pan powder choice help

[petew]

As long as you don't store it beside the ash tray it is fine to travel with. Think about it, how will you get to the range? or hunting ? walk or drive :grin: ?
I set my flints to almost touch the frizzen when the lock is at half cock. My preference is to put the large side of the bevel down, making the flint contact higher up the frizzen, but lots of guys put the flint in the other side down. You realy need to experiment and see what way gives the best sparks on your gun.

 

[Rifleman1776]

You realy need to experiment and see what way gives the best sparks on your gun.

That's the answer.
Traveling with bp is no problem. Pack just like any item.

 

[hanshi]

I prime with 4F but sometimes have to prime with 3F. I really have to fire both a fair amount before I can begin to tell that 4F IS faster. So if all you have to prime with is 3F, it will work just fine. I use 3F exclusively in (the bore) of all my guns. So if I have to prime with the same horn I get decent results.

 

[chironomidkraut]

yes, but I was asking if u can use ffg BP in the barrel and pyrodex FFFg in the flashpan, and I guess its a bad idea to mix the two of them so I gotta try and track down some 4f black powder, its killing me that I cant shoot the gun yet, wonder if I could get to be a descent shot by nov gun season? :grin:

 

[jdw276]

who on here said they take a medicine bottle from a drug store, put a round ball in it and shake it for a minute to make 4f out of 3f?

 

[54ball]

its killing me that I cant shoot the gun yet,

You can shoot it, just use 2f real blackpowder as it is out of the can, most likely it will do just fine. That's what they did 200 years ago.

You can always get the 4f later.

 

[Zonie]

Use your real black 2Fg powder in the pan to prime your gun and use it for the main powder charge inside the barrel.

There is no reason you have to wait for anything.

2Fg powder will work fine as a pan prime.
Yes, the 3Fg and 4F and Null B are a little faster but that is no reason not to use your 2Fg powder for priming.

The sooner you get started the more fun you will have and the better you will get by the time hunting season rolls around.

There is absolutely NO reason for you to wait.

 

[AZbpBurner]

I have a little 2F BP leftover from years past. I tried it out with my GPR. Sure it worked, but there was a significant delay. After I drilled out the touch hole to .067", it doesn't seem to matter if I use 4F or 2F now. They both ignite instantaneously now.

 

[Wes/Tex]

And that is the secret to effective flintlock ignition. The things that need to be addressed with a flinter are touch hole location, touch hole size and giving the priming charge the best chance to be effective by going easy and allowing the incandescent flash to ignite the main charge.

 

[chironomidkraut]

kinda scared to take a drill to my new gun, but that seems to be what everybody is doing though

 

[Rifleman1776]

kinda scared to take a drill to my new gun, but that seems to be what everybody is doing though

Do not use a power drill. Just use a hand chuck. If your are drilling a liner misteaks :wink: will not be fatal. Even without a liner, if you make a major error, the patient can be saved with liner installation surgery.

 

[john p. madaus]

could someone please explain why liners need to be drilled? why are they not manufactured to the correct size?

 

[bpd303]

I think it's because of individual preference as to flash hole size and what size a particular gun likes best. Holes can be made larger, but difficult to make them smaller.

 

[54ball]

kinda scared to take a drill to my new gun, but that seems to be what everybody is doing though

I had a Traditions Rifle that was nearly a twin to yours. It did fine with 2f as prime and main charge.
So, at least try it before you drill.

Good flint,good frizzen,good spark and those sparks landing in the right place are what you need for good ignition.

 

[petew]

Chances are very good you will not need to drill the liner or replace it.. You can get liners with larger holes from Track of the Wolf anyway if you have problems with only having a flash in the pan. The 2F you have should work just fine until you can get some 3F or 4F for priming. The 2F black powder will light up better than Pyrodex will. Take the Pyro back or sell it to an inline guy. I find that I have much less fouling with 3F in the 50 and 54 cal's. but 2 F in the charge shoots just fine. It only makes more fouling to swab out between shots.
Get out there and make some smoke.

 

[Baxter]

Have you not at least tried the ffg for priming or are you assuming that it will not work so that you feel "stuck" without ffffg? Perhaps a review of this string might help? Oops! Went to get an ice-cream bar after typing and before posting - the ice-cream was great, the posting not so great now.

 

[Grandpa Ron]

Well you have received a ton of advice and are probably shooting by now.

There is no doubt the finer grade 4f or Null B priming powder is faster and easier to ignite than 3f or 2f. The question is; do a few milliseconds make a difference in your shooting.

I know an international skeet shooter that used 7f. The few milliseconds advantage in ignition time and easer ignition were important to him. However, shooting at that level is very rare indeed.

Many of my cohorts shoot and prime with 3f. They consider 4f a waste of time and money. Personally I have used both 3f and 2f for priming but I usually stick with 4f because a hang fire from a dull flint can ruin an otherwise good score.

Since you are just starting out, the best thing to do is shoot, shoot, shoot. You will eventually determine if you like a separate priming powder.

It really irritate me when a dealer sells a flintlock shooter Pyrodex. It says right on the can you need a few grains of black powder for reliable ignite of main charge and it will not work well in the pan.

By the way I drill my touchhole liners to .062” and replace them at .093”.

 

[Col. Batguano]

It really irritate me when a dealer sells a flintlock shooter Pyrodex. It says right on the can you need a few grains of black powder for reliable ignite of main charge and it will not work well in the pan.

Agree. People that are in the professional business of giving advice ought to give correct advice. Unfortunately, at minimum wage, you don't get much at that price.

 

[StewartLeach]

When I could find no 3Fg or 4Fg to prime, I resorted to a trick I heard described. Placing a piece of copy paper on the table top I sprinkled the middle area with 2Fg, and topped it with another sheet. The next step was to roll a straight sided wine bottle back and forth over the sandwich, crushing the grains. The result was a mix of 2Fg and dust. It metered poorly in the pan primer, and the dust blew away on breezy days, of which we have many.

Current practice is that when I open a new can of 3Fg or 4Fg, I buy another can as soon as possible, and maintain a minimum 3 can supply of 3Fg.

White Fox

 

[AZbpBurner]

could someone please explain why liners need to be drilled? why are they not manufactured to the correct size?

'Prolly for the same reason the Italian manufacturers can't make cap and ball revolver nipple sets having uniform piece-to-piece dimensions, either. They build, but apparently don't shoot their products, so are largely unaware of fine-tuning needed for optimum performance.

It's never a bad idea to have a spare liner or two. It enables you to have a back-up should you be unhappy with one you've drilled out.

My GPR worked OK with the factory liner, but seems to me, every flint shooter I'd met over the years ended up enlarging the touch hole a little.

By the 3rd time to the range, I'd enlarged mine to .064" with a #52 bit. Ignition was noticeably better.

I decided to bump it up to .067" with a # 51 bit, and ignition is now instantaneous. It works better with 3F in the pan now, too, even though I do have a can of 4F.

I'm happier with it at .067" now, and haven't the need yet to use an Ampco liner I have as a spare.