Speed of lock vs trigger

[Briarhunter]

New shooter here. I have a maslin lock soon to be replaced with an l&r.

rifle is damn good as far as I know out to 75 yards. But has a delay offhand that throws off every fifths shot (third), so if I am good 4 out of five (3" group at 75 then a flyer) will a new lock help that much!

Meaning every once in a while either a dry fire or a pull, flinch?

Maybe I should work a while longer to determine which is which and buy the new expensive lock after?

Any thought?

T
Thank you

Dave

 

[jethro224]

A dry-fire is when you didn't load the gun.

A hang-fire is when the pan went off but the gun didn't fire for a time, and then it did. Just a short delay from a fraction of a second to several seconds.

A flinch could happen at any time. Sometimes even before you actually fire the gun. Sometimes during.

A new lock won't cure any of these issues.

A hang-fire could be caused by any of several things. Mostly operator error. This could be cleaning, loading, powder choice...
It could also just be the flintlock gods messin' with you. :haha:

A flinch can usually be cured, but not with a new lock. Have someone watch you shoot. They can tell you if you're flinching. Better yet, have them prime, or not, for you. If you flinch when the gun didn't fire you will know.
Practice dry-firing with a wooden "flint" in the jaws until you can hold steady thru the firing sequence.

If the lock really is slow, a better lock MAY help.

 

[Grenadier1758]

What is the brand of rifle that your original lock is installed on? The Maslin design associated with some early CVA rifles had a weak/slow main spring. If your lock is very slow, you should be having trouble getting a good shower of sparks from your frizzen.

Are any of your lock internal parts dragging in the lock mortise? You may need to relieve some of the wood from the inside of the lock mortise. Don't over tighten the lock bolts. Those can pull the lock too deep into the mortise and parts then drag. Snug is good enough to keep that lock in place.

There's plenty of things to check out before you buy that expensive new lock.

 

[Col. Batguano]

What is the size of your touch hole? Pletch says that 1/16" is the minimum required for consistent ignition, with the average flint lock having a .044 lock time. That's just for the lock to get the pan to flash, and doesn't take in to account the fire from the pan working its' way through the touch hole to the charge, and igniting that. The bigger the hole, the easier (faster) that can happen. Of course, the bigger the hole, the greater the gas volume that escapes (meaning pressure loss) through it too.

My touch holes are drilled to .060" and seem to be fast enough. Just remember, that every .01 seconds in lock and barrel dwell time can translate to as much as an inch of group size increase from the offhand position.

 

[Pete G]

Make sure that the vent is at least 1/16" and then work on concentration and most importantly FOLLOW THROUGH. Until you get these things down a new lock will not make you happy, although a whole new gun might do the trick :grin:

 

[don hepler]

I have 4 flintlocks, two are TC's, one is pistol with unknown lock, and the other is a Tip Curtis with large Siler. The Siler is far and beyond in reliability and speed. My son-in-law, will often tell me that he can not tell whether I am firing the flintlock or caplock. I have developed a routine, in keeping the pan, the frizzen and flint, as clean and oil free, as possible. I wipe them, between each shot. Check the flint and keep it tight. I fill the pan the same each time, and push a few grains of 4f into the touch hole. Pan powder, is just below the touch hole. I use a gage and select all my flints as close to the same as possible, and at half cock, they set real close to the frizzen. I have flinched on off hand shots. I know, I need to cure the flinch, or rest the rifle, to solve that. The pistol would not spark well enough with natural flint, but is very reliable, with sawn flints. I don't know why, but it does. Both TC's are pretty good, but just don't seem as fast as the Siler. The Tip Curtis, Late Va. is just a joy to shoot. If it doesn't fire, you can bet that the flint shattered or came loose. One time it fired, without delay, and the flint flew out on the ground. Best of luck.

 

[Col. Batguano]

The most common place that flinches show up for righties is 4:00 hits (from the standing position).

 

[Tom Compton]

First open the touch hole to 1/16 if not already. Second Dry fire practice pays off big time. With an empty gun I like to aim at a small target and cycle my set triggers. If a gun has a single trigger put a piece of wood in the jaws. Watch the sight thru out the shot and a three count after. I also use pellet guns for practice but not the 1000 fps rifles more in the 6-700 fps range to get barrel times similar to a flint longrifle. Often in a match I will go to the line w a loaded gun then w/o bringing to full cock I'll dry fire 2-3 times working on follow thru.

If u r still having ignition problems consider polishing and thru hardening the frizzen.
TC

 

[AZbpBurner]

Is this a new rifle? If so, you'll need to remove the lock and clean it, since commercial manufacturers usually grease up the lock and don't care how it impacts lock speed. Spray down the lock with carburetor cleaner (Brake Kleen evaporates too quickly and can leave some residue if you don't use a lot of it). Also check for drag marks where the spring may be rubbing inside the lock, and feel if it cycles smoothly. Sometimes the sear is too tight within the bridle. You can loosen the bridle screws a little to see if it moves more freely. If it is binding, a little careful work with a flat abrasive stone to reduce thickness a little will help.