Sighting in Snaphaunce

[bioprof]

I took my snaphaunce out to finish sighting it in today. The lock is still finicky - getting a lot of non-fires, but no flashes in the pan. It seems to like flints with the bevel side up and very sharp.

I was pleased today in that I got a nice vertical string after filing down the front sight with each shot. I'm still not there though. I had to quit because a lot of hard fouling was building up just above the breech, making it hard to seat the ball. I'm a lot closer now, probably minute-of-deer at 25 yards.

Oh, and by the way, I was shooting right next to a corn field, and the pheasants were really flying after I started shooting. A couple flew right across the road after my first shot. I should have been pheasant hunting.

 

[Grizzled Roberts]

That is a fine looking gonne Sir! I noticed the rear sight, is it rifled? Also what bore is it?
Good luck with your lock, they look like mechanical nightmares to me! Then you add in black powder fouling!

:bow:

 

[Leonredbeard]

Ah, Bioprof,
I just assumed after you showed the video of the lock firing that it did so consistantly. Well, here's a blessing: May you be able to figure out what makes it light the pan everytime!
It is still a lovely gonne.
volatpluvia

 

[bioprof]

Volatpluvia,

I think that eventually she will reveal her secrets. I'm finding that it takes a lot more priming than a flintlock. More priming = more area for the sparks to land on. Also, the priming tends to coat the battery (frizzen) with fouling, so maybe if I wipe the battery to clean it before every shot, I will get better sparks. I also think if I start with a new flint or knap the flint frequently, I would get more consistent ignition.

The barrel is rifled, (which probably isn't historically correct) and is a 62 caliber Rayl barrel.

 

[Tinker2]

That just looks outstanding, great looking.


Tinker2

 

[JohnnyO]

beautiful gun :bow:

 

[TNHillbilly]

Curious as to what sort of heat treatment/hardening...did you do on the frizzen?

 

[bingo1952]

The battery on a snaphaunce is a much more vertical affair than a true flintlock. Your flint is doing as much bashing as it is scraping. Knap often and use as much prime as is required. A gunspall may be a better option rather than a traditional flint. You can flip it every few shots and it will self-knap and your angle won't change.

 

[PitchyPine]

Your on it bro, very impressive indeed. :bow: :thumbsup:

 

[bioprof]

Curious as to what sort of heat treatment/hardening...did you do on the frizzen?

I followed the recommendations of The Rifle Shoppe where I bought the parts by heat treating the battery with Kasenite and quenching in water. I did this twice. It is hard enough that a file won't touch it now. I know that this kind of treatment probably won't last forever, but I figure I can do it again if necessary. If anything, it's probably a bit too hard.

 

[bioprof]

Runball,

Can you explain what you mean by a gunspall? Is this like a flint that is beveled on both sides? If this is the case, it just might do the trick, but where would you get them?

 

[bingo1952]

That is pretty much what they are. They used to also be called "Dutch Gunflints". A modern flint is broken from prepared blades whereas a gunspall is knocked directly from the flint or chert nodule and has a thick backside. Kind of like some of the women I know. :rotf: :blah: Here’s a good pic from another forum. As far as buying them I don't know. It may be time to add knapping skills to your repertoire.

 

[bioprof]

I'll have to keep an eye out for some chert when I'm out hunting this fall. Might be a little less expensive than those English flints.

I've noticed that when I'm dry firing at home that I'm getting good amounts of spark landing in the pan. Maybe next time I go out I'll have to try wiping off the fouling from the battery before every shot and see if that helps.

 

[TNHillbilly]

I had a frizzen I did the same thing with, Kasenite, etc, didn't work well at all. Someone here suggested heating in the oven at 350 degress for one hour. That sure did the trick! Too hard, I think, you won't scrape the little white hot, 'balls' of metal.

 

[Many Klatch]

I have had to reharden a couple of frizzens. Mike Lea gave me some advice on how to do it with Kasenite.

Heat the frizzen with an acetylene torch, propane or Mapp just doesn't get it. Heat it to a cherry red. Pour on some Kasenite and let it bubble for 5 minutes or so. When it forms a hard crust scrape it off and pour some more on. Do this for about 15 minutes. That really allows the carbon to soak into the metal. Then drop it into the water. Now put it in the oven at 350 for one hour to anneal it so the frizzen is less likely to break. Works great.

One word of warning. I am color blind and can't tell cherry red from straw color. The welder helping me do this wasn't paying close attention to the color either. We knew we had gotten too hot when the back of the frizzen started to flow. Oops.:nono: Well it didn't affect the performance, the frizzen really throws sparks like a champ.

The problem with following the Kasenite instructions is that they are for a protective case hardening, we are trying to knock gouges out of the hard part and need a deeper treatment.

Many Klatch

 

[BenCoogle]

Good Morning Gentlemen, I just joined this forum and am looking about.

I may be of some help here. Gun Spalls are correct up 1790/1800 and a bit later. Blade struck flints available now were not done till then. The French were earlier. I get my spalls from Bob Winters, now located in TN.

Using Kasenite on TRS steels doesn't necessarily add Carbon, it keeps Carbon from leaving the steel resulting in a soft surface.

Early locks were designed to use spalls. That may be one reason for "spitting" flints and failing to kick over in locks copied from old ones. They have a different cross section.

I hope this helps.

Ben Coogle

 

[mckutzy]

welcom to the forum,
all of the major case hardening aplications infuse the steel with carbon. low carbon steel doesnt have enough itself to be hardened so requires this treatment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Case_hardening
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonitriding
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carburization

 

[BenCoogle]

Yep!, I know, but time is required. Jesse uses 1095 steel which has 95 points of Carbon, plenty for our purposes. You are not case hardening the steel, you are simply hardening it.

When I harden frizzens I bring up to heat and dip in Kasenit which melts into a coating, use a 'carburizing flame'. Bring it back up to a good Cherry and quench, no soaking.

The Kasenite penetrates with a soak, I think about five thousanths in ten minutes (something like that). This is unnessessary with high carbon frizzens and may make them too hard. The steel still has to be abradable.

You can probably get the same effect by wrapping in stainless foil for protection. I.E. to keep oxygen away from the surface. Kasenite is quicker and cheaper.

Ben

 

[bioprof]

Ben,

Thanks for your comments. Your experience is definitely a nice addition to this discussion forum. I hope you stick around for a while.

I soaked the battery in Kasenite for quite a while and I really think I may have gotten it too hard. I'm cooking it for an hour at 350 degrees right now to see if it helps. If this doesn't work, I may seek out the help of someone who has an acetylene torch so I can get a deeper hardening.

I think part of the problem is the fouling that I'm getting on the battery after a few shots. Next time I take it out, I'll try wiping the battery with alcohol between shots to see if it works better.

 

[Erzulis boat]

I just did 2 TRS Frizzens for the "English Snaphaunce Musket".

Did both with Oxy/Acetylene and quenched one in linseed, and the other tap water.

I have not assembled the lock 100% but it feels like a nice surface with the old "flint in the pliers trick" I have a known super sparker frizzen, and the TRS frizzen is nearly as slick on the stroke with the flint.

I followed temperature pretty darn tight with temperature sensitive crayons, and I could not get TRS steel "glass hard" with a 1550F heat and quench with either water/motor oil/linseed, but the springs came out very nice (825-850 temper).

A sharp file would always cut, even with the little guys. Some spring steels I could get glass hard, but the TRS (6150) wouldn't get there with the published temps-

Keep us posted!