Traditions Kentucky Flintlock help

[Mad L]

Stores on the west coast have NOT carried black powder in the entire almost 20 years I have been shooting. I found only One firing range that carried it with a "1 lb per customer" limit.

HOWEVER; that does not mean it can't be got.
Further; I have never seen glass trade beads, brain tanned hide, breeches, or even good felt wide brim hats on Any sporting goods shelves - but that never kept me from obtaining any.

FURTHER; I have never seen any Flints on any local shelves either.

I find the idea that 'I have to use something else because my local store don't carry it' a rather redundant and misinformed idea.

Oh, and YES, it is an insurance issue. I have spoken with Several store managers and they all have confirmed this...most recently in Idaho.
It comes from the government labeling 'Black Powder' as an "Explosive" but all other powders are labeled as merely "Propellants".
I guess a ton of Smokeless and 3-7 wont blow you up and you can't make pipe bombs with it....(I will refrain from commenting further)

Buckel up, order 5 pounds, you will be set for a good while and Enjoy the magnificent world of Flintlock and Percussion without all the aggravation...and save all the gas and wear and tear of multiple trips!

Oh, and sorry @Ryanlpuckett , I miss read earlier post and thought you were closer, was going to offer assistance with removing the ball and offer you some powder while you wait for your order. If you do ever get out this way give me a holler!

 

[flntlokr]

I will definitely be doing this for future storage. I made a very rookie mistake, and actually thought about cleaning it out several days before I took it to the range. I am not sure where I could find a fitting to screw into the barrel, but I will look, should be to hard once I find the threading dimensions. Thinking I could back the liner out and maybe go over with some airline tubing or simular.

Best

Ryan

This is what I make. My inserts are threaded 1/4x28, the same as most North American rifle nipples. That allows you to screw in a nipple and set your load off with a cap if necessary. The valve stem without the valve is used to attach the water hose, and with the valve, can be used to apply air pressure to push out (many) dryballs. I have soldered these valves to a couple of different metric screws (with holes drilled through) for other folks.

 

[mmb617]

I have the same rifle as the OP, a Traditions Kentucky flintlock, so I thought I'd pass along a few thoughts on how I clean it. There's certainly not any one right way to do it and different people have success with different methods, but this is what's worked well for me.

I take it your rifle was built from a kit as was mine. Since I always remove the barrel from all my flintlocks for cleaning purposes I intentionally modified my kit to use wedges instead of pins, but you said you had no trouble removing your pinned barrel so that's not an issue.

1 After I remove the barrel I plug the vent with a toothpick and fill the barrel with water. I then let it sit standing up while I clean the lock.

2 I dump out the water and remove the touch hole liner, then run water through the barrel till it runs clear out of the vent.

3 I run a patch with "moose milk" (ballistol and water mix) through the barrel then run dry patches till they come out clean and dry.

4 I clean the liner with water being careful not to drop it down the drain.

5 I use a Q-tip to clean the patent breech chamber through the touch hole.

6 Re-install the liner using a little light oil on the threads.

7 Use some heavy oil on a patch to coat the inside of the barrel, then take that same patch and wipe down the outside of the barrel.

8 Reassemble the rifle.

9 After cleaning the lock I've found that if I don't wipe the frizzen face with some light oil it will tend to rust if I don't shoot the gun for a few weeks. When I am ready to shoot again I wipe the frizzen face with an alcohol patch to remove the oil. I also run a dry patch down the barrel to remove any oil left there before the first shot.

For what it's worth I have 5 Traditions flintlocks and all of them fire more reliably with 3f than they do with 2f as the main charge. In fact the Kentucky rifle fires most reliably with 4f as the charge. I don't know why that is but I've kept track of my pan flashes and that particular rifle works best with 4f. I think it has something to do with larger grains bridging instead of filling the patent breech area.

 

[Ryanlpuckett]

I have the same rifle as the OP, a Traditions Kentucky flintlock, so I thought I'd pass along a few thoughts on how I clean it. There's certainly not any one right way to do it and different people have success with different methods, but this is what's worked well for me.

