It's just what I have. It's hard to find real black powder around Tulsa for some reason. Or at least I can't find it.
 
With real black powder in the pan, 3f or 4f doesn't make a huge difference. Many of us use the same powder in the pan as for our main charge, i.e. 2f or 3f.
The amount of powder seems to make a bigger difference, at least for me. With 3f in the pan my guns seem less forgiving of using too much priming powder.
 
The people at the Gun Works do have a sense of humor and will treat you right. I sent some one there to replace a **** that had broken the jaw screw, the **** was the old style.

Who ever they talked to said they had both the old style and new, a person could buy and old style to keep their gun original and probably break another jaw screw or buy a new one that was much better.

Honest people, they would rather have a pile of the old style they can't sell rather than send a substandard part out.
 
Back
Top