Took my flintlock rifle to the range after 5 years... had some challenges...

[Aran]

Hi Folks,

As the title states, I went to the range recently after not having shot my flinty for a while. It's a .50cal Traditions Frontier that I built from a kit several years back.
So I cleaned the gun out with boiling water and ran some patches down it with a bit of lube to protect the bore. The next day (yesterday) I made it out to the range. Bought some new blackpowder and a benchrest and set off for the 50m range to do some load testing and sighting in...
I sat down and got all my kit out and loaded the gun. First shot, flash in the pan. Second shot, flash in the pan, third, ditto. Then I got no ignition, so I changed the flint. Had a couple more flashes in the pan after a few more attempts. Finally, just as I was thinking I would have to pull the ball, it fired. It was only after I had managed to cram enough powder in through the flash hole with a pick, that the gun went off.

So I continued and got a few more shots off with less hassle, still there were misfires, but not quite so many as the first time. I still had to try to get as much powder inside the touchhole as I could to get the gun to fire. The ignition was slow, with a flash, hiss, bang. Another issue I found in the ignition was that the new powder wouldn't ignite so easily from the sparks created by the lock. Now the frizzen isn't putting off as much sparks as it used to, perhaps that needs improving, but it would only ignite the powder if I used some of the remnants of old powder I had to prime the pan. Perhaps the new powder is coated more heavily with graphite which makes it more spark resistant? Not sure why it wasn't lighting up as well as the old stuff...

Now it took me a while to load and shoot and clean the bore while talking to one of the range assistants about the gun. I managed to get 5 shots off, all on paper, with a decent grouping. I shot 50g 3fg and I was quite pleased with the accuracy, although the gun was shooting a tad to the left. We adjusted the sights. I got another three shots off, more centered this time, also a fair group. I was shooting .590" round balls which I cast a while back with some wheel weight lead, the patches were 20 thousandth's and were a rather tight fit. I thus had to wipe the bore very well between shots to make the loading manageable. Still it was quite hard to ram home.

So I checked out my last three shots and walked back to the shooting bench to eat some lunch. I gave the bore a wipe with a swab with some soapy water in it before continuing to load with 60 grains this time. The problem was, however, I had wiped it with a bit too much water, even after wiping it dry with dry patches, and so the water got into the tiny chamber which connects the flash hole and the main charge, inaccesible with the 50cal jag. This I only noticed after I had already loaded it and was about to prime the gun. I could see some water coming through the touch hole.. I figured the only way would be to wipe around the touch hole to dry it and then attempt to dry out the chamber with a few flashes in the pan. After several attempts, including cramming as much powder into the touch hole as possible, I decided I would pull the ball. Once I got it out, I tried to blow in the muzzle to clear the blockage, but was unable to blow through the touch hole. So I put some of my soapy solution down the bore and ran the screw ball puller with a cloth down the barrel in an attempt to unblock the chamber. I was able to get some of the crud out with the screw, but not enough to blow through yet.. I put one down again, quite a tight fit. As I tried to pull it out, the ramrod handle snapped off an inch or so below the muzzle. When this happened, I decided to call it the day at the range as I had no way of taking the ram rod out with the kit that I had.

All in all it was about 3 hrs at the range, only got 8 shots off. Frustrating, but I still enjoyed shooting the gun again. I would like to shoot it again soon, but I feel I need to make some improvements on my methods and perhaps on the gun if I want to get it to fire smoothly without so much hassle. Please, any advice you can give on shooting these flinters, especially these Spanish replica guns with the tiny chamber leading into the maincharge (seems to me a flaw in the gun and one's ability to clean it properly), would be most appreciated. Some advice on frizzen hardening would be helpful too.

Thanks for taking the time,

Aran.

P.S. The brand of powder I used was Obatex, South African made black powder.

 

[EC121]

Have you drilled the touch hole out. That would help some. Also get a brush that will fit the breech chamber to clean the fouling out. A small centerfire or .22cal. brush will work. BUT if it is one of the crimped in types, the twisted brush part can pull out of the threaded part. Those are made to be pushed not pulled. Look for one with the wire looped through the threaded part or get one small enough that it won't hang up in the chamber. You might get a shotgun swab and trim it to fit. Boiling water is a waste of time. A little water and drop of soap will work as well and not flash rust.

 

[Jaeger]

I would say the main problem is that you are using too much WATER when you wipe the bore! Any time you feel the need to clean or wipe BEFORE you shoot, use a little blackpowder solvent solution, but don't get the patch super wet. When cleaning after you shoot, use as much water as you want.

 

[Kansas Jake]

Also my traditions flintlock can be finicky due to the breech design. If that wasn’t an issue for you in the past I agree too much water is an issue. Too much oil can do the same thing.

 

[ord sgt]

You might try using a patch puller type worm. Fix a clean dry patch to the end of the worm. That should be able to reach into the narrow breech area and dry any water.

 

[Brokennock]

You detailed that you cleaned the gun with boiling water then ran lubed patches to protect the bore.

Did you clean that lube out before loading the gun?

Kinda sounds like you didn't, and more importantly I'm betting there was a bunch of lube in that little breach chamber. Lube in that chamber will delay firing and also help accumulate fouling in that chamber when you do get the gun to fire.

