Vent-Hole Picking????

[Swamp]

Do you pick your vent-hole before you load, or after?

Why?

I got to thinking about this after installing a new vent-liner in my Tulle. It you pick your vent-hole before you load, your powder will be right up against you vent-hole ready for ignition. If you pick it after you load, you could create a hole in the powder charge making it (I would think) slower to ignite.

What's your take on this?

[Bigsmoke]

Swamp,
I am sure no flint enthusiast, but as I understand it, picking after you load opens up the surface area on the powder, as you are digging a little hole into the charge.  If you do not pick after, you just have the surface area the size of the oriface in the liner.
Should be faster ignition by picking afterwards.
John

[mark davidson]

I think Bigsmoke is right.  The idea behind picking is to create a bigger hole or cone with the pick to expose more granules of powder to the flash and heat wave in an attempt to ignite as many grains at once as possible. I always pick the vent hole. It may not matter but it sure seems to. At least I "think" I can tell a difference in ignition time but it may be my head playing tricks on me. I know my gun is very fast and reliable when I pick it so I always do so.

[Kermit]

I believe that consistent picking (i.e. every shot) makes for more consistent ignition/lock time. I pick after...

[Hank in WV]

When my rememberer works right, I pick after. It pushes any fouling that might have gotten in the way away from the hole.

[Old Salt]

I use the vent pick after loading but part of my motivation is unusual.  

My first objective with the vent pick is to feel where the powder is.  If I can feel the powder at the outer edge of the vent then I just prime and get ready to fire.  If I feel the powder a tad back from the outer edge of the vent I prime a bit heavier and get ready to fire.  If I feel something hard or unusual with the vent pick then it becomes a tool to clear the vent after which I prime heavy and get ready to fire.  

So in summary I use my vent pick as a feeler probe unless I need it as a vent clearing tool.  

Most of the time during a relay when I dump powder into the barrel I will see smoke exiting the vent.  That indicates to me the vent is clear.  I don't swab between shots because I don't want to foul the vent.

Leo

[Captchee]

I pick after  for the same reasons already posted . Picking after makes for a larger surface area to ignite.
 I also used to pick before .  Basically I would feather the touch hole prior to loading .
 Then load . Once loaded I would pull the pick .

 But through the years I have just gotten where I pick after

[2 Locks]

I pick after loading both to clear fouling & expose more powder as others have said.

It also saved my butt once - I picked & didn't feel the usual firm resistance of packed powder.  Upon further inspection I found that I had only short started the ball & forgotten ram it home.

[DEADDAWG]

I don't pick at all before loading. I have two flinters that I shoot on a regular basis, they are different as night and day. My rifle has to be picked after loading or the ignition is noticeably slow. My smoothy doesn't like being picked at all, If I make the mistake of picking it, the ignition is slow. Really throws me off when I have a brain fart and don't pay attention to which one I'm shooting.

[Sir Michael]

The only time I pick the touch hole is when it is raining or foggy.  Then I pick after loading for much same reasons as everyone else has said.  It works for me.

[biliff]

I stick a copper pick in the vent and leave it there while I load, then withdraw it and prime.

Just seems to work better that way with a lot fewer FITP's.

[Gordon H.Kemp]

I would have to go along with  most here. If it happens to be a rare day in the high desert , when the humidity is quite high , I pick before And after loading ! The reason being the vent and fire channel will cake-up and I scrape the TH to make certain the crud is loose , and pick it after loading to make sure  the channelis open to the main charge ! This is seldom a problem out here , but dos happen . I have two flinters one has the J.Manton style breech with the smaller anti chamber and the other has the TH entering just ahead of the flat face of the breech plug .Dosn't seem to effect one more than the other !

[Dphariss]

If you have a good vent liner then main charge powder should be right at the pan (within .020 +-) and picking is just something to pass the time.

I have never picked a vent unless it (rarely) flashes (flintlock shooter since the 1960s). I don't even have one in the shooting pouches.
If you use a powder that produces flakes of fouling in the bore one of these can cause problems if it blocks the vent. This WILL require picking.
Historically  feathers and plugs were used to keep the powder from blowing out when the ball was rammed. This can be a very real problem with .078-.090 vents since the powder charge is different every shot.
Even a .062 vent may leak a little FFF. I this is especially true in an Easy Rider Rifle Rack on a gravel road.

Dan

[Captchee]

good points Dan and welcome to the TMA forum

[david32cal]

if it is raining or humid i'll stick a feather in the vent before loading. other than that i hardly ever pick the vent,doesnt seem to make much difference in my rifles.