Where to get the best flint

[Boomsticks]

Hi all I am new to the forum and a new owner of 2 flintlock rifles 62cal. Jager that got from my friend one of them I built (my first flintlock rifle) for him a 4cal old Virginia rifle. But I have a question where is the best place to get really good flint for these 2 rifles? Is there a special type of flint? I have Percussion rifle and 3 pistols that I had since I was 19 so I know some about black powder just not much about flint. I have heard about some flint is just junk.

 

[rich pierce]

A good flintlock should not be fussy. You can get good English flints from Stonewall Creek Outfitters

 

[Grenadier1758]

Just be sure to ask for flints that are flat on top and bottom.

 

[Crewdawg445]

Track of The Wolf offers various flints. I prefer the hand knapped Tom Fuller English flints.

 

[Boomsticks]

Well my friend had bought some I think he got it from Track of the Wolf that did not work in the 62cal. It was pretty junky flint couldn’t get a edge on it and it might ignite 1out 8 or 9 tries and had about 12 pieces all the same. He bought some more from another place that was really good but he doesn’t remember where he got it or kind it was.

 

[stubshaft]

I ordered some from them about a month ago and they also had Frenck Blond flints.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

No true flintsman asks another man for his knappings.

Nay, one should learn to identify the stones among his surroundings that will give fire unto his piece. Then, he shalt learn to knapith them unto a proper style gunflint.

Only then can he be considered a TRUE flintlock shooter. :grin:

Seriously, I hear it all the time from the flint crowd: "you can find flint just lying all over the ground, unlike percussion caps!" but I'd wager 90%+ of them couldn't find a piece of flint on the ground in due time let alone shape it into a usable gunflint.

 

[rich pierce]

Verily, ”˜tis true that few stones in some parts of the New Worlde have the desired fineness of Dover flinte, yet in the Ohio countrey and further to the West, near the union of the Greate Waters, a coarse white stone of greate and resolute nature sparkes furiously when striking hardened steele.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Well my friend had bought some I think he got it from Track of the Wolf that did not work in the 62cal. It was pretty junky flint couldn’t get a edge on it and it might ignite 1out 8 or 9 tries and had about 12 pieces all the same. He bought some more from another place that was really good but he doesn’t remember where he got it or kind it was.

That is not necessarily a fault of the flints. Poor ignition can often be traced to a bad hammer/cock angle and/or improperly hardened frizzen face. But, as others have pointed out, the black English knapped are pretty much the standard. If you don't get good sparks with those look elsewhere for the problem.

 

[stubshaft]

There is NO flint in my neck of the woods so I don't bother looking.

 

[tdoyka]

i like sparks, either dry or wet conditions, i use german agate flints. the only thing i don't like about them is they are so hard on the frizzen, so keep an extra or two around.

just a reminder, i am, in no ways, an flintlock expert. i am a flintlock "novice". ff :surrender:

 

[coloradoclyde]

It's not the flint that sparks......It's the frizzen.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

I still stand by what I said.

The vast majority here wouldn't know how to find flint, let alone shape it for use in their flintlock.

 

[Davemuzz]

There are things that I want to know, things that I need to know, and things that I know.

I don't know where to find flint in "the wild".....but I don't need to know that. There are other people who know that...and that's all I need to know.

 

[coloradoclyde]

but I'd wager 90%+ of them couldn't find a piece of flint on the ground in due time let alone shape it into a usable gunflint.

I can....Can you?

 

[dave_person]

Hi,

"Seriously, I hear it all the time from the flint crowd: "you can find flint just lying all over the ground, unlike percussion caps!" but I'd wager 90%+ of them couldn't find a piece of flint on the ground in due time let alone shape it into a usable gunflint."

Funny, I've been around hundreds of flint shooters over 35 years and never heard this from any of them. I did read something similar in the Saga of Andy Burnett but that was fiction.

As Rich Pierce, who is an expert flint knapper and bow drill fire starter, will tell you, it is not likely you will find any flint in America. What you will find that you think is flint is chert. However, it can produce good sparks from frizzens just like flint because it basically is the same. Flint is chert derived strictly from chalk and marl deposits. It tends to be denser and produce higher quality stones for flintlocks and tool blades. Based on my conversations with an archeologist who is an expert knapper creating all manner of stone age tools, the best flints for guns and tools come from well underground where the flint is still infused with water. Flint found on the surface may have less water. Flint for guns was mined from deep underground shafts in Europe as well as mined from thick chalk deposits such as Dover in England. Today, any of the flints from England (Tom Fuller) or Europe (French amber) work very well, but also chert from America such that knapped and sold by Rich, also work very well. Getting back to the OP's question, problems you may have creating spark probably have much less to do with your flints than the quality, geometry, and tuning of your lock and how you use the flints in it. I have a little English rifle I built using a Chamber's round-faced English lock that I tuned. I've now fired almost 600 rounds from it without a single misfire or hang fire despite flints worn down to a nub.

dave

 

[azmntman]

but I'd wager 90%+ of them couldn't find a piece of flint on the ground in due time let alone shape it into a usable gunflint.

I can....Can you?

I can fer sure, I just dont know which flint I find is flint and which is unflint :youcrazy:

But I can learn. :idunno:

 

[Rifleman1776]

i like sparks, either dry or wet conditions, i use german agate flints. the only thing i don't like about them is they are so hard on the frizzen, so keep an extra or two around.

just a reminder, i am, in no ways, an flintlock expert. i am a flintlock "novice". ff :surrender:

Nice to finally another shooter that likes the German cut flints. I used them for decades on the same rifle/lock with no appreciable wear on the frizzen face. Performance and wear vary with the quality of the lock and hardening of the frizzen.
BTW, the German 'flints' come in a variety of stones. e.g. agate of several colors, jade, jaspis, flint, etc.

 

[tdoyka]

i like sparks, either dry or wet conditions, i use german agate flints. the only thing i don't like about them is they are so hard on the frizzen, so keep an extra or two around.

just a reminder, i am, in no ways, an flintlock expert. i am a flintlock "novice". ff :surrender:

Nice to finally another shooter that likes the German cut flints. I used them for decades on the same rifle/lock with no appreciable wear on the frizzen face. Performance and wear vary with the quality of the lock and hardening of the frizzen.
BTW, the German 'flints' come in a variety of stones. e.g. agate of several colors, jade, jaspis, flint, etc.

i have left three german agates that i've bought 30 +/- years ago. they were pricey at the time(gun show), i got them for $1 or 1.50 per piece(compare 20 - 35 cents cents for an english flint) i've gone thru one frizzen and 2 agates. my dad however, built his tc hawkins(very early 1980s)and he has gone thru 3 or 4 frizzens. i believe it was soft metal( on german agates) was to blame. now he has a tc replacement frizzen and its going about 3 or 4 years and there is no need to change it.

i have a lyman deerstalker that i bought in the early 90s and my oldest son has a traditions deerhunter and i've had only 1 problem with the frizzen. its all my fault tho. i put the german agate too far and it did "dent" the frizzen. i tried to clean up the frizzen by grinding the dent off, but.........i'll just chalk that one up to a learning experience. :redface:

oh, my german agates were white-ish, grey to black stones, if that means something. :hmm:

 

[Rifleman1776]

They have always been pricey. Currently about $5.00 each. And, the website is very confusing. Some German friends have even found the language use difficult to translate.
The lock I used them on was a Pete Alan built Siler. That was from the days when Siler only sold kits. Quality of the final lock was dependent on the skill of the builder.