What's up with Flints?...

[user 34300]

How long the flint lasts depend on the lock and luck. My kibler SMR locks are easy on flints. I usually get over 60 shots, this includes knapping the edge of the flint. I once had a 1975 TC flintlock hawken. It destroyed flints in a few shots.

 

[Omahkapi'si]

Pedersoli frontier. Sparks like crazy with some flints over and over, then I get a dud once in awhile.

 

[Fisherking]

There's a company that advertises in Muzzleloader and Muzzle Blasts but I can't think of the name offhand; has flints. I'd try to look up some other vendors to try, their sources might vary a bit.

I’d pay for a Jade flint!

 

[Fisherking]

I think a lot of guys exaggerate their claims on number of shots from a flint. That said, I've had a couple where I got a couple dozen shots out of them before they wore out. Normally about 20 max and it becomes part of the landscape again. I don't even attempt to knap them. To me it's like trying to reuse a napkin..

I had a flint in my Fowler that came with it as purchased. It was so white, I wondered if it could be agate. I messaged the seller for an indefinite answer. That flint lasted a year. When it finally needed some attention, I was completely caught off guard. It was so reliable, the idea wasn’t even conceivable. I didn’t count the shots but it lasted a long time. Extrapolating some, five shots a session, almost once a week from November to June. I figure six months, call it 20 weeks times five shots.
I don’t know what the actual count was but I definitely wanted to buy more.

 

[IanH]

Might have been Johnstone or Thunder Chert.

If it was slightly translucent, maybe Corning Obsidian.

 

[Fisherking]

It has since been honorably relived of duty, as a total veteran.

Best flint ever. (So far)

 

[IanH]

Novaculite.

 

[Fisherking]

Novaculite.

I know nothing, but I’d love that to be true and repeatable.

 

[HighUintas]

Are there any good threads here or videos on freshening the edge that someone can link? I've heard of knapping in the jaws, but not sure how that would work.

 

[Fisherking]

Are there any good threads here or videos on freshening the edge that someone can link? I've heard of knapping in the jaws, but not sure how that would work.

Go on YouTube and look at “Muzzleloading TV.” Bob has lots of great videos and the same topic search will also help you find what you need.

Basically, any small horizontal edge that chips away at the leading edge will help you. I’ve used the obligatory “hammer,” a screwdriver, pocket knife and just last weekend, my powder measure with the aid of a rock. Desperate times…

Once you try, it is all simple. Break as little as possible and your “hammer” will appreciate it.

 

[springfield art]

Sometimes a mainspring can be too strong, resulting in broken flints.

 

[flatcreek]

I think a lot of guys exaggerate their claims on number of shots from a flint.

This is the Internet, you find a lot of that. I've been getting 20 to 40 with napping maybe a few more.

 

[sturmkatze]

You guys count?? I just shoot away until it doesn’t work and I can’t get it to work anymore. My friend has some kind of Diamond file he used to shape his flints. I need one.

 

[rkg1]

Bought my last ones at the show in Carlisle at the CLA show. Was able to pick my own so if they don't work guess who gets the blame.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

What’s a way to remove the hump of you
don’t have a diamond wheel?

My recent order from Track included several very humpy ones.

 

[#BPBReloadingFFL]

Where are you getting yours ? My last came from TOW n looked n functioned like a hump-backed whale. Mine avg. 2-6 shots if i am lucky.

Nothing like paying for a piece of dolomite road gravel.

 

[Coinneach]

Are there any good threads here or videos on freshening the edge that someone can link? I've heard of knapping in the jaws, but not sure how that would work.

It works well been doing it for years, the trick is to be steady and careful using the edge of the Frizzen "shoe" flat on the front edge of the Flint.

 

[Chingachgook777]

It has since been honorably relived of duty, as a total veteran.

Best flint ever. (So far)

That looks like a blonde French flint. Rowr! Lol.

C>

 

[IanH]

What’s a way to remove the hump of you
don’t have a diamond wheel?

My recent order from Track included several very humpy ones.

There is, but on a finish-trimmed flint it shatters them half the time. Often I will put the effort into an overly thick flake to try and make it workable by trimming the back parallel to the front (natural sharp edge from when the flake or blade was spalled) and then work in tje sides on the stake with the chipping hammer. There is a point when trimming the sides where the undercut leaves a good platform to drive a flake across the top to remove the turtleback and thin the flint. If you finish up the trimming on the sides so the flint is a truncated pyramid, the platform is angled the wrong way to drive the flake. Sometimes you can peck and bash off the thick spot with the trimming hammer and sometimes it just shatters the flint.

 

[French Colonial]

With a good lock it is easy to get 50-60 shots from a good flint, I do use a brass or mild steel rod with a step filed in it to sharpen the flint if it gets dull and then we just keep shooting. Put the step on the dull part of the flint and give it a tap with whatever is handy.

I do this while the flint is still in the jaws on half cock and never had an issue, some guys use the back of their knife to whack it a few times and while I used to do this I found my aim was usually off and I chipped the flint where I did not want to and lessened its life. Some feel the need to remove the flint before sharpening but I never have.