Depending in where and how you store the gun, maybe try storing it muzzle down after cleaning and lubing. Mine hang horizontally in the wall with the muzzle slightly lower than the breach, in my safe my modern rifles and shot guns are stored completely muzzle down.

I clean my bore with 90% isopropyl alcohol at home before leaving for the range or before loading my hunting load. I wipe the pan and frizzen with same, always before priming, frequently if at the range.

 

[TreeMan]

Not very traditional but I always pull my lock and blast my barrel with brake cleaner before any shooting session. I hold the gun sideways so the brake cleaner shoots like a jet out of the touch hole. That rids all water or oils. Set it muzzle down for a bit to let everything evaporate.

 

[Grenadier1758]

I suspect that the problems started with the initial cleaning after storage and that little bit of lube after the washing made its way to the reduced sized chamber and didn't get cleaned out. It doesn't take much lubricant to block the touch hole especially if there is water in that reduced chamber. Everything has to be cleared of any obstruction. The reduced sized brush with a patch will clean that chamber, but lubricant and fouling can still block the touch hole. Listen to @Brokennock and really flush the breech with the 99% rubbing alcohol. Wrap the stock with a towel and push a jet of the rubbing alcohol out through the touch hole. Or use @TreeMan's method to get a jet of solvent through the touch hole. If you can get some of the dental flossing brushes and use them to clean the touch hole and flash channel. You may be better served by not wiping between shots as that can push fouling into the Tradition's chambered breech. A ball covered with a damp patch will do a fair job of wiping the bore as you load the ball.

Make sure that the breech is clear and dry before you go shooting. Use a sharp flint. You were mentioning that you weren't getting much spark later in your session so some flint knapping would be in order.

 

[FishDFly]

Cure what ails your rifle, before starting drilling the touch hole.

Ditch the bore brush unless you want to ask how to get it out of the breech.

Too much water

Read brokennock three (3) times and apply

Read Grenadier three (3) times and apply

They each put a lot of time and effort into their effort top effort.

Your problems will be gone and your rifle will thank you.

 

[Aran]

Wow, thanks all for the replies. Very helpful information. Will read over these posts several times and apply the methods advised. Will let you know how it goes.

As for the lock, it wasn't an issue of the flint being blunt, as I said I changed to a new sharp flint. What I suspect is that the frizzen may need a hardening... futher info on this would be great.

Thanks again,
Aran.

 

[DaveC]

I can feel your pain! I'm shooting a dixie gun works Tennessee Mtn. squirrel rifle, .32 and initially, I had no end of foibles with it. I tried the method of coaxing some powder in through the touch hole several times, and just made an even bigger mess before I had to use a puller to dig out the ball and unload the fouling and powder with a powder scraper.

Last week, with a new flint, the flint would break and chip, but eventually I got it so that it was nicely "tuned" and the fun would fire as quick as a caplock. But my patch and ball combination is way too tight... So now I'll get some new patching material... Good luck and good shooting to you with your flintlock!

 

[rrebuck]

I use rubbing alcohol to swab between shots. It quickly evaporates or burns if you use to much

 

[Greg Blackburn]

I don't have the ability to pull a projectile: no metal rod.

 

[tenngun]

You can pull with a wooden rod. I’ve not owned metal since the 1970s
A store bought dowel fit with a tip and then used as a wiping stick works great.
Not HC but handy, pipe cleaners work will to dry out a touch hole.
For wiping in the field or range I use plain water,, but you just need it damp as said above.
I’m a blow down the barrel guy. Not to get in to a fight about it, before you charge your piece it’s good to hear a whoosh out of the touch hole. And a whoosh when you withdraw the jag.
Wipe between shots, get that whoosh between shots.

 

[Sun City]

.590" RB in a .50??

You load with a 40# maul I bet!!

 

[Kansas Jake]

.590" RB in a .50??

You load with a 40# maul I bet!!

I saw that too and assumed a typo for 490.

 

[hanshi]

You have been offered some valuable and excellent suggestions so far; heed it for success.

The only things I can add is that the vent hole should be drilled out to 1/16" and tried before going any larger in diameter. If you get a FITP you don't need to change flints as the one in the jaws is doing what it's supposed to do. Use a pipe cleaner to dry any moisture in the vent and be aware that when wiping the bore, fouling can be pushed down to block the vent liner opening. The barrel should be bone dry before shooting; the tips above tell what to do. And do get a metal rod, with muzzle protector. I've had wood rods twist in two while trying to screw in a ball puller.

 

[Aran]

.590" RB in a .50??

You load with a 40# maul I bet!!

Yes, typo, meant .490

 

[Crow-Feather]

The lube stopped the water left in your bore from evaporating. Boiling hot water is quickly cooled by a cold barrel. Immersion of the barrel in very hot water heats the metal and when drying the barrel, the barrel heat evaporates the remaining water in areas that you can't reach. If you oiled the frizzen when you stored the rifle, you need to use alcohol to get rid of that oil residue which can hinder spark. I am not a fan of Traditions rifles, but I have had no problems with their frizzens.

 

[Sparkyspark]

Far as flash in the pan, the first thing I do when this happens to me is to pick the touch/vent hole with a vent pick; whitch is just a small dia. piece if wire.