Vent Picks

[Stophel]

Many Klatch, you are MY kind of guy!!! I will drill my touch holes at 5/64", and they are coned on the inside. If necessary after test firing, I will open them up until ignition is consistent. I have drilled them at 3/32". I don't have ignition problems!, and no, the powder does not come out the touch hole... :thumbsup:

When the hole is too small, I DON'T have slow ignition. I have unreliable ignition. It will either go off real fast, or not at all. No so called "fuze effect" or whizz-bang. I open up the hole until it goes off every time.

This is why 18th century period type vent picks won't fit most people's modern made touch holes. You can't get a pick that is designed for a 3/32" hole into a tiny 1/16" hole! :winking:

 

[Hoyt]

I made one using copper...but don't ever use it.

 

[Old Ironsights]

With all this talk about metal picks...

Why hasn't anyone mentioned Feather Quills?

I mean, aren't you supposed to put a Bluejay Feather in your touchhole before loading? :hmm:

 

[Cruzatte]

Nope. I use a piece of brazing wire.

Cruzatte

 

[AZ-Robert]

I use a dove feather for that. It has just the right amount of give to stick in the vent. The vent pick fits too loosely and won't stay put.

But the feather isn't always up to the task of cleaning the crud out of the vent... too soft and flexible.

 

[Stophel]

I don't ever have any crud in the vent to clean out!

The only time I ever use a pick is when I go shooting and neglect to clean out the oil from the barrel first, which collects at the breech and impedes ignition. I will use it to cram some powder grains into the touch hole to get it to go off. After that, it is not needed.

Better hang on to that copper! It's goin' for over $3 a pound! People are stealing it left and right, stealing it from construction sites, breaking into old houses and ripping it from the walls, etc. Last year, a 250' roll of 12-2wg wire cost something like $24. Now it's $140!!!! and there's no end in sight!

 

[Rebel]

How many pennies does it take to make a lb? :hmm:

 

[Stophel]

Post 1982 pennies are not copper, but copper clad zinc. Zinc is high now too....

 

[AZ-Robert]

Yep, it's costing 1.23d to mint a penny.