Why do we love Flintlocks so much?

[TN.Frank]

This question just kind of came to mind this a.m. and I wanted to see what everyone had to say on the matter. In the same way that I just can't understand why anyone would shoot an inline I'm sure that they(the modern guys) just can't understand why we would prefer outdated, "unreliable" technology to fire out muzzleloaders. Of course, we all know that a properly tunned lock is just as reliable as any caplock on the market but for someone just starting out a flintlock can be something of a pain in the butt to get working right so it's a wonder that anyone sticks with it long enough to develop the skills needed to use one.
I think my love of the Flintlock stems mostly from my love of History. The Flintlock is the gun that won us our Independance from England and founded the areas where we live East of the Mississippi River. It's the gun of Boone and Crockett, the Revolution and the War of 1812. The thought of firing a gun using a rock is something that totally trips me out. No caps, just a touch of powder and a sharp flint and you're good to go. Nothing can be much more simple. I also think the beauty of the guns made with a flintlock just catch my eye in a way that other muzzleloaders don't. It's so "classic", almost like a work of art more then a gun lock. It just looks "right" on a muzzleloader.
I guess there are too many things that I just can't put my finger on as to why I love flintlocks but I do know that as long as I'm alive that's what I'll prefer to own and shoot.
:thumbsup:

 

[RC]

TN.Frank, ditto, there is somethin that is unexplainable,and since I switched, to flinters the few perc. I have seem to gather lots of dust.. year or so ago, was deer hunting w/ a friend, another hunter came along,and well started explaining everything my friend could do to get the most out'a his caplock, ya know the story, musketcaps,sabots, etc.guy went on fer awhile and then looked down at my flinter, looked up at me and said "God yer serious!" after he left,friend says why didn't you tell me all that stuff, I said "need to know basis,and you don't need it",about an hour later buddy killed a wounded doe,at about 100 yds...gun never hesitated, ball was right on deer dropped, I said "see, works fine.. and when ya get serious we'll get ya a flinter" not yet but I'm workin on him.. love those flinters! FLA forever! :hatsoff: RC

 

[MSW]

it was, if memory serves, a famous jazz musician who nailed it in one:

If you have to ask the question, you wouldn't understand the answer.

not that you don't already know the answer- asking the question is more by way of introspection. nonetheless, the subtle addiction to sharp rocks and half-a-millenia- old technology is of and in itself an existentional concept.

 

[TN.Frank]

I kind of think that today the world just runs way too fast and that maybe buy holding to the "old ways" we can kind of slow it down from time to time when we're hunting and shooting. Just for that brief time when I'm shooting my flinter I'm in 1780 and life is simple and at a pace that won't kill ya',LOL. Granted, the Internet and e-mail are great but I'd give both of em' up tomorrow if I could go back in time to when people could live in freedom and be their own man. Today it's like you have to fit into a little box or you are looked at as being "odd" or something. On a local Deer forum there is only about 3 or 4 of us that use flintlocks. It's a small but loyal club.

 

[boar]

Its the challenge. Dilly

 

[Grenadier1758]

If you have to ask the question, you wouldn't understand the answer.

I am of the opinion that there is never a chance to understand the answer if you don't ask the question. It is a serious part of the understanding process is the asking of questions.

 

[The Baron]

You know... I was just thinking along these lines yesterday and I was going to ask why my percussion guns are so much less interesting now that I own a flintlock?

It is definitely an added challenge, so when everything works and you are walking out of the woods with game it really is an extra sense of pride. I challenged myself to shoot my turkeys that way and I got two Toms. I am more proud of those birds than any others.

For me, a big part is probably my buddies thinking I am crazy to accept such a handicap, and then me proving them wrong... and even outshooting them on winged game. :winking: It is also satisfying to show all newcomers the gun and have them express some sense of wonder as to how it works, how long it is, etc.

Perhaps most of all, it has given me a renewed sense of interest. I can go out to the range or woods whenever I want and shoot stuff with my modern guns. In my goose hunting, it has become a foregone conclusion that we will fill the truck with our 12ga. pumps. The outing is fine, but it just doesn't have that 4th dimesnion like shooting the flinter does. For me personally, I became like a kid again and remembered what it was like when I got my first .22. Every trip to the range... every shot, in fact... was exciting and pleasing and I started to smile again at every little milestone. Plain and simple... shooting :grin: is fun again.

