Novaculite really IS that good...

[IanH]

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.

 

[S.Kenton]

I’ve never tried that.. where did you get it from? Is it hard to nap?

 

[64Springer]

That thing's like the AK47 of muzzleloaders.

No amount of dirt and crud can stop it.

 

[deerstalkert]

come on Ian, post some pictures and give the supplier's name! i am in the mood to chip some rock. even though Friday I knocked out a couple flints before catching a tiny little shard in the tip of my left bird finger. wife was starting to talk about giving me blood. dang thing bled for 2 days.

 

[IanH]

Flintkapping Supplies. Cheaper on their website but I picked up a box from their amazon listing because I was too lazy to start yet another online account. I have another source lined up for bulk purchase (as in a pallet of the stuff, LTL freight) and am seriously considering buying a few hundred pounds and having it delivered to the dock at work.

 

[Coolhand]

Novaculite grows wild in the Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas. I’ll have to gather some up. Also makes good wet stones.

 

[IanH]

I’ve never tried that.. where did you get it from? Is it hard to nap?

It is about like "Johnstone", if you've ever knapped that stuff. Or floor tile. Use a bopper and leg pad to drive off your flakes. Hit high on the platform, like 1/4" from the edge, to get flakes thick enough for gunflints. It won't make long blades, the shock breaks them up. Try for short flakes and chip off the slight bulb that's left on the bottom on one side finished flint with your chipping hammer with the flint against a hardwood block. The stuff is more brittle than chert and doesn't like long flakes. You can drive a long flake and leave a beautiful scar but the flake shatters.

 

[IanH]

That things like the AK47 of muzzleloaders.

No amount of dirt and crud can stop it.

This was a torture test of sorts. Normally I would never let the crust build up like that and would be checking and taking off a dull or hard spot from the flint edge every few shots. This Novaculite is incredible. (Kibler lock doesn't hurt matters much, either).

 

[S.Kenton]

I’d be game for trying one in my Kibler Woodsrunner lock..

 

[IanH]

I’d be game for trying one in my Kibler Woodsrunner lock..

Send me 25 pounds of large spalls and I'll make you a dozen

I can get about five flints per pound but only one per pound big enough for the big round-faced Kibler lock (which that is in the photo and video, by the way, it just isn't installed on a Kibler gun).

 

[S.Kenton]

Send me 25 pounds of large spalls and I'll make you a dozen

I can get about five flints per pound but only one per pound big enough for the big round-faced Kibler lock (which that is in the photo and video, by the way, it just isn't installed on a Kibler gun).

I may take you up on that .. I can’t knap to save my life!

 

[bldtrailer]

yup and wait till you try georgetown

 

[IanH]

yup and wait till you try georgetown View attachment 245452View attachment 245453

After trying white novaculite, Georgetown got bumped off the top of my list. Looks like you've used both, do you really prefer Georgetown for shooting? I can't imagine anything would be better than the Novaculite, I have over 80 strikes now on that one rock and have done absolutely nothing to it since mounting except clean it once when I cleaned the lock. I showed if off at work yesterday and we dry fired it a bunch, it just keeps self-sharpening and making huge showers of sparks. I can often get a lot of shots from a flint but it needs kept after to be 100% reliable.

 

[Indy Durtdigger]

yup and wait till you try georgetown View attachment 245452View attachment 245453

Does that need fired before it's workable? Found a rather large sample of that a couple years ago and have come to the conclusion that it's either a low quality example or needs heat treatment.

 

[Uncle Miltie]

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

It is a great material! Glad it works for you!

 

[Rifleman1776]

Novaculite grows wild in the Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas. I’ll have to gather some up. Also makes good wet stones.

Yes, it is mined primarily for whetstones. I have tried novaculite gun flints and found them to be lousy sparkers. I once considered selling them but some pre-marketing surveys got me only negative responses. And, from the Arkansas source, they are very expensive. And, you want a pallet of them? Sell yer fleet of Rolls Royces to pay for it.

 

[Gun Tramp]

I've used Arkansas stones since I was a teen and revere them. Did a little reading about novaculite and sounds like its abrasive quality makes it very difficult to handle due to extreme wear on anything it contacts. Is it possible novaculite flints "grind" the frizzen rather than "shave" it? A smaller individual size but greater quantity of steel particles being removed?

 

[Uncle Miltie]

Novaculite was also used for thousands of years to make points and blades.

 

[Rifleman1776]

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"I've used Arkansas stones since I was a teen and revere them."

Yes, I believe the Arkansas whetstones are the best there is. I used to sell them, still have a few.

 

[Fisherking]

IanH was nice enough to send me some novaculite flints and I tested one today. Excellent spark but what was really impressive was one that bounced around in the pan like an ember longer than any I’ve seen.