Post by: Swamp on October 04, 2010, 01:45:16 PM
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?
Post by: Bigsmoke on October 04, 2010, 02:02:36 PM
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
Post by: mark davidson on October 04, 2010, 03:15:31 PM
Post by: Kermit on October 04, 2010, 04:17:33 PM
Post by: Hank in WV on October 04, 2010, 05:00:22 PM
Post by: Old Salt on October 04, 2010, 05:02:46 PM
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
Post by: Captchee on October 04, 2010, 05:32:08 PM
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
Post by: 2 Locks on October 04, 2010, 05:56:13 PM
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.
Post by: DEADDAWG on October 05, 2010, 01:04:24 PM
Post by: Sir Michael on October 05, 2010, 01:52:31 PM
Post by: biliff on October 05, 2010, 04:21:20 PM
Just seems to work better that way with a lot fewer FITP's.
Post by: Gordon H.Kemp on October 05, 2010, 11:42:41 PM
Post by: Dphariss on November 09, 2010, 09:56:31 AM
(http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i199/DPhariss/Breeching/IMGP1086.jpg)
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
Post by: Captchee on November 09, 2010, 10:05:40 AM
Post by: david32cal on November 09, 2010, 06:39:55 PM
Post by: pathfinder on November 09, 2010, 07:20:18 PM
Post by: wwpete52 on November 09, 2010, 07:24:52 PM
Post by: Swamp on November 10, 2010, 06:53:37 AM
Post by: mark davidson on November 10, 2010, 08:57:30 AM
Post by: Captchee on November 10, 2010, 08:59:35 AM
Quote from: "mark davidson"
I do always pick and I can often tell a big difference when I forget to pick. As for drilling out the touch hole....I tried that and my accuracy went to crap. I was shooting some very tight one inch to one and a half inch groups at 100 yards from the bench. I drilled out the hole and my groups opened up to rediculous. I replaced the drilled out liner with another stock one and the rifle went right back to shooting tight near MOA groups.
the reason for that mark is that on a flintlock when you drill out a flashole to a larger size , you reduce bore pressure as the vent now event more pressure .
in order to bring that back you have to then re work your load .
Post by: mark davidson on November 10, 2010, 11:02:26 AM
Post by: PJC on November 10, 2010, 01:22:29 PM
Thats my story and I'm sticking to it.
PJC
Post by: Riley/MN on November 10, 2010, 02:16:11 PM
Post by: 2 Locks on November 10, 2010, 08:52:44 PM
Post by: Quartermaster James on November 11, 2010, 12:42:38 AM
Quote from: "wwpete52"
Would you rather pick a vent hole or a guitar? 8)
Post by: Mustang on November 12, 2010, 01:25:43 PM
Post by: FlintSteel on November 18, 2010, 09:57:54 AM
The main and best reason I carry a pick is for the off chance that I dry ball a load, (it can happen to anyone) trickle a little powder in the pan and poke it through the touch hole, a couple of pan loads, Ram the ball down tite, fire it off downrange (POP) that's the sound it'll make, and you're clear (check with the rammer to assure the ball did leave the weapon) to reload correctly, next time. Don't ask me how I know this!
Post by: wwpete52 on November 19, 2010, 11:02:42 PM
Post by: FlintSteel on May 23, 2011, 12:02:41 PM
But I always carry a pick. If or when you dryball a load, you can put some powder in the pan and with the pick force powder through the touch hole (it's surprisingly quick). After a pan or two are in there ram the ball all the way in and touch her off, DOWNRANGE. If that doesn't clear the ball do it again with a little more powder. Guaranteed to work.
Post by: Caddo on May 24, 2011, 12:36:14 AM
Post by: Stormrider51 on May 24, 2011, 10:27:52 AM
John
Post by: Longhunter on May 24, 2011, 12:12:44 PM
Post by: rickevans on May 24, 2011, 03:22:40 PM
Post by: Caddo on May 24, 2011, 11:07:41 PM
Goes to show you just never know for sure, thats why I like these old guns so much.
Post by: Stormrider51 on May 25, 2011, 10:33:35 AM
Quote from: "Caddo"
Well I said I had never had a flash in the pan when I had picked. Can't say that anymore as it happened to me today. How can you have a flash when you loaded proper picked the vent and could feel the powder when you opened up the vent to the powder? Boy was I surprised as my rifle never does this when I do everything right. Sure glad I didn't have a nice buck in front of me
The mystery to me has always been why flinters work so well in the first place. The likelihood of flame from the pan making it down the vent hole to ignite the main charge has always seemed a little miraculous. And yet flintlocks worked well enough to dominate firearms design for more than 100 years. But, while some stuck with the flinter after the introduction of the caplock, most made the switch within a few years. We have the luxury to engage in nostalgia today. I'm sure it was different when a flash in the pan could mean getting killed or going hungry. Come to think of it, maybe we aren't that much different today. I hunt with a flinter because there is a grocery store right down the street and coming home empty handed doesn't mean a hungry family, but I have a 12 gauge pump riot shotgun and a semi-auto pistol for self-defense. I do prefer to shoot the flinter though!
John
Post by: Caddo on May 25, 2011, 10:54:21 AM
Post by: Longhunter on May 25, 2011, 11:22:56 AM
Post by: Stormrider51 on May 25, 2011, 11:35:49 AM
Quote from: "Caddo"
I have not shot a caplock gun for years. How often does a missfire happen with them. I know when I used them it happened more then you would think it would. Had to keep that nipple clean. I couldnt say now because everyone I shoot with uses flintlocks.
I did an evaluation of a Made in India Enfield a few weeks back so it hasn't been that long for me. No misfires although there were other problems with the gun. Otherwise, I don't remember many misfires in years past except for those that would happen when I forgot to clear the nipple of oil by popping a couple of caps before loading the first shot of the day. That sort of absent mindedness cost me a nice deer one morning. While I understand that doing so is frowned on nowadays, I would always fire a shot, half-cock, remove any cap debris from the nipple, and then blow down the barrel. A jet of smoke told me I had a clear nipple for the next shot.
I've never seen anything in writing about how reliable the original percussion caps were. It may be that they weren't as good as what we have today. Regardless, people switched over to them. I suspect it may have had more to do with greater all-weather reliability than anything else. I've never had a misfire from a percussion that I could directly attribute to wet weather. I can't say that about a flintlock. I don't remember leaving one loaded overnight though. Black powder being what it is the old saw about "Keep yer powder dry" applies to either system.
John
John
Post by: Hanshi on June 10, 2011, 01:07:53 PM
I'm one of those who blow down the barrel after each shot. That one act seems to clear the touch hole and keep the fouling moist. The thing I consider most important, especially when firing many shots, is to wipe the frizzen face and the flint edge.
Post by: James Kelly on July 03, 2011, 08:57:52 PM
I use FFFg mainly so I can use the same powder for priming. Yeah, I know FFFFg, and for sure Null B, is a lot faster. Just too lazy to carry the extra horn.
Kinda think 18th century guys, except French military, rarely used separate powder for priming.
Have heard people used a feather to clean the vent in the old days. Have a Kentucky made Kentucky, converted to percussion, that still has the brass tube under the cheekpiece, presumably for a feather.