Dan: I have had about a dozen PMs from members here who have followed my advice about picking the powder charge with a vent pick before priming, who report faster ignition, and other shooters coming down the firing line to ask them when they started to shoot percussion? I have had friends, and relatives, and friends of relatives try my advice, and all have had the same experience. Its not just one guy standing next to me telling me my gun is going off fast.
I wish I did have high speed film to show you, but that equipment is very expensive to purchase, and just is not available from camera shops and photographers here to " borrow ". Believe me, I have asked, all in anticipation of challenges from guys like you. I talked to Pletch about doing this kind of thing, but we could not incorporate it into his experiments he already had planned for Friendship last June. It may still happen. Hold your horses.
I have described and shown my technique of loading a flintlock to old time shooters, who have years more experience than I do. As usual, they were equally as skeptical, until they hear my gun go off. Then they demanded me to do it again. They watched much more closely and listened as I described again how to load the powder patch and ball, and why, watched me picked the main charge with my vent pick, watched me prime my pan, and listened while I explained why my pan had to be primed that way, and then listened and watched me fire my gun again. Then they loaded their gun as I directed them, and when they fired, their guns went off faster than ever before. They insisted, as they should have, to see that experience repeat at least 2 more times, before conceding that I might be on to something, and in all cases, their guns have continued to fire faster. Then I was met with sheepish smiles, and the usual, " G--Durn lawyer! How in the heck did you figure that out?" At which point, I remind them that I DIDN'T figure this out myself. My late friend L. Don latter, who was a whiz at building and tuning flintlocks is the guy who taught me.
I don't really care whether you want to believe me or not, Dan. I was not put on this Earth to please you in the least, and I will not lose any sleep over your doubts, or opinions. I would not dare have written about any of this unless I was absolutely convinced that it worked, not just in my gun, but in other guns, and for othter shooters. I ran this by my gunbuilder/gunsmith, and by Phil Quaglino, A championship holding rifle and pistol shooter via my brother, Peter. I have talked about the technique with other long time shooters at Friendship, and shown them the technique. It works for them.
The difference here is what I have already mentioned: In talking to older shooters of flintlocks, they learned to accept the slower ignition of a flintlock, with the priming powder covering the vent hole, the powder packed right up to the outside of the vent, and the slow ignition and obvious fuse effect when the gun did fire. They have accepted an occasional flash in the pan, as expected, and part of the " Charm?" of shooting a flintlock. They taught themselves to hold their sights on target through a long wait and follow through while the main charge finally burned and fired the ball out the barrel. They just never have known any other way.
Then here I come, once a " Young whippersnapper", and show them how to make that same gun go off as fast, and sometimes faster than a percussion gun, destroying the advantage they have over newer flintlock shooters with all the years spent learning to hold those sights on target through the long slow firing sequence, by teaching guys how to get the gun to go off so fast that the sights don't have a chance to move. More than one older shooter has scoffed at me, and suggested that I was ruining his sport for him. ( Read that: " HIS ADVANTAGE to win matches when he teaches new flintlock shooters to load their guns the same way he does!" The new shooters don't have the discipline and practice to be able to hold their sights on target as long as he can.)
You have my standing invitation, Dan. It was sincerely given. I would rather show you what I am doing and how it all works to your advantage than to continue this argument here. Then, if you still want to shoot your gun "slow " go right ahead. At least you will understand how and why I am doing things differently, and turning heads doing so.
