Post by: greyhunter on February 25, 2012, 10:24:33 PM
Post by: Muley on February 25, 2012, 10:33:31 PM
Post by: greyhunter on February 26, 2012, 08:27:03 AM
Good luck and hang in there.
Post by: Hanshi on February 26, 2012, 12:30:18 PM
I agree; confidence in your gun/load is a must. Any problems should have been picked up on at the range prior to the season. If they exist they should be corrected.
Post by: Muley on February 26, 2012, 01:04:31 PM
Brand new Tom Fuller flint. Adjusted perfectly. Every thing clean as a whistle. RMC liner. 4F in the pan. Pillow ticking/.490 ball. 85gr Goex 2F.
1st shot at 50yds fired fine. Well, as fine as a flintlock get for me. Still a slight delay compared to a caplock. 1" high and centered.
2nd shot. Swab bore. Clean pan. Pick liner. Alcohol frizzen, flint, and pan. Load same load. Pick liner again. Fired fine again. 1 1/2" group.
3rd shot exactly the same procedure. Exactly! Flint still nice and sharp. Flash in the pan! Pan went off perfect and I could feel the heat. No clue why the load didn't fire.
4th shot. Cleaned the pan. Picked the liner. Alcohol everything. Flint still sharp. Flash in the pan again.
5th shot. Everything exactly the same as the 4th shot. Flash in the pan.
6th shot. Everything exactly the same again. I'm beginning to wonder if I dry loaded it. This time it fired.
Packed up and came home. Completely baffled why it didn't fire on the 3rd shot. Now it probably would have worked for hunting, because the gun fired the first two shots. Except the slight delay will never be as comfortable as no delay. The problem I have with all this is I want to use the gun for shoots too. That would be twice a month. Compared to just once a year for hunting. Having to take 20-25 shots at a shoot would be total aggravation for me.
Flintlocks are kind of fun when they work. They just don't work enough for me.
I won't even mention trying to keep the powder in the pan while hunting.
Post by: Muley on February 26, 2012, 02:57:54 PM
Post by: Chairslayer on February 26, 2012, 10:52:29 PM
Post by: Muley on February 26, 2012, 11:23:59 PM
Post by: pathfinder on February 27, 2012, 08:34:56 AM
Drilling out the liner and going to 3f may be what's needed. 3f will have a couple of more pieces of the powder closer to the hole than 2f. Will have to re-work your load as far as ball size,patch thickness and amount of powder.....or not! Good Luck!!!
Post by: jbullard1 on February 27, 2012, 08:50:45 AM
I would try 3f before I drilled the liner, I was having the same issue with my flinter at one time 3f cured it
Post by: Longhunter on February 27, 2012, 09:44:56 AM
Post by: Muley on February 27, 2012, 11:21:46 AM
Quote from: "Longhunter"
I use 2FF in everything .54 and up and have never had a problem. You don't need to pick the vent every time, sometimes when you run your pick through you may be pushing the powder in the breech back away from the hole.
I thought the reason was to make a channel in the powder to give the flame more powder to ignite at once. Instead of the few granules that would be up against the liner? (in the chamber)
Post by: Longhunter on February 27, 2012, 12:05:15 PM
Sometimes reasoning works....sometimes it don't..
Post by: Adam Wetherington on February 27, 2012, 01:37:08 PM
Post by: Pete_Sheeran on February 27, 2012, 02:51:48 PM
There is a learning curve with a flintlock. I've been there, Good Luck. Pete
Post by: Muley on February 27, 2012, 04:24:28 PM
Fired every time, and much faster. So, everything i've been doing must have been right.
I did find out one thing about this gun. Anything but 2/3 pan of powder, and it fires slow, or not at all.
I'm happy the gun didn't beat me, and I didn't give up on it. I can walk away from it knowing I got it working. I am walking away from it though. The gun is still for sale.
I guess i'm just a caplock kind of guy.
Post by: Longhunter on February 27, 2012, 08:02:15 PM
Quote
I guess i'm just a caplock kind of guy.
:Doh! ...
Post by: Adam Wetherington on February 28, 2012, 07:45:33 AM
Post by: greyhunter on February 28, 2012, 08:15:38 AM
Post by: Longhunter on February 28, 2012, 10:32:51 AM
My personal opinion is that a good flinter is more reliable than a percussion gun. I came to that conclusion from personal experiences. In the early 70's I went on an elk hunt in Montana. We camped in the mountains for two weeks. For weather we had rain and snow and I had a heck of a time with my percussion Green River Plains rifle. Just about every day I had to pull the nipple and put a little 4FFFF under the cap to make it fire.