 

[roundball]

The following reasons got me hooked on them:
The challenge, the history, the esthetics, and the unqiue accomplishment & satisfaction of taking game in a world of ultra modern technology...they've made me a better shot and a better deer hunter.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I believe it is a quality of life experience that makes shooting flintlocks so attractive. You do have to pay attention to more things to get the guns to shoot correctly. There are more things to learn about shooting a flintlock than a percusson gun, or cartridge gun. And there is the historical link to our past that gives us certain pride and satisfaction that we do not experience othewise.

I am always amused to find people working hard here to find some way to reload their rifles or smootbores quickly I want to scream( and sometimes do), " What's the hurry". Hunting with a flintlock is not about taking lots of shots. Go dove hunting with a Semi-auto shotgun if you want to shoot a lot of ammo in a short amount of time.

I think shooting flintlocks is about taking our time, enjoying just being there, and taking greater pride when we bring down game with our guns. It certainly does shock other hunters who have never been around black powder, or seen a flintlock fired. And, when you hit a bird they missed with their wonderguns, even they have to smile!

As the man said, if you have to ask the question, you wouldn't understand the answer. You have to be there to understand. I think that is also why we hunt, and non-hunters canpt possibly understand why we go out in the middle of the night, sit cold in a blind or tree stand, or wait at the edge of a field for first light, so we can load our guns and begin our hunt. You have to be there.

Years ago, I was on a late season hunt with a friend near Paxton, Illinois. We hit the field just before daylight, and a flock of pheasants moved out in front of our headlights. We were optimistic about getting a shot. We eventually found the trail of a large rooster walking through the snow, and trailed him through the woods, and finally into a clearing along a river where the local drainage commission was removing trees to improve water flow in the river. Halfway between the edge of the woods and a 20 foot tall brush pile, this pheasant flew off and away, leaving the impression of his wing feathers in the snow. It was not quite 7 A.m. when we came to the end of that trail, disappointed in not seeing or getting a shot at the bird, but thrilled to see this imprint in the snow. I asked my buddy, who was a very good photographer, to walk all around the impression to see if it were possible, if we had a camera, to take a picture of this impression, to capture it for posterity. When he finished his circle, he told me, "NO ". I smiled at him and asked him, " Do you know what this means?" He said, " No, he didn't ". I then observed, looking west toward town where smoke was drifting up from a smokestack at an old plant about 500 feet above the ground before it finally met some wind to carry it away, " Those people asleep in their beds this morning will never know how beautiful this snow is, or how wonderful it is to see the detailed impression of the feathers of that cock pheasant in the snow. Even in a half hour, the sun will rise high enough that it will begin to burn the snow, round the edges and destroy the details. The only way you get to see something like this is to BE HERE. " He smiled back at me, and said, " I guess that is why we hunt, isn't it!" And we got up and headed back to see if we could locate other pheasants. We only kiced up hens that day, and hunted the entire day. I went home tired, cold to the bone, with nothing to show for it than the memory of that special impression of the wings of the pheasant we missed. When I got home, my wife asked me if I got anything, and I told her no. She said she was sorry I had a bad day hunting. I told her is was one of the better days hunting I have ever had in my life. Later I explained to her why. She didn't understand. She wasn't there either.

That is why we shoot flintlocks, and our percusson guns get used less and less. If I could be paid a quarter for everytime a guy comes up to me and asks me how I get that gun to go off, I would be in a higher tax bracket.

 

[jdixon]

My preference for flintocks is bsed much on what others have stated. History is a big ppart of it. For hunting, nothing today is as close to the experience of hunting on the frontier of North America than to do so with a flintlock. Taking game with one that you built yourself - that is the ultimate. The challenge of the muzzleloader is a bigger factor I think. For more than 30 years as a police officer I have carried a gun to work everyday I have trained on a wide variety of firearms. Frankly those modern guns bore me anymore. I don't know, maybe they just remind me of work. I don't prefer to spend my free time with things that remind me of work. Modern guns, they are too easy, not much of a challenge. I am much more impressed with a 2" group @ 100 yrds with a flintlock rifle than anything I have seen done with a modern firearm.

 

[mbw907]

That was a perfect explanation of a reason to be hunting at such an unlikely time. I guess we all have been out there to witness things that are otherwise missed. It can be summed up as real treasure in a world that spins too fast to recognize what is important anymore. And to do it with a tool that was used by men and women before us, ones who were thankful despite the hardships, and had to actually think things out rather than follow the trail of the rat-race before them. Paul, I enjoyed your story as well as everyone's heartfelt comments. I also appreciate the tips in Muzzle Blasts magazine about hunting. It is all about becoming a part of the woods, and being a learning observer, whether hunting or just as an interested guest.

