Mounting a Flint

[Bob McBride]

My new Pedersoli Frontier 54 came with a lead in the jaw and one in the goody pouch. It does not void any warranty that I can find on-line....
DRY FIRING however - does!

Those crazy Italians.

 

[MSW]

as you can see, this question rather opens the can of worms ... do some tests and see what works best for you... i have found that leather works in some rifles and lead in others.

either way,
Make Good Smoke!

 

[Many Klatch]

The trick to getting the flint to stay put is to make sure that it is tight enough. I use leather to hold all my flints, but I also make sure that it is tight. In all my flint guns, I have drilled a hole through the bulbous top of the screw that is big enough to take a small Allen wrench as a "Tommy Bar". I found that I can tighten the lock as tight as I can with a screw driver, put in the Tommy Bar and get two more full turns. Make the Allen Wrench HC by cutting off the smaller angle and epoxy it into a piece of horn or bone. No more loose flints.

 

[NorthFork]

I like to use a nail, similar in diameter. Cut off point, heat and flatten head into a more pleasing shape, and blacken the tool.

 

[Art Caputo]

I use leather with all my locks, but have tried both lead and leather with my larger Queen Anne size/style locks. I have experienced no difference in either sparking performance or flint life. Loosening of the flint when replacing either the lead pad, flint, or both is quite common after a number of shots. 0nce re-tightened, the flint will usually stay secure. It seems that the thickness/positioning of the lead is a factor, and it takes some time for the lead to conform to the flint/jaws. IMO, leather is easier to work with.

 

[garypl]

Have used leather & lead and I prefer leather. Lead just didn’t feel as secure as leather and I felt I had to over tighten the jaws to keep the flint in place compared to using leather. Why put extra stress on the hammer/lock if leather does a fine job and you don’t have to use a gorilla wrench to tighten it?

 

[Grenadier1758]

Leather for me, even in my Long Land Pattern. Lead is an alternative, but a leather wrap on the flint works better especially if a notch is cut at the fold to allow the flint to sit back a little bit in the jaws.

 

[dwarner]

A non-traditional and perhaps temporary substitute to keep in mind is sheet rubber. I have, as a temporary expedient, used wraps cut from tire inner tube, rubber patch material and red 1/16" gasket rubber. They grip well and tighten securely. The security is further improved by using rubber cement on the rock. But they do not seem as durable as leather or lead sheet (although I have only experimented with rubbers for limited times, and it was a long time ago). They are not prone to oil or moisture fouling the frizzen face (if you oil your leather, another possible contentious topic). Although the HC prude at the next shooting bench might snort, he should not object too loudly if they are used on any modern produced gun having a forged fluid steel barrel made and finished with other non-HC materials.

 

[appalichian hunter]

Thin leather here, never had a problem. Also as Grenadier stated a small notch where the screw holds the top jaw. Once I have the leather the correct size I will use a hole punch of proper size to make the hole. Never oiled the leather never really seen a reason too.

 

[Mark Herman]

I like leather. As said, cut it into long "O" to fold over the flint and cut a small "O" in the middle of the wrap. This will let the lead sit further back for a better grip. I also oil the leather to prevent it from possible burning from sparks or the flash from the pan.

 

[Two Feathers]

Leather, 3-4 oz.
God bless:
Two Feathers

 

[Cpt Flint]

Pine resin sprinkled on flint and leather.

 

[Griz44Mag]

The trick to getting the flint to stay put is to make sure that it is tight enough. I use leather to hold all my flints, but I also make sure that it is tight. In all my flint guns, I have drilled a hole through the bulbous top of the screw that is big enough to take a small Allen wrench as a "Tommy Bar". I found that I can tighten the lock as tight as I can with a screw driver, put in the Tommy Bar and get two more full turns. Make the Allen Wrench HC by cutting off the smaller angle and epoxy it into a piece of horn or bone. No more loose flints.

All but one of my flinters came with the hole drilled in them in addition to the turnscrew slot.
The only one that does not have the hole is the old English lock from L&R that I used to replace the broken lock in my Cliff Jackson custom.

 

[Griz44Mag]

I like leather. As said, cut it into long "O" to fold over the flint and cut a small "O" in the middle of the wrap. This will let the lead sit further back for a better grip. I also oil the leather to prevent it from possible burning from sparks or the flash from the pan.

LOL, I use my leather punch for the hole so the flint sits back against the screw.

 

[FishDFly]

Leather.

One thing I learned here sometime back was to Super Glue or epoxy glue, the leather to the flint.

I do this for "Limited Time Fire" flint lock pistol matches. You have a limited amount of time to get 5 shots off. Iif a flint fails in a match I can change out the flint in a very short order, saving time.

For hunting I do the same, the flint and leather is and put into the patch box where they ready to go. No fumbling around hunting the flint an/or leather and that is nice in cold weather with numb fingers.

 

[bud in pa]

I have always used leather. One thing that I do is to raise small "teeth" on the top and bottom jaws of the cock. Works for me.

 

[Chief Ten Beers]

I use leather in my flintlocks.

 

[Larry Pletcher]

I tried using photography to see if lead or leather produced the better sparks. Here is a link to what I tried:
https://www.blackpowdermag.com/lead-vs-leather-flint-attachment-study/
Regards,
Pletch

 

[fillwa]

Leather from old belts works great for me. I’ve also used leather from worn out work gloves & work boots. The thicker leather keeps me from running out of threads to tighten down the top jaw screw.

 

[Flinty Scot]

I like both the ideas of resin and of pre-gluing the leathers to the flints; have to try them.

I've tried leather, lead, and some scraps of copper termite shield I had scrounged. They all worked- sort of- but I've asettled back to braintan buckskin, which seems to hold most reliably for me.