Novaculite really IS that good...

[LongWalker]

I've used flints made of "raw" (for want of a better term) novaculite and heat-treated novaculite. The raw stuff was OK, the heat treated stuff was superb: while uising them I once went 1,000 shots in my Bess with NO klatches. The only real problem (askide from losing my source of supply) was accelerated frizzen wear. I figured I'd have to replace the frizzen every 5k or so shots.

 

[DixieTexian]

That's 10 pounds of powder at a standard load out for the Bess (assuming no waste and not including priming). 5,000 shots is fifty pounds of powder. I think I'd be OK replacing the frizzen after shooting 50 pounds of powder through a gun. Any chance you were doing other recreational activities while posting, or were you actually serious? Because if you were there are probably a few hillbillies here rubbing their hands together at a new business opportunity that is more lucrative than their shinier pastimes.

 

[IanH]

I've used flints made of "raw" (for want of a better term) novaculite and heat-treated novaculite. The raw stuff was OK, the heat treated stuff was superb: while uising them I once went 1,000 shots in my Bess with NO klatches. The only real problem (askide from losing my source of supply) was accelerated frizzen wear. I figured I'd have to replace the frizzen every 5k or so shots.

What I noticed is after some use the novaculite smooths out the frizzen face nice and even. I don't thin most people will ever shoot each lock they have enough to wear out the frizzen in their lifetime, and if they do, they should celebrate!

 

[M. De Land]

So all you who mentioned Novaculite on my home-made gunflint thread, you were right on the money. I ordered ten pounds of raw spalls and chunks from a flintknapping supplier and hammered out a few flints. They spark like the fourth of July and self-knap better than anything I've ever used, and that's a bunch of different flints/cherts or anything that looked vaguely like such laying on the ground that would knap. I dry fired the first one 10-12 times and took it to the range today where I put nearly 60 rounds downrange and had 3-4 pan flashes. Didn't clean the rock or frizzen once, no knapping, hardly looked at it. It just WORKED.

When I was done I did look, it was a lot shorter but still sharp on most of its edge and still sparking great. I think it has at least another 30-40 in it before it will need shimming.

I'm sold on this stuff. To heck with English and French flints.
View attachment 244918

I also like and use Keokuk heat treated chert out of Oklahoma for my gun flints as well. It seems to hold up longer than the Novaculite and doesn't seem as brittle. Both have worked better for me than the English flint I was buying.

 

[bldtrailer]

Keokuk with an english black

 

[LongWalker]

That's 10 pounds of powder at a standard load out for the Bess (assuming no waste and not including priming). 5,000 shots is fifty pounds of powder. I think I'd be OK replacing the frizzen after shooting 50 pounds of powder through a gun. Any chance you were doing other recreational activities while posting, or were you actually serious? Because if you were there are probably a few hillbillies here rubbing their hands together at a new business opportunity that is more lucrative than their shinier pastimes.

In the early 2000s, at the peak of my musket shooting, I was averaging 50#-75# of powder a year. My charges were somewhat heavier than your "standard load out for the Bess", but I was shooting for accuracy. If you shoot, powder consumption is a constant.

Most folks have little experience with wearing out a frizzen, so I pointed out the accelerated wear I experienced while using these flints. If someone is going to use them, they may want to have a spare pre-fitted frizzen on hand.