Picking Vent Hole?

[Larry (Omaha)]

Hey guys, I see lots of good flint shooting procedures on this forum. I never pick my vent unless I have an issue. I see some always do, but was wondering what the ratio was of who does pick when priming and who don't.
Flintlocklar :hmm:

 

[sb 54 cal.]

Pick most every time so I know the powder is there :haha:

 

[azmntman]

No picker but load with wire or feather in TH

 

[jrmflintlock]

No pick for me unless the gun wont fire and that is not very often.

My pick see's very little use!

 

[Stumpkiller]

Depends. Some days the humidity or peeing cherubs seem to make the powder fouling cake up more. Those days I may pick.

As an experiment one day I shot 30 times without picking the vent or wiping the pan or frizzen. No misfires.

 

[Tom Compton]

No pick for me unless the gun wont fire and that is not very often.

My pick see's very little use!

X2. Not sure where the pick is right now.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Picking the vent not part of my routine. But in humid weather I may have to wipe off the pan and barrel near the vent with almost every shot. A pick then might have to be used to clear away any gunk I might have spread when wiping. ML shooting, especially with flintlocks, is soooo much fun. :wink:

 

[Renegade Dan]

I'm in the habit of using my vent pick.

 

[Ranger1759]

Don't remember the last time I picked my vent while shooting, and I shoot 2/3 weekends a month....

Ranger

 

[Semisane]

Depends. Some days the humidity or peeing cherubs seem to make the powder fouling cake up more. Those days I may pick.

Same with me. On a high humidity day here in S.E. Louisiana the pan is coated with black soup twenty seconds after the shot.

 

[MSW]

i put a feather in the touch hole, which seems to work well for me (i.e. no 'flash in the pan' problems) ...

if you tinker with it long enough, you will come up with a solution which works for that particular gun... then you have to start tinkering with the next one, and so on...

good luck, and make good smoke!

 

[Larry Akers]

I don't even have a pick. I make sure I can see powder at the touch hole when I load. If my gun fails to fire it's because the priming didn't ignite.

 

[hanshi]

I don't pick unless I have the rare misfire.

 

[Draton2681]

Keep in mind that vent picking is not just to clean the vent. It creates a channel in the powder. Before picking, the flash/heat only has a tiny surface area (the size of the flash hole) to ignite. The channel created by picking opens up a much larger surface area exposed to the flash/heat. In theory this should provide for a much more consistent ignition and reduced probability of a misfire.

 

[AZbpBurner]

Seems to me that one or more of my adjustable powder measures has a pick that unscrews from the sliding end, but I don't recall ever using it.

I do have several tiny brushes made to get under dental work that I occasionally use to clear nipple holes - I could use them to brush out touch holes, too, but seldom found it necessary.