Stretching gunflints

[trent/OH]

I recently found a whole bunch of 5/8" square flints on my shelf. My rifles shoot the more conventional 5/8"x3/4" flints. Other than jamming a twig behind the flint in the jaws, is there a way "lengthen" these square flints so as to get good use from them?

 

[Wes/Tex]

Two twigs! Actually, except for folded leather or some other spacer, I'm not sure what to tell you. Sorry guy...maybe there's some better ideas out there.

 

[Semisane]

Extend the rear with JB Weld.

 

[Sunkmanitu Tanka]

Can't you swap them with another member on this forum?

 

[Birddog6]

Cut a lil piece of hickory or maple & epoxy it into a piece of bent leather, then put the flint in the spaced leather to make it work.

Keith Lisle

 

[ohio ramrod]

Another recommendation of jb weld to stretch, or in some cases to even up angled flints. :idunno:

 

[hanshi]

All these methods work just fine.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I am of the twig school. (look close - it's off a hawthorn tree beside my shooting lane on a logging road).

I can't reach out in the woods after knapping back a worn flint and grab a J-B Weld bush.

 

[ChrisPer]

That JB Weld bush would be bloody handy if they grow there though... :hmm:

 

[Alden]

Speaking of bloody, is that a thorn or actually a branch from the hawthorne bush -- the thorn were used as pins to close clothes, hold aprons on, etc. back in the day...

 

[hanshi]

I will use twigs, toothpicks, leather and even rolled up paper; anything to get that little rascal out far enough to stay in the jaws and still hit the frizzen.

 

[nwtradegun]

try sheet lead formed around the back of lock.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Speaking of bloody, is that a thorn or actually a branch from the hawthorne bush -- the thorn were used as pins to close clothes, hold aprons on, etc. back in the day...

Make good vent picks, too. I have two horns I attached the plugs with using these thorns.

But that piece in the jaws is part of a twig - they're tough as well.

Also the reason I don't wear moccasins and why I went to puncture resistant garden tractor tires!

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Hey Stumkiller that looks like what I have heard called a Devils Walking Stick. Have you ever heard it called that? Dan.

 

[Stumpkiller]

No. Most folks hereabouts call it "thorn apple" but it is hawthorn. Thorn apple is a different plant entirely. It's also known as a "damn nuisance" by most folks trying to keep a field clear. Between that and Amur honeysuckle I fight a never-ending battle to keep pasture and my woodlot clear.

 

[nchawkeye]

That's not a Devils Walking stick, it's not a tree and has thorns on the main trunk or body of the plant...

 

[hockeyref]

That's not a Devils Walking stick, it's not a tree and has thorns on the main trunk or body of the plant...

So that's what that damn thing was... lost my footing on a muddy side hill couple years ago and went for a slide... reached out to grab a small tree to stop myself and it "bit me" pretty hard. I had to climb back past it and stopped to look, but never bothered to actually find out what it was.

Oh, and just to get it back on topic... I would use a stick or a strip of stiff leather... no need to be pretty, just functional.

 

[FishDFly]

I recently found a whole bunch of 5/8" square flints on my shelf. My rifles shoot the more conventional 5/8"x3/4" flints. Other than jamming a twig behind the flint in the jaws, is there a way "lengthen" these square flints so as to get good use from them?

If you use JB Weld as suggested you have now changed the rifle from 5/8X3/4" to 5/8" square.

Seems like it would be better to shim forward than mucking up a lock with JB Weld.

Twigs are free, JB you gotta pay for and make a road trip to get it. Also the manufacturer might not honor the warranty on the lock with JB Weld on the ****.

 

[Coot]

I'm pretty sure that the idea with JB weld was to put it on the flint (making the flint longer) & not to put it on the lock (which IMHO would be a mess).

 

[Grumpa]

"Old Nick" always puts them right where you'll need to grab a handful of support to keep goin' uphill. Gets you every time! It's also called Hercules' Club, but Devil's Walking Stick gets my vote. I feel your pain...reminds me of my own!