Smashing flints

[Woods wanderer]

Well looks like il be ordering some stones. How fast is track of the wolf? Their website says they ship to Canada.

 

[Cattywompuss]

Well looks like il be ordering some stones. How fast is track of the wolf? Their website says they ship to Canada.

My order has been in the mail for a week.

 

[deerstalkert]

i have trained myself to hold my left index finger against the barrel side of the cock and flint as i tighten the screw, keeping the flint flush with the side of the cock jaw. and i watch the squareness of the flint to the face of the frizzen.

 

[Surfinator58]

I go with smooth shooter my frizzen toe was so pointed it was making resistance equal to or greater than the cock ! After smoothing it out with a dremel I now get at least two to three times the number of shots with one Flint

 

[Surfinator58]

Does anybody know offhand the relationship between the cock and the frizzen in the correct poundage. Like 10\3 or something.

 

[Jake2454]

i have an l&r lock and the book says place flint approx 1/4" from frizzen face at half cock position if that helps

 

[45man]

A thing to watch for when flints get out of line. A friend kept breaking half his flints off and I found the leather was moving because there were no divots on the jaws. I took a graver and tapped some up and it worked.

 

[Jake2454]

Well looks like il be ordering some stones. How fast is track of the wolf? Their website says they ship to Canada.

you might try duck creek or cabin creek

 

[Mad L]

Well looks like il be ordering some stones. How fast is track of the wolf? Their website says they ship to Canada.

TOW is pretty fast, I have used them for years - HOWEVER,the question is "How fast are Any delivery company these days?"
Aside from all the horror stories trying to get powder or firearms through the mail; here is a sample tracking of a 'BOOK' I have been waiting for.
Shipped from Oregon to Nevada, seller shipped it UPS using the "3-4 delivery" option.
I just got off the phone with Both UPS and USPS (how they became involved I have No Idea).
Prior to me calling them (just moments ago) the Tracking had an Extra Entry stating the book was in Nevada on the 12th, but after my call(s) now that entry has....Vanished??
Still waiting.
**oh, and if you do call USPS you have to listen to LONG explanation how they are "currently overloaded with COVID Home Testing Kit deliveries, but are working hard to catch up!

 

[Cattywompuss]

TOW is pretty fast, I have used them for years - HOWEVER,the question is "How fast are Any delivery company these days?"
Aside from all the horror stories trying to get powder or firearms through the mail; here is a sample tracking of a 'BOOK' I have been waiting for.
Shipped from Oregon to Nevada, seller shipped it UPS using the "3-4 delivery" option.
I just got off the phone with Both UPS and USPS (how they became involved I have No Idea).
Prior to me calling them (just moments ago) the Tracking had an Extra Entry stating the book was in Nevada on the 12th, but after my call(s) now that entry has....Vanished??
Still waiting.
**oh, and if you do call USPS you have to listen to LONG explanation how they are "currently overloaded with COVID Home Testing Kit deliveries, but are working hard to catch up!

All the parcel/postal services intermingle these days. I get Amazon packages from both Amazon and USPS, and an eBay package sent UPS has been known to be dropped off by the USPS. I am in good on continual text arrangement with my FedEx man though regarding the need for signatures on shipments of black powder. Cell phones really have made the whole "Please sign" runaround of yesteryear obsolete.

With regard to TOW, I only just ordered from them for the first time in several months, or maybe a year. My tracking email says "Delivery expected within 2 to 21 days". Reminds me of ol Everett McGill: "Well ain't this place just a geographical oddity... two weeks from everywhere!"

 

[Mad L]

All the parcel/postal services intermingle these days. I get Amazon packages from both Amazon and USPS, and an eBay package sent UPS has been known to be dropped off by the USPS. I am in good on continual text arrangement with my FedEx man though regarding the need for signatures on shipments of black powder. Cell phones really have made the whole "Please sign" runaround of yesteryear obsolete.

With regard to TOW, I only just ordered from them for the first time in several months, or maybe a year. My tracking email says "Delivery expected within 2 to 21 days". Reminds me of ol Everett McGill: "Well ain't this place just a geographical oddity... two weeks from everywhere!"

True, true.
However, I was only able to post Today's tracking, I should have copied it this morning, yesterday, and Saturday. It originally said it was in Washington on Friday, sat there through the weekend, went to California on Monday, then this morning I saw it said it was in Carson on the 12th but went back to California (my last powder order did the same thing).
Both times After I call and go over it with a live person, then check the tracking again - they 'clean up' all the oddities??

I never recall any issues with FedEx bit have not used them since there are no more Kinko's/FedEx drop points anymore

And I do think the 'disclaimer' recording that the USPS begins the call with tells a lot of the trouble as well ("we are overwhelmed with Home Test kits and are working....).
As for Amazon; they have been using the USPS for weekend delivery for a long time now....myself, I have not used Amazon for years (cancelled my account and don't allow anyone named Alexa in my home)

 

[Woods wanderer]

I am in no rush to get the flints, most days here is -30°c. If they show by June when it's only blackfly season and not hot and humid and mosquito season I will be quite happy. I only hope I don't receive on empty envelope with CBSA tape on it.

