Slow ignition

[rkg1]

I have put three Kibler kits together and trigger pull was less than 3 pounds on all of them. If your trigger pulls hard something must be out of alignment. Ignition is very fast, maybe faster than any flinter I have.

 

[French Colonial]

You could have someone with a smartphone video you taking a shot and then look at it.

I have only had experience with three Kibler locks and they were all excellent.
Keep working at it, you will figure it out.

 

[bldtrailer]

try loading with your touch hole /vent hole pick in the hole while loading maintains a clear vent( a feather will also work) use the pick every shot

 

[MSW]

if the trigger feels like it's binding up, i'm smelling some sort of impingement - i would first look to something in the lock mortise binding up ... some tinkering with lamp black might be in order ... if you see any transfer, shave away a very small amount of wood (just enough to make the lamp black go away) and try again

of course, you want to make sure that you're not accidentally transferring lamp black when you install the lock... that's the tricky bit for me

 

[Winterhawk]

Call Kibler and talk to them before doing anything else. I would run a drill through the touch hole, just held in my fingers to see if there is a small obstruction in it. I drilled out mine to 1/16" on the various flintlocks I have had. Also, make sure that it is centered in the pan and even with the top of the pan. Charge the pan lightly; it doesn't take much and if you have a large amount in the pan it becomes a fuse rather than the flash going into the touch hole. The same happens if you have powder in the flash channel; a lot of folks stick a feather or toothpick in it while loading to keep powder out.

A lot of the fun with flintlocks is figuring out what works best; once you have that they are a joy to shoot!

~Kees~

 

[smo]

He did say he took the lock apart…

Also, His first one too disassemble apparently.

I’m not sure if the trigger pull increased after disassembling or if it was hard prior too..

 

[Johnny Tremain]

Define "cover the bottom of the pan."

I have one better. Use a measured pan charger. My Rev war British warrant pan charger drops 1.5gr every time.
Any pan charger with a measured spout will do. They all over the place.

 

[Col. Batguano]

There is going to be a sweet spot for touch hole size. Usually that's between .058" and .065". Smaller holes sometimes give slow or spotty main charge ignition, and larger holes are more consistent with main charge ignition, but let more gas escape through them before the pressure builds to start moving the projectile. (you also need more powder to achieve the same muzzle velocities.) That time needed to build up the requisite pressure increases total time for the projectile to exit the bore (barrel dwell time).

When I'm tuning a new build, I start with the smaller size (usually .055") and open up the TH gradually. When I get to about 95% consistent ignition, I stop. Usually that's around .060".

It's not just the lock speed and ignition that you're after, but the total barrel dwell time, (from sear trip to ball exit). You want it as fast as possible. Even a very fast flint lock is going to be around 0.080 seconds (total barrel dwell). Percussion guns are going to be closer to 0.030, and modern cartridge (striker fired) guns around 0.010. That increased barrel dwell time is why follow through is SO important, and why it's so much harder to shoot them well compared to more modern stuff.

 

[rich pierce]

It’s possible on some locks that the screw for the sear can be over-tightened, causing binding. Take the lock out of the gun and cock and fire in the hand. See if there is binding. See if the sear moves freely. If not back off the sear screw 1/4 turn and re-test. Repeat as needed.

 

[Mike in FL]

It’s possible on some locks that the screw for the sear can be over-tightened, causing binding. Take the lock out of the gun and cock and fire in the hand. See if there is binding. See if the sear moves freely. If not back off the sear screw 1/4 turn and re-test. Repeat as needed.

It’s possible on some locks that the screw for the sear can be over-tightened, causing binding. Take the lock out of the gun and cock and fire in the hand. See if there is binding. See if the sear moves freely. If not back off the sear screw 1/4 turn and re-test. Repeat as needed.

 

[Mike in FL]

That might be it. I remember fighting that screw pretty good when I was reassembling.