 

[TN.Frank]

I feel the same way anymore J.R. I've owned just about every kind of modern gun you can name, AK's, AR's, a '27a1 semi-auto Thompson, even a semi-auto Uzi but none of em' "feels" like my flinters do. None warmed my heart like the warmeth I get holding a nicely built flintlock smoothbore or rifle. It really does "take me back" to that time and place where things were simpler. Man, I really love my flintlocks. :grin:

 

[Bob J]

TN.Frank- as you and others have so aptly put it, a flintlock just "looks" right and "feels" right. It's a tactile experience; placing a patch over the muzzle, swabbing the bore, pouring powder into the measure and then into the bore, centering a patch over the muzzle then ball on the patch, shoving it down, cocking the hammer, wiping the flint, priming the pan, setting the trigger, taking aim, squeezing off...CHBOOM! sparks, smoke, smell of sulfur in the nostrils...

As I was answering some questions from a modern shooter at the range yesterday, it dawned on me how truly content I've become with the Sells southern mountain rifle. Its the one I intend to carry deer hunting for as long as God gives me the blessing of being in the woods. Can't wait 'till my first season in the woods with a flintlock, can't imagine hunting with anything else.

 

[mckutzy]

"If you have to ask the question, you wouldn't understand the answer."

I think thats the best way to describe the flintlock.
Whenever i go to an event, ill show the musket to a youg kid that has never seen or handled one before, it towers high above them and as they marvel about what exactly it is, they will listen about the history behind it.
With a world that where in most comunities young kids know what an AK47, a M16, a MAC10, and of course the Colt .45 automatic pistol, flint and black powder will not have the same effect of possible negitive thoughts and ambitions but will preserve our history and add another member to our flock. :hatsoff:

 

[rabjr]

I can list a number of reasons, many have aready been posted here. The bottom line is, I find it more of a personal experiance. I go to the range or hunting with a gun I built. Most of my accessorys are hand made, by me or friends who share the same interest. I make my own patch lube...

It just means so much more than doing it any other way. :v

 

[Halftail]

It's the challange for one thing and I love seeing other hunters with their centerfire guns watching me load my Buck up on my Truck that I have just killed with a flintlock.I get a kick out of being Different! :v

 

[Tommy Bruce]

I'm afraid I'm just adding to what's already been said but here goes. I love the time period when the flintlock was in it's heyday. Nothing to me is more beautiful than a tight stripped curly maple stock attatched neatly to a swamped barrel and fast sparking lock. Modern guns to me lack the feel of craftsmanship that goes into a flinter. Hunting with a flintlock is as said sometimes a challenge but when I'm in the woods dressed in leather and linens with my flintlock, horn, pouch and accouterments nothing else feels as right.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

To repeat an old adage, "A bad day hunting is far better than a great day at the office."
Those who love flintlocks do seem to have a strong respect for history and the aesthetics of the hunt. There is something about the play of light on the contours of a fine fowler or rifle that strikes a chord in a flintlock user's soul. And there is the wonderful "mechanical-ness" of the lock itself. And the pride in having learned to operate these guns effectively and being able to take elusive game with them. And, as Paul said, those fleeting moments in the field when everything comes together and creates a vignette so powerful that you carry it with you for the rest of your days. It is not that the user of more modern arms cannot have such experiences, but that these moments seem more special when a flintlock is present. Perhaps because the person who uses a flintlock is in less of a hurry and sees more of his surroundings.

 

[Old Ironsights]

History? Naah.

Look & Feel? Not particularly.

Novelty? Somewhat.

Being able to make my own consumables from now into perpetuity? You betcha.

 

[Legionair]

I started out watching modern war films, and have regressed in interests ever since. I still like the bolt guns of WWI, and the lever and SS cartridge guns of the cowboy era.

But the flintlock is more than these.

It is a tool, a mechanism that has been elevated to an artform.

The flintlock was in use for more than 200 years (I believe), longer than any other single form of "modern" ignition system.

I like the history, and the aesthetics, but the centuries of tradition is what does it.

To carry this arm into the woods alone is to step back in time and let the modern world fade away.


Legion