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Longest Hang Fires...
- Thread starter rancher
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Honestly? I have never had a hang fire in 35 years of shooting. I guess I had a darn good teacher in the Ol' Colonel. He grew up with these guns and knew how to use them and care for them. He taught me his tricks and some of them are not politically correct. But, the old methods sure as heck work.
Grizzled Roberts
54 Cal.
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I would say about half a second which is an eternity with a flintlock! 
mudd turtle
40 Cal.
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#Would you share some of the tricks the colonel taught you. Mudd Turtle.
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I'll PT ya.
Had that with Pyrodex in caplocks years ago, but so far only once or twice back when I was getting started in Flintlocks several years ago...had to learn about keeping things clean, etc...none in quite a few years nowrancher said:
tnlonghunter
40 Cal.
Maybe a second, probably less than that. Hang-fires aren't that common for me. More common are straight up mis-fires b/c the lock on my rifle isn't the greatest. Misfires still only happen once in about 50 shots (usually when I haven't remembered to knap my flint). Still, the thing just doesn't spark as well as the Chambers lock I put on my dad's rifle, and I plan on replacing it soon.
I remember once at first light I pulled a fine bead on a big buck in damp weather and squeezed the trigger and the hammer fell and the pan flashed like an old time photographer,but the main charge did not fire, now that deer walked about a half a mile down the trail crossed a creek, climbed up thru a pass and dropped into another drainage and had his way with a couple of does as I followed thru keeping the sights on him, and when the gun finaly went off just before sundown he had just stepped behind an eight inch Alder which took the ball dead center, some folks don't believe this happened but I saved a one foot long chunk of that tree with the hole in it as proof...
Pittsburghunter
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I have only shot flint for a few years but have never had a hangfire. It either goes bang or not but never a hangfire like with a percussion rifle.
pa woods roamer
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At a Woodswalk shoot we got stuck in a downpour. Went back to the covered range to try and dry my Flinter out. I kept flashing pan powder off in an attempt to set off the main charge. Finally the main charge started a fizzing sound followed by what looked like a firecracker fuse burning and then Kaboom!!! Took about 4-5 minute!
had a good friend who was going to teach me the old ways but God called him home i will pray you will share with me also. thanks
I was still hunting one snowy deer season and took refuge from the heavy, wet snow by crawling under a large red cedar. A double fist sized clumb of snow the fell right on the juncture of pan and barrel as I crawled out from under that cedar a few hours later.
I attempted to clear the wet shot as I returned to the house. It took a coupla minutes to pick wet powder from the vent and three pans of powder to set 'er off. The wet powder fizzed like a bottle rocket for what seemed like several a minutes or more before the fire reached dry powder.
Yep,they always work. Sometimes better than others. :hatsoff:
Cooner, I'm also interested in learning what that old timer taught you.
Thanks
J.D.
I attempted to clear the wet shot as I returned to the house. It took a coupla minutes to pick wet powder from the vent and three pans of powder to set 'er off. The wet powder fizzed like a bottle rocket for what seemed like several a minutes or more before the fire reached dry powder.
Yep,they always work. Sometimes better than others. :hatsoff:
Cooner, I'm also interested in learning what that old timer taught you.
Thanks
J.D.
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I'm certainly interested in any hints you'd care to share.
MikeChapin
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The longest one I had was on a very hot day. I was at a rendezvous and had been shooting all day. I was shooting a squirrel gun target I had four good shots with all of them in the black on a six bull. On my last shot I had a flash in the pan. I was bringing the rifle down and heard a sizzling sound I quickly pulled the rifle up and lined up the sights and the rifle went off putting another one in the black.
I'll take all those hang fires I can get. The ones I usually get are just long enough for me to wobble off target when it goes off.
I'll take all those hang fires I can get. The ones I usually get are just long enough for me to wobble off target when it goes off.
Guest
Evidently there is a lot of interest in the old time way of doing things here which is encouraging. I have answered several PT's on this subject and will chance the post here for all. I am not needing another flame war. If you don't agree with the Old Colonel, that is cool. I don't want to hear about it. I have used his wisdom over the years with no hang fires or damp powder when hunting in the rain. It has always worked for me. Here goes:
Rubbing alcohol is a good degreaser for the barrel before loading. It also takes out any moisture form the barrel. I swab the barrel with a patch loaded with alcohol and while the alcohol soaked patch is in the barrel I bust about three caps on the nipple to drive any oil and moisture out into the patch. It should come out looking dry and charred on the end.
Run a dry patch down to make sure the alcohol is evaporated and the bore is completely dry. Now load as usual.
Fire your rifle and blow down the barrel or swab with a spit patch. The spit patch is not saturated but simply moist with saliva. Whatever you are comfortable with. Loading on a hot barrel is asking for trouble.
Load again and proceed.
For you flintlock shooters, wipe the flint, pan, and steel after each shot and inspect the flint edge for shiny metal build up or dull edge. Always clear the touch hole with a piece of wire the same size as the hole for 100% ignition.
I have heard in some circles that a flintlock rifle only goes off 80% of the time. Maybe it does for the guys who maintain their gun 80% of the time. If you maintain your weapon 100% of the time, you will get 100% ignition all of the time. I can not remember when I have had a misfire from a flintlock or a caplock. They go off as sure as any 30-30.
When hunting in the wet:
Use beeswax around the pan. After you prime, shut the steel down on the pan and put more beeswax around the joint where the steel and barrel mate. To seal up the bore after it is loaded, form a ball of beeswax slightly smaller than the RB and smash it on top of the ball with your ramrod. Carry the rifle muzzle down and the lock under you armpit. Warm and dry under there. Again, I have never had any misfires using this old man's recipe for success. Good luck and happy hunting!
Rubbing alcohol is a good degreaser for the barrel before loading. It also takes out any moisture form the barrel. I swab the barrel with a patch loaded with alcohol and while the alcohol soaked patch is in the barrel I bust about three caps on the nipple to drive any oil and moisture out into the patch. It should come out looking dry and charred on the end.
Run a dry patch down to make sure the alcohol is evaporated and the bore is completely dry. Now load as usual.
Fire your rifle and blow down the barrel or swab with a spit patch. The spit patch is not saturated but simply moist with saliva. Whatever you are comfortable with. Loading on a hot barrel is asking for trouble.
Load again and proceed.
For you flintlock shooters, wipe the flint, pan, and steel after each shot and inspect the flint edge for shiny metal build up or dull edge. Always clear the touch hole with a piece of wire the same size as the hole for 100% ignition.
I have heard in some circles that a flintlock rifle only goes off 80% of the time. Maybe it does for the guys who maintain their gun 80% of the time. If you maintain your weapon 100% of the time, you will get 100% ignition all of the time. I can not remember when I have had a misfire from a flintlock or a caplock. They go off as sure as any 30-30.
When hunting in the wet:
Use beeswax around the pan. After you prime, shut the steel down on the pan and put more beeswax around the joint where the steel and barrel mate. To seal up the bore after it is loaded, form a ball of beeswax slightly smaller than the RB and smash it on top of the ball with your ramrod. Carry the rifle muzzle down and the lock under you armpit. Warm and dry under there. Again, I have never had any misfires using this old man's recipe for success. Good luck and happy hunting!
had my first this month. I took my lyman deerhunter out for the first time in about 5 months, and an accumulation of oil or something in the touch hole slowed down the process..I would guess it took at least 2 seconds, and I would have dropped the shot almost to the ground before it went off if it hadn't also fizzed for about a second of that time....even though it was always under control, it shook me a little..Hank
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