Fast forward to the late 70's on a moose hunt in northern Ontario. Weather was very rainy, so much so that the tapered ramrod in my .62 flintlock swelled to the point that I couldn't get it out of the thimbles. Luckily I had brought a spare rod. Even though the weather was very damp, I kept dry powder in the pan and kept the vent plugged to hold back the moister. At the moment of truth when my opportunity came on a fine bull moose, my flintlock didn't fail me. Since that time 35 years ago it's been flintlocks for me, I have confidence in them and I know they won't let me down.
Post by: Muley on February 28, 2012, 01:20:02 PM
I can appreciate your passion for a flintlock. However, I can give you the same story in reverse, and i've only had a flintlock for a week. I've shot caplocks for years.
Believe me, I love the idea of a flintlock to hunt with. At this point. I just don't trust the one I have. Plus, i'm not sure there was ever a half stock flintlock plains rifle.
If someone made a better replacement lock for the GPR (LH). I'd give it a try. I have a feeling it might give me more confidence in hunting with a flint. I'd love to buy a better custom flint gun with higher end components than the GPR, but i'm just a poor old man trying to survive on Social Security. The GPR was all I could afford. I was hoping it would have worked better. The GPR caplock was 100% reliable for me. I should have kept it.
Post by: Longhunter on February 29, 2012, 09:10:59 AM
Quote
i'm not sure there was ever a half stock flintlock plains rifle.http://www.mtmen.org/mtman/museum/guns/guns.html (http://www.mtmen.org/mtman/museum/guns/guns.html)
Muley, I hear ya about trying to survive on Social Security, them SS checks don't allow you to buy many fancys.
Most of my flintlocks are custom guns that I bought years ago but I still have that old percussion Green River plains rifle. There was a day when it was my main meat gun and it counted Coup many times.
I'm a lefty too and most of my LH guns have Siler locks, I love em. Keep playin with that GPR and I'm sure it'll grow on ya.. It sounds like you've got most of the kinks ironed out already.
Here's a picture of me an my Green River on that elk hunt 40 years ago. We found the old cabin just below timberline and moved in for the last week of our hunt.
(http://www.shrewbows.com/rons_linkpics/Montanna_Trapper1.jpg)
Post by: Buzzard on February 29, 2012, 03:53:02 PM
Post by: Muley on February 29, 2012, 04:18:46 PM
I had a long conversation with Bill at L&R Locks. He explained a lot about getting a flint to work, and also what is wrong with the GPR lock. He does make a LH lock that's close to fitting, but still would take a little work that i'm not comfortable doing. I'm really not good working with wood. More of a mechanical type.
I could use someone to install the L&R Lock for me. I think i'd love the gun then. Charge me what ever you want. I really don't want to sell the gun, but i'll never be happy with it until I get a better lock in it.
Help!
Post by: Kermit on March 02, 2012, 03:29:21 PM
I'd talk to him about giving your flinter a good tune-up. ALL my offhand muzzleloaders are flint. I'll never go back to caps. Any you might want to give Rich Pierce a try for flints. I don't buy black or amber flints anymore. Good ol' 'Merican rocks, they are.
Post by: Muley on March 02, 2012, 03:33:18 PM
He recommended I get some from Stonewall Creek Outfitters meanwhile, but they get $2.00 ea for flints. A bit high compared to Rich.
Post by: Stormrider51 on March 18, 2012, 12:35:25 AM
Storm
Post by: sse on March 19, 2012, 09:55:05 AM
In fact, there's s good chance if someone uses my rifle with their spit on the patch, she'll behave different...
Post by: Stormrider51 on March 20, 2012, 08:18:03 PM
Quote from: "sse"
The funny thing about BP shooting, and challenge, is that someone else won't get the same results unless they shoot the exact same rifle as someone else, and do everything the same. I don't mean the same brand, caliber, etc., I mean the same exact rifle. Change one variable and everything is out the window...
In fact, there's s good chance if someone uses my rifle with their spit on the patch, she'll behave different... :toast
Post by: pathfinder on March 20, 2012, 08:31:29 PM
Flinters are a funny breed. Either love 'em or..........nah,ya gotta love 'em!
Post by: sse on March 23, 2012, 03:08:48 PM