Been a while since I've posted, but I thought I'd share this with you. Years ago, 10-12 if I recall correctly, I purchased a Traditions Pennsylvannia Longrifle, Flintlock, .50 caliber. This was my first, and actually still my only, flintlock rifle. I'd picked it up in hopes of getting into re-ennacting, and maybe a little hunting. I shot it some, but not terribly much in that first year. I had a problem getting consistent sparks, and often ended up with broken flints.
It was just about the straightest shooting rifle I have ever owned, knocking the center out of the bullseye on a .22 target at 75 paces....when it would fire. Needless to say, frustration led me to stick it in a corner, and forget about it for almost 10 years.
Move up to this past winter, when I discovered this website, and remembered how much fun I had with the Flinter, when it worked, and I decided to get her out of the corner and back out to the range. The sparking and flint problem turned out to be too much to get around, so I turned to the wealth of knowledge here to see what I could learn. Turns out, it was a problem with the lock itself, the cock arm was/is misaligned, so that half of the flint comes down on the side of the barrel, thus explaining the broken flints, and less than stellar sparkage.
After taking various suggestions, I decided that what I would do is call Traditions, and see if they would still support their product, after 10-12 years. I was absolutely amazed that they were not only willing to take a look at the defective lock, but actually seemed eager to support their product, even after such a length of time.
So I promptly boxed it up, and mailed it out to them on the very same day that I spoke with them. I was terribly pleased with myself, all happy that it had been so easy to get service, and that they seemed so eager to make things right at Traditions. I had grand visions of myself down at the range, making smoke, getting her sighted in, and maybe even taking her out for the Muzzleloader hunting season, and seeing if she'd take a deer for me.
That was back in the middle of June. I knew that things would be backed up with the July 4th holiday, so I didn't even start looking for it in the mail until a week after that. When nothing came, I called Traditions back to inquire about it, and was told that the lock was not fixable, and was being replaced. The replacement lock was on order, and should be shipped from the manufacturer, in Italy, in the next shipment.
Now we're up to the middle of July, with Traditions expecting their next shipment by July 20th, so I'm expecting my lock back in the first week of August at the latest. The first week of August comes and goes, with no lock in the mail, so I call Traditions back again, and they tell me that almost the entire continent of Europe takes the month of August off for vacation, and their next shipment from italy will come on September 15th.
Since I'm writing this now, I'm assuming you can guess, that I don't have my lock yet, and I called them again today. I was informed that while they did in fact palce the order for my lock from the manufacturer, they have no control over what parts they order, that the manufacturer will actually decide to ship. They're expecting a shipment from italy on October 19th, but they can't guarantee me that my lock will be in that shipment.
So basically, while Traditions was eager to give me good customer service, here I am, jsut over 3 months later, with no lock for my flinter, and no guarantee on when I'll be able to get it. The gentleman I spoke with said that at the earliest, I might have my lock by the first week of November, however, since he can't verify the manifest of the shipment coming from overseas, there's no guarantee I'll even see it this year.
Just a word of caution, a barely working flinter, is a hundred times better than one with no lock at all
Greycat
It was just about the straightest shooting rifle I have ever owned, knocking the center out of the bullseye on a .22 target at 75 paces....when it would fire. Needless to say, frustration led me to stick it in a corner, and forget about it for almost 10 years.
Move up to this past winter, when I discovered this website, and remembered how much fun I had with the Flinter, when it worked, and I decided to get her out of the corner and back out to the range. The sparking and flint problem turned out to be too much to get around, so I turned to the wealth of knowledge here to see what I could learn. Turns out, it was a problem with the lock itself, the cock arm was/is misaligned, so that half of the flint comes down on the side of the barrel, thus explaining the broken flints, and less than stellar sparkage.
After taking various suggestions, I decided that what I would do is call Traditions, and see if they would still support their product, after 10-12 years. I was absolutely amazed that they were not only willing to take a look at the defective lock, but actually seemed eager to support their product, even after such a length of time.
So I promptly boxed it up, and mailed it out to them on the very same day that I spoke with them. I was terribly pleased with myself, all happy that it had been so easy to get service, and that they seemed so eager to make things right at Traditions. I had grand visions of myself down at the range, making smoke, getting her sighted in, and maybe even taking her out for the Muzzleloader hunting season, and seeing if she'd take a deer for me.
That was back in the middle of June. I knew that things would be backed up with the July 4th holiday, so I didn't even start looking for it in the mail until a week after that. When nothing came, I called Traditions back to inquire about it, and was told that the lock was not fixable, and was being replaced. The replacement lock was on order, and should be shipped from the manufacturer, in Italy, in the next shipment.
Now we're up to the middle of July, with Traditions expecting their next shipment by July 20th, so I'm expecting my lock back in the first week of August at the latest. The first week of August comes and goes, with no lock in the mail, so I call Traditions back again, and they tell me that almost the entire continent of Europe takes the month of August off for vacation, and their next shipment from italy will come on September 15th.
Since I'm writing this now, I'm assuming you can guess, that I don't have my lock yet, and I called them again today. I was informed that while they did in fact palce the order for my lock from the manufacturer, they have no control over what parts they order, that the manufacturer will actually decide to ship. They're expecting a shipment from italy on October 19th, but they can't guarantee me that my lock will be in that shipment.
So basically, while Traditions was eager to give me good customer service, here I am, jsut over 3 months later, with no lock for my flinter, and no guarantee on when I'll be able to get it. The gentleman I spoke with said that at the earliest, I might have my lock by the first week of November, however, since he can't verify the manifest of the shipment coming from overseas, there's no guarantee I'll even see it this year.
Just a word of caution, a barely working flinter, is a hundred times better than one with no lock at all
Greycat