I take it your rifle was built from a kit as was mine. Since I always remove the barrel from all my flintlocks for cleaning purposes I intentionally modified my kit to use wedges instead of pins, but you said you had no trouble removing your pinned barrel so that's not an issue.

1 After I remove the barrel I plug the vent with a toothpick and fill the barrel with water. I then let it sit standing up while I clean the lock.

2 I dump out the water and remove the touch hole liner, then run water through the barrel till it runs clear out of the vent.

3 I run a patch with "moose milk" (ballistol and water mix) through the barrel then run dry patches till they come out clean and dry.

4 I clean the liner with water being careful not to drop it down the drain.

5 I use a Q-tip to clean the patent breech chamber through the touch hole.

6 Re-install the liner using a little light oil on the threads.

7 Use some heavy oil on a patch to coat the inside of the barrel, then take that same patch and wipe down the outside of the barrel.

8 Reassemble the rifle.

9 After cleaning the lock I've found that if I don't wipe the frizzen face with some light oil it will tend to rust if I don't shoot the gun for a few weeks. When I am ready to shoot again I wipe the frizzen face with an alcohol patch to remove the oil. I also run a dry patch down the barrel to remove any oil left there before the first shot.

For what it's worth I have 5 Traditions flintlocks and all of them fire more reliably with 3f than they do with 2f as the main charge. In fact the Kentucky rifle fires most reliably with 4f as the charge. I don't know why that is but I've kept track of my pan flashes and that particular rifle works best with 4f. I think it has something to do with larger grains bridging instead of filling the patent breech area.

There is alot of info here, and I will apply these methods. I agree with the 4f thought about the powder bridging. I am going to use 3f for the main charge, as is all that I have, other than the 2f, which I dont think I will be using anymore. Again, thank you for the information. In respect to step 4, i have dropped so much down the drain in ways of parts, I use a big heavy rare earth magnet, like the ones used in the harbor freight parts trays. If you have PVC plumbing you can work the part up to the bottom of the basin, some long tweezers or forceps, also sold at harbor freight and a flashlight can keep one from dismantling their plumbing lol. Or use can go fishing with the magnet tied to some string, both work.

Thank you again

Best

Ryan

 

[Ryanlpuckett]

View attachment 230197

This is what I make. My inserts are threaded 1/4x28, the same as most North American rifle nipples. That allows you to screw in a nipple and set your load off with a cap if necessary. The valve stem without the valve is used to attach the water hose, and with the valve, can be used to apply air pressure to push out (many) dryballs. I have soldered these valves to a couple of different metric screws (with holes drilled through) for other folks.

I like this, alot, do you sell these?

Best

Ryan

 

[Ryanlpuckett]

Hey guys, I hope that all is well with each and everyone this Sunday afternoon.

Yesterday I took my new build, a traditions Kentucky Flintlock rifle to the range. Surprisingly the counter guy allowed me entry with my smoke shop , but in all seriousness, I loaded her up, 45 grains pyrodex ffg, a pillow tac patch. 015, with a 45cal Hornaday round ball. My hands were so shake, luckily I did not spill all of the bb's lol . She was pressed with a short starter,, then sent home with the rod. I applied a little fffg to the pan, closed the frizen and took aim. Trigger pulled, sizzle and smoke, no bang, boom or a little pew. So I tapped the barrel turned her on her side to drop a little powder to the flash hole, cleaned the hole with my little retractable cleaner pic, applied more powder to the pan and! Sizzle my skilet, no bang... I inspected the area around the flash hole and it was obvious what had occurred, when I browned the barrel i dumped a ton of oil, WD-40, to be exact to ward off any possibility of eternal corrosion. Seemingly somewhere in all the excitement, I forgot to clean her out. Big fat huge sigh. But here is something that I discovered along the way. I noticed that the ramrod was cut to march the barrel length pretty much exactly, but now with a round in the barrel, new measurements are reflecting that the ball is just a round 2" above the flash hole. What gives? With powder and ball with patch, I would not have expected more than maybe half an inch. Why did the ball stop so short of the flash hole? Thats a pretty sizeable gap.. can you guys explain this to me? I do believe that the ball is seated fully. I also noted that when I inserted the rod prior to sending the ball home, that I could never see the rod through the flash hole. I have applied a bore light and could see illumination thought the Barrel, so there is definitely an opening but its seems that the flash hole is its own chamber of sorts. Or do you think that the ball is not fully seated. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Oh, any tips to clean this thing lol I mean if there are in fact two chambrs, how is this done? And how do I get my ball off that 5 story roof or out of a 33 1/2" barrel.

