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blazem7

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Hallo everyone, I'm new to this forum and to muzzleloading. Iv'e always wanted to try it so my kids accomodated me and got me flintlock for Christmas.I leave in New York and find it that I can't buy powder anywere around here so I would have to order it from somewere.I also don't know much about the different powders and wath to order for beginners at least to start firing the gun without maybe blowing half of my face off. What should I use inside the gun and what primer? Any suggestions? ... warnings? Thank you
 
I would use 2f or 3f powder for main charge and 3f or 4f for prime. Your starting load should be "rule of thumb" .50 cal start with 50 grns of 2f and start from there werking up a load in 5 grn incements. If you have a .54 start with 55 grns of 2f, 60- 60grn 2f and so on.
If you are useing a flint gun only use Black powder, it ignights better. there are some good threds in here , I will try to post some Regards And welcome to the forum. Fisher King
 
Newcomer,

You might also check this website. Has a lot of flintlock information.
[url] http://members.aye.net/~bspen/flintlockfaq.html[/url]

Don R
 
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What type of gun is it? some flintlocks may need some help to work properly else you may pull your hair out during the process.
 
YOu might get a lot of information on getting started by reading my article:
[url] www.chuckhawks.com/flintlocks.htm[/url]

I cover the basics of how to tune them, and how to shoot them. In another article,
[url] www.chuckhawks.com/off-hand_shooting.htm[/url]

I cover the basics of off-hand shooting, and trick shots you can do with your flintlock to amuse and entertain others. The shots are not that difficult, but the skills needed to do them will make you a much better rifle shooter.
 
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blazem7 said:
Hallo everyone, I'm new to this forum and to muzzleloading. Iv'e always wanted to try it so my kids accomodated me and got me flintlock for Christmas.I leave in New York and find it that I can't buy powder anywere around here so I would have to order it from somewere.I also don't know much about the different powders and wath to order for beginners at least to start firing the gun without maybe blowing half of my face off. What should I use inside the gun and what primer? Any suggestions? ... warnings? Thank you

Hi Blazem7,

First and foremost, only use real black powder in your flintlock. All of the substitutes have a higher flash point and will not reliably light in your flintlock. Pyrodex was the worst I tried in the pan of mine and 777 was the best of the subs, but real black powder was far more reliable than any subs. New York has some screwy laws, but you can mail order the stuff from Powder Inc and a number of other sources.

Most info in books tells you to use 4F black powder to prime the pan of all flintlocks, 3F as the main charge in pistols and in rifles up to .50 caliber, and 2f in 50 caliber and above. These "F" ratings have to do with the size of the granules of the powder. The lower the F, the bigger the granules. Smaller granules burn more quickly and build pressure more quickly than larger granules.

Lots of folks use 3F in their .50 cal. but by the time folks are shooting .54 cal most are using 2F. I use 3F in both the pan and as the main charge in my 50 cal. longrifle. 3F and 2F both work fine as the prime and don't turn into sludge from humidity and moisture nearly as quickly as 4f. So, to get started I'd say just get one size black powder and use if for both the main charge and prime.

Part of the trick of getting the main charge to light quickly and avoid the phttttttt-boom fuse effect, is to avoid covering the flash hole with powder in the pan. Less is more. Personally I fill the outer half of my pan about half full. When it lights, there is nothing between the flash and the flash hole (vent, touch hole) that has to catch fire and burn down to get to the flash hole. Makes a HUGE difference in how quickly your flintlock fires.

Getting the right angle on your flint striking your frizzen is also very important. If you can get your flint to strike your frizzen about half way down at a 55° to 60° angle you will slice off lots of sparks of hot metal reliably without dulling your flint. At the right angle the flint is virtually self-knapping and keeps a nice sharp edge for a surprisingly long time. If the angle is wrong and the flint strike the frizzen too directly, it will smash the edge in a very short time. If the angle is too steep, it will break big chunks off the edge of the flint, usually on the first or second strike.

Normally you can adjust this angle by putting the gun in half cock position and moving the flint back and forth or flipping the beveled side over to get the correct angle. Your flint should not touch the frizzen at half cock. It needs to be at least 1/16" away from it. Other wise, it may open the pan a little and you can lose your prime. In EXTREME cases, you may need to bend the cock to get to the right angle as one of the links here shows you. Be aware that is not normally done and typically voids any warranty on the lock. The reference to Paulvallandigham's info on how to do it (great info by the way) was for a Great Plains Rifle that really had bad geometry in the lock and nothing else worked to get reliable ignition.

There's a huge amount of info on this forum and I'd suggest you use the search feature for some of your basic questions. Welcome to the neighborhood.

Twisted_1in66 :thumbsup:
 


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