Vent pick useage?

[Deacon4]

:hmm: Hey fellers'
What's best, either or neither?
I've seen men load their flintlock guns with a snug vent pick in the vent hole, before loading. Then after loading, remove the pick and add the smallest useable amount of priming powder in the pan. The idea is to keep the main charge powder out of the vent hole and allow the priming flame to enter freely.
Others, load normally, then hit the lockside of the gun with their hand to get powder into the vent hole.
Thank ye Kindly for your input, :hatsoff:
Deacon

 

[Mike Brooks]

I load, then prime and fire. No fancy pickin' slapin' or any of that other stuff.

 

I think this mostly depends on what works best for the gun and the shooter. I always have a vent pick in place when I load my GPR but I never use one when loading my Blueridge. It does make a difference with the GPR and as for the Blueridge - it does not matter. Maybe it has something to do with the size of the flash hole - I don't know. As for the prime - I use as much as I can while making sure it doesn't get near the vent liner.

 

[blacksmithman64]

Far as I know it kept yer powder charge from running out into yer pan from a burned out touch hole.Same reason for a feather quill.

 

[renovato]

I don't load with the pick in the vent, but I do pick the vent before priming and after firing. There are so many different techniques. The best way is to tinker with them all and find what works best for you.

 

[xxgrampa]

hey deacon,

i have a very large touch hole so i plug the vent to keep the ball from rolling out.. :rotf: :rotf:

..ttfn..grampa..

 

[roundball]

All my rifles have patent breeches so I never use a pick...bought one years ago cause soembody said I'd need one, realized that wasn't the case, no idea where it is now

 

[jdixon]

Shoving a pick in the vent hole, after loading and before priming, has become as much a habit for me as swabbing between each shot is. I have not tried a side by side comparison picked and unpicked to see if it makes a difference in my ignition times. I have quick ignitions with all my flinters, I just assume that picking the vent is one of the primary reasons why. I like to feel the grains at the vent opening when I pick it. I have one gun in particular that I have to do a little coaxing to get the powder charge down to the vent. Other than that, dumping the charge down the barrel is sufficient without any additional effort for me.

 

[ronrryan]

At our range I load and shoot from a table, and each time I load I wipe the frizzen, pan, and pick the vent. I like to feel the powder. Every now and then I feel the ball, sorry to say. My rifle and fusil both go off instantly. I usually prime with 4F (somebody gave me two pounds, which will leave some left over when I croak) but have sometimes primed with 3F if rainy or humid. If I was shooting out of the bag, might change some procedures. Good smoke, ron in FL

 

[Deacon4]

Gramps'
Load mo powder. That'll keep your ball from falling out the large vent hole and hitting the ground. Hate to have my balls hitting the ground, unless I'm ah sitting down!
Deacon :blah:

 

[Stumpkiller]

I have one attached to my powder measure and have gotten into the habit of looking into the vent when priming. If crud is visible, I pick. If it looks clear, I leave it be. Seems to work in practice.

 

[davecampperry]

It mostly depends on what type of flash hole you have. A simple hole drilled through requires a pick, otherwise the powder will 'fuse' and cause a hangfire. Hatfield type liners put the main charge near the outside, requiring very little 'jump' for the priming charge. Always use only enough priming to fire the gun, about two (2) grains. Don't forget to wipe the bottom of the battery/frizzen, else your prime will stick to it and be lifted out of the way when the b/f opens.

 

[bob1961]

if i don't put a pipe cleaner in the touch hole on my T/C hawken with the new touch hole liner the gun primes itself with the goex 3f that i use....i will get slow ignition when that happens....but not when i use the pipe cleaner to block the hole....the pipe cleaner allows the air to pass through the fibers of the pipe cleaner then a tight fitting tooth pick so to say....plus it keeps the powder away from the touch hole and then allows me to use a small enough amount of pan powder of bout 1 grain of the same 3f, there fer not needing to buy 4f fer pan powder....that's what works fer me :v ..........bob

 

[MikeChapin]

About the only time I use a pick is when the powder bridges in the breach, usually when the rifle starts to dirty up. I use it to push a little 4F into the void to get the gun to go off.

 

[roundball]

"...if i don't put a pipe cleaner in the touch hole on my T/C hawken with the new touch hole liner the gun primes itself with the goex 3f that i use..."

That's interesting...all I use are TC's new liners and Goex 3F and self priming has never happened.

If I really make a point of ramming the ball down hard & fast the compressed air will spit a few kernels out but the 3F doesn't leak out or selfprime the pan on any of mine.

Have you enlarged the touch hole in your TC vent?

 

[Spot1540553049]

The only thing I want entering or leaving the vent on a flint's vent is is fire. If I have to pick then I do so for some of my firelocks. I don't want any priming powder or powder charge at all in the vent as this only slows down the ignition. 4F is used to prime these days to supposedly speed the rate of combustion in the pan and thereby ignition time. On most flinters it is best to slap the side plate side of the lock to assure there isn't any prime in the vent before actually firing. The ignition of the prime is the factor that makes it go boom quicker than the rate that a prime burns through to the main charge. Thats the idea behind the feather to quill a flinter or the vent pick. You want to keep the vent clear. Another thing to concider is to use a pick of non ferrous material such as brass. That's probably more than my 2 cents worth. Have fun and use whatever you wish and be consistent with whatever you do.

 

[jderrick]

I use dth pick to clean out fouling every once in a while, but I seem to get pretty good ignition without to much slapping, tilting, holding my toungue just right....

 

[Deacon4]

Stumpkiller'
Nice outfit. Question, it looks like the pick is iron or steel. Can a static spark set the main charge off? I doubt it, my pick is brass. I used a toothpick at one time until it got broke off flush with the vent hole. What a pain in the A_ _ out in the woods.
During a hunt, when I take a break, and leave my flintlock loaded, I empty the pan and inset a small bird feather in the vent hole. They are very durable annd won't break.
Deacon

 

[paulvallandigham]

I make vent picks out of soft coat hanger wire. They can be hardened a little by heating them up and quenching them in oil- leaves them a nice black color, too- but they are not hard enough to throw a spark. They file easy, so you can shape them down to your particularly sized vent, and make them as long as needed to reach across the entire face of the breechplug.

Clearing a hole in the main charge does speed ignition of the main charge, since more than one granule of powder is ignited at one time. It also makes for more consistent pressure, and hence velocity has less deviation from shot to shot( SDV). A low SDV is good evidence that you have all the components of your load working together to give you the best accuracy.

 

[rich pierce]

I think vent picks are too rough unless they are finely polished steel or are softer than the vent. I get the heebie-jeebies when i see something like an awl used for a vent pick. Pretty soon that vent will be shooting more fire than the muzzle. I think they used feathers for good reason.