 

[Mad L]

I am in no rush to get the flints, most days here is -30°c. If they show by June when it's only blackfly season and not hot and humid and mosquito season I will be quite happy. I only hope I don't receive on empty envelope with CBSA tape on it.

I have gotten firearms, parts, even moose hide From Canada, I would not expect you would have any trouble getting flints From the US. However the border crossing does always add a few extra days, then today's current issues may add a few more....however, with the current political atmosphere....???
.....but Track of the Wolf you can rest assured are great people to work with.

 

[mckutzy]

I have a traditions hawken woodsman 50cal in flint....
Recently found out I've have it for 14 years now...
The locks need tuning for sure... but one thing greater is the Frizzen needs to be hardened properly...
I'm sure it's case hardened like the lock and other bits...
Mine needed to have the face sanded a bit as it was digging a divot in the face..
It still goes... but I thinking just about through the case... subsequently breaking flints alot...
I can't remove my Frizzen now as the screw that holds it in is pretty cheap siezed there... I wished it was through the outside not inside the lock...

 

[Woods wanderer]

Are locks able to be mix-matched ie... The cock off one lock say a Siler style and put it on the L&R lr-01-f. I took my rock smashing gun to an old guy (possibly father time himself) who was recommended to me by several other old people. He got out a popcycle stick angle finder with many different colour lines on it. The conclusion was I need to remove a piece of metal from the cock. He figures just cutting it with a hacksaw and welding it back up that just the width of the kerf would be enough to make it "more gooder". Or get a different cock that lends itself to being heated and bent. I got this sneaking suspension after spending most of the afternoon with this fellow that he has probably forgotten more than I will know about the subject. Anybody have experience with mods like this?

 

[Grenadier1758]

Not really. The orientation of the square mount on the tumbler is enough for the cock to be woefully misaligned.

The old guy does have a pretty good idea of what needs to be done.

 

[Woods wanderer]

Well I was given a phone with a working camera. I also acquired some interwebs for my phone but back to the problem. The flint is a 5/8x3/4 it sits .240 off the frizzen. When the flint contact the steel the gap between the top jaw and frizzen is smaller than my credit card. If the ridge on the flint is taller than .236 my top jaw contacts first

 

[Jim Evans]

Well I was given a phone with a working camera. I also acquired some interwebs for my phone but back to the problem. The flint is a 5/8x3/4 it sits .240 off the frizzen. When the flint contact the steel the gap between the top jaw and frizzen is smaller than my credit card. If the ridge on the flint is taller than .236 my top jaw contacts first

Flint needs to be closer to frizzen or longer

 

[smo]

See post # 2……..

And try bevel down …….

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Hello all. I am very new to the forum. Have spent hours here and there reading about Flintlocks. I am not new to muzzleloading but I am new to flintlock. I was given a traditions Kentucky. The previous owner put a tvm lock on it. It's seems to be striking the frizzen at a good angle the spring tension seems good. 3.1 lb on the frizzen and 9.6 on the cock. Numbers courtesy of my fish scale. The flint strikes about 3/4 up the frizzen and slides completely down the face ending about center of the pan. The flints measure 5/8x3/4. The problem I'm having is the flint is getting smashed, I only get 5-7 shots before the top cock jaw contacts the frizzen. What is going on here?
Any ideas would help

I have a flintlock…large siler lock…that gun went through flints like they were going out of style. Maybe get 8 or 10 shots per flint, lots of times 1 or 2…if that fricken gun wasn’t so darned accurate, I would’ve sold it. I tried everything, different sized flints, bevel up, bevel down, took the lock apart and cleaned and polished it…which surprisingly made it worse.

Years later I went to a rendezvous here in Colorado, over at Ft Lupton and I was talking with this guy. During our conversation, I told him about the problems I was having with one of my flintlocks. He pulled out his pistol, handed it to me and said cock this here gun. When I cocked that gun, it was effortless and silky smooth. And it sparked beautifully. He gets about 60 shots on a flint with that little pistol. He told me to take my lock off the gun and remove the main spring and start removing metal from the long arm that engages the tumbler (?). Safer using a file and harder, but if you use a sander…go slow, dip into water frequently, do not heat the metal anymore than necessary. Put the lock together, test it, and then take it apart and repeat until it is effortless and silky smooth.

You don’t need a huge amount of force to shave steel with a flint. You need just enough force to drive the flint down across the surface of the frizzen, and that’s it. If you look at your frizzen and you see horizontal lines across its surface, near the top, where the flint first strikes…it’s hitting too hard, gouging into the frizzen and bouncing off and will wear your frizzen and shorten the life of your flint.

I work on all my locks until I can get north of 40 shots per flint then I call it good.