Thank you guys in advance

Best as always

Ryan

Going to try and remove the ball, the rod just arrived in the mail today traditions ultimate ramrod... going to see just how ultimate she is lol

Best

Ryan

 

[Ryanlpuckett]

Hey guys, I hope that all is well with each and everyone this Sunday afternoon.

Yesterday I took my new build, a traditions Kentucky Flintlock rifle to the range. Surprisingly the counter guy allowed me entry with my smoke shop , but in all seriousness, I loaded her up, 45 grains pyrodex ffg, a pillow tac patch. 015, with a 45cal Hornaday round ball. My hands were so shake, luckily I did not spill all of the bb's lol . She was pressed with a short starter,, then sent home with the rod. I applied a little fffg to the pan, closed the frizen and took aim. Trigger pulled, sizzle and smoke, no bang, boom or a little pew. So I tapped the barrel turned her on her side to drop a little powder to the flash hole, cleaned the hole with my little retractable cleaner pic, applied more powder to the pan and! Sizzle my skilet, no bang... I inspected the area around the flash hole and it was obvious what had occurred, when I browned the barrel i dumped a ton of oil, WD-40, to be exact to ward off any possibility of eternal corrosion. Seemingly somewhere in all the excitement, I forgot to clean her out. Big fat huge sigh. But here is something that I discovered along the way. I noticed that the ramrod was cut to march the barrel length pretty much exactly, but now with a round in the barrel, new measurements are reflecting that the ball is just a round 2" above the flash hole. What gives? With powder and ball with patch, I would not have expected more than maybe half an inch. Why did the ball stop so short of the flash hole? Thats a pretty sizeable gap.. can you guys explain this to me? I do believe that the ball is seated fully. I also noted that when I inserted the rod prior to sending the ball home, that I could never see the rod through the flash hole. I have applied a bore light and could see illumination thought the Barrel, so there is definitely an opening but its seems that the flash hole is its own chamber of sorts. Or do you think that the ball is not fully seated. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Oh, any tips to clean this thing lol I mean if there are in fact two chambrs, how is this done? And how do I get my ball off that 5 story roof or out of a 33 1/2" barrel.

Thank you guys in advance

Best as always

Ryan

 

[Ryanlpuckett]

Hey guys, I hope that all is well with each and everyone this Sunday afternoon.

Yesterday I took my new build, a traditions Kentucky Flintlock rifle to the range. Surprisingly the counter guy allowed me entry with my smoke shop , but in all seriousness, I loaded her up, 45 grains pyrodex ffg, a pillow tac patch. 015, with a 45cal Hornaday round ball. My hands were so shake, luckily I did not spill all of the bb's lol . She was pressed with a short starter,, then sent home with the rod. I applied a little fffg to the pan, closed the frizen and took aim. Trigger pulled, sizzle and smoke, no bang, boom or a little pew. So I tapped the barrel turned her on her side to drop a little powder to the flash hole, cleaned the hole with my little retractable cleaner pic, applied more powder to the pan and! Sizzle my skilet, no bang... I inspected the area around the flash hole and it was obvious what had occurred, when I browned the barrel i dumped a ton of oil, WD-40, to be exact to ward off any possibility of eternal corrosion. Seemingly somewhere in all the excitement, I forgot to clean her out. Big fat huge sigh. But here is something that I discovered along the way. I noticed that the ramrod was cut to march the barrel length pretty much exactly, but now with a round in the barrel, new measurements are reflecting that the ball is just a round 2" above the flash hole. What gives? With powder and ball with patch, I would not have expected more than maybe half an inch. Why did the ball stop so short of the flash hole? Thats a pretty sizeable gap.. can you guys explain this to me? I do believe that the ball is seated fully. I also noted that when I inserted the rod prior to sending the ball home, that I could never see the rod through the flash hole. I have applied a bore light and could see illumination thought the Barrel, so there is definitely an opening but its seems that the flash hole is its own chamber of sorts. Or do you think that the ball is not fully seated. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Oh, any tips to clean this thing lol I mean if there are in fact two chambrs, how is this done? And how do I get my ball off that 5 story roof or out of a 33 1/2" barrel.

