Question on holding flint in the clamp

[SacramentoJohnson]

Hi all,
Am new to flinters and see some putting a piece of leather around the flint and some putting thin lead around the flint. Which is better? (I have a new Pedersoli flintlock pistol, and want to start right). Thanks!

 

[Hawgeye]

I have always used leather. Others use lead. It depends on what you find works well for you. :v

 

[Grenadier1758]

Most of the people I know use leather. Very few use lead.

In use, you will need to check the lead wrapped flint to ensure that it is not working loose. You should check your leather wrapped flint too as part of keeping the flint clear of fouling and wiping the frizzen.

 

[Grumpa]

I have used both, not enough experience with lead to say if it's better, but I have no problem with it.

One advantage with lead is that you always have a ball with you that you can flatten if you lose your
leather. I try to keep a flattened ball (along with leather strips) in my bag.

 

[palonghunter]

My Blue Ridge (same as a Pedersoli Frontier) came with lead. Prior to that I had always used leather, but I gave it a shot. I had trouble with the flint slipping with the lead, so I switched it out for leather, and I haven't had the problem again.

 

[nwtradegun]

LEATHER AND ONLY LEATHER so say the gods of flintlocks. leather conforms to the shape of the flint, lead does not.

 

[M. De Land]

I prefer leather because it maintains some spring back tension which lead does not do.
Temperature drop effects leads grip more than leather in my opinion.

 

[Rifleman1776]

What others have said. Leather far and away the preferred choice.

 

[BEP]

Right now, somewhere "Beyond the Great Divide", the late Paul V. is frantically looking for a keyboard!!

 

[Pete G]

Lead can be OK, but you have to constantly check it to keep it tight. It was often used in military locks which are large and heavily built. The normal civilian styled flintlocks usually use leather. One well known lock maker even states that his lifetime warranty is void if you use anything but leather.

 

[dlgraley]

Leather is also a better shock absorber. The warranty on some locks is void if lead is used and the cock breaks.

 

[Twisted_1in66]

I also use leather, but pure lead absolutely does conform to the flint. Trick with using lead is you tighten it, take a couple of shots and tighten again. Then it works.

Oldest method of using lead is to hammer one of your lead balls flat and use that. You can buy flat lead for holding a flint that has a hole in the middle so it doesn't add any extra length when bent over the flint.

Nonetheless, I use leather on my .50 cal Early Lancaster rifle.

Now Jim Chambers says that using lead to hold the flint on one of his locks will void the warranty, and he makes great locks. So, if you have one of his locks, don't use lead to hold the flint.

Twisted_1in66 :thumbsup:
Dan

 

[don hepler]

Not all leather is the same. I like leather the thickness and feel of an old baseball glove. Some of the strips you buy are too thin and flimsy.

I've tried lead, and it's kind of like the leather. The thickness is critical to getting it to hold properly. In the end, I chose leather, but I am particular in choosing the right piece.

Find what works, and stick with it. Consistency is the trick to getting a flintlock, to fire every time.

 

[Artificer]

Always used leather in civilian locks and in my Brown Bess Carbine Lock when I competed with it in the Northwest Trade Gun Matches in the 70's and in my Charleville that was set up for War 1812 reenacting.

I personally did not see much use of thin lead until I came back to 18th century military reenacting in the late 90's. For those who often had the most problems with their military locks, it seemed they usually were using lead flint wraps. Normally when one of our members was having trouble getting reliable ignition (and it was not a cock/frizzen hardness problem), I tried different pieces of leather and different sizes of flints to get the lock to spark and set off the priming pan reliably.

Gus

 

[hanshi]

I use leather in all my locks. I tested lead some years ago and found it offered no advantage plus it loosened up way too often. Some makers strictly warn against using lead; and yes, it's use can void warranties.

 

[Larry Pletcher]

When this topic appeared a few years ago, I tried using photography to see if a difference in spark production could be seen. Below is the link:

Link

Regards,
Pletch

 

[Walks with fire]

I looked at the link and no times came up for some reason.

I use leather and have tried lead which does require that it be checked for tightness frequently. Both work.

The theory is that a leather held flint bounces when it hits the frizzen and will build up metal on the face of the flint when fired.
The lead does not bounce and does not build up metal on the face of the flint. Lead held will knap a fresh edge each time it's fired.

I have noticed some truth to the theory but still use leather because I don't need to keep tightening it.

 

[Larry Pletcher]

I looked at the link and no times came up for some reason.

I use leather and have tried lead which does require that it be checked for tightness frequently. Both work.

The theory is that a leather held flint bounces when it hits the frizzen and will build up metal on the face of the flint when fired.
The lead does not bounce and does not build up metal on the face of the flint. Lead held will knap a fresh edge each time it's fired.

I have noticed some truth to the theory but still use leather because I don't need to keep tightening it.

The reason no times came up is because I did no timing. My goal was simply to look at the quantity of sparks visually. I also wanted to see if there was a degrading of spark production as the flint was used.
Regards,
Pletch

 

[Crewdawg445]

I've purchased many types of leather for the cock jaws, my preferred leather now comeso from hobby lobby and is about $3.00 for a piece that will seriously last two lifetimes. 4oz tooling leather cut to the right size works great as well.

Tried lead and hated it...

 

[mr.flintlock]

I have always used leather and it has always worked fine for me, so I never saw the need to try lead.