What Made You Choose Flintlock?

[Wes/Tex]

Also beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I think they are more aesthetically pleasing.
Flintlock Lar

Beauty is in the eye of the bee holder!

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/07/20/00/427A0EDE00000578-4712504-image-m-15_1500506566088.jpg

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Yuck. Strong ant, though.

 

[BullRunBear]

Like some of the others, flintlocks go with my main historic interest: colonial and very early American. Also, flinters require a bit more fiddling to make them as reliable as percussion and I enjoy the extra challenge.

I have both ignition systems and use them both but the flinters are higher on the fun scale. I do use percussion when introducing newcomers to muzzleloading.

Jeff

 

[MC One Shot]

I was shooting my first flintlock when I was 7 years. It was an original from the late 1700's. I have enjoyed them ever since.

 

[nkbj]

I prefer not having a cap go off right in front of my ears.
"Long range flinter" project is under way.

 

[MSW]

God wanted me too

deus vult (God wills it) ... well, i would not presume to include divine intervention ... more on the order of dumb luck ... i was on my once in a blue moon trip to the pawn shop, and there it was, for a song ... a badly sung song, "honey it followed me home, can we keep it?"

battered T/C renegade in need of a new frizzen. Then i got to tinker with stuff and play with things that went bang ... it's a guy thing you wouldn't understand ...


if you want advice on what to buy, i would, however, query what you want this next rifle to do for you. if you only care about turning Bambi into little white packages, i would go to a percussion system: they are (much though it pains me to admit) a bit more reliable in bad weather, and they're easier to fire. if you want to connect [better] to you inner predator, to that which has gone before us, and to your sense of place in the world (and you're willing to get back on the learning curve and figure out the intricacies of flint), you will find rockbanging much more satisfying.

in my opinion...

my opinion and a ticket will get you on the bus ...

advice from the cranky old man - free and no doubt well worth the cost.


either way you go, Make Good Smoke :grin:

 

[Ray-Vigo]

Yeah - history for me. My parents and grandparents are big into antiques and early American history, so I got introduced to that historical period at an early age. The flintlock was integral in early American history from the early days of the colonies through the mid-1800s. My uncle still has my ancestor's flintlock fowling piece from the 1700s. I use reproductions (left-handed ones at that).

 

[Bent Sight]

...........if you want advice on what to buy, i would, however, query what you want this next rifle to do for you. if you only care about turning Bambi into little white packages, i would go to a percussion system: they are (much though it pains me to admit) a bit more reliable in bad weather, and they're easier to fire...........

I hunt paper, clay and steel. If I were to hunt deer or any other critters for meat, I would do it with an iron sight muzzle loader. It would be much more rewarding than using the latest whiz bang techno firearm with optics.

 

[Black Hand]

If you only care about turning Bambi into little white packages, i would go to a percussion system: they are (much though it pains me to admit) a bit more reliable in bad weather, and they're easier to fire.

Personally, I've had more trouble with percussion than flint and weather (snow/rain/wind) hasn't been an issue. Flinters are as (or more) reliable than cap-guns...

 

[tenngun]

Got to agree compleatly. I have hunted in rain, snow, and below 0 F. Drug them through mud and across creeks, and spent nights in nasty weather in lean tos. Never had a flint misfire hunting.
They take care and you have to practice in nasty weather to learn. They are reliable.

 

[Gene L]

If you only care about turning Bambi into little white packages, i would go to a percussion system: they are (much though it pains me to admit) a bit more reliable in bad weather, and they're easier to fire.

Personally, I've had more trouble with percussion than flint and weather (snow/rain/wind) hasn't been an issue. Flinters are as (or more) reliable than cap-guns...

"More?" I doubt this as a fact as there are more actions involved in firing of a FL as opposed to a cap lock. There has to be a reason why CLs replaced FLs.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

I think what they're trying to say is if you learn the system and all the tricks to set it up properly and have everything just right that you learned how to do with years of experience it can be just as or more reliable than the average man with a cap gun.

 

[Many Klatch]

I enjoy the challenge. More modern guns are boring. Once they are sighted in the challenge is pretty much used up. With a flinter there is always a challenge.

I have noticed at most shooting events that I attend, the guys with the flinters often wind up out shooting the guys with the cap locks.

Finally, if you can learn to shoot a flintlock well, then you can shoot anything. The extra attention to follow through, shooting offhand and trigger control really makes a difference.

 

[Black Hand]

Personally, I've had more trouble with percussion than flint and weather (snow/rain/wind) hasn't been an issue. Flinters are as (or more) reliable than cap-guns...

"More?" I doubt this as a fact as there are more actions involved in firing of a FL as opposed to a cap lock. There has to be a reason why CLs replaced FLs.

The flintlock ignition system (in some form or another) was in use for nearly 400 years while the caplock ignition system was quickly replaced by centerfire cartridges in a matter of decades. Now which one was more reliable....?

 

[Loyalist Dave]

What are the advantages and disadvantages?
What drove you to buy a flintlock? History?

History and opportunity. I got ahold of a poorly built flinter with good parts at used parts prices, at the same time that Last of The Mohicans hit the silver screen. It went together OK, and then I got involved in Living History in the flint era, so...,

There ARE advantages...,
You can't use a caplock and participate in the events where I participate...
And when you take a deer with a flinter, let alone when you take one in poor weather conditions, ..., the bragging rights are superior to any other method (except maybe for the folks who use a hand carved wooden bow and hand made arrows).

LD

 

[tenngun]

Should you get a clot fouling the primer path or should you dry ball a flinter can be cleared easier. A carbon flake under a nipple requires the removal of the nipple and maybe the clean out screw, while a flinter clears with a quick prick.
A cap gun is easier to master, but can be a bigger pain if it fails.

 

[Rifleman1776]

History, more funner, challenging. All of the above wat others have said.
Plus, the persona I reenact used flint. After almost 50 years of making sparks I feel like a sinner when shooting a cap lock. But...in this game...pick yer own pizzen and do yer own thang. Whatever, enjoy. :grin:

 

[Road_Clam]

While I enjoy modern military type rifles over the past several years I have developed a huge admiration for antique firearms. It all started buying my 1884 TD. It doesn't shoot well, it kicks the snot out of me, but it still puts a huge smile on my face based upon the fact that I am able to experience shooting a firearm that holds substantial historical significance. I have gained the utmost respect and admiration for the marksmanship skills that our forefathers had to poses.

 

[54ball]

sorry off topic about trap doors....sent a PM

 

[Rifleman1776]

sorry off topic about trap doors....sent a PM

I am able to experience shooting a firearm that holds substantial historical significance.

That is part of his story about his journey towards getting and shooting an ml flinter. I have no problem seeing that post. Not a biggie deal, IMHO.