Thank you guys in advance

Best as always

Ryan

And success!!! Not bad for a 30 Second operation!

 

[Grenadier1758]

There is alot of info here, and I will apply these methods. I agree with the 4f thought about the powder bridging. I am going to use 3f for the main charge, as is all that I have, other than the 2f, which I dont think I will be using anymore. Again, thank you for the information. In respect to step 4, i have dropped so much down the drain in ways of parts, I use a big heavy rare earth magnet, like the ones used in the harbor freight parts trays. If you have PVC plumbing you can work the part up to the bottom of the basin, some long tweezers or forceps, also sold at harbor freight and a flashlight can keep one from dismantling their plumbing lol. Or use can go fishing with the magnet tied to some string, both work.

Thank you again

Best

Ryan

Or you can just leave the touch hole liner in place. Once installed with a good coating of never seizing grease on the threads, there is no need to remove the touch hole liner. Many are designed to remove the installation slot after installation and leave it there until the touch hole is burned out to the point that on target accuracy suffers. Depending on how hot the load, this can take several thousand shots. I do not remove my touch hole liners. My King's musket does not have a touch hole liner. The touch hole can easily be blocked by a toothpick in the touch hole and put some black electrical tape as a gasket on a rare-earth magnet to block the touch hole.

 

[flntlokr]

I like this, alot, do you sell these?

Best

Ryan

no, I just make them as needed. You, or someone you know can do it too.

 

[buckleymarka56]

Pyrodex does not work in flintlocks. It requires more heat than black powder in the pan gives.

Triple 7 works just fine in mine, flash is ffff always

 

[Mad L]

Triple 7 works just fine in mine, flash is ffff always

Black powder works just fine in mine, flash is either ffff or fff.

 

[Ryanlpuckett]

Triple 7 works just fine in mine, flash is ffff always

Thank you buddy, thats what I have been hearing. Substitute is available pretty readily here, where as black powder is null of existence. I met a gentleman on here who is going to hook me up with a pound or two, much gratitude to him for that.

Thank you for responding

Best

Ryan

 

[Ryanlpuckett]

Black powder works just fine in mine, flash is either ffff or fff.

Good evening Sir,

Yes, that is a reoccurring point, just that black powder does bit exist in these parts. I met a gentlemen on here that lives pretty local that is going to give me a pound or two, pretty excited about that.

Thank you for your post!

Best

Ryan

 

[Mad L]

Good evening Sir,

Yes, that is a reoccurring point, just that black powder does bit exist in these parts. I met a gentlemen on here that lives pretty local that is going to give me a pound or two, pretty excited about that.

Thank you for your post!

Best

Ryan

Unfortunately you are going to find it does 'not exist' in Any parts unless you live within reach of one of the Distributors, and some will only allow 'visiting' by appointment only.
That is just how it is for 90+% of us muzzleloaders today.

It appears to be a Legal and Insurance issue from the ammo dealers I have spoke with from Southern California to Nevada and to Idaho.
Buffalo Arms is in Idaho where my folks live, and even there we have not found a single shop that carries BP....and it's a day's drive from Boise to the Canadian border where Buffalo Arms is located.
My father does Gun Shows around the Boise area and have Never seen a Buffalo Arms booth....however, I was up there visiting last month and found one guy selling BP for $55/lb!!
I showed him what Buffalo Arms and Grafs was selling it for and that with Hazmat & Shipping I could get it for $25-$29 (roughly) and he pretty much called me a liar.
Guess I should keep the receipt for the 6 lbs I just got and frame it for him: $27/lb (Swiss & Schuetzen mix box)

Yup, if your going to shoot Black Powder then you have only three options:
1) Save up and order a few pounds at a time
2) Find someone who does and go in with them.
3) Make it yourself

 

[Ryanlpuckett]

Good morning and thank you... I do believe that you are right. Since I do not trust myself to make it, I will most likely will have to order it. Unfortunate the substitutes do not work.

Best

Ryan

 

[flconch53]

View attachment 230197

This is what I make. My inserts are threaded 1/4x28, the same as most North American rifle nipples. That allows you to screw in a nipple and set your load off with a cap if necessary. The valve stem without the valve is used to attach the water hose, and with the valve, can be used to apply air pressure to push out (many) dryballs. I have soldered these valves to a couple of different metric screws (with holes drilled through) for other folks.

That is good for 14/28 standard thds. The OP'S gun is a traditions so it is not that. It is too bad the OP didn't ask these questions before he started shooting .

 

[Ryanlpuckett]

Ryan
Contact me. I may be able to help you on clubs and powder. I live in Tehama County.
Check your messages

Good evening Leo, I just wanted to check in and see how you are doing friend. I wanted to share some photos of my latest build, took me about 3 weeks, and finished it about a month ago. Its a Hawken Gemmer. Steel furniture and a European walnut stock. I know that you are a Hawken fan and thought you may like to have a look.

Stay well

Best

Ryan

 

[Cubreac]

You will NOT find any BP in any store in California, Nevada, Idaho, or Oregon - not unless it's a tiny ma & pop I have yet to find.
Mail order is your only way (highly dought you will find any in Washington either).

Muzzleloader Supply on River Road in Puyallup, WA, usually has Swiss. That’s where I get my powder. I think they are the only ML shop left in WA. Then there is Buffalo Arms in Northern Idaho.

 

[Mad L]

Muzzleloader Supply on River Road in Puyallup, WA, usually has Swiss. That’s where I get my powder. I think they are the only ML shop left in WA. Then there is Buffalo Arms in Northern Idaho.

I am sure some small shops here and there will still carry it from time to time.
Buffalo Arms is one of the main Distributors and have only their one location, if you include them then you have to include Graf & Sons, Powder Inc, and the rest.

Problem is that folks are looking for it at the regular nation wide Big Box outlets: Wally World, BassPro, Cabelas, Sportsman Warehouse, etc.
You will be hard press to ever see it on the shelf again.
But even in California I know of ONE firing range that almost always had it (1 lb per person "Must be used on their range only").

Personally, other then when it vanished after GOEX's shutdown and all the foriegn stuff stuck out on ships (2020 into 2021), I have always been able to get what I need....maybe not On Demand, and not 'just a drive across town', other then that One firing range in a state I no longer live; I stocked up, re-order BEFORE I was in 'need'.

Unfortunately however there are those in Non-Free America where they can not do that. They are only allowed 1 lb at any given time so need some place local...they clearly can not drive to Washington or Idaho once a month or even every other month.
Heck, when I visit my folks twice a year in Boise, ID i would love to 'just drive up to Buffalo Arms' and grab a few pounds...but that would be a two day drive, plus my 18 hour drive to and from Nevada!
I have found no where else Idaho carrying BP, even caps have been hit and miss...but of late our local Scherls have had them but sometimes you have to find someone willing to go in back for you and Yank them away from the employees that appear to be 'hiding' them.

But hey; they (you know who) have NOT come for our Muskets and Muzzleloaders....'they' are just making it hard as heck to use them.

(Just like cars, take away the fuel and oil, let them keep their cars)