touch hole: when to use vent pick

[hanshi]

Hey! I don't have no action so it works out just fine. :hmm:

 

[Tumblernotch]

You're not going to break any grains or pack powder with a piece of wire. However, you can push a piece of fouling into a coned touchhole, so I'll continue to do as I have for years and enjoy fast ignition.

 

[ebiggs1]

Don't want nary fuze there to make my gun go SSSHHH BANG. I just want it to go BANG.

This is "Flintlock Myth # 29".

 

[tg]

Some folks use the prick to get rid of those grains that show so they do not become a fuse to the main charge and when pricked the flash goes right to the main charge and does not have to burn the stuff in the vent, this would have to be tested to see if it has merit but it does sound like it might,it is kind of the same principle of not covering the vent with the prime.

 

[Tumblernotch]

Don't want nary fuze there to make my gun go SSSHHH BANG. I just want it to go BANG.

This is "Flintlock Myth # 29".

 

[Tumblernotch]

That's pretty much why I do it, though mostly it's because I want to clear the vent of any fouling that may have been pushed in there when wiping which has happened to me. I've shot without picking and had some exposed grains which didn't greatly affect ignition time, (the vent wasn't packed tight with powder) but I can tell a difference when I clear the vent first. I have a low touchhole and I only put enough powder in to cover the width of the pan. Twenty years with this particular rifle.

 

[ebiggs1]

Don't want nary fuze there to make my gun go SSSHHH BANG. I just want it to go BANG.

This is "Flintlock Myth # 29".

Confused? :idunno:
This is one of the “myths” I have tried to duplicate. But try as I may, I can not get a few grains of powder trickled, or otherwise, in the touch hole to cause a SSSHHH BANG. I have deliberately tried to make it happen. As a matter of fact the pictures Mr. Phariss shows do not cause a SSSHHH BANG either. If anything a few grains in, or very close to, the touch hole makes it better. :wink:

This photo shows a rifle fired repeatedly with out picking, or cleaning for that matter, in very hot, very humid conditions. I saw no 4f powder fouling or SSSHHH BANG's.

I can offer no reason why your rifle would not do as well, at least not without testing it.

 

[hanshi]

And to add to that, if your vent (liner or straight drilled) has been coned inside, the main charge is only 1/32" or thereabout from the pan. Light a firecracker with a 1/32" fuse and see if you get a delay.

 

[Valley Forge]

I clean the pan with a cleaning patch and wipe the edge of the flint and face of the frizzen with an alcohol prep pad after shooting a shot and after wiping/cleaning the bore. I also pick the touch hole at that same time. Then i load the next shot, prime the pan and fire. The only time that I get a flash in the pan now is when I pick that touch hole after loading the next shot. Sometimes I forget to pick it while cleaning the pan and frizzen, (before loading the next shot) and so in those cases I have tried to pick it after loading the next shot and darn it, every single time I do that I get a flash in the pan. I have learned, slowly but surely, not to pick the touch hole after I start loading the next shot.

Lyman, GPR, .50 cal, left hand lock. 2F in the rifle, 4F in the pan.

 

[Tumblernotch]

Don't know what to tell you except that it has done that in the past, but since I started picking it after loading I never have a problem and it goes off fast. I'm not going to mess around and change anything. If the weather is real dry and the fouling gets hard I make double sure to pick it since that's when fouling causes the most trouble for me.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Since you are shooting a Lyman rifle, with those long, tiny flash channel holes, YOU HAVE TO clean the flash channel with the pick before you load the powder. If you run the pick into the flash channel AFTER you load your gun, you simply are pushing the powder back away from the TH. That is why you get a misfire every time you do it that way.

Glad you figured out how to make that gun shoot. It has the reduced size powder chamber, and you will need a smaller cleaning jag to get into it to clean it. The diameter of those powder chambers vary with the calibers of the guns. Some are as small as .22", and others as large as .30".

 

[tg]

Another of the many cases of different guns/loads breech types and a boatload of variables.

 

[ebiggs1]

If you have found a routine that works, fantastic! :hatsoff:

 

[ebiggs1]

Do you clear the touch hole right before you prime to speed up ignition of main charge?

Another more specific answer is to listen for a 'woosh' from the touch hole when you seat the ball. If you hear it, it is probably clear.


After reading this thread and some others that have been posted, I am amazed at what folks do to shoot their guns. Honestly when I am out just plinking around with the boys we do nothing but load and shoot. Granted when I do some of my chrono testing or other experiments I will swab the barrel and wipe stuff off. Sometimes I even clean the entire gun in between shots . But not to just do casual 'for fun' shooting.

 

[Stumpkiller]

That's an advantage when shooting in shorts. You can feel the "whoosh" against your leg when ramming the patched ball home (and a few powder kernels as well).

 

[George91946]

I wonder if we need to prick the vent. I think that most of my slow ignitions are due to a dull flint and a fouling of the frizzen screw and spring. When I clear those issues, my gun shoots without delay.

Lisle George

 

[Stumpkiller]

If you are getting pan flashes that is a sign of a vent issue (or dry ball).

If you aren't getting any ignition the vent is not a problem.

Slow main-charge ignition can be things like excessive oil in the breech left from cleaning/storage. Other "gunk" build-up inside the vent area. Old powder that's absorbed moisture. New powder that's absorbed moisture (or oil around the pan - some guys soak guns in oil). Dull or low-grade flints, weak springs, soft frizzen, loose frizzen or flint, and many more.

That's why shooting a flintlock is not for everyone. Most get so it's second nature and, once a lock is right, it's easy to spot the problems. But a crummy lock is a miserable thing to try and work with.

 

[nmdd]

Newbie here too...the link below describes putting a bird feather in the touch hole before loading and then pulling it out when priming the pan...are there any advantage to this and does anyone do it this way? :shocked2:
http://www.muzzleblasts.com/archives/vol4no4/articles/mbo44-2.shtml

 

[C Barker]

Like others, I pick it about every third or fourth shot on humid days. Dry days and in the winter less often. Also, if the flint don't strike I pick the vent just as a matter of course while trying to firgure out why the flint don't strick. Just me. Others may and probably do have better ways.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I used to use a bird feather and still keep a couple in my tool roll. One nice feature is they are a semi-safety in that they not only block the vent but also give a visual that the lock is unprimed. As to whether they help with ignition - I did not notice any difference using them vs. not.

At least they are a non-abrasive vent pick. Some old originals have two small staples under the cheekpiece or a drilled hole in the buttstock for a feather to be carried.