What make the best leather flint wraps?
Deer, Elk, Pig, Cow etc???
Deer, Elk, Pig, Cow etc???
leather flint wraps?
- Thread starter Lock Nut
- Start date
Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:
stinkyfeet
50 Cal.
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2012
- Messages
- 1,008
- Reaction score
- 1
I use cow leather strip but I imagine they would all work the same if the thickness was identical on each type.
"The Best"?
Cape Horn Buffalo leather.
Unfortunately, these beasts are partial to their hides and take a dim view of anyone removing a piece.
Only an experienced flintlock shooter should attempt to carve some of a Cape Horn Buffalo's hide off.
These experienced flintlock shooting hide carvers are also rare as only a few survive the initiation.
Novice's are forewarned that attempting to become a experienced hide carver may result in the Buffalo grinding them into the dirt. (Like I mentioned, Cape Horn Buffalo are REAL attached to their skin.) :rotf:
For most of us, plain old cow hide is the easiest to get. Pig skin's OK but your kid will probably take a dim view of you carving a chunk out of the side of his football.
Cape Horn Buffalo leather.
Unfortunately, these beasts are partial to their hides and take a dim view of anyone removing a piece.
Only an experienced flintlock shooter should attempt to carve some of a Cape Horn Buffalo's hide off.
These experienced flintlock shooting hide carvers are also rare as only a few survive the initiation.
Novice's are forewarned that attempting to become a experienced hide carver may result in the Buffalo grinding them into the dirt. (Like I mentioned, Cape Horn Buffalo are REAL attached to their skin.) :rotf:
For most of us, plain old cow hide is the easiest to get. Pig skin's OK but your kid will probably take a dim view of you carving a chunk out of the side of his football.
There's always a comedian in the crowd. :haha: :slap:
Well there ain't no cape horn buffler in these parts but we do have some of them cows grazin' here abouts. Although, it's abit too cold out tonight to gets me a piece. :wink:
Well there ain't no cape horn buffler in these parts but we do have some of them cows grazin' here abouts. Although, it's abit too cold out tonight to gets me a piece. :wink:
Moose. Thick, tough yet pliable.
But I doubt anyone laid the flintlocks aside until a piece of moose-hide came available. ;-)
But I doubt anyone laid the flintlocks aside until a piece of moose-hide came available. ;-)
AZbpBurner
54 Cal.
Because of the scarcity of the correct leather-bearing critter for materials, I've been using thin lead sheet for as long as I can remember. It molds to the shape and irregularities of each individual flint and grips without movement.
A .54 roundball with a little anvil and mason's hammer work produces a sheet sufficient for several flints.
A .54 roundball with a little anvil and mason's hammer work produces a sheet sufficient for several flints.
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2005
- Messages
- 8,028
- Reaction score
- 1,032
ah, the lead vs. leather conundrum rides again!
I use plain old dead cow skin, which works OK ... as an aside, I am given to understand that Chambers' guarantee is void if you use lead wraps. (How he can tell escapes me, but he's a boatload smarter than I, so i'll take that part 'on faith.')
Now, if you squish a fifty caliber roundball in your vise, and put it in your cock with a flint, and trim away the excess, the weight is going to be pretty close to that of a leather wrap. Many say that leather works better, makes more sparks and so on - I would direct you to Mr. Pletch's very nice high speed photography, which indicates (to me, anyway) that it doesn't really make a significant difference- and there's the rub: if you want to chase the tiniest minutae, by all means go for it, but do so with the awareness that you're 'wrapping yourself around the axle.'
I use 4-5 tooling leather that my daughter gave me, and it works OK. I've also used the squished roundball, which works fine, too. try each and see what works best for you.
make good smoke!
I use plain old dead cow skin, which works OK ... as an aside, I am given to understand that Chambers' guarantee is void if you use lead wraps. (How he can tell escapes me, but he's a boatload smarter than I, so i'll take that part 'on faith.')
Now, if you squish a fifty caliber roundball in your vise, and put it in your cock with a flint, and trim away the excess, the weight is going to be pretty close to that of a leather wrap. Many say that leather works better, makes more sparks and so on - I would direct you to Mr. Pletch's very nice high speed photography, which indicates (to me, anyway) that it doesn't really make a significant difference- and there's the rub: if you want to chase the tiniest minutae, by all means go for it, but do so with the awareness that you're 'wrapping yourself around the axle.'
I use 4-5 tooling leather that my daughter gave me, and it works OK. I've also used the squished roundball, which works fine, too. try each and see what works best for you.
make good smoke!
AZbpBurner
54 Cal.
MSW said:ah, the lead vs. leather conundrum rides again!
I use plain old dead cow skin, which works OK ... as an aside, I am given to understand that Chambers' guarantee is void if you use lead wraps. (How he can tell escapes me, but he's a boatload smarter than I, so i'll take that part 'on faith.')
Now, if you squish a fifty caliber roundball in your vise, and put it in your cock with a flint, and trim away the excess, the weight is going to be pretty close to that of a leather wrap. Many say that leather works better, makes more sparks and so on - I would direct you to Mr. Pletch's very nice high speed photography, which indicates (to me, anyway) that it doesn't really make a significant difference- and there's the rub: if you want to chase the tiniest minutae, by all means go for it, but do so with the awareness that you're 'wrapping yourself around the axle.'
I use 4-5 tooling leather that my daughter gave me, and it works OK. I've also used the squished roundball, which works fine, too. try each and see what works best for you.
make good smoke!
Several decades ago, a flint shooter I often met out at the range brought out a rifle he had just finished. This was to be the pinnacle of his building career, and it was absolutely beautiful - even more than his other rifles. He fired it a few times and then slid it back into the case to take home. He didn't even offer to let ME try it out first. He wasn't happy about the flint and how it was held in the cock. Apparently he could tell by a little chatter on the new frizzen that it wasn't held just right.
The only difference between this and all his other rifles was the leather he used to hold the flint. This time it was just some old cowhide that looked like it was doing its' job.
Normally he used soaked and flattened strips of rawhide, cut specifically to fit the particular flint. When fit, and dried, the flint was supposedly as solid as if glued into place.
Setting the flint into place was an overnight operation, is quite simple, but time consuming. He said this was how his great grand-dad taught him how to do it when he was a kid, and was handed down to him from previous generations.
One of these days, when I happen upon "the right" rawhide, I'll try it out, and see if its' better than my nice, thin, hand-formed lead.
If it's any better, and If I can get it as secure as he did, I'll post it all around here somewhere.
I guess that eliminates changing flints in the field, unless you carry a pre-fitted wrap for each individual flint? :wink:AZbpBurner said:
